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Hello, hello everybody. This is a very, very weary girl writing right about now so I will apologise muchos if my spelling degenerates! Also, should the blog end with a multitude of letters resembling no god known language then I apologise again, tis most likely I will have fallen asleep on the keyboard. We are sat at the moment in a very hot, very sticky airport terminal in Kota Kinabalu, we are hideously early (try 5hrs!) but for once this is not at my insistence, we arrived back from Kinabalu national park earlier than we thought and have nowhere else to go, we tried to change our tickets to an earlier flight but no go - so we're stuck here till our original flight time. So how better to burn a couple of my free hours here than to update you lovely people on the last few days. Now much has happened these last few days and I am very tired which will only increase my rambling - warning to all this will be looooong! I'll start where I left off in KL!
Day ? - Totally lost track now! Following a morning wandering the KLCC and admiring the Petronus Towers (pretty but totally funded by the oil industry - they even have an interactive museum to try and convince the kids they are not that evil!), we met up with Chong for an afternoon and we headed out to town to a non-touristy spot to have banana leaf curry, which pretty much is as it says, curry served on a banana leaf! First you pick out what you want them to cook with it, Lee went for chicken and I had some unidentifiable fish and then they give you a leaf and they come and serve you rice, different vegetables and salads and the curry sauce (gravy) straight onto the leaf, they then bring you your cooked meat/fish etc and you tuck in, literally with your hands. Tis an amazing way to eat and a lot of fun for people who are often told that such a joy is 'playing' with food, the food tasted amazing as well and this was just in a little restaurant with outside umbrellas which wasn't snazzy or anything but was one of the best meals we tasted! We spent the afternoon having a drink and a laugh and putting the world to rights! T'was very funny, especially remembering some bits and bobs from when Kath & I were here as well (a particular favourite was our propensity to say 'donkey Kong' to each other in a daft voice, neither of us could remember why this caused so much hilarity until Chong remembered it was to do with the song, Winds of Change by the Scorpions. One of us had been singing 'Don't you donkey Kong' instead of the real lyrics which are apparently 'I follow the Moskva Down to Gorky Park' - I think ours were much better!) Then it was back to bed as the next morning we were flying out to Kota Kinabalu where we were hoping to climb Mt Kinabalu. Now I want to clarify something before I tell you all about our trip, before I went to Kinabalu I was telling people about our trip somewhat modestly saying 'well it's not really a mountain, just a very large hill' - please may I , can I retract that - it is not a hill it is a BLOOMING HUGE mountain - I have the blisters and lack of feeling in my jelly like legs to prove it!
We arrived in KK (Kota Kinabalu) where we had one night before we we're picked up by the company who had organised our climb. We spent the afternoon doing our usual - we haven't been here before let's wander around and around to see what it's all about. Well it's a small town with its own fair share of malls (as usual - I said to lee they should call it Mall-aysia but he didn't even try to pretend to laugh - how mean!). It's apparently very popular with travellers and you could tell by the number of bars! Including both Irish and assize themed venues. However as we we're attempting to climb a mountain the next day we decided that we would avoid the booze and went for some carb heavy noodles at a street restaurant (very yummy!) and declined the offered pudding of ais cacang (seems to be a pile of ice with syrups and the altogether interesting addition of sweetcorn and kidney beans!), instead we raided 7Eleven for supplies for our climb - lots of water, nuts, chocolate and dried fruit, we'd been warned that to sustain the effort needed to climb and combat altitude sickness we'd need to eat little and often so we went prepared! The next morning bright and early our driver from the company, Conrad, came to pick us up! It's about 2hrs to the mountain national park which is itself fairly high up. Throughout the drive the malls and shops vanished making way for houses made entirely of corrugated iron and looking a little dilapidated (save for the satellite dishes attached to a fair few!) and roadside eateries which often amount to little more than a shack and a few plastic chairs. T'was to one of these eateries just outside the national park that Lee and I were dispensed to get breakfast while Conrad went to sort out our climbing visas and find our mountain guide - who Conrad had told us was very experienced having worked as a guide for 18yrs (with about 2 trips up to summit weekly!), we had a strange breakfast served in stranger stages (one came out 20 mins after the other when we had gone to pay having given up thinking there had been some communication break down!). I was already feeling somewhat queasy and couldn't work out why, I was very excited about climbing the mountain it had been the first thing I thought of wanting to do when we planned this trip but I had read that even though you don't need mountaineering equipment some parts were a little hairy and involved a rockface, a rope and a 2.30am start!). This nervous energy had heightened when we wound around the mountain roads - often with Conrad thinking nothing of overtaking slower trucks on blind corners in his very old, very chuggy, hardly faster than slower vehicles - minivan. As we rounded one corner he said 'oh look there it is' - so I peered out of the window and quite frankly got very, very nervous - it was huge! Looming out of the mist and cloud which often shrouds the higher parts of the mountain - all I could think was lots and lots of swear words! This wasn't a big hill as I had thought it really was a bloody big mountain! The queasy tummy could have been early signs of altitude sickness as we were already hellish high up and this worried me because I knew that no matter how hard I would make that damn summit and the only thing that could stop me would be altitude sickness, you see it can effect anyone and the only cure is to descend - immediately and there is no way to predict who will get it and how bad. So I was somewhat dismayed to be feeling so ropey (I felt sicky and headachy the whole time we were there apart from when climbing or just after eating - it could have been the altitude or the simple fact that I was so worried about being struck down with it that I conjured my own psychosomatic version - still it didn't extend beyond a dull headache sorted by paracetamol and feeling sick especially before eating and having to force food down so I powered through choosing to believe that it was of my own making and therefore no reason to go down!) Anyways
(see what I mean about rambling - it's 5.16pm, we woke up about midnight in our very noisy dorm at 3,323m and got dressed to start climbing at 1.30am, we've been to the summit (yay we made it!) and all the way down the mountain and I haven't slept since - that's too many hours with too little sleep and a lot of exertion so forgive me if I'm a little delirious!)
We went with Conrad to meet our guide who was called Porinus (but I got it into my head that it was Polonious and called him this for the duration - only when talking to Lee though not to him, he was a quiet chap who really only understood basic English so conversations were limited!) Porinus (aka Polonious) was a thin older man with a few less teeth than god intended but he smiled a lot which was great, He carried a very battered old rucksack, wore some nylon full trousers and airtex top and wore pumps - which made a mockery of our full rucksacks of 'climbing gear'! We went to our briefing and were given our passes which we had to wear at all times as we passed through checkpoints at various parts of the climb, so they make sure they don't lose anybody! Shiny new badges acquired; we were driven to Timpohon gate where we would begin our climb! On the advice of Polonious we bought a walking stick each (which we came to adore and wholly rely on!) and off we went! Polonious told us to go ahead and he'd catch us up! This happened at all stages of the climb - he'd be nowhere to be seen and all of a sudden he'd pop up out of nowhere with a big grin, cigarette hanging from his mouth and swinging his 'walking stick' which was a big golf umbrella with a sharp point, the umbrella put me strangely in mind of imagining Polonious as some sort of 'Mary Poppins' figure, I think the lack of oxygen in the air did strange things to my mind! Anyways he'd disappear again usually to have a chat or a smoke with the other guides and then as sure as a mountain goat would spring up behind us bobbing up the mountain as we trudged along! He was a very nice man though!
The first 0.5km was down hill, a pleasant surprise but somewhat unexpected when climbing 'up ' a mountain - I cheerily remarked - gosh this will be hard to end the climb tomorrow - and how right I was! Anyways we soon reached the up which alternated between roughly hewn stairs (often half the size of me - long back little legs you see!) and steep rocky paths which you had to pick your way through. The flora and fauna around at this point was dense rainforesty jungle with all the humidity that entails so we were sweaty things as we shuffled up the hill! We often met climbers coming down from summit and they looked cream crackered, we congratulated them, and they wished us luck with a certain gleam of insight in their eyes and we very much hoped that we would be in that position tomorrow! We also overtook a fair few climbers as we powered through working hard but clocking up the distance fairly well! We stood aside to let weary climbers come down hill (good excuse for a rest) and to let the barrage of porters and workers scuttle past us with loads that put us to shame! The food delivery was going up the hill and workers climb the same route climber do (it's the only way you see!) carrying mounds of food on their backs in a cotton sling contraption like pre historic back backs that tie round the waist and have a band at the forehead. They totally put us to shame struggling in the humidity with our mini backpacks and I was most impressed with the lady carrying about 8 trays of 2 dozen eggs in such a device! You could also pay these porters to carry your bag up for you so you could travel unfettered - however we decided to 'man' (or 'woman') up and carry our own as a) you really should and b) a lot were very young e.g. kids and we decided to do our bit to not promote child labour!
We stopped for lunch at a rest stop which were scattered along the trail, each had water supplies (but being Europeans with our weak stomachs we were advised against drinking this as it's untreated and can send our sensitive little digestive systems out of whack - therefore we carried a heavy supply of mineral water!) and a basic loo and a bench or too. At one point we had merely opened a packets when some little squirrels popped out of the undergrowth and sniffed around - we didn't give them any as the park doesn't encourage wildlife to be tamed and anyway a lad sat nearby gleefully fed them saying ' come, come eat chocolate pudding - it's tasty!' while snapping away on his camera.
As we climbed the air got a little cooler, but to our English skin this was merely welcome as we still sweated like beasts, the terrain changed from rainforest to huge sandstone steps which required one to heave oneself up sometimes using the stick or if one is me on hands and knees (some bloke saw me do this later on and said sagely - ah, four wheel drive!) It felt a bit deserty really with the sandy paths and gnarled trees, the views were opening up, but it was still misty as the clouds swirled around and at times engulfed us providing a delicious blanket of moist cool air - much appreciated! We then reached the final stage of that days climb to Laban Rata the night camp where everyone stays before making out for summit in the early hours. By now we'd travelled about 5k - not much you think but believe me in that heat and almost entirely vertically tis a long, long way! The last 1k to camp was exhausting - the steps gave way to rocky limestone 'paths' which were just boulders of differing sizes, so it took a little longer to plan one's route (unless you're Polonious who skipped up like a Mary Poppinsesque mountain goat!). We arrived at night camp, tired and exhausted at about 2.30pm which is really good timing as we set off about 10.45am and they say if you make it up in 5-6hrs you have basic fitness! So, we were feeling very proud, until they said, 'here's the key to your dorm, its 200m up that big hill, go check in and rest them come back here for dinner'! I tell you that 200m to the bunk was the most tiring that whole day! It was 200m further up the trail, but we had to not only travel back down for meals but also meet Polonious there for the start out to the summit the next day so after doing this trip several times it added a whole 1k to our climb! We found our room, which has bunk beds made of the hardest, most solid mattress ever and pillows surely carved from solid marble. Our bunk mates were a couple from somewhere in Europe - I'm not sure where but they didn't understand my sense of humour when during the usual polite small talk one makes with people I said, 'gosh that last section was really hard, it seemed much longer than 0.5k I think someone kept moving the signs - tee hee' The bloke looked at me and with all seriousness said, 'no they I don't think they have'.
We rested for a bit and then went down for tea, now I know that it is important to eat when using so much energy and when feeling sicky but believe me trying to force down fried foods when you are already feeling a bit queasy - not easy! But I managed because I was blooming determined to get up that summit! After dinner we watched the most amazing sunset (like about a trillion pictures to come!) as we sat outside our bunkhouse watching the sun set from 3,323m! Due to the 1.30am (for supper before the big start - yay more food!) start everyone settles into bed by about 7pm and we duly did the same, alarms set and ready to get up the next morning!!
When the alarm went off at 1.30am, it was no surprise - I had been watching it avidly since 10pm cos there wasn't a hope in hell of getting any sleep - add to the uncomfy bed, a queasy tummy, excited anticipation and a group of very excited people planning to climb up a summit it was a noisy unsettled night! When we woke up Lee was full of cold and had a bit of a temperature but being the man, he is, he decided to power through it and get ready for the summit trail. We returned to the hut for supper (I choked down a very weird eggy bread and swilled it with hot strong coffee to try to convince my tummy to keep hold of it). When we gave Polonious the nod we were off towards the summit! Now the summit is just 2.7k away but it is steep, very, very steep and therefore it was estimated to take a fair few hours. At 2.30am sharp we shuffled off all layered up for the cold summit with our posh head torches on! We joined the trail of people slowly heaving themselves up the staircases at the back of camp towards summit - we must have looked like a trail of fiery ants I think, headtorches and hand torches glowing as we shuffled up the steps and rocky inclines in single file! Now this bit didn't seem to bad - especially as you couldn't see how far you had to go as you had to keep your head down and concentrate your light source where your feet would go! I got a bit carried away at one point and didn't realise the Japanese guy in front had me had stopped and forged on headbutting him rather smartly on the derriere!
We then got to the rock face, which is as it says on the tin, a rock face - with a single white rope zig zagging forever upwards. To begin this part of the trail you grab the rope and use it to vertically walk up about 10m - like abseiling but going forwards! you then arrive on a ledge in the rock face no more than 20inches wide and just enough room for one shoe. Behind you is a sheer drop, a long way down, so believe me as you shuffle crablike along that rock face that rope is your dearest friend! We heaved and pulled until the rope led us up and up and up and up, sometimes you needed the rope and upper body strength to pull you up ankle bending inclines and other times it's to add some security if you dare look back through the pitch darkness down! Now this isn't a rope you clip onto - you just hold on for dear life and that is exactly what we did! We made it through final checkpoint and have 1.7km to summit - all of it along rocky inclines with only the rope as your support, now Polonious stuck to us like glue for this section, pointing out good foot holes and potholes to use to heave ourselves up - he told us to slow down when I trotted off eager to be at the top (pacing is such a problem for me so Lee kept saying 'slowly, slowly climb the mountain!) and he generally helped us feel safer I think! When we finally heaved ourselves up to the summit (a couple of small raggedy signs being the only fanfare that awaited us!) he took our picture the showed us a rock to huddle up on to await sunrise. Now this is at 4.095m and by god it's cold up there, we were both wearing, thermal tops and leggings, additional trousers, 2 pairs of thick walking socks, additional jumpers, fleeces, hats, neck warmers, gloves and raincoats and snuggled together and we were still shivering! The guides had a fag at summit and one even curled up under a mac for a nap! As we waited for sun to rise we watched fork lightening rip through the sky in a distant thunderstorm and saw a shooting star (we think - we also saw a 'star' which was dancing - just moving all over, not like a plane - so I think we were a little pickled!). We also commented on the cars below moving along before we realised these 'cars' were some of our fellow climbers' headlamps (we arrived in the first 15 to summit!) We watched the sunrise, beautifully despite a bit of cloud cover and watched the landscape transform before us, we took yet more pictures but by this time as more and more people made it summit began to get a little cramped (it ain't big) so we decided to head down with Polonius leading us down showing us where to clamber over huge boulders and to retrace our steps - this gave much better views of the sunrise and we stopped for many, many pictures! The route down was as hairy as the way up - having to use the rope to almost 'abseil' down steep inclines which we could not believe we had pulled ourselves up - we felt immense pride and are still congratulating ourselves! We had a quick breakfast and then headed down hill and made it in 3.5hrs, once we wanted to be down we wanted to be down as quick as possible as if anyone tells you climbing up a mountain is hard that's nothing on getting down the darn thing - even with the sticks (which have given me massive blisters on my hands I was using it so heavily!) Shortly into the downward trundle I hit the wall which disconnected me from my jelly like pins and meant I descended the mountain like a drunk toddler, weaving and shaking away with fatigue - very funny for Lee who was watching behind me!! We think we managed the knowing gleam in the eye as we greeted people on day one to the climb and tried not to look too much in pain! We finally made it back to the camp (the last incline was an absolute killer!) and crawled into the minibus! Everyone who climbed got lunch at the buffet and by god you could tell us from other people just visiting the park as we all had the stiff legged limpy gait to prove our work! After collecting our certificates (I am sooo proud of these!) we limped into the taxi, which brought us here - to the airport so many hours early cos to be frank we are master quick mountain climbers!
And now my arms (and surely your eyes!) ache as much as my feet so its adieu for now, we're back in Kl tonight and to the Grand Prix tomorrow and Sunday so we'll write again soon!
Big hugs to all, thanks for the wishes of good luck and for thinking of us on our mountain climb - it worked!
Love Kat & Lee xx
Ps forgive me for not spellchecking now I will edit later! - promise xx
P.P.S - Now edited, we're in Kl will update more tomorrow after the race but we are so, so, so sore - can barely blooming walk! Still worth it though! xx
- comments
Joy Lee & Kat Well done. What a fantastic achievement! I bet you are proud of yourselves, rightly so. You will need to rest, to recover from such an exciting honeymoon. I hope you both recover quickly. Take Care Lots of love, Mum, Dad, Kay, George & pebbles x x x x
Joy Hi Kat & Lee, Hope you are both recovering well. Happy Easter, take care, don't be racing up or down any stairs, oh! i can feel it for you. George & Pebbles have got an Easter egg, do you think George will enjoy it? Possibly other peoples eggs as well? Why not. Love you both, carry on enjoying yourselves, Mum, Dad, Kay, George & Pebbles x x x
A jax How heroic are you two?!!