Climbing Broga Hill With Family

Climbing Broga Hill

During the June 2018 school holidays, we climbed Brogra Hill, Semenyih as a family of four. This post is to record my observations during our climb.

Age

My husband and I are in our early 50s, our kids are teenagers. If you are a fit 50, then it is not a problem. If you are sedentary like me, then it can be quite a challenge. As for the teenagers, they enjoy it. What about other ages? For older people, it is not a matter of age but a matter of fitness. If you can't afford to fall down and get up again, then this climb is not for you. As for the younger ones, we saw some preteens climbing effortlessly without much supervision. The climb is not suitable for very young toddlers.

How Long Is The Climb?

We took 2 hours up and 2 hours down.

Are There Any Fees?

When you get there, you will be able to park your car at the oil palm plantation car park. There will be a sign at the car park that says that the car park is free but a fee of RM1 per person (not per car) is required.

As you walk towards the base of the hill, there will be another station collecting a fee of RM1 per person AGAIN!

The car park is in an oil palm plantation

The Route

At the base 

There are two ways up, the old way and the new way. The second round of the fee collection of RM1 per person is for the new way up. The old way up is more steep and challenging.

There are 3 peaks.

The 1st Peak 

Assuming you are taking the paid/new route, you start by walking on a path till just before you reach the first peak where you have to climb (rather than walk) a short but steep incline. There are no ropes, so you grab onto the "lalang" to help hoist yourself up.

The 2nd Peak

It is a short walk up from the 1st to 2nd peak. You are rewarded with a nice view at the first and 2nd peaks.

The 3rd Peak

If you wish to proceed to the third peak, you continue your walk till just before the top, where you have to climb a steep incline. There are two ways up. You will come across the first way first. This way is a lot more tough as you have to climb a rope up a huge rock.

If this is not for you, you can continue walking till you reach the second way up. You have to climb a rope as well but it is less tough and easier on beginners.

The signage is not very good so be sure to ask other climbers for directions, especially those who are making their way down. They will be able to tell you which way to go. This is how we found our way up.

Note:

On our way down, we wanted to avoid the short steep climb from the 1st peak to the 2nd peak, so we took another way which eventually was an even longer and steeper incline. This was the older route. Most of it was a climb with rope rather than a walk.

Pictures of the route below. It ranges from easy walk to a harder climb sometimes with rope sometimes without.

At the peak

The peak is 400 meter above sea level

Pictures of the view below. We got a nice cool breeze with a misty view due to the earlier drizzle. 

What To Wear

Long track pants with t-shirt and colored sports shoes (rather than white especially if it rained and is muddy). The long pants will help prevent scratches if you fall.

Muddy shoefie!

What To Bring

A backpack with bottled water and some snacks. We brought one backpack between the four of us, with two bottled waters and some kit kat and a big towel which we shared. That was sufficient for us though we wished we had more kit kat.

We also brought another clean towel and a change of clothing which we left in the car.

When To Climb?

I read in several articles online that many people like to start their climb early to view the sunset, in which case you will probably need to start around 5am. We started after 7am.

It rained the night before our climbed. In fact it was drizzling during our climb. Fortunately it stopped when we reached the 1st peak. According to most articles, an overnight rain will make the route slippery and muddy. Sure enough it was. That's why even though it was a weekend on a school holiday, it was not as crowded for us as most articles said it would be but then we had the extra challenge of the slippery muddy terrain to go through.

Muddy and slippery due to the rain

After The Climb

You would want to wash up a bit after the climb before you get in  your car. Unfortunately for us, since it was a rainy day, the toilet facilities were closed. We walked to the farm next door and asked for permission to use theirs. We paid them RM1 per person to do so. We used the two shower stalls to have a quick shower and clean up.

Where To Eat For Lunch

We wanted to try the pan mee which we had read about. After searching google, we found one called Broga ABC Pan Mee. They have a Facebook account with a map that led to the wrong place! We called up the number on the Facebook page and eventually found the place which didn't even have a signboard that said Broga ABC Pan Mee. The Pan Mee was just so so but the ABC was good because we were thirsty.

Would I climb again? Maybe not, but it was a good experience and something fun to do with the teens to get them away from their devices. well actually they still had their devices to take selfies and photos of the view, some of which I used for this post.