Mount Kinabalu Budget Trip! 2 of 2

DAY 1

Rumah Terbalik

First sekali, kitorang visit dulu the infamous Rumah Terbalik (The Upside Down House) at Tamparuli. The car at the porch, bed, kitchen, toilet and home furnitures semua terbalik. No photographs was allowed inside the premise. So I can only describe that it was a short tour to the living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, like in 10 minutes. Well it was a cute experience.

RM10 entrance fee

Gerai Pekan Nabalu

Gerai Pekan Nabalu (a handicraft market) is located further up, towards Kundasang. It worth to stop by to rest. Being Sabahan I didn't purchase anything but some rare junk-food I used to eat in my childhood. Oh, the tees were way cheaper here than in the Philipino Market.

Resembled a long house. Entrance in the middle, behind me stretched a similar hallway like in the above

Kundasang Fresh Vegetables

When passing through Kundasang, you'll see stalls by the roadside selling fresh vegetables, flowers, honey and local food. Nearby were two restaurants that can cook and serve other menu. So we brought our vege there for lunch.
Turned out to be a very delicious mixed vegetables and chinese cabbage with salted fish. Sedap gila. I bet those don't fancy vege will change their mind after eating these!

Mouth-watering fresh vege dishes! Sayur campur and goreng ikan masin the best everrr

DAY 2

Sabah Tea Garden

Sabah Tea is an organic tea planted in the land of Borneo, which gave a distinctive taste than others planted elsewhere. This visit was enjoyable and very informative. Some historical background and facts about teas were well explained by the Otai in green shirt below. He was so passionate about teas that he was able to answer weird questions from us. Say, what's the difference in taste of Sabah Tea compared to Lipton and Cameron?

Now, the photo below was two glasses of room temperature pipe water with two brand of teas. It showed that the Sabah Tea on the left, dropped to the bottom leaving orange colour ring circling the glass, whilst on the right was cheap brand X tea usually used in Maples (read: Mamak Place). Artificial colouring started to dominate the water in a brilliant colour, mistaken by us to be teh pekat when we drank teh kosong or teh tarik. Ewww kaaan. The colouring is unhealthy so better bring your own tea bags to Maple after this ;p

Bottom right picture is freshly made Sabah Teh Tarik, tasted so strong almost like grasses. But I like it <3

Sabah Tea Garden

Kundasang War Memorial

Kundasang War Memorial

Mesilau Dairy Farm

Bunk beds for the six girls. Shared bathroom and common room, at Mesilau Nature Resort

We stayed for the night at Mesilau Nature Resort. Heated shower, the room felt warm too. The 3-course welcoming dinner was amazing.


DAY 3

The following morning, we had a wonderful buffet breakfast. I was so hungry that Boyfie over the phone reminded me not to eat too much. Mana nak membuang tengah-tengah hutan? He said. Tapi ada pondok? I argued. Yes, at each kilometer there is a hut usually with a toilet and drinking water supply.

Kalau tak sempat? 

Ok...tak makan banyak =.='

Packed lunch...on the left, our guy weighting the bags and tour guide briefed us on the route and safety

We sprayed cramp-relief spray on our legs and prepared glucose drinks. I was neither fit nor determined. So with prayers chanted in my head, I stepped towards the entrance and hoped for the best. You know I was the lembik one in my family.

Beautiful Mesilau Trail

[Can't believe I changed my camera to macro mode to capture these, while in total exhaustion]

The junction between Mesilau and Timpohon Trail

I was actually too tired to even hold my camera...hai blog punya pasal ambil la juga ;p
The vegetation reminded me of Bio labs...had to hand-draw, categorize and describe the species. I felt so close to certain species because I know how they reproduce? O.o

Anyway my pace didn't match any of the group members, four were way ahead, two were behind me. Regular climbers know that you should only follow your own pace. So only me, and nature...then there was a bug kept on following me until certain height. I also met some groups and individuals, chatted for a bit and either I left them or they left me. Most of the time, I was alone T_T

Our guide reminded us earlier to enjoy the nature and not to really think about how far more to go. It was all mental strength rather than physical.

Sorry la, tapi the endless trails especially the last 2 km, made me hate the rocks and muddy trails. I was questioning the real reason why I was here, doing something I don't even like. My mind was so full of frustration that it brushed off the scary feeling about the spiritual beings living in the place. At this kind of places, there'll always something residing and Alhamdulillah, it didn't really creep me out. Something strange did happened. Will story-tell in Day 4.

DAY 4

At 2.00 am, I woke up empty. All I could think of was I must stay warm sebab tak tahan sejuk. We went up to Laban Rata for supper and followed suit my colleagues who swallowed anti-vomit pills. Felt like taking drugs because I rarely take medicine unless I urgently need to. Sprayed cramp-relief spray and put on raincoat as it was unfortunately raining.

The journey started with hundreds of endless stairs. Until today, the vision of my friend's white raincoat and shoes with electric-green socks (which she called hijau ang-ang) stepping on the stairs and I did the same over and over, was one of the nightmares that made me sad. I was and am sad, I hated the stairs, it never end and I was already tired. It made me sad more than mad, my wish was really simple, I want the stairs to end! Was it too much too ask for? I wanted to go home real bad...

At one point, I lost her and met her again resting, but I told myself I will not get up if I stayed for than a minute. So in slow-motion, I gathered my bag, left her and started to walk up. I was so slow that people excused themselves to pass me by. Hundred times, I signaled other climbers to go ahead, I was too exhausted.

Then a really thick rope caught me by surprise. You need to imagine that the place was pitch dark, my headlamp only flashed towards where I look. The rope was as big as my wrist, no kidding. The rope leading to a 70 degree angle slope, where all had to climb. Okay, at least tangga dah hilang, cerun pun cerunlah!

The climb was okay until at certain point my body froze without my will. My body said to me that it experienced this freezing-freezing waktu dalam Gua Tempurung! Halamak sama la pulak. I don't want to be made into a ball rolling down the slope so my body stopped moving.

It was my destiny that I made a human traffic jam behind me. It was also my destiny that the situation made me popular among mountain guides. Seeing the traffic, a mountain guide had to pull me up. It was easy because he assured me to stand up and just walk. Soon, several mountain guides, pulled me up, till I reached Sayat-Sayat, the final stop and the registration station before continuing climbing to the top. Jauh tu. They teased me till I reached down Laban Rata. A shout-out to kind mountain guides of Mount Kinabalu, you are the best!

One particular path which I will always remember, was an area called Danger. I was instructed to walk leaning to my body to the left while holding the thick rope (and wet too), or I might fall into a cliff (haha exaggerate pula). It was dark and I don't dare to look what was the angle of the slope like. It was a piece of cake. Yay for me!

Upon reaching Sayat-Sayat, our own mountain guide greeted me, he was waiting for one more person before leaving the place. Our group was divided into two, so I was the last four in the first group. Alhamdulillah.

Again, I was pulled up. This time by my own guide. I don't want to rest for too long or my legs will give away. So to move non-stop, I need his hand so each time it became sloppier, he pulled me up.

"Sikit lagi Kak"

Yalah tu sikit lagi. I saw lights in a zig-zag, far on the mountain. So it must be so far away but the climb became easier where I only need to walk.

The air was thin and I was hungry for nice food. I still tried to swallow my chocolate energy paste, so sticky and yuck. I drink my glucose water and all taste not good. I was exhausted and kept on thinking when will I reach the top. Once I crashed landed my body and asked him something.

"Tolong ambil gambar"

I must get a picture of this tormented journey. I also wanted to record the time. It was 4.35 am. I continued to walk until he pointed to the end of the trail, which was too sloppy for me to look what was behind it. He said behind it is the Kilometer 8.

I was excited and quicken my pace. The moment I reached edge, it was nothing but endless steps to go. I was devastated. Was it that my 10 steps equals to his 1 step? He made it as if it was really near.

"Dekat sudah tu Kak"

Arghhhh!

Finally at 5.21 am, I reached KM 8, 3929 meter above sea level. I was determined to reach the top. Holding hands, I told him I want to watch the sunrise. He said I will and kept on motivating me. In my heart I knew, the climb would be impossible without the mountain guides.

The sun has risen, we stopped by at one corner to watch. It was so beautiful. We continued the walk to the top. Other mountain guides started to notice me and teased all the way to the top.

Breath-taking view from the top of Mount Kinabalu. The first picture was overlooking Kota Kinabalu

Allahuakbar...Allah Maha Besar...the view made me breathless, apart from me already being short of breath. I was mesmerized by the beautiful formation of rock, the colour and the texture.

But not for long. Because the feeling sitting on a rock, overlooking Kota Kinabalu city really made me full of emotion...

How do I ever get down from here?

Totally dumbfounded by the thought of walking back the same route, I just wanted to close my eyes and parachute straight into civilization. I hate myself for doing this, I'm not a climber nor that I enjoyed climbing. I tried hard to recall why my colleague and I arrange this trip in the first place.

At 6.20 am, I took photos on the top, with the first 3 friends. It was so cold even more with the wind blowing in. We didn't stay long and climbed down.

DAY 5