I wud say to all u guys who loves challenging urself, pushing urself to the limit, here's a good way to start.. I knew it was gonna be tough, but honestly, I really thought of stopping at times.. But not for long cos the urge to continue on to climb to the summit was stronger.. Jalan jugak no matter how tired or in desperation of air.. Lol.. exaggerate habis2!!
So we started off from the Mersilau Gate late at abt 9.30 when we were supposed to take off at 8! True M'sian spirit huh? Anyway we took off with 22 of us all jalan-ing together, but the next thing u kno it, be4 reaching 1km all broken up into groups d.. There was like another 4 guys in front of me, n i was behind with another fren of mine n we went on to walk all the way to Laban Rata together..
We took an estimated 6 hours and 20 minutes to reach to Laban Rata after walking/climbing for 8.2km.. For those who have climbed before, sure u guys wondering kenapa la 8.2km.. Cos the other route up is from Timpohon Gate which is like 2km shorter.. yes u heard me.. 2KM!! So we walked like 2km more!! Lol.. But no regret la.. Cos the road kat Mersilau gate had much nicer view.. and then it was up and down road la.. so balance it up la.. Kalau kat Timpohon gate, besides the Carson Fall rite at the beginning, nothing else all the way up.. So worth it oso la in a way from Timpohon Gate..
One thing i din like about the route up from Mersilau Gate was tat at points there were stairs up.. wait lemme finish first.. the stairs were made of like planks.. wood la.. but it was vy kecik punya wood, and look vy unstable.. i forgot to take pic pula.. but don like tat steps la.. cos like kalau kat timpohon gate kan, all memang stairs up, but it was solidly filled wan.. so one whole feet can step on the steps.. tapi untuk mersilau can't.. u get d idea? even I'm confusing myself..
Then at 5.5km, tat's where the 2 routes up join lo, then climb all the way up to Laban Rata, our rest stop.. tapi half way up tat road, i was like almost half dead d.. keep stopping.. not fit la!! lol.. then after tat, thank god i did not like sit and take a rest on the way up until i read 3/4 of a journey.. cos if i had done tat since the beginning, i'd be dead by the time i reach up.. So to all future climbers, please listen to ur guides advice and continuously climb, don stop too long or sit too long, u'd get super lazy and will take even longer, get even more tired to continue ur journey up the mountain..
When i finally caught a glimpse of a building, a concrete building and not a hut (cos there were rest huts all the way up), i was so happy!! tired tired oso go go go!! when reach straight plop on the chair, drink lots and lots of water.. half way up d.. not bad.. I was starving at tis point, hurled down all d food tat was meant for lunch.. satisfaction!! lol.. then can eat dinner somemore at 5pm.. tat was how hungry i was! Lol.. lunch at 4pm, dinner at 5pm.. okie la, it was 5.30pm.. then chit chatted as we waited the others to come up then head on up to our dorm to zzz...
Slept at abt 9pm, and had to wake up at 1am for supper to continue on our climb up mount kk.. we started at about 2.30am.. i had coco crunch after so long.. for those who dunno i was like crazy for coco crunch last sem.. everyday coco crunch for breakie.. gila rite?? Lol.. the way up was tricky i wud say.. cos the route was narrow, and some ppl just tak pakai otak punya, tunggu kat rite in the middle of the road!! hello?? tunggu la kat tepi!! Lol.. d starting journey was vy similar to the route up from the previous day but then after tat was rope up all the way.. at place it was so tricky up!! u had to trust ur shoes so much!!! Cos it was slanting 45 degree then u jln up la in an up rite position.. teruk2.. but we din really noticed tat, cos all we had in mind was, climb climb!! wanna reach the peak!!
We kept like a positive attitude all the way up.. every1 kept saying, in another 5 min we'll reach.. 5 more min.. 5 minute turned out to be an hour!! thank god i had my guide, Abang Lajuni who was showing us all the selok-belok up the mountain.. made our life a whole lot simpler.. lol.. seriously.. when we finally reach the peak.. we were literally jumping up and down.. so happy!! we made it!! wat else to do?? camwhore la..
Then we watched the beautiful sunrise, before heading back down.. i was so scared, seriously scared to go down.. it was as if i was gonna tumble down anytime.. cos i told u kan.. 45 degree walking up rite le!! Reminded me so much of d incidence of jatuh tergolek masuk longkang ketika beli kuih kat pd.. malu saje.. can tumble turn somemore u kno!! falling with grace le.. lol.. Thank goodness i had d others who i could hold on to go down.. like gentlemen escorting a lady pula.. cheh wah.. tak tau malu!! Lol..
Then we had our breakie n continued on jalan till timpohon gate to balik Kinabalu park then to UMS.. all the way down, i was actually thinking thank god we took the other road, cos tis road was tough.. climbing up steps of various sizes all the way up.. not fun le!! although 2km shorter.. d more i jln down, the more my legs ached.. cos it was so hurtful on the knees!! when we finally saw the 500m mark, we literally sprinted to the gate!! we made it!! weee~
All in it was seriously a gr8 adventure, even more special doin it with a bunch of close frens.. so let's c the to-do list in Sabah:
1. Go snorkeling. Done
2. Go Tip of Borneo. Done
3. Go Labuan buy lots and lotd of choc. Done and put on a few pounds :(
4. Conquer mount KK. (proudly) done!!
So wat's left?
1. Visit other islands in Sabah esp Sipadan
2. Learn diving
3. Go water rafting. (Going tis wednesday.... weeee~)
Well the list goes on.. Like i said, going water rafting tis wednesday.. wish me luck!! For tis mount kk trip i hv aldy uploaded photo kat facebook.. just have a look there and leave comment yea!! :) till the next post~
-karleen-