Climbing Mount Tabur in Malaysia

I am now three days away from starting my full time job and I’m going to be honest and say I’m nervous. I don’t know how I will adjust from not working for almost a year to jumping straight into it after having a pretty chill study life for the first half of this year and coming home after travelling solo for the past two weeks.

I’m currently in Kuala Lumpur in my boujee Airbnb after I decided to treat myself following a week in hostels and at my aunt’s house. There’s a whole story of how I ended up here which I will share in my Vietnam blog coming soon. But first I wanted to recount a hike I did climbing Mount Tabur just outside KL.

Like my trepidation with starting work, I honestly had my doubts about this hike, but at the end of the climb, I remember turning to my new friend Sophie and saying… “I feel so accomplished, we just did that” even after we had thoughts at the beginning wondering what had we gotten ourselves into.

I think the photos I’m about to show you will speak volumes of the beauty and nature we saw. But also importantly, I can look back on those photos and think “hey if I could climb on my hands and feet through the dark, up some steep rocks, dripping in sweat and surrounded by the sound of monkeys in the trees and really organised ants on the ground, and make it to the top… Then I can definitely climb up the work mountain and overcome my anxieties about getting back into real life.”

Finding out about Mt Tabur

I had just booked my stay on Airbnb when the experience tab popped up and suggested the usual street food crawls and walking tour options that I usually skip over. But this time around something caught my eye as I was scrolling and I saw a guy sitting over a mountainous ledge, feet dangling in the air and the enticing heading of “Hidden Gems of Kuala Lumpur“. Immediately I knew I wanted to be there too.

I started looking into Mt Tabur and all the experiences that could take me there. Related experiences also featured waterfalls but I knew that was something I could see at home, so I opted for the mountain climb.

I messaged the host, Chong about how I could do the experience as it was not available for the days I wanted, but we managed to work something out and he could pick me up from my aunt’s house which coincidentally was also the same suburb he lived in.

After confirming all the logistics, he told me he’d pick me up at 5am and I booked the experience with no expectations in mind, just relief that everything worked out and I would get to do a hike in Malaysia.

The hike

I woke up at 430am the day of the hike, running a bit on adrenaline and excited for the hike, not quite knowing what was ahead of me.

Chong picked me up at exactly 5am and we headed off to KL to pick up Sophie. We chatted the whole way about travelling and grad jobs and I felt instantly welcomed.

We stopped off at a convenience mart to pick up some snacks and off we went to the start of the trail. It was maybe a 30min drive from the city centre before we stopped at the side of the road and Chong told us that this was where we were starting. It was roughly 7am and it was very dark. But Chong had us covered with head torches and gloves for climbing.

Tip: apply your insect repellent evenly before you go! I only applied an uneven layer of Bushman’s and I still got attacked 🙁

The first 30-60mins of the hike involved steep inclines and climbing on all fours on rocks. There are ropes at some points to help you up but you really do need a guide to know where you’re going and to help you make the right footing choices. Definitely wouldn’t recommend doing this yourself.

Chong was super helpful and mindful of both Sophie and I the whole way. He had taken many guests up before and often did the climb himself up to five times a week!

I’ll admit, I’m a bit scared of the dark, like my mind just wanders and thinks “whoa that coat rack looks a lot like a murderer in my room right now” and so the first part of the hike where we were just walking along the road alongside a pipe really scared me! But I walked in the middle to start and felt oddly protected by both Chong and Sophie.

The next hour involved walking up rocky terrain, pulling ourselves up and using our determination to make it to the end. If you’ve ever gone bouldering, the experience felt a bit like real life bouldering with real decisions you needed to make to get the right hold on the rocks to push yourself up. I would like to thank my muscles for remembering how to climb – all that training from the two times I’ve been at home really pulled through 😂

Our first sighting of the dam to our left really left me speechless, a man-made structure in the midst of a jungle. With the city below us just stirring and waking up. It really felt like the perfect juxtaposition between the natural world and where humans had come in encroaching on the land. As a result, we found a lot of rubbish left at the top of the mountain and throughout that we decided to pick up anything we saw and take it back down with us to throw away. At this point we were only 30% done!

And then we came to a view point to watch the sun rise over the mountains. Chong challenged us to sit on some rocks on the edge. And despite the sweat dripping from every part of our bodies, Sophie and I could not pass up the opportunity to take some insta-worthy pics.

For me, I wanted to show my family that I was ok, I hadn’t been kidnapped, and that sometimes you do need to put your faith in others and challenge yourself to try new things and not be scared of the world. Because trust me when I told them I had booked this experience I got lectures from everyone about how Malaysia is not safe, be wary etc. But here I am, proof that it pays to be adventurous but also always cautious of your surroundings.

I might do a future blog post on solo travelling, so keep your eyes peeled for that. I’m aware that not many people do travel by themselves for many reasons, but honestly the pros of getting out there for yourself and constantly learning and challenging your preconceived ideas of the world is so beneficial and fulfilling. But more about that later 😊

So I’ve learnt, what goes up must come down, which sadly also applied to our climb up the mountain!

All the rocks we had hauled ourselves up, we had to also clamber back down, for me that meant bending the knees, being as close to the ground as possible. Chong takes you down another path that is quite muddy and slippery that I had to hold his hand for majority of the way down for support 😂

By the end of it, Sophie and I were definitely aching in our legs hahaha

At the end of the hike, we ended up back at Chong’s car around 1030am with the sun fully up. Compared to the darkness at 7am I didn’t even recognise where we were. The whole place looked so much better and more inviting in a clean, pristine suburb.

Chong then took us to an included lunch at a local Malaysian food store where meals cost $2-3aud, I kid you not. It was so cheap, but was also close to a nearby uni so I guess that is reflected in the price.

If you’re ever in KL, hit up Chong on the Airbnb experience link above. I guarantee you’ll feel so accomplished at the top and you’ll be able to tell your friends that you climbed a mountain and had a good time doing it 😊