Special thanks to Taxi Pool volunteers: Shi, Mahesh and Jess. Also thanks to Baveen (did I get your name correct?) for helping to guide the first group up. Really appreciate your help!

It really excites me to be able to bring people together and help them experience nature and adventure. We don’t have many patches of native forest left here in Singapore, and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is one of them.

For those who’ve been trekking, I’m sure you’d feel that Bukit Timah Hill is nothing compared to the other more challenging treks overseas. But still, this is a good start, right?

I will post up the photos once I get them.

Update: Here are some photos by Shi! (click on the photo to view more!)

Photo Credit: Shi

More photos from Yati

… and yes, I’ll definitely organise an overseas trip next year!

Here are the details:

Date: 30 November 2008

Time: 0830hrs – 1400hrs

Venue: Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Where to meet: 0830hrs sharp outside the visitor center toilet!

Fee: What fee? Its FREE! (Thanks Ana, for asking though)

We’ll be taking the smaller trials and this will probably take 3-4 hours, depending on the group size and speed. From my previous experience, there will be quite a lot of steps (enough to get you panting if you don’t train regularly), so be prepared.

According to the NParks Website, the yellow trial takes 2 hours. We’ll be taking the black route. Yes, that’s my drawing

You’d probably want to allocate until mid afternoon for the event, if you are an time planning fanatic like me.

Please post a comment this blog post to indicate your interest!

NOTE: Please don’t leave your contact numbers and email in the comment box, because this is a very public blog and you don’t know what people do with numbers they find on the net. Put your email only in the “email” field. I’ll get in touch with your via email.

The trek crosses through high altitude regions with rivers, and passes, highest point being about 20,000 ft (about 6,000 meters). According to Ravi (our member), this trek is only suitable for people with experience trekking.

The trek is scheduled in the month of July, as this is the only month when these pass are accessible. The cost of the trek is about S$2000 apart from the air tickets.

Do drop a comment if you are interested, so I can connect you up with Ravi!

It seems like this community is growing, and there is a demand for details and contacts to get to the different treks in Malaysia. I apologise because I don’t have all the contacts at the moment, its been two years since I’ve been trekking regularly. But what I will do is I will start to compile them, and then put them up on this blog (or maybe start a wiki, so everybody can contribute?)

My guess is that I won’t be doing much trekking for the next few months. The uphill and downhill treks at Endau Rompin took the toll on my right knee. I might need to rest again for a few months, eat more nutritious food and do more soft exercises to build up my knee again. Argh.

But I won’t give up trekking. Too fun. Maybe no Kilimanjaro, but definitely there will be more Mount Ophirs, Gunung Stong etc.

So we were all going “Wow! You’ve been there!” that kind of thing… and so we were all curious about the experience. Miraculously, she said that the trip was not as tiring as what a “14 day trek” would sound like, and I think mainly it is because most of the weight is carried by porters. She also shared that it was just like taking a holiday – just walk and walk and walk, enjoy the scenery and then in the evening, just settle down to eat.

Meeting up with these people who have “been there” is always an exciting experience, and I really yearn to be able to get on one of those trips in the coming years – a MUST GO! Hehe!

Anyway, recently there was a post in the mailing list saying that a few are organising a Technical Mountaineering Course some time next year… and I really want to get some hands on experience with the real stuff! I’ve been reading and talking so much about adventurers and mountains and all the nice places, and I’ve been aspiring to be like them! I think this is the opportunity for me to go for it! Its going to cost a bomb, but its a good motivation for me to earn some money!

I didn’t really like the feeling of trekking! But I continued and signed up to be one of the executive committee members of the adventure club, and subsequently made more trips like Berkelah Waterfalls, Mount Ophir, Gunung Stong and Taman Negara.

Why is that so? I can’t explain it also. Maybe its because of the sense of achievement, that feeling when you reach the top of Ophir, gazing over the plantations and little houses below. Maybe its the scenery… that awesome breathtaking sunrise at the base camp of Stong. Maybe its the community, that bunch of crazy people I really love hanging around with. Maybe its nature, all the greeneries and all the insects, flora and fauna.

I don’t know. Really. Sometimes it really feels terrible to be standing at the top of the mountain, knowing that the trek down is going to be long and tiring, but when you are back down, you will say to yourself – “I want to come back here again… and I want to conquer greater mountains!”

I love trekking!