Bukit Kutu : Ruins at the Top

On 14042012, a friend and I went hiking to a place quite far away... about 2 hours drive from where I stayed. And I drove at night, along the trunk road, while she tells me about ghost stories. The roads had no street lights, and it close to midnight. It was scary. 

That night, both of us slept in my car. Not too bad although it was kind of stuffy sleeping in the car. We woke up to the beautiful morning in the quiet town of Kuala Kubu Bharu. There were so many pigeons. Today, we are climbing up Bukit Kutu (Flea Hill). There are no fleas! :-) Just lots of leeches. Eekk..

We drove about 10 minutes to the starting point. It was at Buluh Telur, the residential area of the 'orang asli' - the aborigines. There are 2 entrances where the other is at Kampung Pertak and most people start there.

We stopped for a bit because the guide was going to make us a walking stick, as the hill was ascending, and a stick will be really much help. The guide is a local celebrity there, where anyone who wants to know the history of Kuala Kubu Bharu will seek his help. He is even featured in magazines. Look up 'Detectives of the Past'.

We stopped for a lunch break. This is supposedly the Checkpoint where everyone stops for a break. In Kampung Pertak way, the checkpoints are clearly stated. The guide was telling us his motivational activities he did for government offices, schools and the National Army Service.

The guide brought us to a river (Sungai Roh) where the water source was from the rocks. So cool, clean and sweet. I drank gulps of the water.

Then, we saw a mossy rock. My friend suggested a love shape against the green green background.

We saw a large centipede. Yucks. Eek.. It doesn't bite though, according to the guide.

After climbing for 5 hours, we finally reached the peak of the hill. The hill has the height of a mountain at 1053m. On the peak of the hill, was the ruins of the British bungalow. The bungalow was a resthouse and was bombed by themselves when Japan invaded Malaysia. The trail we used was the trail that the British used to go to their bungalow. The ladies and kids were carried up at a fee of RM3.

The peak of Bukit Kutu (Flea Hill)! Success!

The famous chimney that everyone snaps a photo of. That is the back of the chimney.

At the peak, there were wooden ladders to climb up to the rock.

I knew that I have got some leech bites, and dare not open my socks, or roll up my tracksuit. But I so wanted to adjust my knee guard because I felt it loose. And when I rolled up my tracksuit, aaahhh.. blood blood.. There were blobs of blood because it has hardened. I did not adjust my other knee guard.

After 3.5 hours, we reached back down. We wore the wrong type of shoes because it rained and the slope was slippery. Many times, I skidded down. Lesson learnt - Do not wear slippers.

It was about 7pm when we reached down. The sun was setting.

When I got back, all I could think of was getting myself cleaned because I cannot imagine the number of leeches on my legs. A few days later, I got myself polyester tights. That will be my weapon against leeches!