The Trekkers

After the May 26, 2008 Mount Kinabalu climb, homestay trip, harvest festival in KK & back in KL, my mind is totally free & relax with no logistic, no coordination and thoughts of responsibility as well as care to shoulder on, so I thought I deserve a long break from many things including my blog.

While I am still in the mood for break, e-mails & sms coming in on why the trekkers.blogspot is not updated.

Oh!! I know I have to do something to bring this DIY trip to a conclusion.

For a week my mind was tossed to & fro about what to write on this journey that we have had.

Is it about how we started, or where we started to trek ?

About how the weather was rainy and gloomy,

or chronicles of buddy system in trekking, pairing up to keep an eye for each other,

or how everyone has encourage and help each other moving forward,

or to highlight the experience and the things we have learned as a group.

May be it's best to touch a little on everything, ...............first memory came to mind was rain, rain, rain rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, & rain......rain, rain, rain..

We started our journey via Mersilau Trail, all wore raincoat at the start of journey as it was raining before we step out of the Mersilau Nature's Resort after our breakfast at the restaurent

Well, the entire journey, when we started to climb from Mersilau Trail Gate until we reach Laban Rata Rest House. There were raindrop of different sizes hitting our faces.

As this KK trip has been well prepared and planned, we were determined to reach our target destination : The Low's Peak, whether it rains or shines.

So the whole order of action for the day was it rained, and rained, we trekked in the rain & it rained.

We were trekking in the rain.

we trekked & trekked, it rained, rained, we trekked in the rain & it rained , rained, rained & rained; we trekked in the rain until we reached Laban Rata Rest House.

There were different kinds of rain.

Rain and more rain, from heavy rain to drizzly rain, from drizzly rain to heavy rain again......it was indeed a non stop rainny day.

Despite the weather, everyone was still upbeat and having fun in the rain.

Overall, it was more difficult to walk in the rain as it required more energy, to keep moving forward, guess there were really no secret than to have buddies that uphold each other to move towards the goal post.

No matter how difficult the journey was, I thank God for the rain, if not the rain cleared the dust away, we would have missed seeing the clear blue sky with puffs & puffs of cottony cloud floating on the mountain tops,

We would not have been able to see the silvery stream of waterfall that fell gracefully from the rock.

We would have also missed the distinctive beautiful color on the pitcher plants.

What shall I write next ?

What shall I write next ??? And what can the things I write be an interesting piece that I myself will come back to read again my own blog !!!

I guess it is none other than how I feel on the KK climb & how much I have gained being the organizer of the 18 members’ including yours truly's DIY trip to KK.

What I cherished most

Two important words come to my mind “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ” macam kerja habis, happy saja……………

& on the whole, I can say “ I have learned much and am satisfied with what I have accomplished, hope so the members have enjoyed themselves & have a good memory for a long time to come on this trekking experience.

On reaching the Peak

Some members of course reached the peak faster than the others, some members put in more effort to overcome the thin air, the coldness and mental block as the last part of the climb was so challenging.

Thankfully & most importantly, with the mountain guides’ help, everyone made it and we managed a group photo for remembrance.

On the challenging path to Low’s Peak

Every trekkers will definately want to catch sunrise at Low's Peak, so do we.

With upset stomach and nauseated feelings, couple with vomiting along the way, few times my legs didn’t want to move any step forward especially at the 7.5 KM to 8 KM stretch.

Nevertheless my mind protested “ how could you give up here?? You didn't come this far just to quit !!!!, did you ??? ”

So when the goal was in focus again, the determination summoned all the energy within to do what the physical body thought that was impossible.

Though me & Alex looked forward to hug each other close & tight, kiss each other lovingly & passionate during the first few moments when the sun broke its morning ray at the Low's Peak, with our walking pacethen...............

.......started with 50 steps, then stopped to catch our breathe,

then it went down to 40 steps, then stopped,

after that we walked about 30 steps, and stopped,

and it reduced to further 10-15 steps, as we edged slowly towards Low's Peak.

We were certained, to catch the sunrise at Low’s peak was quite challenging unless God did us a miracle, supernatural miracle, may be, may be.....; something like stoping the clock from ticking, just for the two of us....Wow!!!!

Or a magic he performed just that we can catch the sunrise......it will be just so wonderful !!!!!!!!

To cut the whole story short, when everyone reached the peak, happily taking photos at Low’s peak, both me & Alex, and as buddies were the last few struggling to reach there. ( we would not give up of course.)

The ending story was :- there were No Personal Photos, No Husband & Wife photos, let alone hugging each other, the hope to look into each other’s eyes romantic, to enjoy that special moment of sunrise were dashed.

We were grasping breathe, for SURVIVAL !!!!!!!!!!

On the Morning Sunrise

Nevertheless, we thank God for Amelia, she captured the rising sun.......

The picture gave us a glimpse of the beauty, of how God so gloriously breaking the day, a new day, a new beginning, with new mercy, new grace, new strength.........for us to walk the mountain again......and again, may be, we will come back to watch the sunrise holding hands one day.

Last but not least,

I must also take this opportunities to thank all the 17 members, throughout the period prior to the KK climb, during & after that climb, we have indeed come a looooooooooooooooong way,

by now,

some of you,

I believed, you have stronger muscles in your legs,

some should have developed strong shoulder blades,

going through all the different tracks, long or not so long.

The bonding we have with each other,

the encouragement we gave to one another, during those grueling long tracks & burdensome load we packed into our backpack.,

and the care we have for each other in times of need.

It has been constructive & wonderful experience for me.

A special thanks to our precious children

We as parents were worried for lots of unwarranted worries from time to time, but all of you have proven yourself, with training, you gained stamina, with perserverance, you gained strength and endurance, with goals you have set for yourself, you gained confidence that you are able to do it, indeed The Majestic Mount Kinabalu, is just the first of many more, to come.

Those are our sweetheart darling girl cutie babies, Victoria & Amelia, Mummy & Daddy are definitely so proud of you for achieving this feat. whether you pick it up as hobby or sport after this, it's always your personal choice.

Nick, Felise & Kim, I am sure your mum & dad swell with much pride too.

" I can do all things, through Christ who strengthen me, All things are possible................."

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect.

I would not change anything for the friendship that we have build & nothing can be exchange with what we have gained from this trekking journey together.

p/s Blog on homestay will be later ya...

Are you ready ??????

Recollecting what have been done for the past 8-12 months or so trekking as a group preparing to go Gunung Kinabalu, i think we have come a long way.

Asked each individual participant, which track he /she enjoyed most & the answer is.......

Our handsome watermelon Lau said Gunung Irau in Cameron Highland, Pahang is exciting, muds, and moss, muds and moss, if you are not careful with your steps, your shoes will stuck in the deep smudgy moss. That's exciting to him.

So he joked, For Gunung Irau, best to wear Phua Chu Kang's yellow boots if you can.

Mind you, there was a group of veteran trekkers of uncles and aunties, most of them are vegetable farmers from cameron as they introduced themselves, all of them wore waterproof rubber boots as their hiking & trekking boots.

Just wondered if they are also fans of Phua Chu Kang sitcom from Singapore.

Or they met the sitcom STAR who suggested to help advertise his trademark bright yellow boots to be mountain trekking boots for Gunung Irau

Agreed with you Nick, Gunung Ayam was one of the best experience we had, vividly remember that it was raining dogs & cats for almost two hours before reaching the summit, after trekking for 4-5 hours, soaked & wet and the cold wind, made some shivered........but refreshed without having to take bath at the river.

Upon reaching the peak, everyone was waiting for the porter..................

and ......he......

.......and he........

never arrived !!!

The smart guy went some where else............

he went to Gunung Stong instead of the destinated Gunung Ayam.

Well, efforts were made to locate him and alas, it was presumed that he can't crossed the river as the water level swelled so high.

So, we were without food the entire cold & chilly night but yet we had so much fun and our laughter then could be heard far far away.

Amelia commented, " it's so interesting to see the adults being so frantic...haha....

Why not ??? the snacks we had with us were fed to the children first !!!!

Anyway, it was one of the best experience trekking in the rain, after this experience, any sign of rain in any track, coming or not , sup sup sooi.........la .