i did it!

i did it! i managed to climb mount kinabalu. i joined my sil's school expedition to mount kinabalu, kk. Coincidently, I was studied at the same school (secondary). Got to meet ex-teachers, catch up the old stories. Some of them are so different, especially men with grey hair. Out of 65 students + teachers + outsiders, only 40 of us who dared to take the challenge of mount kinabalu, the rest just did window climbing and shopping.

There are 2 trails which are mersilau and timpohon. we (as in only 6 of us, out of 40) chose to start from mersilau and went back tru timpohon. We knew that the distance is 2km more than timpohon, and the trail is also more difficult. But mersilau has nicer view along the trails.

we started around 9.30 am, we really took out own time, enjoying the view, lepak2 kat air terjun, borak2, d pictures of course..penat camner pon, gambar mesti menten..and we reached laban rata around 6.30pm. it was a 9-hour journey! Laban rata is 2.5km from the summit, kind of a pit stop before we continue the journey up to the summit. Mersilau to laban lata is 8km.

1st 2km was hard already hard for me, constantly up, like naik tangga tak berenti2..continued with flat track, pastu turun bukit plak. After 6km of our journey, we reached laying-layang, the intersection of timpohon and mersilau. The last 2km was constantly up again, this time it was a bit slow for us, the energy was at the last bar already.

At laban rata, we stayed in a dorm. the place is beyond my expectation. When I heard the word ‘dorm’, all I have in head is uncomfortable. The bed, toilet, food. But I was totally wrong. The facilities are just great and clean. I cudn’t get much sleep though, may b I was too thinking about the next journey to the summit.

We woke up at 2 am, had a little supper. The traffic was a bit slow, as most of us started at the same time. It was dark (that’s why we need a headlight), cold and windy…and sleepy. Again, we took our own time, no pictures this time (gelap + sejuk maa), tapi masa rest tu, gua sempat baring2 atas batu, tengok bintang..cantek giler ko! Rasa nak tido pon ada gak.

To motivate myself to continue walking and climbing, I did my own activities, with my head and my heart. I did step counting, from 50 and rest, 60 and rest, 70 rest again..and suddenly the counting continued up to 150! Owh, padan la..flat track. Kuikuikui..n dun forget to praise Allah for his creatures.

As the sun was about to rise, we (as only 2 of us. the other 4 dah kat blakang) reached the summit! And my nephew (he’s studying at the same school) shouted to me ‘mak busu..perempuan pertama yang sampai!’ bangga siot..tapi pk pk, ala, pompuan yang ada pon budak2 skolah jer..ngan cikgu 2 orang..sah sah la kitorang sampai dulu, cikgu dah tua, budak2 tu too young la sangat..

Going down the track was a bit easier than climbing up. lalu ikut timpohon tu btul2 testing my leg fitness, asik asik la turun bukit..busan siot. We've got 2 certificates, those yang ikut track mersilau dapat extra certificate, yer la, track yang susah dan jauh, mesti la special.