KOTA MARUDU: A group of villagers were forced to walk for two days from their village in the interior to get to Kota Marudu town after the vehicle they initially rode broke down.
The group comprising mostly of women and children are from Kampung Sonsogon Magandai. They made the gruelling journey through a 70km trail amidst challenging terrain.
They needed to go to town for several important matters. It has been a month since they had last gone to Kota Marudu.
The group were thankful as the trail was relatively dry and without any wet paths, which is often the case during downpours. Thankfully it has not been raining here for the past week.
A representative of the group, Suanie Din, 37, said they began their journey several days ago from SK Magandai by getting a lift in a four wheel-drive vehicle belonging to a fellow villager.
A trip from SK Magandai to Kota Marudu usually takes between six to eight hours with a four-wheel drive vehicle.
"However, the vehicle broke down when it attempted to manoeuvre through a tough and difficult path near Kampung Sonsogon Suyad.
"This put a stop to the trip. It forced our group to seek shelter at a nearby relative's house because it happened when it was already very late in the day," said Suanie.
Suanie said it would have been very risky for them to continue the journey at night due to the walk animals and dangerous terrain.
Suanie explained that the villagers needed to go to town because they needed to get some school necessities
for their children. They also needed to go to town to fetch their children to bring them home for the school holidays.
When explaining what happened after the vehicle broke down, he said they continued with their journey the next day and walked for the remaining 50km.
"Together with our children, we pressed on with our journey and headed to town even though we knew it was hard and it would cause us to be very exhausted.
"We did not give up easily and persevered.
"Our plan changed when the vehicle we took a lift from broke down. It left us with no choice but to walk for two days," said Suanie, who was told that the trail that they took is expected be upgraded in the future.