1st May 2009, a very special date in my calendar. It is when one of my dreams will be fulfilled. Amidst the excitement exuded from my exterior, there is a lot of trepidation and concerns inside. Will my injured ankle fail me? It has been more than 1 month but my ankle has not fully recovered from the sprained ligament. Will my condition allow me to conquer Mount Kinabalu without hiccups?
Besides the adrenaline rush of scaling Mount Kinabalu that thrills me, it is the idea of going on another trip with my besties. Since schooling years till now, we have gone through a whole lot. Who wouldn't have when you've walked through around 10 years together. From the innocent, rebellious teenagers to the matured, wacky young adults. We witnessed the transformation of each and everyone. Gosh, no idea where the sudden nostalgia came from, *grins*.
Anyway, my heart has flown to Kota Kinabalu where the grand, serene highest peak awaits me. Do tune in for the details next week. There will be a great story to be told.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Nuang-Lolo Camp
On one of our practice sessions for Mount Kinabalu, we picked Gunung Nuang, Selangor's highest peak. However, due to my injured ankle and due to my buddies' nature of enjoying instead of going through gruesome training, we decided to stop at Lolo Camp instead of heading to the summit. I know, i know, it defeats the purpose then but i would rather give my ankle a chance to recover than deteriorating it more. I need only 1 more week for it to fully recover, that is according to the doctor, let's pray that he is right.
We arrived at base at around 8.30am and started out on our hike at 8.50am. We had read from blogs that described thoroughly how the trek to the peak of Gunung Nuang is. The first stretch is purely steep muddy trail to Lolo Camp. There are no steps but slope all the way. In fact, if you have a 4x4, you can even drive to Lolo Camp. This slope is perfect for my ankle as climbing steps would be a tad too risky as I could land my foot on an uneven surface and twist it again since my ankle is very vulnerable at the moment.
The stretch seemed never-ending. Due to the rain the night before, most of the trail was muddy. That impaired our advance and slowed us down as we didn't want to have our shoes covered with mud. The trail went on and on and on. Most parts are steep and we had to toughen our calf muscle to ascend. The challenge here was more on mental strength as it could get really boring. Somehow, we survived :D.
Lolo Camp is dirty! We were greeted by rubbish dump and rubbish piles scattered everywhere. It really didn't make us feel like lingering long. We tried to look for a quieter spot away from the workers who were doing some construction work. We found an isolated spot right beside the waterfall. It was narrow but that's the best we could find.
Without further delay, we attacked the food we brought. You would never be able to guess what our main course was. KFC!! To go with KFC, there were tuna sandwich, watermelon, longan and lychee dessert and hard-boiled eggs. What a sumptuous feast right in the heart of nature.
After spending 2 hours by the waterfall, we headed back to civilization. Below are some photos along the way down.
We arrived at base at around 8.30am and started out on our hike at 8.50am. We had read from blogs that described thoroughly how the trek to the peak of Gunung Nuang is. The first stretch is purely steep muddy trail to Lolo Camp. There are no steps but slope all the way. In fact, if you have a 4x4, you can even drive to Lolo Camp. This slope is perfect for my ankle as climbing steps would be a tad too risky as I could land my foot on an uneven surface and twist it again since my ankle is very vulnerable at the moment.
The stretch seemed never-ending. Due to the rain the night before, most of the trail was muddy. That impaired our advance and slowed us down as we didn't want to have our shoes covered with mud. The trail went on and on and on. Most parts are steep and we had to toughen our calf muscle to ascend. The challenge here was more on mental strength as it could get really boring. Somehow, we survived :D.
Lolo Camp is dirty! We were greeted by rubbish dump and rubbish piles scattered everywhere. It really didn't make us feel like lingering long. We tried to look for a quieter spot away from the workers who were doing some construction work. We found an isolated spot right beside the waterfall. It was narrow but that's the best we could find.
Without further delay, we attacked the food we brought. You would never be able to guess what our main course was. KFC!! To go with KFC, there were tuna sandwich, watermelon, longan and lychee dessert and hard-boiled eggs. What a sumptuous feast right in the heart of nature.
After spending 2 hours by the waterfall, we headed back to civilization. Below are some photos along the way down.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Project Sun Tan Part IV
As though 1 day of sun-tanning was not sufficient, we decided to go on another island-hopping tour. Well, what's an island trip if you do not soak yourself in sun rays?
Our first stop was Maya Island. This is the very famous island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. I guess you know what movie this is. I have not watched it so nothing looked familiar to me. When you stand on Maya Beach overlooking the breathtaking sea, you feel as though you are out of the world. You have fine, white sand underneath your feet, sky blue glistening, glittering sea water calmly and gently rushing onto the shores and towering, gigantic mountains enclaving the crystal clear water and the sandy beach. It felt too much for me to take in, too hard for me to believe that this view was for real. How could there be such a view! Sadly, the throng of tourists and the noise pollution that ensued drew away most of its beauty.
We ventured into the heart of this small island only to find ourselves in a deep ravine. You would feel as though you were in a lost world with dense forest and strange-looking trees all around you.
After the brief stop at Maya Beach, we were brought to a lagoon where the water level will rise another 20meters during high tide.
For lunch, we had at Monkey Beach where there were supposed to be throngs of monkeys on that island. Too bad, due to the weather (it rained!!!), that plan was postponed. Instead, we headed to our next destination, Bamboo island. We were left with no choice due to the heavy rain. It was astonishing to experience heavy downpour in open sea. Due to its vastness you can spot clear sky on your left but surprising blurry view on your right due to the rain.
All in all, the only highlight of this island tour is Maya Beach where our breath was really taken away. The rest was quite a disappointment, sad to say.
The next day marked the last day in Krabi. We did not have much time to travel too far hence we opted for an elephant ride and another session of traditional thai massage.
Below is our dear elephant darling whose name is Moon. She is such a good girl, she would obey the instructors's every single instruction. Even though she would be curious and mischievous at times by being distracted by new plants or leaves, she would put it aside and carry on with her journey.
How comfortable would it be if we are always surrounded by greenery and mountains and clear blue sky. This is paradise!
Well, this marks the end of my krabi trip. It had been enjoyable. There are so many more attractions that we didn't manage to cover. It would be awesome to be able to go back one day to cover those areas!
Our first stop was Maya Island. This is the very famous island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. I guess you know what movie this is. I have not watched it so nothing looked familiar to me. When you stand on Maya Beach overlooking the breathtaking sea, you feel as though you are out of the world. You have fine, white sand underneath your feet, sky blue glistening, glittering sea water calmly and gently rushing onto the shores and towering, gigantic mountains enclaving the crystal clear water and the sandy beach. It felt too much for me to take in, too hard for me to believe that this view was for real. How could there be such a view! Sadly, the throng of tourists and the noise pollution that ensued drew away most of its beauty.
We ventured into the heart of this small island only to find ourselves in a deep ravine. You would feel as though you were in a lost world with dense forest and strange-looking trees all around you.
After the brief stop at Maya Beach, we were brought to a lagoon where the water level will rise another 20meters during high tide.
For lunch, we had at Monkey Beach where there were supposed to be throngs of monkeys on that island. Too bad, due to the weather (it rained!!!), that plan was postponed. Instead, we headed to our next destination, Bamboo island. We were left with no choice due to the heavy rain. It was astonishing to experience heavy downpour in open sea. Due to its vastness you can spot clear sky on your left but surprising blurry view on your right due to the rain.
All in all, the only highlight of this island tour is Maya Beach where our breath was really taken away. The rest was quite a disappointment, sad to say.
The next day marked the last day in Krabi. We did not have much time to travel too far hence we opted for an elephant ride and another session of traditional thai massage.
Below is our dear elephant darling whose name is Moon. She is such a good girl, she would obey the instructors's every single instruction. Even though she would be curious and mischievous at times by being distracted by new plants or leaves, she would put it aside and carry on with her journey.
How comfortable would it be if we are always surrounded by greenery and mountains and clear blue sky. This is paradise!
Well, this marks the end of my krabi trip. It had been enjoyable. There are so many more attractions that we didn't manage to cover. It would be awesome to be able to go back one day to cover those areas!
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