Supper at 2am...
The group of Japanese obasans & ajisans... they were mighty fit leh! SLow and steady all the up the summit..
8km Mark... I really wanted to give up by then. I asked Rusi, if she would give me a summit cert if I stop here, she said she's not sure.... sianz... no choice, I didn't come so far, do so much to get a cert less than the summit....zzz...
the ferrata.
so nice...
the vertical drop...
the obasans... my inspirations...
Because I was the last climb up at the summit, there weren't anybody left.... ho ho ho!!! I think this is one of a kind picture that most of friends don't have....
even better, nobody in our background!! haahaha....
Halfway up the summit, we realised we didn't have enough water!!! Luckily, this nice Indian couple gave me their 100plus!!! hahahahahah.....
Learning to walk like Rusi... Like all climbing creed," Learn to trust your shoes!"
buring sun...
2.8km... from the summit.... Our accomodations...
Altitude sickness comes in all form.... hits young, old, ugly, pretty or the unlucky ones.. According to my reads, there are serveral symptoms that indicates the inability of the body to adjust to high altitude; fatigue, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, shortness of breath during exertion, nausea, decreased appetite and social withdrawal. Initially, I failed to realise that I had altitude sickness as I didn't have a headache. But I exhibited the last 5 of the symptoms instead. hahahaha.... so lousy...
And so, I groggily pulled myself out of bed at 1.30am for the summit climb. Made my way down to Laban Rata for supper. I totally hate this feeling of breathlessness whenever I walk.I never felt so old, so tired before. But still, I pushed myself on for the climb.
We were one of the last groups to leave Laban Rata. In the first 500m, we started to see people falling out due to exhaustion/ altitude sickness. It really hit some people quite badly till they had to turn back. And so, still panting & panting, I slowly ascended up the mountain. Overtook David & Peck on our way. Met the 3 Singaporean girls & a Singaporean couple. 1.1km up the mountain, we reached our final hut & check point; Sayak Sayak Pondok. I was so damn breathless by then. Every step took a trememdous amount of effort and my body kept telling me to give up. BUT NOPE! No way.... We continued our quest. The terrain had changed to via ferrata. Initially, I was a quite scared of falling, so I was actually bending down, holding on to the ropes while ascending. It made me totally totally tired. Tip: While ascending via ferrata in Mt K, trust your shoes & follow your guide. The easiest way is usually not via the ropes.
I lost Leon shortly after. His last words to me was," You take your time and go ahead first. I will take some pictures and catch up with you later." WAH LAU.... then he totally overtook me and reach the summit more than an hour before I did. I was ready to give up when I reached the 8.0km marker. Then I asked my guide if I would be given the summit cert since I passed Sayak Sayak already.She said she wasn't sure since it was an unusual request. That pushed me a further few hundred metres. Then I tried to follow the "slow & steady" footsteps of an obasan. I nearly fall off and fell asleep whilst following her. =P 8.5km marker. I started seeing the 1st of the summit climbers. One of them was some British whom I spoke to the day before. I knew him because he saw me changing out my clothes twice and asked me how come I kept changing. hahaha... anyway, he asked if I was alright and I told him that I wasn't feeling too good due to the lack of shops on Mt Kinabalu. hahahaha..... AAAARRR.... can talk rubbish means I am alright lah... just really really breathless... seriously, I never felt this breathless all my life... a couple more hundred metres and a few more people telling me that Leon is up there waiting for me. I met an indian couple that I spoke to the day before. They were awfully nice to offer me their 100PLUS, given that I was so pale and without water! wahahhaahahhaah.... Aiya, no thanks to my faulty waterbag, Leon and I didn't bring up enough water to the summit... =P the 100plus was a great boast up the summit. I told myself that I am not going to open it until I reached up there. haha... oh. and along the way, I kept recalling the conversation I had with Leon the night before. We were saying that, "our objective is to climb the summit, doesn't matter how long we took. It also doesn't matter how long we take to descend the mountain. Must bare in the mind the objective." And I always tell myself that I am only going to do this once and I had better do it well (meaning to finish the summit). I think all these psychological preparation really helped me, despite the overwhelming breathelessness...
So there I was reporting to the summit at 745am. It took me a 4.5hrs to reach up there. And at least 2.5hrs were spent resting and panting. hahaha.... It was so amazing how everything looks from the top. The majestic mountain range, the different peaks around the Low's peaks and since I was the last climber, Leon, Rusi and I were the ones up there... hahaha....It certainly feels very good!
Trip down was easy peasy. hahaha... it's a stroll in the park untill after Laban Rata. Wah... can totally feel the tremour that I was subject my knees to....took us 5 hrs to descend from Laban Rata... Towards the last 500m. We met a few climbers that we managed to catch up with. WAH... they have double-locked knees liao! hahahaa.... okay lah.. I shouldn't be laughing at them since i knew how much pain that is... =P
We managed to share a van outside the park's hq with 4 other ladies back to KK. Checked into Kinabalu's Backpacker'S Lodge this time. Stepin Lodge was too hot lah... After a good shower and some packing, we met up with David and Peck for dinner. It was pretty exotic seafood. We had baby curry shark, sambal "kangkong-looking-but-not-kangkong" veggie, fried mee, shellfish and a hybrid "preying-mantis-and lobster" for dinner. That preying mantis thing has the head of a preying mantis, body of a lobster and tail of a prawn. It's white in colour and I heard some rather aggressive tales about it. It taste like lobster though....
And so, I groggily pulled myself out of bed at 1.30am for the summit climb. Made my way down to Laban Rata for supper. I totally hate this feeling of breathlessness whenever I walk.I never felt so old, so tired before. But still, I pushed myself on for the climb.
We were one of the last groups to leave Laban Rata. In the first 500m, we started to see people falling out due to exhaustion/ altitude sickness. It really hit some people quite badly till they had to turn back. And so, still panting & panting, I slowly ascended up the mountain. Overtook David & Peck on our way. Met the 3 Singaporean girls & a Singaporean couple. 1.1km up the mountain, we reached our final hut & check point; Sayak Sayak Pondok. I was so damn breathless by then. Every step took a trememdous amount of effort and my body kept telling me to give up. BUT NOPE! No way.... We continued our quest. The terrain had changed to via ferrata. Initially, I was a quite scared of falling, so I was actually bending down, holding on to the ropes while ascending. It made me totally totally tired. Tip: While ascending via ferrata in Mt K, trust your shoes & follow your guide. The easiest way is usually not via the ropes.
I lost Leon shortly after. His last words to me was," You take your time and go ahead first. I will take some pictures and catch up with you later." WAH LAU.... then he totally overtook me and reach the summit more than an hour before I did. I was ready to give up when I reached the 8.0km marker. Then I asked my guide if I would be given the summit cert since I passed Sayak Sayak already.She said she wasn't sure since it was an unusual request. That pushed me a further few hundred metres. Then I tried to follow the "slow & steady" footsteps of an obasan. I nearly fall off and fell asleep whilst following her. =P 8.5km marker. I started seeing the 1st of the summit climbers. One of them was some British whom I spoke to the day before. I knew him because he saw me changing out my clothes twice and asked me how come I kept changing. hahaha... anyway, he asked if I was alright and I told him that I wasn't feeling too good due to the lack of shops on Mt Kinabalu. hahahaha..... AAAARRR.... can talk rubbish means I am alright lah... just really really breathless... seriously, I never felt this breathless all my life... a couple more hundred metres and a few more people telling me that Leon is up there waiting for me. I met an indian couple that I spoke to the day before. They were awfully nice to offer me their 100PLUS, given that I was so pale and without water! wahahhaahahhaah.... Aiya, no thanks to my faulty waterbag, Leon and I didn't bring up enough water to the summit... =P the 100plus was a great boast up the summit. I told myself that I am not going to open it until I reached up there. haha... oh. and along the way, I kept recalling the conversation I had with Leon the night before. We were saying that, "our objective is to climb the summit, doesn't matter how long we took. It also doesn't matter how long we take to descend the mountain. Must bare in the mind the objective." And I always tell myself that I am only going to do this once and I had better do it well (meaning to finish the summit). I think all these psychological preparation really helped me, despite the overwhelming breathelessness...
So there I was reporting to the summit at 745am. It took me a 4.5hrs to reach up there. And at least 2.5hrs were spent resting and panting. hahaha.... It was so amazing how everything looks from the top. The majestic mountain range, the different peaks around the Low's peaks and since I was the last climber, Leon, Rusi and I were the ones up there... hahaha....It certainly feels very good!
Trip down was easy peasy. hahaha... it's a stroll in the park untill after Laban Rata. Wah... can totally feel the tremour that I was subject my knees to....took us 5 hrs to descend from Laban Rata... Towards the last 500m. We met a few climbers that we managed to catch up with. WAH... they have double-locked knees liao! hahahaa.... okay lah.. I shouldn't be laughing at them since i knew how much pain that is... =P
We managed to share a van outside the park's hq with 4 other ladies back to KK. Checked into Kinabalu's Backpacker'S Lodge this time. Stepin Lodge was too hot lah... After a good shower and some packing, we met up with David and Peck for dinner. It was pretty exotic seafood. We had baby curry shark, sambal "kangkong-looking-but-not-kangkong" veggie, fried mee, shellfish and a hybrid "preying-mantis-and lobster" for dinner. That preying mantis thing has the head of a preying mantis, body of a lobster and tail of a prawn. It's white in colour and I heard some rather aggressive tales about it. It taste like lobster though....
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