5th June 2005
Departed from KK town in two cabs which cost $150/cab, not bad considering it's a 2hour journey through hills and mountains, something like going up Genting Highlands but more terror. Pretty tired adi by the time we started, tar-pau-ed KFC, char-siew pau & water coz by the time we arrive in Mesilau, it should be around 6pm++, which by KK standard, is pretty dark adi and everyone should be hungry (not that we had decent food in Pulau Gaya!!!) and god-knows whats left at the resort.
Fell asleep almost immediately after munching our KFCs; only to be awaken when I felt being thrown from left to right. No, this is no supernatural stuffs, just that we were quite through with our journey; crossing mountain range into zig-zagging B-roads of inner Sabah.
Quite a sight to behold too as it started to rain heavily, the view of the mountain range and valley below was just simply breathtaking. Low and behold as we approach (actually we did not know where we were!) an imposing view of Mt Kinabalu began to filter through the thick clouds and fogs ... looks nothing though from where we were at that time; even I had doubt that it was Mt Kinabalu (it is mt kinabalu la ... says the cab driver out of nowhere .. walau! how he knows what's in my mind ah? darn freaky how the locals here think).
The journey soon become a chore as dusk falls, the rain got heavier and our cabs were still leeching at the speed of sound (yeah, something like those Genting driver but thank God the two cabs were brand new) Of course, after the lil feast we had, our reservoir were almost busting its banks too ... mana boleh berhenti pakcik? No response ... sigh ...
and just when we thought our journey is killing us slowly, mother nature decided to bring us closer to our maker through a series of mudslide, nothing major though but the last one was good enuf to bring traffic to a stand still. A trunk fell right across the ONLY single-lane road that we were using. Right ... bring out the chopper
Bang, depan ada toliet gah? pokok tumbang.. tak boleh lalu la.
As if thats not enuf, our cab drivers soon made his shocker confession that he actually did not know/ not sure how to get to the Mesilau park but thank God after a few wrong turns and detour, we soon found our way... heck we even thought we were in Australia for a moment...
somehow we found outself in this remote kampung ... a cattle ranch with houses miles apart from each other. Pakcik, kita mau panjat gunung, bukan naik lembu wo ...
It's way past 8pm now when we arrived at the gates of Mesilau ... ha but it's also then that the action got even more exciting. As though we needed a reminder of our intention here, our cabs were unable to tackle the steep slope of the resort, so we the guys had to get down and hike our way up .. not too far though but try that in a super heavy downpour and chilly temperature!!! Aaaarrghghhh... dugaan.
and as though thats not enuf for a day (it just never ends), our relief were kinda shortlived for a moment when we had to find our way to our chalet .. in the dark!!! It was obvious too that our cabs drivers were pretty restless as they had to make their way back to KK town (a good 2hr journey.. pity them too) but they were kind enuf to drive us to the so-called river bank. Yes.. u read that right, river bank.
U see, the farny receptionist thought we young cikus must had a pretty boring day and decided to play a prank on by telling us we needed to hitch a sampan to get to our chalet ... hmm... hello, its raining cats and dogs now and each of us had an elephant to carry on our back!!! so what to do, yours truly (ahem ahem) became the hero of the night, got down, walk thru the dark park/centre round and round trying to snif out the river bank....mana ada wo, and mind you, the walk was mostly uphill...something not right !!!
anyway, after a good 5 minutes of being goofed, i made my back to our cab .. yea, my friends actually i was lost. Wet, cold and hungry, I was quite bengang adi that time but luckily, a good soul emerge out of nowehere with a torch and led us to our chalet (yea, thats when we knew we had been dooped by the receptionist) ... and the rest of the night were history ... with little to no strength left, we called it a night, eargerly anticipating what lies ahead tomorrow. Lights out.
talk about convenience ... 7-11s in Mt Kinabalu too!!! Good job Pan.
wat?? can 'set' hair one ah if go climbing ..
my my ... how did I end up with so many plastic bags?
The Hike
6th June 2005
Alrite, not sure why I blogged so much bout the journey to Mesilau but promise ya, the following are the fun part and let the pictures speak for themselves....
Gaya mesti ada !!!! Sorry Karen's pic not there ...
7am : Our chalet at Mesilau Resort, nice and quiet
All the muka tak bangun .. dressed up and ready for the challenge
Ahhh.. the peak (well not really) but thats roughly where we were headed
Lina : Karen, this is my plan, once we reach the peak, u bring out the mahjong set tau?
Presenting the team !!!
Tengok keluar apa nombor ekor dulu ... 7802 dunno got 1st prize or not.
Girls listen up .. Lina u take left, Amanda, u corner the right, dont lets the guys go past us ...
Listen up guys, we'd better not let the kwai low whizz past us kay?
Cheers! One for album ...
From left : Lina, Karen, Me, Pandi, Guet Li, Siew Fong, Ah Mun's nephew, Ah Mun, Bee, Cindy & Fauzi
I talk u listen, u listen what i talk ... understand?
$6/kg ... haiya, should have diet more b4 I came!
10:50am : the starting point ..
man behind : aiyo tingginye ... taktau ada kedai mamak atas ke tidak
memang tinggi la ... macam Lord of The Ring kan?
our strong (Harry) porters .. Hali, Jason and err....
alvin keep walking, this is not a talent casting session
Hut and toilet provided @ every 1km interval ... not bad
and milestone every 500m ...
those icy cold water is a must to stay awake ...
see, people take picture the two behind orso wanna sibuk
my fav part of the hike from Mesilau .. just awesome
all smiles from a weary bod .. motivation at the max!
View like this just kept us goin ... awesome
poor cindy look .. but she made it!
I'm alone now ... the final push to Laban Rata, got more and more spooky
Very Lord of The Ring scene.
Be extremely glad when u see this!!!
6pm : i'm finally there ... letihnye
VIDEO : Finally there...
ahh... i see light, the reception/restaurant
Lina and Bee ... second/third to arrive at 6;30pm, macam Amazing Race pulak
our nest for the night ... think this is 2am just before the hike up to the summit
Stich dont leave us behind! Say hi to Elvis will ya ...
The Decent
7th June 2005
Bee : aiyo .. why this 2 women squatting in the middle or no where one .. or-si gah.
Ah Sou : eh boleh diam gah ... tengah pening ni ...
this would have been King Kong's regular view
More (Harry) porters in action
The girls with Hali and Jason. Cant help but notice how happy Ah Sou was!
Jason duduk jauh sikit ...
Good la good la .. the final mile of the decent, exit at Tunku Abdul Rahman Park
Fauzi making the final step ...
Guet Lei : haiyo very d ng-seng-mok one ... where got meaning let us sit on the floor one
(Pan .. senyum lebar je, syok sendiri ah?)
Lina : Bee, lets count and see whether our toes are still there or not?
Bee : Lina, dont take ur leg so high la ... i wanna pengsan liao
(due to sensivities and privacy, the owners of the hiong-kong foot has requested for anonimity... names have been to protect them.. serious)
Fauzi : My 'cari makan' equipments for this trip ... wait till u see the result
The rest : Anyone still got food left in ur bags ... i'm starving!!!
The starting point if you were to take the taman negara route ... nearer too, but this is the exit for us!
Wonder if Christy Har came, how big her bag would have been le?
Pose again ... The magnificent Mt Kinabalu and the team ...
Our chalet in TAR Park ... aargh finally civilisation
more civilisation ... fav national chinese past-time
u should hear the noise and laughter from u-know-who : ah hahahaha.... ah hahahaha
Our chalet (on the left)
nice and cool foggy evening ...
night view of the TAR Park .... tat's the lil us at the stairs
guess this pic has become the official wallpaper for those who went!!! Perfect job Fauzi
tak sampai atas pun senyum besar besar, gila la budak ni.
We made it !!!
(to Laban Rata only ... shy la, those certs were actually to certify we were at the national park!!! tipu...)
I guess everyone left Mt Kinabalu with a bit of mix feeling. Of course we were really disappointed not being able to reach the peak but we were glad that at least we made it safely to Laban Rata without much drama (save for Ah Sou's throwing up along the final paths).
It has been a towering experience for me personally and am glad I have almost gave my all during the preparation, trainings and the actual climb and decent. Truly, living our lives is not just about reaching the destination, but how we got there. I got there with my friends and had a super duper time. Thanks CB.
VIDEO : Mt Kinabalu June 05
Looking forward to going again.. till then, adios!
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