Of Gunung Datuk Climb and the Pain After it....

Yup, you read right. The above is currently my life's motto, but I do not necessarily approve of angry bread loaves and bagels!

Just got back from KL last nite. Saturday was spent climbing Gunung Datuk in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan.

Gunung Datuk is about 1½ hours drive from KL. To go there, get onto the North-South Expressway and head South for Rembau, Negeri Sembilan. Take Exit 223 (Pedas/Linggi). Immediately after the toll, take a left turn at the T-junction. A much shorter and quicker route is to take the 3-o'clock exit (you'll by-pass Pedas). Continue along the road until you come to the traffic lights at the end of the road. Take a right turn. Keep going forward (you will soon pass another set of traffic lights) until you see a signboard indicating a left turn to Gunung Datuk. Take the left turn and move on for about About 4km. There will be a junction to the left. This road goes through a rubber estate. Not long along the road, there is a fork; take the left turn. Go all the way and you'll come to Gunung Datuk's base camp.

We came from Kuantan, via Chini, Muadzam and Gemas. Took us about three hours of journey!

pardon their grammar, but this is the signboard located at the foot of the mountain.....

Trekking at a moderate speed will take 2½ hours up and a little bit over an hour down. Sounds like an easy trek right when I just break it down to minutes and hour? But actually, the first hour of trekking was really tough as the hill's gradient was somewhere 75 degree to 85 degree. Yes, pacak habisss the first hour of climband coming down that same slopes requires you to use your knees a lot for braking!

The trail is really straightforward as there's one clear path leading all the way to the peak. It's well-trodden and pretty wide, so trekkers should not get lost nor get tangled with thorny plants. Along the way, there's a patch of yam plants where the leaves stand out from among the common jungle tropical flora.

at the plateau before scaling the peak....

yes, Husna my little trooper did it too. So proud of her.....

For me, the best part of the trek is at the peak. There is no beirut, nor muddy ground, nor tall trees and bushy shrubs to block one's view. Formed by several gigantic granite boulders (that's really not the word coz they are much bigger than what the word suggests), the area around the peak is spacious. Whoever can brave the few rungs of metal ladders and sits at the peak will be offered a 360-degree view. On a clear day, I was told, one can see the Seremban town and as far as the Straits of Malacca.


Once at the top, be prepared for for some of the strongest winds on an open mountain top. But after the sweaty, struggling walk up, sitting with the strong cool winds blowing in you face is truly a refreshing experience.

us, at the peak....

The event that was supposed to be a half day climb dragged to be a full day affair as there were team members who did the climb and descent in 6 hours! Since we all came as a team, we all waited till the very last person came down. Aaleema, though you did it at a siput babi's pace, we are still proud of you coz  you did it without any drama or tears!

Late lunch (yes, 6pm!) at Am's place. Her mom cooked us her famous ikan sembilang masak berlada (best in the world!), masak lemak nangka muda with ayam, kacang panjang goreng dengan hati ayam and ulam jering dengan sambal belacan yang super hot! Most of us ate more than one servings, that was for sure! Thank you Kak Am for extending the warmest of hospitality towards all of us. Semoga Allah membalas budi baik akak pada kita!

After Maghrib prayers, we left Am's place and headed for I-City in Shah Alam. The original plan to go watch Odissi by Ramli Ibrahim had to be scrapped because of time constraint. W reached I-City at a little bit over 10pm and walked around (no! We hobbled and limped around actually) watching the beautiful sceneries of electric trees.

a sight for tired eyes, but it did nothing for my tired limbs....

The night ended around 2am for us and I just dropped into a deep fitfull sleep the moment my head touched the pillow. But I heard the gals had their sessi kaunseling at Aaleema's place. Topic nya, "ego trip", kalau tak silap saya lah. Tunggu mereka-mereka yang berkenaan buka blog sendiri kalau uolls nak tahu. I dun do hearsay posts! Hahahahaha.......

Wahhhhhh..... woke up next morning, I could not move my legs. No joke! Sakit gila peha dan betis, belum masuk lagi lenguh bahu galas backpack yang hanya 5 kg lebih tuh. Can't imagine how Am, Zela and Zarina's shoulders felt that morning coz they carried up 13-15kgs weight in ther haversacks as part of their Gunung Tahan expedition training.

gini hahhhh rupa I kesakitan pagi tuh....

sampai kembang-kembang lobang hidung menyeringai...

And so the day ended with us journeying back to Kuantan and the closing activity of the day was applying deep heat ointment to the legs and shoulders. (I know that ointment should have been applied BEFORE the climb and not after!), but what the heck, I just needed something to do while I whine about the pain and the ache I was suffering from to the kiddos.

I do hope this pain will go away soon, coz even as I am writing this post, the gang is already planning a trip up Gunung Irau! Woooo hoooo.... talk about tak serik kannnnn?

So, uolls, jaga diri baik-baik hokkayyyy? Nanti mak hapdate lagi blog ni bila sengal-sengal badan mak ni dah kurang. For now, mak redha dan pasrah jer lah jalan terhencut-hencut macam OKU. Mak yakin, pahala sabar mak banyak nih.......