Bukit Bongol, Pirasan Trail, Kota Belud

Well, we decided on a moment notice to try and hike up Bongol Hill, Kota Kinabalu on 23 October 2016..Me and Fei though that it was a sign when both of us happen to be checking out the same picture of the hill that was viral on social media at exactly the same time. So we made an impulse decision to go there during the weekend..I saw the info stated roughly 3km..so in my head it was 3km to and fro..boy was I wrong..it was actually around 3km 1way

On the day of the hike we waited for Aldro in Kota Belud and it happens to be the annual Tamu besar KB so the roads were packed. The only place me and Fei were able to park to eat was a ngiu chap place on a hill..the portion was damn big but anyway Aldro came soon after even before we finished eating so we had to rush gulping down our food since its already 9sumthing in the morning. Why am I babbling about the eating part?because this leads to an important event afterwards. So using waze we drive out to Bukit Bongol which is quite near..around 10-15minutes away from where the Tamu was held. At the junction where Waze app will take you, there is a simen road leading up so we took that road and park nearby the area with a lot of water tanks. So reading through some other people's blog, I had some precaution ready. Sunblock checked, hat checked, umbrella checked, water checked. So we started our hike and it was a really really sunny day..now only just after going up and down 1 or 2 hills..I could already sense something is not right with usually self, I felt slight dizziness and out of breath.At first I though that it was the heat so I used my umbrella but I still felt uncomfortable to which I had to stop few times. Kesian my hike buddies.. Then I drank 100plus thinking maybe I was dehydrated..and I felt like puking.So Thank God for the umbrella, I had my friends just leave me metres apart so I can puke comfortably while shielding them from the devastating scene with my umbrella. I ended up leaving compost @ baja ngiu chap some where in the beginning of the trail..and I felt much better afterwards. So lesson learn here..do not eat and hike directly, bikin sayang duit bayar makanan. 

Now it was such a long hike and a lot of hills..open hills with tall grasses mind you..not exactly what I imagined when I looked at the pictures people posted..I began to have a slight regret and an inkling to turned back by hill no.3 when I realized that there is about 10hills..the heat was overwhelming and the grass was actually sharp and cut through your skin when you passed them. By hill 4 or 5, we stop under a tree to give way to this two dudes, one was nice and the other was a total axxxxxe. I was greeting the nice guy when his friend came from behind and start babbling about how we screw up the timing and directly told us to turned back and try another day because his exact words was, it was a mistake to start hike that late..then something about police/bomba have to be called in to find our bodies..now I don't know who you are buddy tapi betul2 ko bikin panas..should have bought some pepper spray with me for hikes to accidentally spray people like this. So I start answer sarcastically and then when that didn't stop him, gave him mono syllable answer which includes "hmm'.."oo.." and so on..so they went on their merry ways and we continue to hike whenever it became a bit cloudy..we rushed to the next tree. By 12 something in the afternoon, we stop over a hill overlooking some construction. I told them its better to wait out the sun since its not healthy. We relaxed and talked then I saw my phone and another hiking buddy has just arrived in KB. So knowing how fast Meurel  could hike, I asked him to just joined us since I'm not moving from that spot until the sun goes down a bit. By 1pm he has already caught up to us bringing isotonic drinks and snacks. And just about the time, the weather drastically changed and it became cloudy..so the 4 of us started our hike again..

See the grass is as tall as us..

I love this picture of me and fei

Behind the scene photoshoot going on with Fei & Aldro..

I think, I specifically said the first flag is enough then we can turned back..But when we arrived at the first flag and they pointed out the flag after..even Fei wouldn't back me up and wanted to go for the next flag. So I dragged my legs for another hill..then when we arrived at that hill, the guys pointed out the other flag on the next hill, in the end, we ended up finishing all 10hills..the rain started by hill 9 and continued until we hike back to our cars. Now this is a place I would say fit the expression expectation vs reality..what you see in the pictures are not soft grass that you can do bollywood stunts, but they do surely look like that. Haahaa..did we get amazing pictures, well yes. especially in our poncho, the scenery look extra cool.,what with the mist and all..

There's actually other trails to the summit because on hill 10, some boys were on their way hiking up from another route..We ended our trip with a binge eating in Tuaran.