During college time, I worked part-time and saved all the money I could after all expenses, and after more than a year of working and saving, I backpacked to Europe, alone, and spent almost 2 months there, exploring the culture, arts, people, and sightseeing.
A lot of friends thought that was romantic. But it wasn’t always easy. I was just a student and the amount of money I saved wasn’t much. Furthermore, I don’t come from rich family, so I was a starving students traveling aboard. I stayed at YMCA buildings if I could find one. If I have friends in the city, I would bunk at their place for days while I explored the city. But a lot of time, due to the lack of knowledge about the country or city, I would end up on the street, sometimes at the train station, spending the night on the bench.
And then, sometimes I would work part-time in some Chinese restaurant to earn some quick cash and get the free meal (which sucks by our real Asian standards), but that was the way to continue my journey as cash was depleting rather quickly.
Most time than not, I was on foot, exploring around, the backpack strapped on my shoulder and back tightly. Public transportation was a luxury that I couldn’t afford most of the time, so I avoided them until it was really necessary to take one. I hitchhike once in a while when I was exhausted, and the people were friendly. My backpack and hiking boots had seen many places. They had seen Paris, Venice, Berlin, Madrid, London, Manchester, Birmingham, and many other places that some people don’t even get to see. I walked so much that the boots were imprinted with my foot and the backpack was etched to my back.
After I came back to Malaysia quite a number of years ago, I hung my boots and backpack into a closet, and they were retired after they had seen many glory days. My hope was that one day they will see daylight again and we will be partners again, exploring the world. Of course, if there is a companion during these journey, that will be great. If not, at least I have my trusted partners such as the boots and backpack.
Yesterday I decided to walk. At first I estimated that the place I wanted to go was about 30 minutes away, and so I decided to walk instead of driving. Driving is such a city stuff, and I had been driving around for so long that hiking was a distant memory. And truth to be told, it has been years since I stay in Petaling Jaya but I had never explore the city by foot. So I looked up into the sky, and it was bright and shinny. Great, very low possibility of rain.
I put on my shoes, a normal working shoes, and started out my journey. I didn’t bring my hiking boots so I got to make do of what I have.
I walked and walked, and suddenly the temperature rose a few degrees. I could feel the heat building up on the road, but I didn’t want to give up. I set out to explore the city on foot, so I must finish this task of mine. Unfortunately, an expected 30 minutes hike became a 2 hours and 2 minutes journey. Due to lack of regular exercise, I was extremely exhausted before I reach my destination. My foot was in pain and the leg muscle was cramping up. My back, an old injury of mine, was killing me. I didn’t bring water along so I was very dehydrated under a hot weather (it was around 38oC yesterday). I walked into the Post Office, took a number, sat down to enjoy the air-conditioning. The security guard was standing nearby, and when my number came, I pretended that I had a phone call and walked out from the premise to continue my journey. I was worried that I would get a heatstroke or something. But still, I didn’t want to give up.
You can say I was trying to taste the freedom and joy I had during college days, especially during the Europe backpacking days. You can call me stubborn. You can call me sentimental. You can call me romantic. But all I was thinking was that I didn’t want to give up. There were so many things that had happened to me over the past few months, and most often than not, I didn’t want to give up on something but I didn’t have control over the matter. At least this hiking was something I could control, so I didn’t want to give up and I just wanted to complete my journey. Maybe it would be a good training session for my future backpacking. Who knows, right?
At the end of the journey, after 4 hours and 32 minutes, I can draw a following conclusions to share with my reader:-
(a) The road condition in Malaysia is not suitable for backpackers. There are not enough pedestrian walkway , especially the inner-city highway. For example, LDP has such a narrow walkway that it is impossible not to tip and fall.
(b) Malaysian drivers are not pedestrian friendly. When they see you crossing the street, instead of slowing down, they will accelerate, trying to chase you off the road like a rat.
(c) Malaysian drivers are not pedestrian friendly. During my journey, I had 3 near death experiences. On an open road, they would drive so near to me that I was inches away from their bumper. And what pissed me off the most is the fact that it was a wide road and it was totally unnecessary for him/her to drive so close to me.
(c) Petaling Jaya don’t really have much to explore. I would say Kuala Lumpur is a better choice to explore on foot.
(d) It’s better to fucking drive than walk.
(e) My legs are aching and I have blisters. So its important to wear the proper gear before you decide to do something stupid like me.
(f) I am not young anymore, and trekking like this will hurt me more than doing me much good. So its best to start regular exercise to keep up my shape.
(g) Most time than not, what you expected and estimated is not necessarily same as the outcome. An expected 30 minutes walk turned out to be a 2 hours and 2 minutes journey. So its better to prepare more.
The trekking in the man made jungle wasn’t easy. It put a lot of strain on my body and health, but I think it is worth it. The muscle pain I am experiencing now is not something to enjoy, but that’s the result of some kind of achievement. The pain reminds me that I am still alive, and that, actually, make me feel good.
Anyway, in the near future, I will write a guide on what you need to know for backpacking.
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