Preparing For Mount Kinabalu Hike: Gunung Besar Hantu (BTW, I'm a Fully Registered Pharmacist now)
5:29 PM
IF YOU'RE HERE TO READ ABOUT GUNUNG BESAR HANTU, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN BELOW because I'm gonna talk a lot about my FRP posting first.
So before we talk about the hike, you might want to know that my lapor diri (report to duty) date as a fully registered pharmacist was on 2/4/2018 (Monday).
Yes, I finally finished my PRP training and became FRP! Honestly the process was quite easy compared to other PRPs in big hospitals lah... After finish PRP training and submitting logbook, we' became "floaters" where we were placed in a department temporarily until we get our FRP posting. I'm not sure whether I've mentioned before in my blog that I've been placed in our pharmacy store by my boss. At first, I felt like I was thrown to store because in store we rarely get to use our clinical skills except when we are working shifts. However, as time goes, I started to like store more because of the calm and cold environment, and of course I got close with the friend-colleagues there. So the time when I was a "floater" was quite relaxing for me until I started to get lazy hahaha. I was actually enjoying my life because I have more time to do my own things after work.
Although sometimes I worry that I would forget my clinical knowledge after working in store for long time, or that I would be incompetent if I want to become a clinical pharmacist in future, I try to think positively that the inventory management skills I learned in store would be useful to me if I cannot continue my contract with government and have to work in retail setting.
Oh and, according to the past experience of our senior PRPs, usually when they found out their lapor diri date, they would start taking long leaves to clear their off-times, they would start calling JKNS like mad to beg for the place of their choice (because they most likely will get posted to another state, Sabah/Sarawak are the most dreaded states for the West Malaysians), attend farewell parties at current hospital that they're leaving soon and say thank you and goodbye speeches.
However, this was not how it worked out for me and my partner Sikin. First, we already got the news that contract PRPs would only get posted within the same state. So we never worried about getting posted to Sabah/Sarawak. Second, even before the lapor diri date was announced, boss already told some of the senior pharmacists that she intended to retain me and Sikin. They all said that if the Head of Pharmacists want to retain PRPs, there's a high chance that the PRPs will be retained. At first, I was not sure whether I want to retain in HKKB or not. But I guess it's a better choice to stay at HKKB for this second year of posting because it's considered easy to get marks for the evaluation in HKKB. I might not have a lot of opportunities to be involved in projects or events if I get posted to a big hospital. Then, after the lapor diri date was announced, boss told some senior pharmacy assistant that she called JKNS to request for keeping me and SIKIN in HKKB because we lack of staff (2 FRPs just transferred to other hospitals and it's hard to get new FRP in because most people wouldn't choose to come HKKB). Everyone was so sure that we would stay. Me and Sikin was quite confident that we would stay too, but there's still that 1% that JKNS does not grant boss' wish. Furthermore, boss didn't tell us personally or anyone else that she is confirmed we will retain in HKKB. And yet, she didn't ask us to clear off-time. So actually we just carry on our days like normal working days like we're not leaving anytime soon.
On the lapor diri day, Sikin drove both of us to JKNS, we didn't even try hard to reach as early as possible like other PRPs who reached there before 8AM. Although we started our journey early but we reached around 8.40 AM because of traffic jams and also KKB is very far haha. Anyway, the result was as expected, we both stay in HKKB hahaha. We also went to find a Pegawai there to borrow something for our event this weekend. Then, a photo on the Pegawai's cork board caught my attention. In the photo, there's the Pegawai, our BOSS, and the Pegawai who handed us our posting letter. Hahaha, I wasn't so surprised lah because everyone already told us that our boss worked in JKNS before and has best friends there. Haha I don't want to elaborate more.. So after that we just went back to HKKB to lapor diri and return to work like usual lol. Boss somemore post in WhatsApp group to welcome us as new FRP lol. After that, everyone joke with us like we are new staffs in HKKB. I guess this is considered good for us because we're already used to HKKB and we don't need to adapt to new environment again. Furthermore, I heard some PRPs (including my friend) got posted to PKD Hulu Selangor/ PKD Kuala Selangor/Hospital Sabak Bernam, which are like much more further than HKKB from my house. So I'm glad lah we get to stay in HKKB, don't need to find place to rent and all.
OK this is the story of my FRP posting. Now I can talk about my Gunung Besar Hantu hike already.
GUNUNG BESAR HANTU
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So, I was asked by my senior pharmacist Fira who's a hiker whether I wanna join her to hike GBH on 1/2018 (Sunday), which was ONE DAY BEFORE lapor diri! And it was very last minute, she asked me on 28/3/2018 (Wednesday). I just signed up and paid for the hike without thinking too much because I wanna seize every opportunity to train for Mount Kinabalu (it's only 2 months away!). Who cares if the next day I'm supposed to lapor diri?! (I knew I'm not going to transfer to other place anyway haha). She actually told me that it's not that hard and she has another friend who's also first time hiking a Gunung and also the team was supposed to have a "swapper" (a professional hiker that follows the last person of the team to make sure that nobody is left behind).
Then she told me that we have to start driving from KKB to the starting point at Negeri Sembilan from 12AM. I thought OK lah I'm not the one driving. On 31/3/2018 (Saturday) I actually had a workshop in KL but luckily Sikin was the one driving. After the workshop I reached KKB at around 3PM, then I read some blogs to get an idea about the hike. OMAIGOD. Someone said that GBH is infested with leeches and some parts of the trail has spiky bushes that will scratch on you limbs when you go through.
OMAIGOD. I didn't know anything about leeches and I don't have long sleeve top to protect my hands from being scratch! So I nervously searched the Internet for ways to prevent leech bites and then I went to the Pekan KKB to look for thick socks, hand socks, Baygon spray and minyak angin because I don't want to have injuries on my lapor diri day! Luckily I managed to find all the stuffs I needed.
Wanted to have a short nap before we go but ended up busy preparing for the hike. So I actually didn't sleep at all before the hike and until the end of the hike (I stayed awake for 24 hours!). Thank God I didn't faint during the hike lol.
We met at Fira's house in Rasa then we set off in Fira's Myvi to Kampung Chennah, Negeri Sembilan.
It felt kinda cool by then to travel after midnight but then I realised there were a lot of other cars on the road! We were too excited to feel sleepy! But the journey to Negeri Sembilan from KKB took around 2 hours and we felt a little tired by then, until we enter the jungle road to Kampung Chennah.
There were no other car following the same path as us and we even passed by Nirvana Memorial Park =.= Luckily at some point of the path we passed by some restaurants with customers. As we went down the road deeper, it got more and more curved and there's no light at all except from our car lamps! But luckily again, two cars appeared behind us and we suspected that they were our team mates for this hike.
After 1 hour of driving through the bending roads (we kept wondering when will it end although the GPS showed clearly the ETA), we finally arrived at Kampung Chennah. True enough, the two cars behind us were our team mates! Apparently, they're a fitness group from University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Thank God our team mates were there with us or else we don't know how to contact them because there's no signal there!
After everyone reached, we grabbed our food (a banana for breakfast and a lunch box) and got up a lorry!
Yes, we traveled in this lorry for 1 hour to reach the starting point of the hike. It's cool because it's my first time on a lorry! I decided to stand because the blog I read said the road is bumpy and I don't wanna get dizzy. It's a great experience because it felt so refreshing when the wind gushed into my face! Sometimes there will be bamboo or tree branches that stick out from the side of the road and we had to dodge! Haha it's like my childhood adventure dream came true.
After 1 hour of lorry ride, we reached the starting point and we started walking on red mud road which has signs of 4WD tyres on it. When we reached a river we rested for 5 minutes or so and then continued our hike.
The roads were very misty and so fantasy-like so we took some pictures. BTW all the pictures were taken with smartphone cameras so the resolution is not that good. Some were taken by myself and some taken by others. I also lazy to edit lah so these pictures are all natural yo (pun intended)!
And then we started going through these narrow jungle trails where the branches kept poking at our bodies. Actually not that painful lah. Just have to becareful of your face.
After Kem Orchid, we went through the most difficult part of the hike, the Mossy forest part where there were 90 degree inclination. The trail was beautiful but tough!
Wanted to have a short nap before we go but ended up busy preparing for the hike. So I actually didn't sleep at all before the hike and until the end of the hike (I stayed awake for 24 hours!). Thank God I didn't faint during the hike lol.
We met at Fira's house in Rasa then we set off in Fira's Myvi to Kampung Chennah, Negeri Sembilan.
It felt kinda cool by then to travel after midnight but then I realised there were a lot of other cars on the road! We were too excited to feel sleepy! But the journey to Negeri Sembilan from KKB took around 2 hours and we felt a little tired by then, until we enter the jungle road to Kampung Chennah.
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| Don't stare at this picture long enough or you might see something supernatural xD |
There were no other car following the same path as us and we even passed by Nirvana Memorial Park =.= Luckily at some point of the path we passed by some restaurants with customers. As we went down the road deeper, it got more and more curved and there's no light at all except from our car lamps! But luckily again, two cars appeared behind us and we suspected that they were our team mates for this hike.
After 1 hour of driving through the bending roads (we kept wondering when will it end although the GPS showed clearly the ETA), we finally arrived at Kampung Chennah. True enough, the two cars behind us were our team mates! Apparently, they're a fitness group from University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Thank God our team mates were there with us or else we don't know how to contact them because there's no signal there!
After everyone reached, we grabbed our food (a banana for breakfast and a lunch box) and got up a lorry!
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Yes, we traveled in this lorry for 1 hour to reach the starting point of the hike. It's cool because it's my first time on a lorry! I decided to stand because the blog I read said the road is bumpy and I don't wanna get dizzy. It's a great experience because it felt so refreshing when the wind gushed into my face! Sometimes there will be bamboo or tree branches that stick out from the side of the road and we had to dodge! Haha it's like my childhood adventure dream came true.
After 1 hour of lorry ride, we reached the starting point and we started walking on red mud road which has signs of 4WD tyres on it. When we reached a river we rested for 5 minutes or so and then continued our hike.
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| The trio who travelled all the way from KKB in a Myvi! |
The roads were very misty and so fantasy-like so we took some pictures. BTW all the pictures were taken with smartphone cameras so the resolution is not that good. Some were taken by myself and some taken by others. I also lazy to edit lah so these pictures are all natural yo (pun intended)!
And then we started going through these narrow jungle trails where the branches kept poking at our bodies. Actually not that painful lah. Just have to becareful of your face.
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| A large majestic tree |
After around 1 hour of trekking, we reached the first check point (Kem Orchid). There were only a few orchids seen here. We sat on a picnic mat that they set up and ate our breakfast here. I ate a Snickers bar that I brought because I felt hungry already. I forgot when I ate my banana but I think it was before Kem Orchid.
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| Pretty orchids |
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| Oops Fira's head at the corner |
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| Kem Orchid Sign |
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| This was actually taken when we reached Kem Orchid on the way down to foot of the mountain. The guide suddenly asked me to take a picture of him because the mist was so beautiful after a rain. He brought a 15KG backpack up the mountain! |
After Kem Orchid, we went through the most difficult part of the hike, the Mossy forest part where there were 90 degree inclination. The trail was beautiful but tough!
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| Here's a nice picture taken by the guide. It'll be perfect if taken with a good camera! What was I looking at? |
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| This is what I was looking at! Some species of ants that I've never seen before this |
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| Here we had to climb on roots and muddy ground |
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| I like this picture taken by Aweena! |
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| A glimpse of the tough terrain |
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| Hi, a selfie because the sun shines on my face. |
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| This was my real facial expression throughout the hike lol |
After hiking like 3 hours through the mossy forest with some rests in between, finally we reached the top.
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| A panorama shot of the view at the mountain top |
As you can see the view was quite disappointing but expected for me haha. It's the achievement that counts!
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| 1,462M checked! Glad to be still alive! lol wanted to show a "Tick" sign but failed. |
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| Lunch time! We had nasi impit with chicken curry and tempeh sayur. |
The guide who brough 15KG backpack up started to unload his stuffs and boy it's like a small kitchen hahaha. He boiled red tea with a pot and a small stove for everyone of us!
The professional hikers that "potong" us before were already at the top resting, I heard that they took only 2 hours to hike from the foot to the top whereas we took 7 hours hahaha.
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| A group shot at the top! |
After we rested for about 1-2 hours, we started to descend. Actually I can't wait to descend because the more I rest the more I felt sleepy and it's so so torturing. I wanted to sleep but I can't do you know the feeling?!
So going down was a bit tricky. You have to control your leg muscles well and plan your landing cautiously so that you won't get injured. And when we were going through mossy forest the rain started to fall! This made the terrain slippery and dangerous. So I didn't care already I just sat my butt on the muddy ground/roots to get down. Because the three of us stopped for a while to take pictures of the mossy forest, the UMMC team already went ahead of us. Fira and Aweena descend quite fast but I prefer slow and steady to protect my legs. And I was right, Fira slipped and sprained her ankle while Aweena had serious leg cramps. As for me, I didn't suffer any injury except tired muscles hehe.
Oh and a lot of the hikers got bitten by leeches but I didn't because I was being extra careful at where my legs land on the ground. A few times I saw the leeches standing up straight waiting to attach to their victims and I managed to avoid them. Whenever I stopped at a place to rest, I would keep an eye on my socks and shoes. I saw a leech crawling on my shoes twice and I managed to remove it.
The descending part was quite boring after the mossy forest part. It's not exactly easy because the trails were inclined, muddy and slippery so we had to tighten our leg muscles a lot to maintain stability. Maybe because I was already tired and sleepy I was like keep complaining to myself and Fira why did I sign up for Mount Kinabalu haha.
Then, we bid goodbye to the team and left Kampung Chennah with an exhausted body. Three of us decided to stop by R&R Seremban to shower and eat dinner. I slept all the way in the car lol. Fira said she almost dozed off a few times OMG. By the time we finish eating it's already 11.30 PM. Fira wanted to rest her eyes for 10 minutes so we all closed our eyes.... And when I opened my eyes again it's already almost 1PM LOL. I think if I wasn't awaken by the cold we might had just slept through the night in the car OMG.
I think after around 5 hours we reached the starting point again. Thank God it finally ends if not I think I'm gonna resort to rolling down the hill.
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| This time the sky was bright enough to take a picture of us on the lorry. |
Then, we bid goodbye to the team and left Kampung Chennah with an exhausted body. Three of us decided to stop by R&R Seremban to shower and eat dinner. I slept all the way in the car lol. Fira said she almost dozed off a few times OMG. By the time we finish eating it's already 11.30 PM. Fira wanted to rest her eyes for 10 minutes so we all closed our eyes.... And when I opened my eyes again it's already almost 1PM LOL. I think if I wasn't awaken by the cold we might had just slept through the night in the car OMG.
So finally, I reached my KKB house at 3AM omg... First time reaching home so late! Then I kept some stuffs and cleaned some stuffs until 4AM only I went to bed... and woke up again after 2 hours to go lapor diri! Luckily everything was smooth on the lapor diri day.
So, to conclude, GBH was a tough mountain for beginner but a moderate difficulty for professional hikers. If you usually hike for view then you can just forget it. In my opinion, I wouldn't go for a second time because the road to the starting point is too tedious and long.
Anyhow, I kinda enjoyed this hike because I met a great bunch of UMMC hikers and miraculously didn't get any injury or leech bite! Now I also have confidence to hike Mount Kinabalu because I didn't get any hypoglycemia or shortness of breath in this hike (probably because this time I drank a bottle of 100 PLUS along the way). I was also not the slowest one in the group! My leg muscle pain on the next day was quite serious where I would winced out of pain when I step up or down stairs or inclination, but I need no painkiller at all. Then my left heel started to hurt like hell when I stepped on it, probably due to the jump off the lorry which I regretted so much. Luckily all the pain disappeared after 2 days :D I hope the pain after hiking Mount Kinabalu will disappear as fast as this lah.
Haha when descending I kept telling Fira that I won't hike Gunung again because it's too torturing to my legs and too time-consuming. But she assured me that I would change my mind the next day. Haha sure enough, when she said she's going to Cameron Highland for hiking this month I asked whether I can go hahaha but too bad I'm working that day.
OK for those who are interested in our tentative and cost of this hike:
RM 50 for permit, guide, lorry and management fee.
TENTATIVE
5.00 AM Lorry ride to starting point from Kampung Chennah
6.30 AM Started the hike
9.00 AM Rest at Kem Orchid
1.00 PM Reach the top
2.30 PM Started the descend
7.00 PM Lorry ride back to Kampung Chennah
8.00 PM Reach Kampung Chennah
FOOD & BEVERAGE CONSUMED
A banana
A Snickers Bar
500 ML of 100 PLUS
Nasi impit, curry chicken and tempeh
2 Sugus sweets
THINGS TO BRING
Headlamp (for the first part of the hike when the sky is still dark)
Poncho (I didn't even bother to put it on when it as raining because its so tedious)
Hiking shoes (I wore running shoes and the sole fell off haiz coz I left my hiking shoes at Klang)
Hiking stick (optional but very useful to reduce weight on your legs and joints)
Lastly, I'm glad that I survived the hike because I didn't sleep the day before and the only training I got was from Bukit Gasing and Bukit Dua Ringgit only =_=
So yeah quite happy that I succeeded to conquer GBH and I'm looking forward to the Sg. Chilling trip with fellow colleagues this weekend!
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