Gunung Bunga Buah                       (Tan May Lee)
Level of Difficulty:  4/10
Duration of Hike:  4 + hours

My first trip with Yuan-Circle!!! How was it? Do read on....

After having a hearty breakfast, I began my journey to meet the rest of the Yuan-Circle members at the Gombak toll. All excited with my sandwiches, pears, Oreo biscuits, Fox sweets and chocolates, I knew I was all geared up to scale Gunung Bunga Buah. Little did I know, food should not be my priority. Instead, physical preparation should be topmost on my mind!

I arrived at Gombak toll booth and saw an entouerage of cars, almost 10 of them. As I got down the car, they asked for our plate number. I was looking out for Mr. Ong, the only person I knew, and he was mysteriously missing. Happily giving the car plate number to them, my friend asked me, “Is this the trekking group?” I then asked them where they were going and their reply, “Oh! We’re going to Bentong!”. We were so embarrassed when they said that the ‘trekking group’ is in front!!!

That was a good start! We almost joined the ‘makan group’! I signed with relieve when I saw Mr. Ong. After chatting up for a while, all 22 of us began our drive to Genting Highlands. It is a wonder that we are going up to Genting for a trekking trip when the whole world is up there meeting up with Uncle Lim!!

We began our journey up the mountain at 10.00am after several hardworking ‘drivers’ completed their ‘warm-up’ session (as cars need to be parked at the foot of the hill). It was a cheerful morning as all of us were so enthusiastic to begin the journey.

It was a climb longer than usual as it rained the night before. The path was slippery, muddy and lumpy!!! Being the only ‘lucky’ one, I was sucked out of my blood by a starving leech. My knight in shining armour (Sifu Lee from Hong Kong) rescued me from the leech with his bare hands (instead of using salt!).

Throughout the whole journey, I saw the softer side of humans. Everyone was so considerate and helpful, even to those they just got to know. It was truly an enriching outing as there was exchange of information, knowledge and experiences from the veterans at the amateurs.

After more than two hours of scaling countless hills, we finally reached the peak of Gunung Bunga Buah. It was indeed a sigh of relief and everyone was chatting away with Team A of Yuan-Circle who conquered the mountain the night before. It was a lunch different from usual as were so close to the skies, trees and birds. It was drizzling a little and soon the air became cold.

After a quick meal, we decided to decent as the dark clouds continued lurking above us. The journey back to the starting point was more difficult for some than others, but a few lucky ones were provided with the ‘magical walking stick’!! After trekking for another 3+hours, we finally reached the foot of the hill. We walked to the nearest water source and quickly began cleaning up. At about 5.00pm we headed for dinner, as we were so hungry that we could actually eat a horse!!

It was a memorable maiden trip to Gunung Bunga Buah. I would like to say ‘well done’ to all for the spirit, the courage, the helpfulness and the determination!!!! And also great thanks to Mr. Ong, being the responsible and ‘cool’ (i.e.; not tired at all!) Captain of this trip. And I am truly looking forward to the next trip...