Excursion to the jungle behind the house

After surviving the first week with the students, I took some time to explore. Today's destination: Hutan Pendidikan Bukit Gasing, a jungle that starts right behind our residential complex. And there is a shortcut to one of the entrances that is easily reachable on foot. So I put on my hiking shoes and off I went! The forest is truly beautiful, a little oasis of tranquility in the middle of KL. You can occasionally see the high-rise buildings, but you can't hear anything. Except for other hikers, one of whom had to blast the whole forest with his music. Just ridiculous...and annoying. But never mind. The two hours were still amazing. I followed a trail and then came to a fork. Luckily, there was a very friendly man sitting there who explained where the two paths lead. We decided to take the (supposedly) 800-meter circular route. And off we went. Up and down through the jungle, and suddenly we stood in front of a suspension bridge. That made the whole thing even more adventurous! Luckily, it looked very safe and proved to be very sturdy. And we continued through the vast greenery, until at some point (during a really steep ascent - my legs still hurt!) we heard something crashing next to us. And the trees were moving despite the absence of wind. So we took a break (which I honestly really needed) and observed, hoping to catch a glimpse of some monkeys. Then we saw the first shadows, but they were moving too fast to really see anything. And we didn't know what size to look for either. Then that awesome guy with the loud music showed up, and we thought that was it. But we kept waiting anyway. And there they were, the first wild monkeys that I have seen here (and maybe ever?!) They were still at a distance, but clearly visible, jumping from tree to tree. One even conveniently stayed put for a while, so I managed to take a photo. I'm a little proud of myself! It was such a cool moment! Eventually, they disappeared again, and we headed back home. We only saw a tiny part of the forest, and there are many entrances, so there's still a lot to explore! Overall, we were only out for 2.5 hours, but the incline and the heat really exhausted me. So I decided not to do anything else today, in order to be fit tomorrow! Where are we going tomorrow? That's a surprise ;) You can read about it here tomorrow!