CAVE EXPLORING

March 31, 2007.

(1.04 am)

It’s Friday again. Friday means that tomorrow we don’t have classes. It means a weekend of rest. The brothers wanted to go to Genting this weekend but all the sisters didn’t want to for financial reasons and also because most of us were not interested in going there anyway. Nape tah budak2 laki tu nak sangat pegi Genting. Anyways, we told them them to go without us. In the end, they cancelled the trip hehe (or mebe postponed it) and at the last minute decided to go to a Gua Kota Gelanggi which they said was half an hour a way (but actually took 1 hour). Tak best kot kalau tak pegi tanpa us sisters hehe.

This afternoon, Azim, takut2 nak ask permission to borrow my camera. I said ok since I wasn’t using it. They didn’t tell me yet their plans. My friends and I hadn’t anything planned much for the afternoon and evening besides clerking patient so we went for lunch. That’s when the brothers messaged to ask whether we sisters would like to go to Kota Gelanggi with them. Fahmi (our Menteri Kebudayaan dan Pelancongan) said it was a historical site and we could explore the caves and then bathe at the waterfall. What we were interested was the waterfall. So we asked the others first.

There are 18 of us sisters and we divided ourselves between the three houses rented by UIA for us. Some of the girls had gone to KL and the rest didn’t want to go. So only my housemates and I (all 6 of us) were excited to go. Even Wanis who was fasting came along with us. We convoyed with 2 cars. Brothers yang pegi; fahmi, azim, acap, ihfaz and syahril. We started the journey by 2.45 pm.

We reached there by 4pm. The place seemed empty. No one was around except us. It was creepy. I was thinking: mane tah brothers nih bawak kitorang ni? We didn’t really know what the place actually was. Alang2 dah 1-hour journey, might as well explore the place. Then 2 guides came along in their jeep and one guy said he could take us into the cave. There were several caves there so he suggested we go to Gua Sanding and we agreed. Us girls, we were not prepared much to be cave exploring mentally as well as inappropriate clothing. Ada yang pakai selipar je or kasut formal. Moreover, Wanis who has never went camping, jungle trekking or cave and was the only one fasting, felt she couldn’t continue but the guide pujuk jugak saying that susah nak patah balik so we had to proceed.

We had to wriggle our way through a very narrow opening. Just after the guide reminded us to be careful lest we bumped our heads against the stones above our heads, I bumped my head. And I bumped it 2 more times. Orang lain tade pun yg terhantuk kepala dia kat batu. I was the only clumsy one. Malu betol! Alhamdulillah tak teruk sangat kalu tak dah coma by now hihi.

Once we got thru the very narrow, dark, rocky, and dangerous entrance, the rest of the cave was wide and spacious. The guide showed us the many rocks which were shaped like an elephant, a frog, a lion, a waterfall, a jungle, batman’s trademark etc. there weree also 2 rocks which produced unique sounds when hit upon. My camera just had to habes battery in the middle of our journey. Geramm betoi! Alhamdulillah dapat a few pics.

at the entrance

in the cave
standing from left: ihfaz, fahmi, asma', faizah, k.ngah, reyhanah, wanis
in front from left: azim, syahril, acap, me

dalam hutan on the way to the cave

sebenanye we were on a ledge yg agak mengerikan but this photo doesn't quite show how scary it was.

When we came out of the cave, it was raining and the path was damp. I hate the jungle when it’s damp because of the leeches. However many camping trips I’ve been to; it still hasn’t cured my fear of those thin and slimy creatures. Sampai je kat luar hutan all of us girls checked our trousers, shoes and feet for those blood-suckers. I had several on my shoes. I had to ask acap to get them off. Urgh. Can’t stand them. Can’t touch them. We were worried that they climbed up our skins into forbidden places . everyone was uncomfortable and wanted to change clothes. Lagipun ada yg tak solat asar lagi. So we went to a nearby mosque. On the way, there was one leech inside the car, and everyone panicked. it was chaos in the car. Alhamdulillah, we were able to throw it out of the window.

If there’s one thing that I cherish from this journey is the concern showed by the 5 brothers toward us sisters. They didn’t have to invite us to tag along in the first place but they did. I’m thinking they’d be bored without us and we made the whole experience a lot more exciting hehe. They were very nice and genuinely concerned about us throughout the journey. On the way back, they said they’d go back first because we wanted to go to the mosque and clean up. Everyone felt that they had creepy crawlies on their bodies and clothes. The guys lead us to the mosque and went off, or so we thought.

We took quite some time to change clothes and pray. Then we were on our way. That was when we noticed that Syahrils’s red proton car was right in front of us. Ya Allah, they waited for us! Mesti derang tak sampai hati nak leave us actually and they were worried that we might not reach back safely so they waited. Lame gak they had to wait. Pegi pasar malam konon. Whatever their reason, I know they waited for us. If we knew, we might have hurried up a bit. Even when we were held back by a verrrrrrrry slow lorry, we didn’t find them too far ahead. How sweet! Terharu gile!

From my experience, guys always go into ‘protective’ mode when they have activities involving girls especially if the activities involve traveling or outdoor activities like jungle trekking etc. Usually they can’t be bothered about what happens to us, but I guess when girls are vulnerable and susceptible to danger more than them; they become ‘protective’ all of a sudden not that I’m complaining or anything. Er, I rather like it hihi.

I don’t want it that way all the time as I need my independence too but once in a while, it’s lovely to rely and depend on others to take care of u ;P

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p.s. i think i've had enuf of jalan2 nih. kalau takde pengiring , bi'ah tak solehah sgt. penat je being protected all this while.