Mount Kinabalu: Day 3 & 4: On your mark

Woke up early.. Okay no water.. we went to the next hostel.. luckily got water and hot water. Woo hoo.. Still drizzling that day. Had our breakfast and packed lunch. Collected our badge. Repacked out things.. and again I realised I didnt bring the charger for the camera (again).. like seriously Im so need to be slapped... pissed, I packed lightly and put aside most things for the porter (abt 2kg).

I was so nervous by then.. if I didnt control it, I would have a meltdown there and then.. I dont know why. Maybe because I never climb such mountain before.. or maybe because Kak Azean said, once you take one step, even a step, into the trail, you cant go back.. you have to go all the way to laban rata. thats the rule.

MB02 002. I think M for mesilau b for batch second (to register) 002 is the recurring number. I was second to register.

And yeah she dropped another bombshell as well that that..

"we'll go through mesilau.. it's more scenic.. although its 2km longer."

Gasp! I looked at Rudy.. he was cool as cucumber.. tah hape2..

Two gates - Timpohon and Mesilau. The guide asked, have you climbed this before (only 3 out of 11 put up their hands)... hmmmm, and you guys choose Mesilau? I admire your courage...

Nah have this... Rudy gave me a pill.

What's this?

R: Its for the muscle. You wont get cramp...

Then we took the van and drove for like an hour up and down the mountain in ranau town.. Already freaking out, it was beyond words when I see the van was descending.. Why are we going down not up... urghhhhhh...

The magnificient view along the way did nothing to calm me down..

Still got time to cancel... but then I would be trap here.. We're going down through timpohon though.. I got no transportation *nanges*

What was Im thinking... gosh..

By then the guide also said, the higher you go, the heavier your backpack would be.. SO I weighed in my bag.. It was 6kg.. Like wtf? I basically bring nothing... So by the middle of the climb, my bag would weight about 12-15kg... DIE!

Muka cuak...

After the dua, we are ready to go.. the weather that morning was okay. We started around 9.30am...

I started first, after 30 min Rudy and Hafiz walked past me.. By then I already feel the heat. Hey, this is not bad at all..

Occasionally I walk past a couple of people.. But overall this trail was deserted. Rudy and Hafiz in front (couldnt hear or see them) and the rest were behind me. The guide said, walk within your own pace.. Dont walk too slow or too fast.. So there I was, walking by myself.. and kinda enjoying it..

By then I already sweat a lot and it was hot.. So after an hour or so I took off my pants and down to my short and singlet. Berani mati...

My companion - kermit.

Some of the pic looked like im descending, but its not.. I turned back and took the pic. Thats the ony way to avoid the rain from getting into my camera...

Then out of nowhere it started to rain.. Not just rain, but as if the sky oipened up and dumped everythign it got... I took out my raincoat (still in short) and continued the journey....

It only got worst from there onwards.. I reached a couple of huts and nobody was there.. So I had to continue walking...

Then I reached here.. the path had turned into a stream. I kinda doubting myself by then. I see no other path.. This had to be it.. So I waited for the person behind me. THat was a huge mistake.... HUGE. with capital H..

Waited for 15 minutes but no one walked past.. I started panic a bit.. THe guide told us not to stop for more than 10 min or the msucle would relax and I would have a cramp.. true to his word, 30 min after I continued suddenly my thight got super hard.. The pain was excruciating... I slowly sat on the wet ground and took out the analgesic cream (yeah right rudy, I wont have muscle cramp my ass) and start rubbing my thigh.. another huge mistake..

The relief was temporary, it heated my tight long enough for me to reach a hut.. but then bam! another cramp.. worse than before.. I waited for almost 30 min but no one walked past.. this cant be, how slow could they be? THe pain had subsided a little, so I continued the journey...

Scenic my ass! I was misery, down and at the lowest point of the climb.. Going back is not an option. Story of my life.. alone forever..

Finally after like eternity I reached the junction where two trails meet (timpohon and mesilau). I walked a lot, and I could have sworn it wasnt 6km as mentioned here.. liar! hihihihi

I remembered everyone was saying they'll have lunch here. I was looking for a hut, it it was nowhere to be found. The a couple of people walked past me, so I asked them.. They said there's one down the road..

Is it far??

Na. just 50 meter...

So i went down.. omigod.. its not 50 m, i was thinking Im going back up again this train.. its gonna be a bitch. wasted 15 min there.. the hut doesnt really look like the place where people would eat lunch. No rudy nor hafiz there.. Whatev, I treid to had my lunch there.. but maybe bacuse of the exhaustion or the altitude.. I couldnt eat. I just swallowed a hard boiled egs and drink the water... Okay, now I had to crawl back up towards laban rata. 2 km more Famil, you can do it..

KLCC to MEM is 500m, imagine going back and for 4 times. Fat chance, more like KLCC to dataran merdeka, and I only made it to the 5th KM. I could already see the summit. By then the rain was not as heavy.. Still drizzling.. If the rain was heavy I would have gone down to Timpohon gate and quit :p

By then, there's quite a lot of people I walked past.. Mostly Koreans and Europeans.

"Beri laluan" - Give way, I heard a puffing behind me.. turned backk..

huh? he whizz through and within minutes vanished from my view.. huh???? there's a lot of porters along the way and all of them carry 40-100kg loads. I have so much respect for them.

By then, the terrain was mostly rocks.

It started to rain again but when I saw Korean grandmas infront, there's no way im slowing down.. hihihihi

They were nice poeple, and kept on feeding me with korean ginseng candies, and actually its kinda works. I felt energetic, well maybe because of the company or maybe because its only like 300m for till Laban Rata.

THen finally.. heaven within sight and reach (the laban rata, not the summit).I continued walking and heard a commotions

Turned to my left and saw these..

People played volleyball at 3900++ feet. What time did they reach the Laban rata? And still have energy to play volleyball.. Wow.. I just wish the ball went through the valley behind them though..

Finally at 3.30ish I reached the laban rata.. Thank god no one took my picture.. I looked so haggard and miserable.

The pic from the pamphlet.. on the clear sunny days..

Checked in at the counter, He was asking for the batch.. Great, where did I put it...

Then Hafiz came.. Phew, saved by the bell.. Had some hot meal and straight to the dorm. Got nothing to wear though.. my clean/dry clothes are with the porter. SO I wnet under the comforter and strip.. Never felt better...hihihiih

The next guy arrived at 4pm. 4 guys did it to laban rata. The the first girl arrived at 5. another 2 around 7. Last 3 was at 9pm!!! The porter and the guide followed the last pack, for safety reason.

Imagine I had to go naked for 5 hrs waiting for the porter and my clean clothes. As I mentioned earlier it was a low season, so there's no hot water (gasp). My parts went numb whenever I go to the loo.
So, 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 10, where's the other one???? Diculik bunian kah?

The other girl said "Oh, Kak Azean had a cramp and she quit.."

Huh? Isn't she the organiser who choose mesilau.. and the one who told me once I step into the trail, there's no turning back.. huhuhuuhu

Then we went to bed, no one could really sleep. I ofund it very difficult to breathe.. SO i just laid there in bed.. trying to make excuse not to join them for the summit tomorrow (another 2km trail or 800m straight up)..

Pucuk dicita ulam mendatang. Ard 1.30am everyone was awake and preparing for the summit. My shoe was wet, so does my jacket. And then the saviour came.. the guide told us that the trail to the summit are not safe, you still can go, but you will be on your won. Of course he'll be there to assist. 8 decided to tempt fate and go ahead..

Are they effing kidding me? Anyway, working in this company, safety is always no 1. I did my SPSA (chewah) and decided, the risk is too much. So, I stand my ground.. or more like, i went back to underneath the comforter, no amount of dragging would change my mind.. After they left, there's only me and one girl. We went back to bed... after like an hour we heard someone "break in". Turned on the light and saw another girl.. She also gave up half way.. Woo hoo..

Gambar kamera Rudy. THen we waited some more for more quitters until we fell asleep. Ard 8 we woke up and had our breakfast. I started to regret my decision by then because the weather looked good.

Then around 9 am, another 6 came in.. They didn't look elated. Turned up they also were stuck at sayat2 hut (the last check point). They couldn't proceed any longer because of the weather.. with lightning and what not..

Then how come the other 3 made it to the top? Well they were early to reach sayat2. After they left they condition deteriorated, some had to make a u turn.

By 10.00a, the boys arrived at laban rata with horror story. Luckily all of them are okay. and Im just glad i didnt proceed. Perhaps next time. At least my torchlight and thermalsuit made it to the top.. I lent them to hafiz.. hihihihi..

Kota Kinabalu: Day 1 & Day 2: Kerja Gila bermula

Well, I was planning to climb the mount eons ago. Managed to contact MountainTorq but the quotation was a little bit on the high side. I dont mind paying RM1800 (single package, cheaper if more) but I never been there and what if I didnt get to climb all the way to the top... It will be a total waste.

That was in January.. Wanted to go there in June/July because of the weather. Luckily I did bitch about that on FB.. Turned out Ruday was planning to go there as well.. So that was it. Submitted our name and wait..

Fast forward 9 months, heard nothing.. so I assumed the plan was scrapped. Well, I already bought the ticket, so maybe I'll just visit Kota Kinabalu this time (Nov 24-28). Then, the organiser, Kak Azean (forgot her name, but she looks like Azean Irdawaty, so I will call her Kak Azean... hihihihi) emailed us that the place and everything has been booked. It it cost us RM700 each.. Phew!

Been pestering Rudy for his account number to no avail, and the rest, well, I didnt know them. I dont even know how many will be joining us. The date was Nov 25-27 for the climbing. Yeayyyyyy...

I told them the flight and accommodation was settled. Will meet them at the kinabalu park on friday.

For preparation, I took the stairs going up and down the apartment almost everyday (19th fl). Then a month before I went to Kuching (walk a lot), and few days before I climbed Maxwell Hill (more like hiking.. on the tarred road).. Little did I know none of them really prepared me for the challenges ahead.

A month before departure, the AA took over MAS, therefore all FireFLyz lucrative routes have been dropped. 2 of the girls had to find another flight, its amazing, all the flight to KK were fully book. Between AA + MAS, the frequencies were like every hour, but in all flights, the seat were full. Rudy took the 9.00 am flight and he said its full.. Mine was at 11 and full as well. The rest flew at 1pm - 5pm.. all the same.

Sabahan are so rich. BTW MAS food sucks big time, at least for the EY class. The GC still have decent food.

I was the only one on our group that took 11am flight. Arrived around 3pm and went through the immigrations. Took the cab to the hotel. RM30 to the city center... I thought its gonna take mroe than 30 min to, but after like 10 min we already there at Jalan Tun Stephen Fuad... I could have just walk there... well maybe not, but yeah.. Checked in, and rest a while. It got dark pretty early (around 6pm).

Oh, before that. a day before the flight I googled info about how to get there. OMFG, from KK to Ranau/Kinabalu Park, it would take about 2-3 hrs... Cab is out of the question. So I called Rudy and asked what his travel arrangement was. He also had the same problem.. hihihihi, so he contacted the organiser and asked her to add 3 more person on the van to Kinabalu Park. So we agree to meet at 1Borneo, and the van will leave from there.

Then I unpacked my bag for repacking to the smaller backpack. Food- check, torchlight, gloves, jacket - check, camera - check, charger - hmmmm... I could have sworn I put it in the bag a night before... Urghhhhhhh...

Looked outside, its already dark.. Great, where could I find the charger.. Actually I brought the charger.. its just that I forgot the wire that connect to the charger... Hurriedly went to the mall next door.

Im looking for the nail clippers as well. My toenails need some trimming before the climb. Went to watson, takda... Guardian, also none.. went to the beauty shop downstairs also out of stock.. like whats up with Sabahan and nail clippers.. Do they eat them or what?

As for the wire, I have some luck at Ngiu Kee dept store.. Although you have a funny name and under normal circumstances you wont caught me alive shopping there, but in this case, you're a savior. As for nailclipper, I found one in 7-11 in Kompleks api-api.

Then off for dinner at Pasar Buah-buahan tempatan. So many stalls to choose and every stalls looks the same with similar dishes (grilled seafood). So I just did the eenie meenie miney mo.. and sat at one stall. Ordered the fish, squid and coconut drink. Didnt take the salad (because I didnt know) and the seafood was deep into something that look like sewage water. Tasted good though.. and no diarrhea. (I did try the other stall after I got back from Mt Kinabalu, and that one I got the diarrhea). By 9 everything was done.. and the town look deserted by then.. So I went back and sleep.

The next morning, woke up, missed the breakfast (hihihih), checked out. took the cab to 1 borneo. RM25! Grrr, I think i should walk, but I didnt because of the time constraint.

Best decision ever (to take the cab).. It was darn far.. hihihi. Arrived at 9.30. Bought coffee at starbucks and waited for Rudy. At 10, he turned up with a friend (hafiz) and we met the rest at the Tune Hotel's lobby. There were about 16 people (omigod) spreading into 2 vans. But only 11 will climb the mountain.

THe journey was uneventful, the scenery was gorgeous, but the driver said that day was a little bit cloudy. So you cant see much.

Arrived at the Kinabalu park around 1pm. Checked in to the hostel, had lunch.. and walk around the park. It is a nice park to walk and you can spend 2 days there walking/hiking the trails.

Magnificient view of mt Kinabalu from the park.

We stayed at the hostel (2 bunk bed per room for 4 person). It was low season (and rainy too), so sometimes there were no water.

Alamak, im number 12 - how?

The rest of the girls went to Ranau/Kundasang. Only Rudy, Hafiz and myself left.. So we explored the park again. This time a little bit further

It was such a nice weather (about 22 degree). The air was clean, and greens everywhere.

Along the way we saw this trail.. Oh about 600 meter. let's explore. Wont take long..

Omigod!! I was a preview of what's coming tomorrow. And I could have swear its not 600 meter either (cant be the elevation because we already above 2000m)...and I was wearing flip flops.. half way I had to go barefoot.

The creek on the other trail.

Camwhoring - the water is freezing.

but it didnt stop me from taking a dip.. since we didnt bring any extra clothe, we went skinny dipping on the streams.. woo hoo...

Then off to the paid park. RM4 each. I thought its huge, but you could covered that in 5-10 minutes. Pftttt...

Then we went back to the hostel.. it was raining, so we were stuck for 30 min under the hut.. freezing..

After the cloud cleared up, the most magnificient view was presented before us. Awesome! But at the same time, I started to feel intimidated.. OMG could I make it tomorrow? It look daunting.

Happy faces before the hellish day tomorrow :p

The rain continued at night.. it was cold and there's no heater in the room. Had our dinner and off to bed.

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