8th August, Day 3
6am+ .. temperature was freezing cold, other than the slippery rocks below our feet ,all we cld see were greyish white fog everywhr, thick mist surrounding us limiting our vision to at most 10 to 20 metres. We have juz reached the summit of Mt Kinabalu. The summit is a small area no larger than the size of my room cramped wif proud and exhausted fellow trekkers, like us, all waiting anxiously for their turns to take a picture of themselves on the summit. After we taken our grp photos , all i cld think of is to get the hell out of this icy paradise, which uncle told me we cld see gods here?
Cautiously i began to make my way down the slippery, steep, sharp edged rocky terrain. Under the thick mist all i could see was Keith wif both hands tucked in his pockets making his way down effortlessly in front of me. Right behind me were Ji wei and Lynn. I assume the rest wld follow suit, too cold and misty to be able to tell exactly where the rest were anymore. In ard 10 mins, we were finally out of the hazzy mist, for once i cld finally feel and see the warmth of the morning sunlight, clearing the fog and brightening up the path in front of us. Other than the Low's peak whr we made our way down, i cld see clearly now, the diffrent peaks around us. Donkey ear's peak and south peak on our sides, look exactly like the ones i have seen on the net... if not better, simply breathtaking. Amazed by the way nature gave life to these rocks, on a artistic point of view, of coz. To me, they ain't juz gigantic rocks, they are nature's very own creation , juz like everyone of us, we are all creation of mother nature..these rocks were there long b4 our time and will still be there long after we are gone, they are blessed wif a life of eternity by nature... yet we, fragile humans are ignorant enough to think we are able to mount and conquer nature's creation. sigh... human ignorance and arrogance over the almighty nature. ehh ok, i am a little carried away here, i admit i am really far off from wat i am really thinking and wat i am trying to say, hmm nevermind.... actually i am trying to address the global destruction we inflicted on mother nature due to our thorough arrogance... hmm its probably one of the very few moments of my life i am witnessing something that is well, NOT man made ( i ( well, i grew up in a city ! )... lots of inspirations, yet not concrete, ideas flying every where, dunno wat i am thinking.... arghh stupid big rocks taking my focus away.. need to focus~ focus....ANYWAY , back to our climb down... actually all i can think of is to get out of here~ miss my bed, miss my play station.
Going down isn't as easy a task i have imagined it to be... the gradient down though mainly flat and less slippery (by now), its rather steep, our toes were pushed to the edges of our shoes, the strength used to resist the body weight from pulling downwards were pretty tedious.. One good way wld be walking zig zag downwards, it has the effect of lessening the gravitational pull on our movement... While i stopped to take a breather, lynn and jiwei were way ahead of me, keith was behind me taking pictures, guess lynn was even more determined than me to get back... haha
I looked ard the path hoping to see if i could bring some pretty pebbles back sg, sadly i couldn't find any.. in fact the stones i cld find up there look pretty gross, coz there is this milky white residue on these stones.. looks sticky, if u look closely enough there are even tiny green living plants growing on these white residue, yuck ...
Around 15mins or so, we reach the check point. Jiwei went to pee, 4 of us decided to wait for the rest to join us. After awhile, we look up cld see the tiny figures of dragon, wensheng and huifen, meiting's bright yellow wind breaker and the rest of the grp still very far at the top near the summit moving slowly down the steep rocky bed. We decide to wait for them at lower ground as lynn was getting cold. so we moved on following the direction of the white rope.
The terrain looks really scary now... becoz its steeper and more uneven compared to those at the top, we wld be depending greatly on the white rope if we are going to go down in one piece, a massive slip of the rope from here we wld be saying, " hi Elvis! how have u been?" (ok i am alittle bit exaggarating) and the fact that we actually climb our way up on these terrains b4 in darkness earlier makes it even unbelievable... bet my mum isn't going happy if she sees this, coz i actually told her even 12 yr old can make it, shldn't be hell of a big problem ba... haha i juz realise wat a joke it was . Holding tightly to our ropes and leaning our bodies close to the rocky bed, we made our way down slowly and carefully down the terrain. The distance isn't far, after abt 10 mins, we made our final leap at the end of the white rope. We cld finally see trees and vegetation, Hongliang and Jasper were sun bathing and relaxing under the tree waiting for the crew to come home. phew....finally made it
Lynn, Jiwei and rocky made their way back to camp to catch some sleep while keith and i, together wif jasper and hongliang stayed to wait for the rest to decend safetly. the 4 of us took some pictures , TCSS under the sun, after ard 15 mins we cld see the rest making their way painfully down the white rope. think meiting came down first, followed by yuting~ i was thinking hey, the girls were alive and well, yuting must be feeling really happy , she didn't give up or complained and meiting was like smiling all the way, haha . After all, together wif kieth the 4 of us went up together, great to see them back. then slowly huifen and ah sheng came down, then our ever green ah boon tried to do a repel at the final leap ... haha damn farnie. We rest for awhile at the same place, took some pictures, meiting proudly took out her singapore flag, haha she wanted to do her singapore thing and after that we were all walking and chatting happily making our way back to base camp... lovely mondae morning~ :)
Ard less than 30mins or so, we are back at the hut. Lyn and jiwei , rocky were sleeping soundly,.. me, meiting, yuting and jasper were back in our room. how i wish i could juz lie in bed to rest my aching body, but the mattress is so freezing cold~~argh so we juz sat there stare at each other, too tired to move.. after awhile we heard sounds at the balcony, so yuting, meiting and i went out to join hongliang, ah boon and jasper to chat n relax under warm gentle sunlight. I dunno how to describe the feeling there, its definately one of the top three moments during my time at Mt Kina, beautiful morning, nice view of the mountains, cool wind coupled wif bright gentle sunlight, sunbathing our cold and aching bodies, couple of friends chatting and laughing... ah boon doing his thing(cracker!).... really really relax.... damn shoik! if onli that beautiful moment stays forever....
Yuting says we got to pack up and go le... 1030am is our roll call timing. argh.. i dun wan to go. then again, haven i been the one always wanted to go back~? hai, guess we all have our contradictions in life. All the dilly dally and stuff , we are off at 11am, we decided to have our breakfast.. ok brunch, first. As usual especially wif ah boon ard, we finished our meal in more than 1 hour. Everyone as per normal except for ah sheng, he fell sick. Could tell he is feeling really miserable, dunno if he's over-exhaution, guess its really huifen's turn to take care of him, this time round she really has to... After awhile, ah sheng got back to his feet, indicated he is ready to go... i can tell he is determined to shake off the altitude sickness. Way to go Ah Sheng~! i always knew him as one wif a really strong mind. He can do it.
We took a group photo b4 we set off, i look at the peaks behind us for one last time, so thats it, guess i wun be seeing these majestic figures ever again~ i took a deep breath~thinking hmm really glad i came. i turn ard and made my first step...home.
Going down hill, isn't as tedious as going up... but definately strenuous on my knees coz i always made the first step down wif my right knee. i rememeber going thru this b4, during my days in army, i remember i got to get my momentum going downhill , i begin to take 2 steps in a row then 3 steps in a row and subsequently both my legs reach its momentum smoothly down the rocky steps. i wasn't fast, taking small sets of steps at a time, i was however fully concentrated on reading the the steps in front of me and planning my foot movements to accomodate the steps in front of me. After a few sets of steps i made, i look back at our pple, meanwhile taking a break... however a few more breaks later i cldn't see them anymore. Along the way i saw these local aunties carrying a huge basket on their backs containing provisions for the restaurant up at Gunting Lagadan hut up on the mountain. The amount of load they are carrying are really shocking, other than the provisions inside the basket, there were 6 packs of rice on top of it, and these aunties made trips like that up and down the mountain everydae~! sigh... i really hate myself for wasting a single grain of rice up there at the restaurant. If i knew how hard they make their way up juz so we all could have a hot plate of rice right in front of us, i wld have finish every grain of it. sob, pls forgive me, i am really sorry.
I continued my way down slowly, few steps in row at one time. i am careful not to hurt myself as i knew based on experience, going downhill is very strenuous on our ankles as it has to take our full body weight for every step we make. My trusty walking stick became very useful now especially at this stage as it could minimise the impact the force my body weight had on my ankles. A few moments later i heard footsteps behind me, running footsteps, then i saw this ang moh guy in running attire running down hill, following closely behind him were local lads each carrying dummy weights on their backs. I think these pple are under going training to become porters or guides... cld imagine our ever so cool Dragon, undergone such vigorous training b4... amazing.
By now, i think i am really far away from the crew. I saw keith who was running down wif the local lads, but then he decided to wait for the rest. Ah Sheng kept his momentum and went ahead of me... while I kept my slow and steady pace down the sandy rocks.
I am all alone now, juz me alone along this rough trail back home. I couldn’t see or hear a single soul ard me any more… all I cld hear were sounds of birds, insects and gusts of winds brushing the branches of the tress ard me… juz me alone, peacefully alone… When is the last time I had this feeling? I can’t remember… was it in the army? Or have I ever experience smth like that b4? I dunno, I really can’t remember.. All I noe I am enjoying every moment of it as I kept my momentum down the rocky slope…, I am beginning to fall in love wif this wonderful trip here… (ok , I have to pause here awhile, share smth wif u guys, I am here in starbucks at clarke quay writing this blog , however there is this really chio and sexy jap girl sitting in front of me, she is making me writing this blog very difficult. Ha~ ok back to the blog ) … as I walked along the path ,looking at all the familiar rocks, trees, flowers and steps that we had contact wif on our way up…. Somehow they seems so close to me… every single one of them.. After awhile I realized, it is exactly these little things that brought back the sweetest memories, all the sweat, laughter and fun we shared and its exactly these memories that made me write this blog todae, to capture every moment into words.. I sure going to miss them…
Once awhile I would cross paths wif buddy trekkers making their eager climb up the mountain…I wonder wat were they thinking or wats going on in their minds right now as they made every step up the rocky terrain. Are they in a very enthusiastic mood? Are they a sight seeing mood? Or are they here maybe to run away from things, maybe depression, like me ? Whatever reasons, I noe it isn’t impt anymore… the most impt thing is, they are already here, thats all that matters… I really feel happy for them, like i am happy for myself. I greeted everyone of them, wishing them the very best in whatever they set out for….
There is this grp of Singaporeans , middle aged ladies… all dressed in red, all wif a Singapore flag on their bag packs… the lady in front told me they are making a national day climb.. Haha , they sure do look enthusiastic and patriotic, reminds me of our ever so sweet Meiting~ heehee
After a long while ,I saw a shelter in front, maybe I take a break there.. When I reached there I saw ah sheng at the shelter taking a break. Cld tell he is looking fine now, think it’s the altitude sickness that make him unwell… glad to noe he is better oredi. I took a short break , as I was abt to leave , keith and rocky made their way down too. While they decided to wait for the rest, I made the decision to leave first… I guess I’ll wait for them at the next shelter as its too cold up there. So once again , I took my bag and my trusty stick, I made my way down again…. ( sorry guys for not waiting, coz partly oso I wanna find back that ‘peaceful feeling’ again, hee )
The sky is darker now, looks like its abt to rain.. Dunno if I shld walk faster… forget it , I say heck the rain, but pls god, dun take away my cozy walk from me~~ sob. Ard 15 mins later I saw the next shelter, guess I will wait for them here, its going to rain anyway… I was sitting in the shelter alone, wondering how is everyone doing. After ard 10mins, rocky made his way down. We chatted in the shelter for awhile and decided to move on, coz its really cold there… got to keep warm by keep ourselves going, plus the toilet is damn stink-o… argh.. I’ll wait for them at the next shelter ba.
I stepped up my pace a little, thinking it might rain any time soon. After a while I am at the next shelter. Cldn’t see rocky any where nearby. Think he shld be ard 5-10mins behind . One thing though, this shelter is even more stink-o than the previous one… argh… smells like really thick pile of shit this time. I was wondering how can anyone be thinking of shiting while they are so shag.. Haha , sorry, guess I am being very baised here… SCARLY Rambo Boon walk so fast juz so he cld shit at the shelter way in front of us, haha… I mean where cld all that plates of rice, pig trotters, sabah vegetables, mee goring, fried rice, fish and chicken go? Can’t be all converted to ’energy’ as boon had claimed right? Heehee… (juz kidding) . Haha anyway, I cldn’t take it anymore, I decided to wait for the rest including rocky at the next shelter .
The vegetation ard me now were thicker, greener and look more ‘rainforest’ compared to those at the top. I noe I am near the gates by now… 2km more I guess… tata I saw the next shelter, this time the toilet is further, and hey, doesn’t stink at all. Hoho.. Ok I shall wait for them here, no matter how long I’ll wait. Kinda of miss the rest of the crew. 15mins has passed still no one I know in sight. I asked the trekkers that passed by if they have seen anyone of our pple, but none of them has seen the crew. Sigh… I wonder how are they doin. Ard 5mins later , hey, I think I’ve got company, rocky came at his usually slow pace, hee… guess the rest is abt to reach pretty soon. So both of us waited. After 30mins… well, we are still waiting. Hmm wats taking them so long. I wondered.. while rocky took out his journal to update, i decided to take a short nap. Another 30 mins passed, still no sight of them. Then there is this grp of trekkers walked passed the shelter, I tried my luck again. They told me they saw a grp of 4 looking for members of the rest of their grp. I was thinking, 4? Hmm cldn’t be us. Where the hell were they? Then out of a sudden, I saw smth familiar, smth yellow~ the onli thing that’s in yellow I have seen and remember up thr, it has got to be meiting’s wind breaker~ ha. I am right. They are finally here! Yey. Apparently , yuting sprained her leg, and jasper, his groin. Alamak. So many injuries. Wat happened? Yuting decided to carry on the walk down so I accompany her. Rocky said he wait for us at the gate. So me, yuting and meiting made our move while hongliang and keith wait for the rest at the shelter.
Ok, this is whr I witness first hand, the ‘Yuting Syndrome’ . haha, ok basically yuting made her EVERY step down wif her right foot first, coz she sprained her left foot. This posture or action or whatever u call it, haha is called the ‘Yuting Syndrome’. haha , apparently some of our pple who’s suffering from muscle aches, walked the same way as yuting later on, and hence the spread of the ‘Y syndrome’… heehee. ( haha , my starbucks manager friend, karen walked over me and ask me, “ why are u laughing at ur computer screen all these while?” , haha was I ?? Shit, pple might be thinking I am siao..argh ) …. Very soon, ah sheng and huifen came over and 5 of us made our way back together. Then came hongliang and keith, hongliang took yuting’s bag and went off to wait for us at the gate together wif keith.
After ard an hour later, we are finally at the gate. Phew… we made it, alive! Hoho ard 30 mins later, jasper, lynn, jiwei and ah boon together wif dragon reach the gate. We asked dragon, “ are we the slowest grp u everr taken b4?” , dragon gave a deep thought, he answered ,” fifth,..slowest” haha… damn farnie, at least we are not the last! Heehee
So glad everyone is back, everyone went up to the summit and down together, no one gave up, ok even though I wanted to at some point, hee, thk god I didn’t , simply love this grp!
We took a short bus ride to the admin house, rocky and huifen took their stuff, and we are on our way to the hot springs~~ woohoo , wat a perfect way to end the day...
To be continued…..
