Broga The Beautiful

Last weekend 8th of August, the Pelopor  Adventure Team kept their promise to bring Ted & I up Bukit Broga in Semenyih. They saw how Ted took a new interest in hiking and after Gunung Senyum, they thought, especially Zaim and Haidy, that Ted would love Broga too. They were right. Ted was so excited about Broga, he convinced me to open an event page in Facebook, inviting more people to join us for the hike. In the end we managed to convince about 22 people including Aiman, Asnida and Asrof. I wanted to bring Airena along but unfortunately she cancelled last minute.....oh well.

We decided too see the sunrise so our journey started as early as 3 am, meeting in a mamak shop in Semenyih. Asrof & Asnida were already waiting for us there....they have been there since 2 am, took a nap while waiting for us. The others arrived soon  after that and while having breakfast, I can see how exciting this trip was going to be.

As we arrived in the kelapa sawit plantation, I couldn't see anything but darkness. But as we parked, I realized they were many before us. There in between the kelapa sawit plants, were cars parked in rows. I read about this place before and learned how it is a haven for hikers and photographers. We gathered and after a short briefing and stretching, led by Zaim, we made our way into the darkness, light up by torchlight and head lamps. It was a magical sight....seeing rows of lights moving into the abyss in succession.

I had experienced in long hike before so I paced myself, allowing everybody to move ahead. Ted found me and soon we found ourself at the back of the pack. Ted at first struggled and I followed his pace. But he was undeterred.... moving slowly forward. We knew Zaim as a sweeper would not fail us. He was with Shu keeping Ari company, who was soon was out of breath and moved even slower. Ted & I kept going forward slowly but surely. it was an experienced I never felt before, moving into the unknown, taking the hill a step at a time. Most of the time I followed Ted, making sure he was ok.

Along the way we met a few groups of hikers in succession. Some were slower and some were faster. We never felt alone despite the darkness. A few times we stopped and caught our breath, we would turned around and see flashes of lights moving closer....what a sight it was. We made a few pit stop and finally reach the top at 6.30 am. It was an amazing feeling. Despite the darkness, Ted looked at me and said how I glowed....it was the exercise. He said I looked like the time I came back from LP second weekend!

Ari and Zaim soon joined us and it was an amazing feeling to have everyone sitting and camping at the boulder picked by Haidy and Uda earlier on. They were the scout team, and along with Aiman, were one of the few to arrived first.

Sitting on the boulder witnessing the  twilight hour, I couldn't stop being awed of how beautiful and clean the air was. As the sun rise....I see faces that glowed and each time, I catch my breath. As darkness turned to light, we saw the enormous crowd up on Broga. They were clusters of people everywhere along the trail,  some perched on the many boulders situated on the hill. Someone said it was like there were a huge sale up here and the crowd was huge.

2 hours on that boulder were spent talking, chatting and just enjoying the view. I was a shutter bug and could not stop taking pictures. After the customary hanging of Pelopor banner, we took a group photos and made our way down to the foothill. As usual, the Pelopor team, being true to their nature of environmentalists, collected the trash left behind by those before us. I was so proud of Asrof who without even being asked, help to carry them down too....

Suffice to say the trip down was even harder but more rewarding in terms of the view. It was breathtaking and I was grateful at being able to experienced it with Ted, Aiman, Asrof, Asnida and my new found hiking friends.

I know that Ted & I will be doing more of hiking...as the reward is more then I could ever express. The feeling it gave me and the experience is one that I would love to duplicate over and over again.....