870 meters awaits

Hiking is actually everybody's-thing-to-do. It’s seeking the body's limitation, heart determination and mentally's fitness. Building a strong relationship is the most important thing of all.

We needed to hold on to each other as we were just beginners. Fun is certainly what we were looking for but of course safety was kept in mind.

870 meter for start is quite hard to swallow. Gunung Datuk in my opinion it was the most slippery mountain to hike. It actually depends on the season itself. It wasn't really a smart idea to hike during raining season but with eagerness and determination, we decided to keep moving forward.

From Melaka we drove to Negeri Sembilan around 6 AM. I’m a full time diploma student at that time staying in campus, and I wasn’t sure if were allowed to go out from campus at dawn but since it was our last semester, why not give a chance to breathe a little bit.

Our drive there was breathtaking, especially with the air, view and away from tons of assignments. I was excited to arrive and start the challenge.

We were not monitored by any specialist, it was just us. As a preparation for us, I brought some medicine like Panadol, Vitamin C, oil, plaster, a rope and sharp knife in case of anything. I’m just preparing for the worst, being a girl scout an all in my school days.

At the starting point, we were excited but we had to turn our way back because when we read the instructions, it was stated that to start the journey we had to pay for parking and other things before hand. It was an hour of waiting and nobody showed up even when we contacted the staff's so we decided to ditch that and go on by ourselves.

It wasn’t a bad decision to make because along the hiking session we shared some things, jokes and most of all we took care of each other. At the first stage, things was pretty easy, we didn't need to hold on to anything and our pace was pretty quick.

But at the second stage, it got a little bit challenging because we needed to hold on to a rope to hike. At the first 600 meter, some of us took a break, we sat around, shared drinks as our supplies were very limited. After a few minutes we kept walking and never looked back because another 270 meter was waiting for us.

At last, the sign stating the Gunung Datuk height was seen on a tree, I was so relieved but it hasn’t ended yet, there was another three steps that we needed to climb up, but it’s optional since the condition of the stairs were quite odd.

Nevertheless, you will not regret climbing up the steps because the view is breathtaking. It was worth getting up early in the morning and to feel a sort of attachment with nature.

I like both lives, nature and city, but in the end, nature always has the upper hand. It’s not running from reality but rather a sweet escape.

And that was our sweet escape.

By Aqalili Azizan

Related Items living submission travel