Gunung Belumut 22 April 2007

My 1st official mountain trekking! Chiangmai's trek not considered.

Gunung Belumut - Height 1010m. Place Kluang. Time of trek 4hrs up, 3.5hrs down.

Great fun! N Shiok! N Shack!

Set-off time: A bloody unearthy hour of 630am at Marsiling MRT! Means I had to get up at 5am, take a cab down. In the end, I woke up at 520am (cos i shut the alarm off when it went off). Can't help it, only had 4hrs of sleep, n i'm a pig who needs sleep.

Trip there was smooth, cos i slept all the way. But the road became bumpy when we were abt 1 hr from Kluang, so it was like a rollar coaster ride.

After a breakfast of unappetising oily noodles (which i only had a few bites), we start off! Up the mountain we go! Yippie!

Group photo b4 the trek

Me at waterfall!

Beginning trek was easy, slight upslopes and flat terrain. Smooth sailing for me! Though i was already perspiring haf hr into the trek. Stopped at a waterfall to rest before we headed off for the more 'exciting' part of the trek - UPHILLS!!!

This is more challenging than Chiangmai. At times I had to be tarzan, swinging myself up the slope or jumping down by holding on to tree branches. Yes, I was on all 4s at times. Mountaineering is not Glam. So members of Tai-Tai Ltd pls do not attempt!

After flights of slope after slope and 3hrs into the climb, we faced the most challenging slope of the trek! Steep slope up with huge gaps in between! This is the time to get down n dirty, climbing up on all 4s, hauling myself up with pure arm strength n leg muscles (i can feel the workout, my butt n legs must be damn toned now).

Finally after 4hrs, we arrived at the not so fantastic summit. Yes, it is only a small patch of land at the summit n u have to climb up the big rock to view the not so fantastic scenery.

View from the top

Me at the top
Ladies at the top

Just as we were well rested, God of Thunder decided to exercise abit and sent pelts of rain down on us! Oh great! Rainy descend. How great can it get! No choice. We had to descend bravely amidst the rain. Slippery slopes n muddy ground awaited us ahead! ARmed with raincoats, we started our descent.

Going up is tough, but coming down is even tougher! My legs just went wobbly half hour down. The strain on the knees and legs is just much more than going up. But never give up! Jumping from one point to another, taking gigantic steps, getting really dirty n muddy everywhere! 3.5hrs later, we saw the light! The exit point! Yeah! We have made it! I have conquered Mount Belumut! 7.5hrs of non-stopping trekking (ok, there were a few breaks in between which latest a total of maybe 15mins n a brief lunch stop of 10mins). This is damn exhilirating & shiok!

Journey back saw most of us slumber into deep sleep. Too tired to talk or do anything else.

N i woke up today with slight muscle ache. Only slight, which I'm proud of myself cos that means I'm an active person!!!

On a side note, I was the 1st lady to reach the top out of our group! Haha...

Oh no unglam photos of me available on this post. Ha I've hidden all those away!!!

Not ruling out another trekking trip though.

More pictures at my Ofoto website

Next adventure trip - Advanced Diving course at Pulau Perhentian!!!!! Yippie!