SUNGAI BULOH: As the school holidays begin, many are making their way back home ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

       At the Sungai Buloh overhead bridge R&R, motorists were filling up at the rest stop for a break before hitting the road again.

       A teacher who wanted to be known only as Nurida, 57, and her family took their first break there after travelling since 4am from Kelantan on Friday.

       She said she travelled to Kuala Lumpur with her husband and two other children to pick up her eldest daughter, Basyirah, 29.

       “She just flew back from Sibu, and we came down to meet her.

       “We will be travelling to Perak and then Kedah to spend some family time before heading back to Kelantan for Hari Raya,” Nurida said.

       Basyirah, who teaches in Sibu, said she was happy to be reunited with her family.

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       “I am excited to meet my parents and siblings. I usually try to come back during school holidays,” she said.

       Her sister, Balqis Tihani, 24, was also happy to catch up with her sibling.

       The sisters were looking forward to the special dishes that will be prepared by their mother, such as curry mee, nasi Arab and nasi kerabu for Hari Raya.

       “Basyirah is my assistant cook,” said Nurida.

       Also taking a break at the R&R were Amirol Faizol, 34, his wife, and their seven-year-old daughter.

       “We will be travelling to Kedah from Johor.

       Balik kampung mood: Amirol is heading back to Kedah from Johor with his wife and seven-year-old daughter.

       “The trip will take around 10 hours, but it was slow moving from Johor to Selangor.

       “It would get worse from Selangor to Kedah because many cars would exit at different towns,” he said.

       Amirol, who works in the oil palm plantation industry, said although the journey might take up to 20 hours, he is willing to face the hardship of travelling back to his kampung. He got a week’s leave to spend his Hari Raya break in Kedah.

       The most important part of Hari Raya, he said, is to visit his parents.

       Three 26-year-old women, who have been friends since primary school, decided to share a ride to travel to Perlis from Kuala Lumpur.

       “We left earlier to avoid the traffic; the congestion would have been worse after breaking fast,” said one of them, said Fatin Aina, who is a teacher.

       She said last year, it took them 12 hours to reach Perlis. They were caught in the traffic snarl in Rawang, Ipoh and Penang.

       “We prayed for a safe journey, and hopefully, the traffic will be bearable this time,” said her friends, Adriana Yasmin and Nur Alysha.

       They are looking forward to celebrating Hari Raya with their family members and eating delicious food.

       Legal assistant Nor Hidayah, 35, was travelling back to Pendang, Kedah, with her niece Nur Suhaili, 24, a student from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang.

       “I picked her up from UPM before starting the trip home,” she said.

       To avoid peak traffic in the evening, they left in the afternoon.

       “The navigation app shows it will be a six-hour journey, but it may take at least two hours more,” said Nur Suhaili.

       Meanwhile, Abang Musawi, 30, who has been working at a logistics company in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur, for the past nine years, flew back to Kuching on Friday ahead of the festival.

       He said he goes home quite often, which is around two to three times a year.

       “I look forward to spending time with family and friends, as our reunions only happen during Hari Raya,” he said, adding that he will be back for two weeks.

       Musawi said he had booked his flights two months earlier and paid RM400 for his return tickets.