Thursday, December 26, 2013

A Sunday Hike up Bukit Tabur, a Not so Safe Place


Twitter has caused me to meet a lot of new people for reasons I myself have never thought of. Some of them became travel-mates by chance and some just people whom I tweet to randomly, talking about random stuff. It was pretty easy to meet up in real life.

So one fine day, I randomly decided to follow a friend from twitter on a hike to Bukit Tabur. It was my first time meeting this person which we apparently have already planned an overseas trip to Hong Kong next year, but never actually met in real life! Haha!

It was fated. I'll get up close and personal with my future travel-mate during a hike.

We agreed on her fetching me from the Sri Rampai lrt station at 8:00 am, Sunday morning. I wasn't really briefed on what not to wear and wore my sandals, jogging pants and a t-shirt. With no internet at home to easily access valuable information from google, I decided to go-show only with less preparations.

The view from one of the peaks at Bukit Tabur. My new friends could be seen below! Do you see them?

Ada apa dengan Bukti Tabur? It's not really a touristy area but it should be! Bukit Tabur is a hill located in Taman Melawati, Malaysia and also known locally as Bukit Hangus. The hill is very prominent as it is part of Klang Gates Quartz Ridge also known as the crystal hill. It is divided into the eastern and western section by the dam. Most hikers are familiar with the western section. The eastern side offers more challenging hikes but is said to be steeper and riskier if unfamiliar with the trail. (source : wikipedia )

Dark, slippery and rocky. Wasn't sure if my sandals were up to this. 
We went up via the western side as it was said to be an easier route. Besides, it was raining that day. We ended up waiting until 10am to start our hike as we waited for the rain to stop. I even received warnings from twitter not to hike as it gets dangerous and slippery when it rains.

The warning fell on deaf ears. :P

Reached the second peak where we could see the town below.
It was nice that during our hike up, we'd be greeted with numbers painted on mossy rocks like the picture below. Giving us assurance that the trail we followed was carefully chartered and presumably safe.
The sign seems to beckons us to move further up. 
After a while, about three hours later, we decided to turn around. We received news that some-one while descending on the other side, slipped and fell into a gorge. It was frightening news. It caused a traffic jam up there and some of the hikers that were in front of us really did turn around. We followed suit to descend while hearing a faint sound of sirens from a distant ambulance.

Too bad I didn't finish the trail. Will come again Tabur. 
I learnt from this hike that it would be nice if I had a water pack in my back with a silinder that connects directly to my mouth. Haha. And a pair of sturdy hiking shoes would be perfect!

Our shoes and sandals (me) in unity after the trail.
As for now, am overly happy that my sandals didn't buckle during the hike and performed just fine. In mud and all! Bravo! Hoping to follow new hiking trips in the future. Next time I'll certainly come prepared. :)

Happy traveling peeps. May the odds be ever in your favor! *ehh.. macam dalam wayang the hunger games plak :/*





8 comments:

Khai said... [Reply]

1st? haha

Jard lenkali nk hike ajak la. Tak pernah try Bukit Tabur lagi tapi teringin sebab nampak cantik. :)

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ khai.. baiklah. kat janda baik ada. hehehe

zonaku said... [Reply]

it is a nice place, yet dangerous trail as slip n fell are frequent.. even experience hikers.

xtra careful next time

Khai said... [Reply]

janda baik ada bukit boleh hike eh? menarik tuuu. hehe. bukit gasing kt pj pn best gak ;) heee

agip roslan said... [Reply]

eh..dah balik dari catwalk LV kat paris kah jard?

nuRuL aZieRa said... [Reply]

wehhh bahaya la jard pakai sandals! hahaha

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ zonaku.. tulah. kena bersiap betil2 lain kali. hehe. thanks beb

@ khai... ada rasanya... siap menuju ke air terjun tujuh tingkattt!! hahaha

@ agip roslan... dah beb. tp catwalk aku tak berapa nk jadi. hehe

@ nurul... tulah.. sandals jeee..tp aku insaf.. dont worry. lepas neh pakai kasut. hehe

Aime said... [Reply]

Hi! Cantik kan permandangan di atas bukit tabur tu? Nak tgk lagi, bole check out pengalaman saya di http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/bukit-tabur-physical-mental-endurance/
Thx!