Greetings to all Asean Community citizens, whom I love and respect. This time I want to tell you about our trip to Luba Hill. Luba Hill is a place not known to many because it is a private hill and only family members know about it. It is located two hours away on foot.
Luba Hill is a hill area owned by my wife's side of the family. We haven't visited this place for a while. So, we plan to visit the area this time. The main goal is to clear the area's border of family land.
We left home around 8 a.m. after finishing packing and preparing food and water supplies. It was a long, steep, and tiring journey. We hope for good weather and no rain.
We left the vehicle at home and continued on foot. One of the parts we had to go through was the main paved road. The distance on this paved road is short, in 10 minutes' walk, before we take left to proceeds our journey.
I walked at the back, while my father-in-law was at the front. I want to make sure there are no unknown problems if anything happens, because our children are also on this trip. My father-in-law walks very fast; he is used to walking in the forest alone. On this trip, we were far behind my father-in-law. But it is not a race. My kids also moved faster than the other adults on this trip. The faster we walk, the shorter the time it will take us to reach our destination. However, the faster it gets tired.
We move the junction to the left. It looks like the excavator machine is resting after working on this small river, waiting for the next mission by the project leader. I don't know who owns this excavator. In Dusun language, this excavator machinery is called baku-baku. Another story, for a long time, this river was an attraction for children to bathe. That's after getting permission.
Look how small this river is. In the eyes of children, this river is big and attracts their deep interest. My children asked for permission to stop for a while to bathe in this river, however, I could not allow it. The journey needs to continue, maybe if it doesn't rain in the evening, on the way back, they can stop to bathe in the river.
We continue our journey, through the unpaved garden path. It looks like my third child and his cousin are talking about the things they enjoy. This trip was the first long trip they had taken. Their enthusiasm amazes me.
Local people call this infrastructure Sumil. I don't know what this word should be in English; however, the function of this sumil is to create a board. I couldn't get inside to examine its structure. It is privately owned and fenced. Therefore, it is a form of etiquette that everyone should practise not to enter a private area without the owner's permission.
During the journey, we passed various sights. One that caught the eye of my smartphone camera tap was this house. Maybe I can assume this house is no longer inhabited. Another possibility is, this is a garden house or also known as sulap. Whatever my assumption, it remains a question mark that has no definite answer yet.
The spirit of those who walk before me cannot be underestimated. I'm far behind. There was no glimpse of my children who were before me laughing and telling stories. They run and make it a race to the top.
This area of the road is what makes me not dare to bring a car, even a four-wheel drive car. Before the arrival of this bulldozer to repair this road, the condition of this road was impossible to pass. Thank goodness there is an allocation from the work to repair the road here. The road looks so good this time, I might be brave enough to take my 4WD up Luba Hill.
Taking on the task of carrying supplies of food and water up a steep hill is a challenging task. I took the time to sit and rest for a while before continuing the journey. After this break, I stepped faster to catch up with those in front of me.
I managed to catch up with them. The first thing I did was take a picture with my beloved wife.
I don't know the name of this plant in english. But while in the forest, this plant is very useful if you run out of water. Cut the end of this stem, water will come out of it and it is safe to drink.
The last picture I took before starting the cleaning job. We had to go through thick forest areas, cutting and clearing bushes along the border of the land. The most challenging are borders located on sloping land. I slipped a few times. Slippery and muddy ground makes cleaning work difficult. However, it is not an obstacle for us to complete the cleaning work for the land area of 15 acres.
Finished the cleaning work around 3 pm. We had to stop because of heavy rain. All phones are put in plastic to prevent them from getting wet in the rain. We moved back and to our surprise, we arrived faster. In less than an hour we arrived at home. This is because climbing requires pushing and pulling against this attracting attraction. Defeating a force demands energy and time. You don't have to battle the force when climbing down because you're going the same way, so less energy dan time involved.
It is a tiring and challenging job. I am very impressed with children who are still very young, around 7-9 years old, including my sons. The spirit they have makes me amazed and grateful. Although my promise to them to bathe in the river had to be broken because of the rain, they understood the situation.
It has reached the end of the post this time. I pray that all Asean members are blessed with prosperity and abundance. May all your efforts be successful and fruitful.