Somewhere in 2008 er.. 2009 (crap! I cannot remember precisely the year), during our leisure conversation while watching E!, Ju Zie has once popped the idea of climbing the mountain Kinabalu together.Listening to the idea of climbing a mountain was as thrilling as other travelling activities that we set up together. But wait, the higher peak of Southeast Asia? I mean, seriously? Definitely I was skeptical of my own capability, for I was not an outdoor person, and living an active life was not in the plan at that point of time.
3 years down the road, life changes and the time comes,I guess. The opportunity to join the expidition appeared when Pae told me about the plan which was organized by a fellow colleague. Unfortunately, dear friend, Ju Zie was far far away at Toowomba. Aww ssedih..
We arrived at Kota Kinabalu on 9th November. At Pasar Filipina, apart from buying some souvernirs and local crackers to bring home, we grabbed the opportunity to enjoy the best and cheapest seafood ever tasted in Malaysia. I ate like nobody's business. My justification, the energy from the lavish eating fiesta will help to bring me to the top of Kinabalu. Yela teww..
The next day we were ready to leave to Kinabalu Park. We stayed in the dedicated hostels for another night , and ahhhhh speaking of foods,the dishes were sooooo tempting. Again, I can't help it, I ate like nobody's business. I guess somehow the cold weather here has contributed a significant impact to one's eating appetite, no? The air started to be frozen cold in the midnight, but I still managed to have a good night sleep. :))))
We were ready as early as 730am. The air was so cold that we could see it from our breath. That was when everybody got excited with their own breath. Hehe
Before we began the journey, we made sure to get our enthusiastic faces snapped in the photos. Because later on, the glow in the smile will fade away as we ascending the mountain. Letihss!
All of us
Anddd.. off we go. Bismillah..
The scenery become more beautiful and more as we climbed higher.
5 hours of hiking, we finally arrived at Laban Rata to rest and get refreshed. Err, we were not actually taking shower per se, because as we reached high up there, the temperature was low close to negative!Even performing the ablution required very high spirit to get through the cold water. Hehe. Cobaan~
And not to mention when the day went dark, it was impossible for us to even doze off. Too cold to fall asleep, I`m telling you.
We woke up at 1 am to get prepared for the finish line. At 2 am we started to climb to the top, with expectation to reach the top of the mountain before dawn. The wind was so cold and strong. And there was some point in between, when I was alone climbing the rocks, quite away from other fellow climbers, I felt scared to the bottom of my heart and started regretting the decision to join this expidition.
By using a rope to move forward, I can't see any chance to reverse and yet the climb ahead was getting tougher that I started to ask myself in anger "WHAT THE HELL AM I GETTING MYSELF INTO?". But I pushed my leg to move and move.
At last, I made my way to the top, despite the rough wind and cold breeze with super thin air. Alhamdulillah. It was paid off. Phewww..~
So fulfilling.
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