Stories from Distant Shores: Up Bukit Broga Part 1: An Unexpected Journey

We went hiking last week. We went up Bukit Broga. I only used to see the signs on the road whenever we came home after visiting Mantin or Malacca.

Simpang Bukit Broga 500m. Simpang Bukit Broga 200m. Simpang Bukit Broga 100m.

We never actually made an exit to that area. And we never actually knew (I think) that we could hike there.

"I want to go hiking," a next-door-officemate said one Saturday, while we were all having breakfast in the pantry.

"Where? Kota Kinabalu?"

"That's not hiking! That's climbing!" came her remark. "I want to hike up Bukit Broga."

"Oh... Broga... When?"

"Tuesday. It's a holiday."

"Oh..."

I was on sick leave just the day before. I was deliberating whether or not it was safe to engage in such a strenuous physical activity so soon.

"Don't go," a kababayan said. "There are forty-five-degree inclines. It's scary and tiring!"

My next-door-officemate sent a mass email a few minutes after. I typed out "Broga Hill" in the Google Image search bar. The results generated had some pretty amazing shots.

"I'm in!" I sent as a reply.

We met up at Cyberjaya at 7:00am and set out to Semenyih at around 7:30am. There was only three of us. We were supposed to be four but the fourth gal overslept. Well, it turned out that three was quite plenty.

When we got to the hill's base, there were already so many people. The parking lot was actually bursting in its figurative seams.

"Don't be surprised that there are so many people," next-door-officemate said. "Ever since some famous actors took some shots here two years ago, the public suddenly came flocking in. People now climb here to do prenup photos, too."

"Is that so?" I answered in between huffs.

Hiking up a Malaysian Hill turned out to be... difficult. There were a lot of almost vertical inclines. There were plenty of people pushing in from all sides, too. You couldn't really stop in the middle of climbing, though I forced the three of us to do so, several times.

"One minute, one minute."

"Thirty seconds."

"Five minutes!"

It turns out that I wasn't as strong as I thought I was. So much for those evenings at the gym. I was huffing and puffing like I was seriously out of shape.

But in the end it turned out that I was stronger than I eventually thought I was.

"Keep pushing, Mari! Were' almost there! Just fifteen steps more!"

"I can't... I .... can't! Give me five minutes!"

We got to the first peak eventually. It was all worth it. The view was spectacular. The wind was delightful. There were tiny birds gliding around, showing off as they tried to ride against the wind. We spent maybe an hour there. Taking photos, telling stories, ranting stuff out.

"Can we stay here forever?" I asked. I didn't want to to to the next three peaks. I didn't want to go back to Cyberjaya either.

(To be continued)