BUKIT BROGA AND GUNUNG TOK WAN

Bukit Broga, also known as 'Bukit Lalang', after the local species of grass that grows abundantly here, is a hill in Semenyih, about 40 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur. It can be reached a short distance after the University of Nottingham, where the entrance trail starts from an oil palm estate facing a rabbit park across the road.

Broga Hill was my training ground in preparation for The North Face 100km Singapore (Oct 2011) and Thailand (April 2012) - The North Face (TNF) is an endurance trail run where you're running for long hours (7 hours plus..die!).

 

At the beginning point. You will be greeted by this signage.

A total of 5km only. Piece of cake

I've been in Broga Hill for countless time and mostly for leisure. And today, Gunung Tok Wan is my story. I've only been in Gunung Tok Wan twice. In order to get to Gunung Tok Wan, first you need to conquer Broga Hill.

Preparation - What Do You Need

1) Health - you may need this one. 

2) Shoes - wear sport shoes (mine is Brooks Cascadia 6 -  old already - as per photo)

3) Hydration - fluid (plain water of no less than 1.5litre for Gunung Tok Wan, 500ml to 1 litre for Broga Hill)

- mine using High Sierra 2.0 litre hydration pack (RM140-00) as pe photo

4) Food - source of energy - dry food like buns, chocolate or energy bar sufficient for 1 person

5) Basic Medical Kit - for minor cut (band aid), deep cut (gauze and band aid)

6) Optional - face towel, cap, shade

 

 

 

On top of first hill out of 3 

One of my many trips to Broga Hill

 

 My friend with his daughter

You may decend like this if you have to

My Son and Daughter - first hill - tired already

 

On the way to 2nd hill

 

you can observe the majetic fog like this if you're lucky

The decesding predicament - hang on to the rope

On top of the summit...yeah...its only 400 metre...ceh..!

This is the new signage at the summit, the old one had been scrapped due to vandalism and an eyesore because too many 'I was here' graffity.
It will take 45 minutes to 1 hour to get here depends on your fitness level and the queue, Yes, you need to wait for your turn to climb. There are 2 ways up here, by using the rope and squeeze your way through a stone gap, the other just a climbing. Both also will give you physical challenge.

Reaching the summit is the end of your Broga Hill's hike. Now, the toughest part, Gunung Tok Wan.
Somewhere at the Broga Hill's summit, you will find a trail path (jungle path). This is the entrance.
Make your way inside the forrest. Oh, by the way, you should not go alone, bring a company at least 2.
The jungle is kind of scary on certain part, sound of it's residence would give you the shiver. But dont worry, nothing will go wrong.

"On my first attempt, I got stung by a hornet (I think) and we were not even half way yet, we had to turn back"

The journey to Gunung Tok Wan will take us 2 hours average, and another 2 hours return. Just be patient.
The trick is to follow the trail, it had been used too many times by known adventurers and it should not confuse you.

 Previously there was a sign indication to Gunung Tok Wan like this

The guy who will never quit.

This guy has been invited during our stop at Broga Hill an hour ago, he took up our challenge. I couldn't remember his name. But he was one tough dude. He got his leg cramped too many times but he soldiered on. (if not, he will hold us back).

At one of the stop - The big rock

 Reaching here is a half way indication. Take a rest. Shoot a photo. Have a drink or snacks. It's a long way ahead.

What to expect in this jungle :

Mostly covered, Averagely dark and with shade.

Visual : green

Audio : the sound of you chatting with your friend, your feet stepping on the dry leaves, loud decible sound from a kind of tree insect and and a very long loud sound which I think its a monkey (kind of).

Terrain Condition : damp course mix with tree root, hill and downhill route, some part requires extra careful when going down, certain portion of uphill may requires your pulling strength.

Chances of Bumping other climbers : 2 to none

from left : Ridzuan (Dr) and onother guy who took our challenge, he is UITM student.

It seems that somebody had been camped here...ugghh...scary! It's dark, quiet and middle of nowhere.

The cramp is in progress

At one of the 'countless climb' section. Be prepared for a tough and long duration of ascending and descending terrain. Just drink enough water and sufficient rest, you should be ok.

wohoo! 100 metres to go...the person who made this sign sure make us happy. Kudos to him/her.

 

Buffet at the top

The advertisement of a Buffet -which had been brought here by previous climber maybe they use it as a shelter - it's water proof kind of material. Hey, don't just leave it idle on the ground, we should might as well hang it.

'It was a tough course for an old man like me' - En Suhaimi (dr)

Me : but En Suhaimi, I've never been to Gunung Ledang like you did' :p

Taking a break

Free and easy

Gunung Tok Wan's summit is just a few metres of flat ground surrounded by trees...and that's it! No scenic view, no horizon to look through and no admiring the sea or whatsoever.

The torture that you had endured earlier was a  true grit that you might remember for a long time.

2 hours of journey and it came to an end.
This photo was taken from my first expedition.
Make sure you take you photo here otherwise your friend will not belive that you've conquered Gunung Tok Wan in 4 hours.

The total journey from foot hill of bukit broga to Gunung Tok Wan took us 2 hours 45 minutes x 2 (return).
You might plan your expedition carefully.
Thanks for reading.

KENABOI ADVENTURE RACE 2012 - RUNNING, CAVING, ABSEILING, TUBING AND MULTI TASK

Kenaboi Adventure Race 2012

27^th May 2012 (Sunday)

Kenaboi is a little town (I mean it!) situated in Kg Chennah, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan.

About 50 minutes journey from Hulu Langat Pekan Bt 18, towards Kuala Kelawang (40 km one way). Make sure your car have enough petrol to drive back.

Kenaboi Adventure Race is not being held every year, so, you might not give this one a miss. One reason that I really want to enter this race is that I kinda boring with the same old road race where you just race against time. I need something different.

There are 4 + 1 compulsory disciplines in this race - Running, Caving, Abseiling, Tubing. The multi tasks were : carrying an egg through the cave without breaking it, coconut bowling and dancing with full of humiliation in 1 minute. I really looking forward for the caving activity.

The registration for the adventure race is RM37-00 per person is considered very cheap if they provided you with breakfast (Nasi Lemak, local kuih 3 pcs and teh-o pack in typical mamak plastic bag), Tshirt (cotton- pink colour) and lunch (chicken rice).

The surrounding - the marshals are in green shirt

Notice the packed food for breakfast

The registration area..

The promotional banner

The event supposed to start at 8.00am but because of this dude Dato’ (VIP) had to launch the event who came in at 9.30am (there was Doa’, speech and briefing). At last the race started at 9.45am.

We’ve been released in batches, I’m in wave 3 (21 – 30) maybe to prevent long queue at the task or activities.

Running about 1 km on tarmac road, then we began our hill trail run, it’s a long ascending hill in the woods.

First Check Point : At the trail entrance, they had this signage info – an ‘Orang Asli’ ranking – their names and what they do. Snap a photo of this and we moved on.

'The speed demon' - all the way to top position

Check Point 2: After being tortured with the hilly route, about 40 minutes to 1 hour, we reached check point 2, they asked us one of the tribe ranking and their ‘job description’,  piece of cake. The marshal gave us a black rope to acknowledge that we have completed the task.

 I'm looking at the photo that I snapped earlier

Move on to Check point 3. The time was 11.00 am (sort of). We have to run in rubber tree plantation zone, there was nothing but a smell of rubber scrap. Another 2 or 3 km of running, we reached kampung orang asli settlement. 

 Rubber Plantation - nice view I tell ya..

 rasa haus plak...jemput minum..

The friendly marshals - this way please...

calm and quiet - suitable for suicide spot due to heart break...ha, ha..

 Soya bean anyone?

for a living - worker's hut...imagine when it's get dark...eww..

Task : Long blowpipe – we have to blow the dart at a target 4 or 5 meters in front of us. 5 darts need to be in the circle. Completed in less than 10 minutes.

The participants were trying hard for this task...puh!! puh!!

 Green shirt - "tangan aku dah kena dah ni, kau ambik plaster kat sana"

Grey shirt  - "jap, aku nak joget jap, bagi menghiburkan hati"

 Proceed to the next point, a very-very long journey about 5 to 7km of running on dusty road. We reached Check point 4. Caving Task!! We have to show the colour ribbon (I think it was pink) from last check point to prove that we have completed the earlier task.

Here, we were given an egg that we have to carry and surrendered to the marshal in the cave without breaking it.

The journey continued in a trail of mud, I mean deep mud! You can easily drown your feet, ankle high in this mud. There were bushes, with a with a sharp edges that has got into my thigh. ouch!!

Scorching hot! 

yeah..I need that...

bridge on the river kwai - this bridge will lead us to the cave

 

Muddy trail coming up...huhu

 Flowing slowly - we need to go through this one first

After the mud scene, we had to climbed up the slippery hill and move on to small stream (very small). We don’t care about our muddy shoes already because we can wash it out here..he, he..

We reached the cave about 30 minutes or so. Put my headlight and move on. There was 2 sets of cave we need to go in, I mean real deep and …it’s dark, there was a little light here and there but mostly its dark!!

The first cave : When we first entered through a tight space, we don’t really know where to turn because there were 2 or 3 different route in the cave. Luckily, there was a marshal at certain section of the cave complete with torch light. Yeay!! They yelled, ‘sini, sini’.

We just follow the light and sound. But do becareful of your step, because most of time you will be stepping on protruding small stones. Don’t let your feet stuck in the middle of that stone. We have to crawl, slide, twist and turn to make our way through the cave. Your arms, legs and body will get the scratch and bruises - no mercy! Knocking your head against the cave’s wall is normal here, you will feel a bit drowsy for 1 minute.

 

At the entrance - the marshals are waiting...- mari-mari

Second cave : the entrance was almost impossible to go through!! It was a very thin space that will force you to totally prone on the flat ground a pull yourself through. You cant even crawl!! This section is only less than a meter, you need to pull yourself inch by inch with all your remaining guts…head first…then…you need to somehow switch your legs to be in front in order for you to land safely on the ground (I mean stone). At a section in that tight space, there is a portion that you can switch, it’s a total torture! In the process of switching and as you were lying, both of your feet will stick on top of each other with NO room to spare.  In order to make that switch, you need to push it, don’t panic! (imagine how tight is this section!)

You need to do acrobatic move here. There is a deep hole at the end of this section which you can trip over and fall down (not really deep, but it will hurt you like mad if you fall).

That is why you need to do the switch, and if not, your head will come out first and your whole body will land in that hole if you get unlucky.

At this point, I don’t care about what shirt I’m wearing and how was my hair because I just don’t care anymore…ha, ha…

 

 It's all about technique baby. Do you dare?

Check Point 5 : After that gruesome task, we met the marshal here, surrendered our egg in good condition and obtained our ribbon (can’t remember what colour) and moved on.

Continued the trail journey through the woods about 10 minutes and reached the abseiling section. Its about 2 storey high rock, you need to climb it and get your ass  down using the rope. The marshal will put your harness on. Piece of cake. This was Check Point 6.

 nampak macam rendah, tapi tinggi ooo....

Obtained the ribbon (I think) and proceed on. We headed back using the same stream and muddy trail to the check point that we reached earlier (the egg). Checked in our number and moved on to Check point 7. The time was 1.15pm. It was hot and sweaty!

Been walking on a never ending dusty road until we reached a much smaller tarmac road in the woods. The marshal said it was a 10km journey…perghh!!...

It’s physical torture to run and walk under the hot sun. About 1 hour or so (for 10km?) we reached the Kenaboi campsite. Check point 7. Here, the bowling challenge. We need to knock down at least 3 tins in order to move on. It’s like a bowling alley and your ball is a coconut. Did it on first try. Proceed to Check Point 8 (yeah, at the same place) for next task – dancing for 1 minute. Never felt so humiliate in my entire life. But who cares?

Completed. Then we proceed to another long journey to the last check point – tubing. It’s about 4 km walking and running on the tarmac. We met with other teams as well along the way, they have completed the challenge I presumed.

Check Point 9 : Reached the tubing section in 30 to 40 minutes. Put my life jacket on, took my tube (round tube) and proceed to the stream. Within minutes, I’m off. It’s quite a bumpy ride. I finished about 20 to 30 minutes or so. Then proceed to the finishing line, which was 3 km away – by running plus walking. While we were walking, one of the marshal said that the time was up and we had to get on a 4 wheel drive to the finish line…yippee!!..

Finally!! We are here...!

 selecting the tubes and life jacket

 This is how it's done...weeee...!!

Kasut dah bersih dah...

 we're going down town...

 Yes, we completed alright. We have done all the tasks given, we’ve been running, caving and tubing. And we loved it!!..We completed the whole journey in 7 hours and 30 minutes sort of…pheww…!!! That long…?

The only thing that frustrated me was, we have to wait to be transported out from the Kenaboi camp site. Being there meaning that we have spent unnecessary time for the lucky draw, prize presentation and speech….arrrggghh!...and to make matter worse, there was No line coverage here!!...

The finishing area...

My pride