My First Trekking Trip

By Josie Yap

Finally! After viewing so many photos of trekking trips posted by KC in his website, I embarked on my first trekking trip on Sunday 22 July. Of course, I never thought that my first trekking trip would be to clean up Lolo Campsite which is a 2-hour journey from the Gunung Nuang entrance.x

Chai Mey, Chee Sum, Mandy and Josie
The mission: to survive my maiden trekking trip without being attacked by those blood thirst leeches lurking and waiting for its victims. Yes, I am one of those who are terrified of bloodsucking leeches. Eiiikkk!!!

The atmosphere was great and full of excitement with everybody eagerly waiting for the event to start. One would think it is like going for a major shopping spree armed with good quality plastic bags distributed by the organizer. After waiting for more than an hour, we finally started off into the trekking path at about 8.50am.x

Yeah! A journey of a thousand steps begins with this first step... Rose, Josie, Chee Sum
I have no difficulty at all keeping up with Rose, an avid trekker and also a runner. We chatted non-stop even when we were breathing slightly hard going up the slopes. My friends on this trip, Chee Sum and Mandy were with me most of the time trekking up to Lolo Campsite. We laughed every time I mentioned the word ‘leech’. Apart from some muddy spots and slippery paths, it was relatively easy. Thank you to those kind-hearted gentlemen who helped us to cross the muddy paths and streams by laying bamboo and stones on wet grounds.x

We reached the Lolo Campsite at around 11.00am and continued to trek further up till we found a spot where we started to look for ‘treasures’ to put into our plastic bags. Satisfied with our best effort to clean up the spot, we began our descent with the extra weight.x

Proudly showing the "treasure"
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Going down the hill was challenging having to carry the “treasure” for about two hours’ walk. KC joked that if we find the rubbish too heavy, we can treat it like 70% discount good buy from the Mega Sales. The thought of having a fantastic bargain would ease the load… ha ha. Yeah, that’s an encouragement plus the growling sound coming from our stomach spur us back to the entrance in a fast and furious pace.x

It is a long, long walk to base carrying the extra load

What a welcoming sight to see the entrance again! Passing by the Vico van which distributed free drinks, I immediately gulped down three cups of cold drink to quench my thirst. We sat down later to enjoy the vegetarian chicken rice for lunch distributed free by the organizer. There were lots of rambutans and langsat for dessert, but no durian.

Mission accomplished without any bruises or scratches apart from the muddy shoes. Most important of all, I survived my first trekking trip without donating any blood to leeches. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. If not for the rain that pours down almost immediately after we left, we would have stopped by the road side and eat durians!x

The Morning After: Arrgh! Muscle aches....feels like I have just ran Half Marathon the day before. But it is a good feeling. Definitely this will not be my first and the last trekking trip. Thanks to KC for informing us about this mountain clean up project.

By Josie Yap

Note by KC: I was not so lucky. I was bitten by three leeches: one on my left leg and another one, which is unusual, on my lower chest. After having been bitten a few times in other trekking trips, I am used to seeing blood stain – the artwork left by the leech.

When I took bath at home, I saw my underwear (that I changed after returning to my car) was stained with blood. Gosh! That worried me! It was too close for comfort – I hope the leech did not wander to unauthorized zone. That was the first time that leeches have climbed to my upper body.

I reckoned that it must be when I took photos, there were times that I squatted down to get better angle. The leeches must have crossed over when my body was in contact with grasses or leaves.