One of the many plastic bags... squeezing air out!
Our guide, Rusi... she's probably at least a head shorter than me.. but super duper fit!
17 year old, part-time guide. 3 years experience. Ambition: Malay Teacher
Starting Point- Pondok Timpohon
Arrggghhh... the steps!!
The porters who overtook us effortlessly...
Ou guide-cum-porter with 11kg of load!
The signs that I share a love-hate relationship with... It shows how much have I done and how much more I have to do... argh!
wah lau... till now, only 3.5km... where's my lunch break!
Finally! At Layang- Layang Hut!
Nearing Laban Rata... A couple of koreans chao-kenging....
It's bloody cold up here! Till I had to change into dry clothes... then subsequently, I had to change out to my wet clothes to trek up the accomodations... one of the ang moh climbers accused me of parading a fashion show!! hahahahahaha.....
David & Peck. Singaporeans whom we met & overtook along the way...
Gunung Lagaden Accomodations. Non-heated with the ODAC smell.. hahaha...
Ahhh.... the morning of the ascend. *yawnz* it was a lousy night's sleep. Noisy dorm mates... haii...
We continued packing in the crispy cold morning outisde our dorm. I realised that only Singaporeans use plastic bags to compartment-ised their bags. Leon at his best has at least 10 plastic bags in his bag... Which means he will make a hell load of noise whenever he packs. hahaha.... think I must start looking for noise-less, waterproof solutions next time I pack my bag.. hahah
Checking in at the park HQ was a breeze, unlike what others have previously told me. Probably it was easy because we started the climb relatively late. At 9.30am. haha.... And so, while waiting for Leon to get out of the toilet, a girl who's roughly as tall as Frans, tapped on my shoulders and introduced herself as my guide!!! WAH LAU... she barely looked 14... child labour!!! Anyway, upon further introductions, I found out that she's 17 and has been doing this for around 3 years.
And so we boarded the bus to head to Timpohoon gate to start our trek. Was a little disappointed with the scenery. All misty.. *sianz* and so we trekked up. There were distance marker every 500m or so and a hut every 800m or so....Things were still good up to Layang Layang Hut.... but I started to get very very breathless after the 4.5km Mark which is around 10000ft of elevation. Every couple of steps, I started to get extremely breathless and I did not know that it was a sign of altitude sickness. It certainly did not help that the terrain has changed to mostly ferrata-type rocks. I really needed to concentrate as well. Heart was beating very fast as well... tsk tsk...
We finally reached Laban Rata after another 1.5km of trek. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel. I was so cold, hungry and totally miserable... zzz...
Our hut was another 150m of walk. So we chose to hang around Laban Rata till dinner. Within the hour, David and Peck finally made it up to Laban Rata. wOW! And David's first instinct was to splurge on a can of beer, RM$20!!!!! These 2 guys are the many people who past and said hi to on the mountain.. however, they were the only Singaporeans we saw on our way up... They are relatively atypical though. Through the small talks with them, we found out that they are very well-travelled, adventurous and spontaneous. Especially, David. David is a old man, mind you... however, how many old man can say that they want to climb Mt K the week before, made arrangements and just come and climb. Not many youngsters could do it, much less old man like him. They were so adventurous till they are past the stage of caring about the consequences. And I really think that's how life should be.... If you want to do it, then just do it...don't think too much about what the naysayers say, don't dwell about the what-nots, don't doubt yourself, just believe....
They brought up a couple of interesting places that I would want to visit.... My next destination is probably going to be another southeast asian country.... shall keep you in the loop when I have worked out my finances.. ahahahaah
And so after dinner, we headed up to Gunung Lagaden for a night's rest. THe moment I open the door, this overwhelming smell totally engulfed me!!! all the climbers have left their wet and dirty clothes on the chairs in the main living room. Room wise, it was a cozy 4 bedded dormitory. We showered and was all ready for bed at 7+. Totally couldn't sleep at all... Leon had a headache, I had freezing toes that refused to toes and my heart beat was still racing at 120km/h!!! right at about 8+, Our "Yeti" roommates finally reported to the dormitory. They were incredibly noisy and inconsiderate leh... and poor Leon even had to give up his blanket the "Yeti-ese" as she wasn't feeling very well.
We continued packing in the crispy cold morning outisde our dorm. I realised that only Singaporeans use plastic bags to compartment-ised their bags. Leon at his best has at least 10 plastic bags in his bag... Which means he will make a hell load of noise whenever he packs. hahaha.... think I must start looking for noise-less, waterproof solutions next time I pack my bag.. hahah
Checking in at the park HQ was a breeze, unlike what others have previously told me. Probably it was easy because we started the climb relatively late. At 9.30am. haha.... And so, while waiting for Leon to get out of the toilet, a girl who's roughly as tall as Frans, tapped on my shoulders and introduced herself as my guide!!! WAH LAU... she barely looked 14... child labour!!! Anyway, upon further introductions, I found out that she's 17 and has been doing this for around 3 years.
And so we boarded the bus to head to Timpohoon gate to start our trek. Was a little disappointed with the scenery. All misty.. *sianz* and so we trekked up. There were distance marker every 500m or so and a hut every 800m or so....Things were still good up to Layang Layang Hut.... but I started to get very very breathless after the 4.5km Mark which is around 10000ft of elevation. Every couple of steps, I started to get extremely breathless and I did not know that it was a sign of altitude sickness. It certainly did not help that the terrain has changed to mostly ferrata-type rocks. I really needed to concentrate as well. Heart was beating very fast as well... tsk tsk...
We finally reached Laban Rata after another 1.5km of trek. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel. I was so cold, hungry and totally miserable... zzz...
Our hut was another 150m of walk. So we chose to hang around Laban Rata till dinner. Within the hour, David and Peck finally made it up to Laban Rata. wOW! And David's first instinct was to splurge on a can of beer, RM$20!!!!! These 2 guys are the many people who past and said hi to on the mountain.. however, they were the only Singaporeans we saw on our way up... They are relatively atypical though. Through the small talks with them, we found out that they are very well-travelled, adventurous and spontaneous. Especially, David. David is a old man, mind you... however, how many old man can say that they want to climb Mt K the week before, made arrangements and just come and climb. Not many youngsters could do it, much less old man like him. They were so adventurous till they are past the stage of caring about the consequences. And I really think that's how life should be.... If you want to do it, then just do it...don't think too much about what the naysayers say, don't dwell about the what-nots, don't doubt yourself, just believe....
They brought up a couple of interesting places that I would want to visit.... My next destination is probably going to be another southeast asian country.... shall keep you in the loop when I have worked out my finances.. ahahahaah
And so after dinner, we headed up to Gunung Lagaden for a night's rest. THe moment I open the door, this overwhelming smell totally engulfed me!!! all the climbers have left their wet and dirty clothes on the chairs in the main living room. Room wise, it was a cozy 4 bedded dormitory. We showered and was all ready for bed at 7+. Totally couldn't sleep at all... Leon had a headache, I had freezing toes that refused to toes and my heart beat was still racing at 120km/h!!! right at about 8+, Our "Yeti" roommates finally reported to the dormitory. They were incredibly noisy and inconsiderate leh... and poor Leon even had to give up his blanket the "Yeti-ese" as she wasn't feeling very well.
1 comment:
i think u shld haf started the trek from the other trail... wad's the name... i check... oh Mersilau.. it views better views.. longer, but less steep...and descend using the one with all the stairs instead..
but... shiong hor? see la u nv train at all right? ahahahaha
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