Source: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/neale_donald_walsch_452086
Yesterday (10th February 2018), I went hiking at Aura Montoria edu-tourism at Kg. Sayap Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia together with my aunt’s hiking team of about 30 persons.
We decided to travel in carpool and somehow I ended driving which I normally will never do since I honestly never drive so far! Our team consist of my aunt and her husband, my another auntie and my colleague.
Well, I was nervous because it’s my first time driving so far, and frankly I never been to Kota Belud hence I don’t know how is the road conditions etc.. I could, at then, asked my aunt’s husband to drive my car but I decided not to. I recalled that previously when I was still with my boyfriend, he would always be the driver and I would always be the passenger. So, for once, let the men (my aunt’s husband) be a passenger and me (women) be the driver!
Since I never traveled to Kota Belud before, I have to constantly rely on my aunt and her husband for directives on the route to Kota Belud. Well, I am glad to share with you all that we reached Kota Belud safely without any hiccups at about 8:30am.
However, it took us almost 2 hours from Kota Belud town to reach our destination, and I have to say, the journey really put my driving skills to test and also reveal the capability of my Perodua Viva car!
It was then that for the first time I ever switched my car gear to either 3 and 2 setting because my car cannot handle the weight of 4 passengers when going uphill. The road is about 70% in gravel and all along the way I can’t stop thinking that all my car tyres could have already been puncture and I was just waiting for it to explode any moment. And to top it all, with unintentional ill advice given my colleague, I have to put my poor car to test whether it can handle a four-wheel drive road!
Thankfully, my car managed to reach our destination in one-piece and no breakdown along the way. However, I can’t help noticing people approaching my aunt and uncle asking who drove the Perodua Viva car inside the “jungle” when the rest of the non 4WD cars parked their cars nearby the roadside; they are like amazed that my car can actually reached the gathering area.
Well, they have no idea that I am actually crying inside every time I heard the loud bump and screeching sounds. It’s the most heart breaking journey and I can’t turn my car around since it’s a one-way road hence I have no choice and actually are forced to go through it!
Well, like they say "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"! For the past 34 years of my life, I never go out of my comfort zone in term of driving or traveling and I've never been fond of outdoor activities. It's only that after I broke up with my boyfriend that I slowly come out of my comfort zone and try to experience life to the fullest.
Despite my "gruesome" ride to the gathering site, I actually enjoyed my hike at Aura Montoria, and I would like to share with you the following pictures so as to give you some rough idea on how wonderful and amazing it feel to get in touch with nature!
This is the starting point where we all gathered for registration, briefing and warm up.
I’m not sure why it is called “Mouth Cave”, I presume because you can’t go in any further, you can just stand up there for photo session (that is the extent of the depth of the cave).
Well, that’s roughly my experience on hiking at Aura Montoria. I hope you enjoy reading my post!