A TRIP TO THE HILLS

 A TRIP TO THE HILLS

          In John 1:3, ‘Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.’ Admiring the beauty of nature created by The Lord was what the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) of Wesley Taiping did as we held an outing to Bukit Larut on the 28^th of May. A group of 17 youths including those from the Bahasa Malaysia congregation joined in the journey to reach the top of the hills. We gathered at the entrance for a quick briefing before we crammed into the jeeps for a speedy ride on the steep and windy road. The jeeps, if I recall were the Land Rover Defender models, had growled with a roar while they rode across the terrain. Thankfully, none felt sick or nauseated throughout the journey.

          Our ride on the jeeps stopped at about 1036 meters above sea level. There was a rest house that faced the magnificent view of Taiping. There, we met Aunty Suet Fun, our speaker for the day who gave us a brief history of Bukit Larut. Apparently Bukit, known back then as Maxwell Hill, started as a retreat area for the local British residents in the year 1884. This newly discovered hill station was named after William Edward Maxwell, the British Resident of Perak who was very well versed with the local customs of the Malays. While we youths get to enjoy a fast ride up the hill, visitors those days had to walk, ride a pony, or be carried on sedan chairs. There were a few economic activities carried out during the colonial years. A Tea Garden was started and was operated mainly by Indian labourers. However the project failed due to Taiping’s damp weather, and eventually moved to Cameron Highlands. Kettles were brought up to the hill to supply milk for tea when the Tea Garden was still operating. There is a playground, and there was also a primary school to cater the children of the labourers. There is an old bungalow at the top of the hill known as The Nest which served as a home for the early Methodist missionaries in Taiping. 

           Those who climbed on to the watchtower could see the mouth of the rivers as they open to the straits of Malacca at the edge of the peninsular. Lush greenery can be seen along the slopes of the hill as well as the land that stretched from the Air Kuning reservoir to Assam Kumbang area. We proceeded with a session of praise and worship, vocals-only style, led by Sherlyn. Bonding among each other in one voice to praise The Lord, without the aid of instruments truly was a great experience. Some games were organized by Joshua to continue the process of fellowship. We helped ourselves to some sandwiches prepared by Aunty Jacey while we enjoyed the cool breezy air.

           The next challenge was to hike up to the Nest bungalow. As this time we were no longer dependent on jeeps, it was a work out for our legs. The surreal sound of monkeys yelling to each other, crickets chirping loudly near the trees, and birds singing filled the atmosphere. There were some large granite rocks and tall fern trees along the road. While going up the hill was not too much of a challenge, staying together was. Many MYFers walked with a different pace so we ended splitting up. We stopped at a small hut near the Biology Centre to catch our breath before we continued the walk at a short jungle trek. This time, it was relatively dark as there were many trees and bushes that covered most of the sunlight and the jungle trek was parallel to a steep ravine. We even caught the sight of a trilobite beetle, an oddly prehistoric looking insect which has the resemblance to a horseshoe crab .As we finally came out of the dark path, we were only a few steps away from the Nest.

         

          We were greeted by an elderly couple as we set foot on the Nest. However there were some MYFers who had some unwanted visitors attached to them, and they were leeches of course! Fortunately, one of us brought salt for the exact situation. On the bright sight, we could see sunbirds sucking nectar from the flowers and butterflies fluttering around. If one looks in front, the view of Taiping can be seen, if one looks at the back, more hills can be seen instead. One of the guests at the Nest, was a young Sports Science lecturer, had his ways of catching some of the wildlife. He showed us a baby snake trapped inside a jar and a small stag beetle if I’m not mistaken.

          After lunch, we left for the biggest challenge of the day, hiking all the way down to the bottom. This three hour journey was the ultimate test of strength. Walking on the road was a challenge, but I’m quite the MYFers changed their minds when we reached the jungle trek which led to the foot of the hill. The trail was very steep, and each step had to be taken with caution. One slight slip and we could fall off the trail. Trees helped provide support and rope was provided at certain areas which had water flowing. Young Hannah Anthony and Huey Anne pulled through nicely while Joshua and Sherlyn were a little left behind.

          Indeed we were blessed to have a safe journey back to the bottom. Christ has given us the strength yet again to climb down Bukit Larut for it is written in Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all this through Him who strengthens me.’ We gave thanks to Him for this wonderful time of worship and fellowship.