Pre-Dawn Hike

We learned our lesson at Tabur really well. Seriously. Hiking is not a walk in the park, and the non-experienced should just start with the easy peasy hills.... like the very popular Broga Hill. We so should have started with this one. The ascent was practically walking all the way, no more tiring than going up flights of stairs. No climbing required. No precipitous rocks and ledges to overcome. Absolutely no risk of falling to death.

Since we wanted to reach the top in time to view the sun rise, we decided to start hiking at 6am. Well, we got there on time, but spent quite a while looking for a parking space (yes, this hill is that popular). I don't know what time it was when we actually starting hiking up the hill, but it was still dark. In fact, it was dark all the way and if I hadn't my little LED torch with me, I wouldn't had implied the ascent was easy. Despite 2 or 3 short rests along the way, we made it before 7am. It was still rather dark, but the fast breaking dawn afforded some dramatic shots of the sky and the village below.

(photo captured using my phone, edited using Instagram)

We fiddled with the settings on our cameras in eager anticipation of the glorious rising sun, and waited patiently along with hordes of other hikers (did I mention this hill is really popular?) The sun did rise eventually, but behind heavy grey clouds, to everyone's disappointment. 

Shortly after 7, we started our descent. Though for most people, this would be a piece of cake, I managed it far, far worse than I did the ascent. My shoes were the culprit. They were not very old, but worn such that the tread was almost non-existent. The terrain was mostly sandy and I had literally no hold all the way down. There were parts I had to slide on my feet and bum, and endure being laughed at by strangers (which was fine... I laughed with them). 

Am I the only person who thought coming down a hill is worse than going up it? *sigh*

On the whole, we enjoyed our hike. I did, honestly. However, I am considering never hiking Broga again. The main reason is the crowd is simply too huge. On top of that, some were really rowdy - loudly chattering, laughing, shouting at and to each other, smoking, littering... I have disliked crowds for a long as I can remember and even more so those which do not respect Nature enough to behave appropriately. I regret to end this post with such a negative insight, but things are what they are. 

My friend suggested Gunung Nuang next. Errr... *unsure*