Kota Kinbalu

Lots happened over the weekend trip to Kota Kinabalu. What was expected to be a jiffy short weekend getaway now feels like time was frozen there, in Sabah, for a moment. Not that it was bad, it was a really good trip and worth every second! I enjoyed the company and the adventure thoroughly. :)

Day 0

Tried to do my last minute packing and managed to stuff the bare minimum of my necessities into a 5.3kg backpack frame. Not easy ah. I think I had burst the zipper. I couldn't find my army boots, so I was very very upset cos we were expecting rain. All my other shoes will drink water, except for my army boots. Nonetheless, can't say I won't go just cos my shoes are going to drink water right?

Day 1

Woke up early friday morning at 4.30am to wash up and do my final prep. The taxi came at 5.10am to my lobby and Boon Khaw (my friend Darryl's boss), was already inside. The whole gang of 12 were split among 4 cabs which brought us to JB, where we'll change over to M'sian taxis bringing us to Senai Airport. At the airport, there wasn't really much ongoing as most of the shops were still closed. Checked into AirAsia, my first budget flight, and everything was quite smooth. Slept all the way on the plane, didn't bother to check out the onboard meals or tandas (toilets) . Btw, I had thought budget airliners didn't have toilets. So glad I was wrong, cos I had a stomache on the 2.5 hr flight back later.

Arrived in Sabah and met our tour guide, Mohd. Quite a quirky guy, talkative and funny. We had a quick breakfast at some ulu (delapidated) coffee shop and zipped off for our first adventure - white water rafting at Kiulu River. 6 ppl to a raft and on my raft, I was the only guy. What does that translate to? Yep, aching arms for me. 2 hours of none-stop raft rowing, water splashing at the other raft, body rafting and hanging-onto-the-raft-for-your-dear-life was quite fun albeit I was expecting harder rapids. Well, the girls got some kick out of it anyway. Some got bruised and battered (by their own oars or others). We touched ground and dried up a little before we had lunch, then transferred to a coach.

The coach wasn't huge, just your average 23 seater. Most ppl dumped their backpacks to the last row. When I got there, the way the bags were arranged would have gotten them thrown in all directions along the ride. So I decided that I would rearrange the back and take care of the stuff. Had a good view and a good seat in the end. The next trip was long, and most of us were dead asleep not long after.

We arrived at Kota Kinabalu Park Headquarters at about 5.30pm, and Mohd did the necessary check in arrangements for us. Whilst we waited for some documentations (the Nature Park's rules), we had a quick brief on what to expect by Mohd. The trail looked daunting, but there was no turning back.

We soon checked into our lodges, which pleasantly surprised us. Had some time to take a good shower, and the 12 of us met up outside our huts for dinner at 7pm.

Dinner was pretty good. Well, actually the food we had throughout the trip was good. We relaxed a bit about the restaurant building and checked out the exhibition on the top floor. Lots if interesting things to see, pictures, insects, stuff animals and what have you. Check out the size of the insects with my hand in comparison. I won't want that thing on me, that's for sure.


Day 2

Good morning world. 8am and it was time to prepare our ascension up Mt. Kinabalu, all 4.095km of it. Actually, not that much cos the trail starts at a height of 1.8km above sea level leading up to 4.095km altitude at the summit. The trail is distanced at 8.7km, and we'll need to stop over at the 6km mark for the day. Sounds easy? Not at all. -_-"

We met our 2 mountain guides Rowdy and Richard at the HQ at 9am. A short brief, a quick breakfast and we're off onto the trail at Tiphonon gate. We started the ascension with anticipation, and tried our best to stick together but not quite the case as everyone had their own comfortable pace.

I stuck with the front for the first 4 kilometers but then found myself short of air from the increasing altitude and many steps. At the 4th km, we met a group of Brits under a shelter with one from their team on a stretcher. We found out that he had twisted his knee after reaching the summit, and the team was climbing Mt. KK for charity. They had been trekking the forest 5 days prior to their 2 day Mt. KK climb. What a great bunch of never say dies, despite the downpour every day for the entire week.

Speaking of downpours, while we were chatting with one of the Brits, the rain started to pour with 2 km of climbing left to go. Everyone pulled out their ponchos, and I had only my windbreaker to depend on. This "trusty" windbreaker, I soon discovered, was hardly waterproof. What a bummer. As if climbing in the cold and wet condition was not difficult enough, my calfs and quadriceps started to cramp after the 4th km mark. I stretched, I warmed up, I rubbed deep-heat but all to no avail. Every step was a torture and every rock to climb was increasingly more prone to slipping. It was really really painful climbing 2km with cramps and I certainly hope I will not have to do it ever again.

After 5 hours of climbing, Yen Yen, Boon Khaw and I finally reached our 6km mark - Laban Rata lodge. This is the accomodation for climbers to rest along the way until 2am or so when they can continue their climb to the summit to catch the sunrise. We had a good rest, meal and cup of hot drinks before changing up to dry clothes. By this time, the weather was already very cold as we were 3.2km above sea level. Had some time to self-discover the place while waiting for the rest to reach.

The lodge was pretty run down. Dun expect anything above 2 stars for this one, well maybe even 1 star. There was no electricity as the cabling was faulty, so if the generator works we'll have a few moments of lighting but apart from that, just use candles and lots of guesswork. The heater doesn't work either, so its not advisable to shower unless u're in serious pain and need to numb your body for a few minutes.

As the sun started to set, the candles were deployed and our cult meeting started at our dinner table. At 6.30pm, our guides met us up for a final briefing before our dinner so we can best prepare ourselves mentally for the next morning's ascension.

We were in beds before 8pm to catch some sleep before 2am. We had 4 to a cabin and I shared a double bed with Darryl. We in turn, shared the room with Chi Fang and husband Chia Wee. There was plenty of noise going about the thin walls and from all the snoring. I couldn't sleep for many reasons and my headache grew worse. For some reason I had a terrible bout of intestinal gas and needed to use my torch to find my way to the loo. First time shitting in the dark, quite an interesting experience. By the time I groped my way back to bed, I was having a splitting headache and terribly stomachache. Plus I felt feverish and nauseous. At this point, I was really praying hard cos I wanted to give a shot at reaching the summit - no matter how hard it seemed to be. My day's cramps had eroded my confidence and I was quite fearful of a similar stint of pain up towards the summit.


Day 3

It wasn't long before my intermittent moments of semi-consciousness were awakened by the wake up calls of the guides. 2.30am - time to set off, as we did our final gear check and had a quick bite at the table downstairs. Final chance to psyche ourselves up and warm up for another 5 hour of extreme cold weather climbing.

The climb in the dark was long and tedious, and the steps up were higher and harder. Often we had to rely on the ropes to haul ourselves up the very steep rock slopes. The ground was wet and rocks were freezing, but the sky was clear as crystal and the stars were amazing. Angela and Terrina zipped to the front of the crowd, while Darryl, Cae, Fion and myself followed behind at a comfortable pace. The others tagged behind by quite a distance. Darryl and myself took care of the girls, often encouraging one another to press on and helped each other up and down the slopes. It was tough, but mind over matter prevails and we all did pretty good. On one of our breathers, we took time to snap some pics but after numerous tries we still couldn't take a photo with the 4 of us inside. There was no one nearby to help us anyway, so for the purpose of my blog I'll sacrifice Darryl. Hehe

We reached the summit before 6am and caught the sunrise! Thank God no cramps, no pains, no nothing. Angela and Terrina were ahead of us as expected, but we weren't too far behind either. The sunrise from a mountain is breath-taking, certainly an experience of a lifetime! Though the journey was tough, it's worth the moment. Leave you to the pics, feel free to click for enlarged ones.

Angela, Darryl, Terrina (back), Fion (front) and Cae

Top of the world. God's work is most marvellous!

Postcard Picture Perfect. Please dun leech withour permission

We soon started our descent when everyone had arrived. Easier said than done though, only half the journey was over. The more painful part was yet to come. Endless chasm as far as the eye can see and tired worn legs aren't exactly mentally strengthening but the company was great! Although sometimes we just looked down at the plains and wonder "How much for a helicopter ride?"

Steep Slopes. No Joke.

Here's one for dramatic effect.
One of our guides, Rowdy, taking a lonely walk along the mountain edge.

I did it! All 8.7km of it and this proves the point.

Ok, not that exaggerating but ah well.

Ahhh.. the perfect armrest.

Endless plateu of rocks, rocks and more rocks

Top of the world? You bet!

How bout that for a view? :)

Our descent was slow and painful. Most of us chalking up knee pains from the constant impact of stepping down and jumping off rocks. My old injury on the right knee acted up again and before I reached Laban Rata, I could no longer bend my knee. Unfortunately, we had to pack up quickly and check out to descend the remaining 6km back to the gate. I started last among the 12 and bore the excruciating pain with each down step. It was a slow and tedious process and I honestly felt pathetic, weak and disgraced to be holding everyone up. Quite a few times I tried skipping down but the pain was unbearable thereafter. Not a good experience at all.

It took me 1 hr to finish the first km and that made the embarrassment worse. Imagine old ladies and what-have-you overtaking you on a descent! By the time I had covered 2.5km, it started to drizzle. I figured out that my useless windbreaker wouldn't have made a difference so I pressed on without it anyway. At the 3km mark, the rain suddenly started pouring and I whipped out my windbreaker in desperation as I inched my way towards starting point. I had never walked so slow in my life, nor felt such unbearable pain and felt so helpless all at the same time. I was stuck in a situation whereby I could not turn back, I could not ask for relief (who will carry me?) but can only press on taking whatever that will be thrown my way. By the time 4km was finished, I was soaked right down to every thread of cotton and my shoes could well be a koi pond. I was now cold, wet, hungry and still very very painfully slooowww.. I was all alone as the heavy rain continued to patter on my head. I had time to think about everything in the world, the people that meant a lot to me and the people who might miss me given that I might die along the trail. I started to sing songs to God and prayed my heart out.

My left knee was busted, together with the initially damaged right one by the 4th hour. The amount of stress I had put my good knee under had now caused it to collapse as well. Both knees unable to bend right, I was now walking funny in the rain and grunting with every step. I might as well crawl, I could be faster. At the 5th hour, I finally reached the gate - the end point. I found Angela and those who had finished cheering me on. I didn't want anyone to help me. It was hard, it was excruciating but I want to know I had finished myself. Eyes on the final flight of steps, I pushed myself to end the ardous journey of pain.

Cae, Fion, Chi Fang and Hubby Chia Wee were further behind me. They were all slowly making their way to the end with injuries of their own. Talk about battle damage, how I wish I was well enough to help everyone else. But I couldn't, and how pathetic that felt. We retired to a hostel and showered into dry change. Took a short drive to Poring Hot Spring hostel where we had a good celebration dinner and retired early

Day 4

Everyone was either too hurt or tired to try the hot spring, so we slept til 4am to pack up for our flight. Nothing much to say about the trip to the airport, except we all slept like logs and the bus journey was ridiculously irritating. The bus driver went about finding petrol and wasted our time, plus he drove over bumps like they were roaches and we were often sent flying into the air in our sleep.

Soon we boarded the plane back to JB. Finally, the trip was to come to an end. A bitter sweet moment. The tough part is finally over, the mental stress is behind but we must part and return to our work place. Geeesh. Oh but, 10 of us are from Credit Suisse so we'll still get to see each other in the workplace anyway! All in all, it was a good experience. Mt. KK is certainly worth going up at least once in a lifetime, but for me to consider going a 2nd time will mean long months of training. *yawn*

Click my album for the complete photo series. :)