Langkawi 13-14 August 2009

Gunung Angsi & Ulu Bendul 8 Aug 2009

Hiking at Bukit Tabur 1 Aug 2009

Taman Negara, Pahang 17-19 July 2009

Inside Gua Telinga (photos courtesy ieep member)

' Lipan Bara' - caught during our night walk jungle activity

Next morning - headed to Teresek Hill

View from Teresek Hill

Next activity - canopy walking

Rapid shooting event..ends up with lots of splashes on us!!

(photo courtesy ieep member)

A visit to Orang Asli village (photo courtesy ieep member)

Demo by Bateq people on how to set fire (photo courtesy ieep member)

Sungai Tekala 27 June 2009

Broga Hill 27 June 2009

This weekend activity we headed to Semenyih, Selangor. Broga Hill is considerably far from our place especially if you want to catch sunrise, you'll have to get on wheel as early as 5am. We were on wheel back then but since this was our first time finding the place, we have missed the precious time..well, perhaps second visit will do then.

The GPS led us to the other end, which we believed the end of trail or the jungle trail. So we tracked back and found a place not far from where we ended up before. There were so many people back there where we first thought it couldn't be it. We parked anyway and looked around.

The track begins in a palm oils plantation. The trail is easy, clean and safe but it might get slippery in rainy season. This hill has few small hills and it tooks us 5 hills to get to the last one before tracking down to the end of trail via the jungle. The view are breathtaking. See them for yourself through our lenses!

Conquering Mt. Kinabalu 19-20 June 2009

Welcoming sky before ascending Mt. Kinabalu

Our team

Rocky trail

Sunrise

Steep climbing

At km 8 and South Peak

Me and South Peak

The blue sky

At Lows Peak

My Sweetheart and I at Lows Peak (4095.2m)

Climbing Mount Kinabalu: the most awaited event of all the activities we had last year and early this year. It took us one full year planning. Good luck was at our side; we had managed to get a very affordable air fare (Air Asia’s RM0 promotion), car rent (rm80 perday), accommodation at Kundasang (rm70 perday), accommodation at Laban Rata (rm250 per night ..it was rm560 for the heated room) ..a very good weather along the journey..and most importantly we were all in a good health Alhamdulillah..

We arrived at KKIA Terminal 2 since we boarded using Air Asia flight. From there we rent a taxi worth rm20 (airport taxi) to fetch our rented car at Terminal 1. It took a while for the staff in charge to release the car since the system has gone offline and he had to do manual processing and finally he gave us our Waja 1.6 rented on rm80 per day basis. We then headed to the capital city and had lunch at Sempelang Restaurant and shopped few essentials at the Centre Point Sabah across the street. When everyone’s ready we continue our journey to Kundasang and stopped for a prayer at 'Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu at '??'. At 5pm we reached Kundasang to rest for the day at Strawberry Garden Hotel, a very nice place with a good mountainous view worth rm70 per night.

We woke up early in the morning, had our things packed, checked out and get ready to Kinabalu Park. A van (locals call it a bus) took us there with rm10 fare. We took light breakfast and headed to Kinabalu Park headquarters to register. There are few forms to fill up, had our pass as well as our packed lunched ready. Next step, we were introduced to our guide, 'Larry' and our porter, ' Oni'. The price for a guide for one group is rm70 and for a porter is rm8 for each kg while the transport to cover both to and fro trip to Timpohon Gate is rm17 per person.

When we reached Timpohon Gate, it was nearly 9am (the weather is like 10am here in Peninsular Malaysia). Before we started our journey, Larry gave us a short briefing. Some of the important points were on how long will the journey took, the shelter provided and safety measures.

We began our journey at around 9am. It started with excitement plus full curiosity on how the trail looked like...and there you are..so many stair-like steps..and there were lots of them! Some were even giant-sized step especially to us the Asian people. Some were rocky and steep, no descending at all it was all the way up 100% ascending. Luckily there was no rain so the track was still in good shape. Larry advised us to utilize only 30% of our energy and save 70% for the next day as the second day will be more challenging. So, following his advice, we took small steps and enjoy the view along the journey.

There are a total of 8 shelters along the way each distanced about 1km away from one another where toilet facilities and untreated water are provided. We had our few stops at the shelter but only for a few minutes. We bumped into many climbers along the way from local as well as abroad. Many of them who had succeeded to the top and on their way down gave us encouraging words to reach to the top. The total journey to reach Laban Rata where we will rest for the day is about 6km. By 5.5km it started to rain. The wind were so cold and the air were getting thinner due to lack of oxygen Some of us had headache and nausea due to this effect. Nevertheless, we reached Laban Rata Rest house around 5.00-5.30 pm . Our rest house was few hundred meters away so we decided to take a rest and had our dinner first and later call it off for the day. It was rainy and cold all the way to go the Gunting Lagadan Rest house. We reached there, checked in and took our most long- awaited naps. It was an exhausting day after all.

We woke up at 1.30am not by the alarm clock early set but by the hustles made by other climbers in the rest house. Everybody was getting ready for the second day..climbing up to the peak. We quickly got ourselves prepared and went back to Laban Rata rest house and had our supper there. It was 2.30am and the weather was around 6 degree Celsius. We departed quite late around 3am. Our guide urged us to reach at Sayat-Sayat Checkpoint by 5 am if we want to get through to the peak else the Ranger wouldn’t allow us. The journey to Sayat-Sayat was windy and cold. The first 300m was stairs-like steps and then continued with climbing using a rope. Along the way there were few climbers retreated and headed down probably due the exhaustion or possible health and medical condition. It was steep luckily the surrounding was so dark we can only see the rope, at least that held us from having the fear of height and thus quicken our climb. Using the rope, it took us about another 200m before we reached Sayat-Sayat checkpoint. Determined to reach the peak at anyhow, we managed to get there at 5am sharp. The Ranger was reluctant at first but seeing our determination to continue no matter what he let us go, but not after he lectured us on the fact of ‘at your own risk, you shouldn’t continued if you have bla bla diseases and conditions etc etc’ – we just nodded yes yes we still want to do it and no no we don’t have asthma, hypertension bla bla....

So we continued our journey...using ropes along the way..the air is getting thinner and thinner..we had to stop few times just to catch our breath. It was lucky for there was no rain along the way. Had there been rain, we might not even be allowed to continue to the peak as the rain will fall along the trail that we climbed.
The most encouraging part in this second day climb was no doubt - the view. During our journey up, we had the chance to see the beautiful sunrise. It was really beautiful. And when the sun fully rose, the views were even more magnificent. We finally reached the peak at 7.10am. It was a definite breathtaking view..splayed upon us rocky land and surrounding mountains looked small from there.. All the cold, the aches, the exhaustion paid off..a total worth the price. It is nothing compares seeing from a picture with experience it ourselves. We could appreciate the view with our own eyes, brace the experience and feel the satisfaction. And that we did, and we were so proud that we had made it. We stayed there for about 30 minutes, alone in the peak. Our guide who waited down the peak, just smiled understanding our giddiness, excitement and all..and let us be with our time, embracing the feelings we had been anticipating for the past 1 year. We have finally made it!

The sun is hitting upon us and we finally but reluctantly headed down at 7.45am. It was getting hot after all due to the bare land. Climbing down was a somewhat different challenge. It was so steep we had to use rope and abseil down. But the magnificent views were so beautiful it engulfed us and took away our fear of height easily.

We headed down to Gunting Lagadan and packed our belongings and had our breakfast before continuing our journey down back to Kinabalu Park. We were lucky again there was no rain. But it had been raining last night so the steps got slippery and we had to be very careful.

About 10 minutes we headed down, at km 5 there were unfortunate mishap happened to one of our team member (which also happened to be our sister). She had slipped and accidentally dislocated her little finger. We quickly informed this to our guide and he reported it to the ranger for a rescue. We waited for a while and when the ranger came they escorted her down to the hospital (by foot of course, imagine the throbbing finger and you have to still use your own energy to climb down..and luckily it was a climb down and a finger not some other major body parts).
The rest of us continued behind to complete our journey. This type of journey was what we called ‘ a killing knees and toes journey’ where you abused more than you should with your knees and toes because the trail all the way down is a definite 100% descending thanks to the giant stairs-like steps. At this moment a pair of good shoes or sandals will help a lot. Nevertheless, we finally reached Timpohon Gate at about 5pm. When we got there, the final ‘must thing to do’ is to check-out your name at the Timpohon checkpoint to make sure you have completed the journey.

Exhausted and worried of our sister’s condition, we impatiently waited for the transport to fetch us to the Kinabalu Park. It finally arrived about 15 minutes later and brought us the Kinabalu Park Headquaters. At the Kinabalu office we took our certificate (cost rm10 each) and this was where we end our journey for the day. So then we called Mr. Shahril our cab guy to fetch us and headed back to the Hotel. It was another exhaustive day but filled with satisfaction as we have completed our mission i.e. to conquer Mount Kinabalu.

It was a refreshing feeling that we had the next morning after we woke up, though the soreness here and there still reminded us that we were at 4000m just yesterday. It was a journey home today, but with the few hours left we took the advantage to check on Mesilau Resort and took some brochures there. Soreness and pain still, we already have a plan in our mind to visit this mountain pretty soon later via Mesilau trail :d

On our way back to airport, we had few hours before check-in time so we took the opportunity to visit the famous Filipino market, bringing home the must-buy-if-you're-in-Sabah - kuih cincin and pearls :). At about 5pm we returned our rent car at the airport and checkin. Alhamdulillah the journey was smooth, no delay, the weather was ok and we reached LCCT at 9.30pm.

Insyaallah Mount Kinabalu, we will meet again next year :)