The Tabur East Hike

As always, I always had to fight my way. This time, I cannot wait for until after my pregnancy to settle my Tabur craze. Yeah I call it a craze cause it's something that I want to see myself doing and challenge myself differently. I know the Tabur challenge would be a whole different challenge than the other hikes. Having other people been there before me, some from the least suspected ones, makes the itch even more. So, since I seem to have bit of free time this week and most importantly since my bump doesn't pop out much yet, it's very timely to go. So I fought my way again. Suggested it to the team. And the guy who is capable of bringing us said yes, so off we went.

Hubs was definitely not inclined. He was quiet whenever the plan was uttered. But since there was no extreme objection, I just ignored it. And the rest was excited too. So it was a go. But still, it was a fight.  Come Friday, hubs had to go to Penang for a day trip. The trip exhausted him and he may have not feeling too well, I sensed a bigger signs of reluctance. But I had to brush it off in order to make it a go. I prayed that I would be able to wake up the next day, set the alarm and off to sleep.

Of all the days,my baby had to have fever that night. And he woke up quite few times. But after sometime, I noticed that it might have been morning and checked the time. Gosh, I set the alarm for Sunday. It was a big blessing then that my baby kept on waking up. Thanks Allah for answering my prayer and I took it as his blessing to proceed with the hike today. Even then, I still felt slight giddiness. What if something did happen today?with me being not in my most fittest self, lack of balance, flexibility and strength. So I prayed that everything would go well. We ended up leaving home only at 6, since as usual, the hubs choose to take his own sweet time as well. But the rest got delayed as well. There goes my plan of catching the sunrise. But at least it gives us a clearer path for the climb.

We decided to combine cars from the meeting point. We took the others' cars. Hubs decided to visit the toilet right at the moment where we were about to leave. Another signs of reluctance from him.

Some decided to walk over the piping. With my condition, definitely a no

If you see this big pipe, you're on the right path.

Not long after we started, the hike got into its steep slope and rocky climb. This was expected but it troubled the others still. Pet was surprisingly fine. And since Adrin decided not to go, she had nothing to worry but herself. Mitch, Pet's half brother was helpful and a gentleman. It was nice of him to help but I'd like to do things on my own and see what I am capable of. Only a fellow fitness freak would understand this. And I'm not even a big fitness freak yet, but still, once you're in this, you are up to challenging yourself more and more.

Rope usage already required quite early on. But true as they say, minimise the usage as it will only swing u more

Because assistance is always required, you'll always need to stick around other people.

The path got milder and rockier alternately

the first peak, or where an aerial view is first visible

It was a rocky climb here too, I think I had to get assisted by Mitch here. Could have climbed on my own but hubs insisted that I got some assistance

Hubs got hold of the Go Pro and he insisted to keep it for safety. Fine, i'll use the phone instead

How much one need to stretch out. The reason why only smaller bump allowed.

How steep and high it is to get to here

At 1 point, the climb got to a 90 degree steep, with no firm footing to step on. Apparently, we were not on the correct path. Some people before us did, but maybe they must have wanted to up their ante. But hubs managed to use the more treacherous path. So without that, everything was still fine. With Tabur, it's never about endurance so much.

Nowhere to step on, but to just pull yourself up

Hubs managed to complete the climb still

We got to enjoy the much talked about superb view. Picture will never do its justice. But in order to not hog the traffic we had to move on. The climb looked like it had been sometime, but it was just halfway through. But upon reaching one of the peaks, you'll be mostly travelling along the ridges and it was not that scary anymore.

The 1st view of the dam I think

Still an uphill climb

along the ridges, between the peaks

Rocky uphill again

From the other side, it was straight down into the ravine. From here, descent is possible

Just love how the sun shines on us

We seldom has this kind of pics

Just look at his uninterested expression

1st close up glimpse of the peak. That's when the hubs considered it a pass

Love this tabur ladies pic

But the final peak given a sudden chill to the hubs. And sadly , the rest were not as excited as well. He wanted to go down. Except for Mitch. He went on and got to the top very quickly. Due to that we had to wait. I was hoping that somehow the hubs would change his mind. He sat at the corner across, I was at the other and the rest were together chitchatting happily. Clearly, none of them really wanted to go. The new member for that day definitely had more trouble than us. She came with Harith so of course, Harith is with her. Kak Farrah seems quite consumed from the earlier climb herself. While Pet was worried that it might cause her any uneasiness for the party the next day. So that left it with just me. So I literally stared at it, frustrated and talked with the passers by. What I could say to them was just to go ahead, as my husband wouldn't let me climb. But somehow in the end, hubs wanted to climb to call Mitch down. I think he suddenly had the guts, but somehow, the human traffic was the issue now. Lots of people coming down and there are some who's stuck midway.

It took a long time for people to go up and down this time.Imagine yourself dangling there

Long story short, there's no point to wait any longer. We better make a move. The journey down was definitely easy. Wondering whether they use the path going up as well. But of course it was quite slippery, but at least no prominent danger like the climb up. Hubs fell quite a few times. We took only 30 mins to reach down. And to our surprise, most of us didn't even use any glove. Of course, we didn't take the final ascend, but the ascends before that was already rocky. I even hurt my finger, But I don't think I would have a good grip if I have the glove on.

Mitch was all tired. The only one who reached the peak. He just lacks the endurance

As for the hubs, I think he understands my frustration. I tried to control my anger afterwards. It was a big deal to me, it might not have been to everyone else. This is some sort quitting and I never quit. I always finish what I started, no matter how hard. And I would never have issue finishing cause for me, quitting is not an option at all. If it is indeed not attainable, I would not have committed it in the first place. Any venture undertaken, it will be after thoughtful consideration. So this is a big deal. He tried to comfort me afterwards by saying we'll go there some other time. It took me a day to come to terms with it. Come Sunday, I know he has the good intention. And as always, maybe this is Allah's will as well. His subtle way of not letting me proceed as it will indeed be too much for me to handle.

Tabur East
Date: 14 March 2015
Pregnancy Progress: 21 week
Duration: 2.5 hours