Peaking

Drivvle alert*

Mountain peaks make me high in every way. High on life. High in altitude. Just high. The feeling of standing over 4,000 metres above sea level, watching the sun rise out of the darkness below, slowly illuminating a landscape with hues of pink and orange is a privilige I am lucky to have had.

I came to Borneo for Mt Kinabalu, everything else a bonus. The personal journey of pushing yourself up a huge cliff, body in pain and making it to the peak, can only leave you with a feeling of elation and self empowerment. It's addictive. I have just come back from that very feeling, now seaside, in pain all over. My thighs after climbing 2300 metres up in one day and then down 2300 metres again the next are sore to say the least. Imagine someone has sliced your thighs open and applied dencorub and it would be close to how I feel right now :)) Pained but super happy and proud of myself. Mountains are my zone. I'm already thinking of which one I can do next. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is calling me :) (Russ???) Mt Kinabalu has definitely been my favourite of all mountains to date, the best view from the top at sunrise, most dramatic peaks, and most technically challenging and frightening. Scary in a good exciting way.

The lanscape of Borneo is as you might imagine. Hot, steamy jungle, low misty clouds moving quickly to kiss the mountain and whip up icywinds as you get higher. MUD! Pitcher plants, squirrels, hanging moss, rainforest then scrubby low hardy trees, copious waterfalls making the air sing, rocky slippery paths and finally sheer volcanic cliffs devoid of vegetation that summit at dramatic eroded peaks - seemingly impossible to climb. Menacing, dragonlike peaks even. Lucky for us, even though we walked constantly in ponchos through heavy rain, as we sat at sunrise to watch the beauty unfold we had perfectly clear skies with views 2,000 metres below to the village and perfect cold clarity in every direction.

The trek went something like this:
Day 1: Start at 8.30 am after gorging as much high carb food as possible. Up, up, up, up, endles rocky, muddy stairs, never going down for 8 hours of hiking to a height of 3,500 metres. The boulders on the way and extra height of the stairs was a killer. Early massive dinner and then tried to go to sleep early. Only two hours sleep from excitement and altitude!! Rained ominously all night.

Day 2: Up at 2am to start trekking at 2.30am through the pitch night with a torch. Endless stairs until the rope started all the rest of the way to the top. A walking stick essentil to save your knees a little. Hung on to a rope up sheer slippery rock, fell three times but clung on for dear life. Walking slowly in the breathless height until 5.30am to reach the summit exhausted. Sat in the icy cold of 0 degress and cried with the stunning revelation of where we just came from as the light illuminated our path below. Then a very long walk down from 4100 metres down 2300 knee breaking stepped metres below through the rain. Hyper but fatigued we all made it down by 4pm that day. BUGGERED.

Now I'm seaside back in Kota Kinabalu with perhaps the last internet again for a while before I start the Headhunters trail and a longhouse stay in Sarawak in the next couple of days. I have had to reduce my pack again and send some stuff to the end. After hiking with over 10 kilos I realise it's still too heavy for me to enjoy.

It's not raining today!! First day. I'm wearing my cossie ready to hit the beach and just float and contemplate my navel. My passion for chillis has finally bit me in the bum though, quite literally. Emergency. If I'm not in sprint distance to the toilet right now I feel quite nervous!!! :)

It's my last day with the group (not a group of hotties but beautiful Aussies of all ages and one English guy my age who has travelled the world) so a celebration poolisde with cocktails is in order for sunset tonight. The South China Sea is dotted with islands off the coast and flat as the Brisbane River. The perfect end to what has been a great group of people sharing so much in only a week.

Tomorrow I am going to meet my next group of 5 to continue the rest of my trip south to Sarawak, jungle stay, cave exploration, historic Kuching and lots more nature. Only the millions of photos I am taking can possibly start to describe what we have squeezed in to the last week of wilderness.

My family homestay was humbling. On my tavels I have often envied the people who have little material possesions. It's common (or so it seems) that they expect less than we do. They are more time rich, they live happily in extended families and there is no chance for lonliness. Community living takes care of every individual on mental, physical and emotional levels. The open door of these homes is so opposite to our lives but so appealing to me. Maybe being single with no kids highlights it more to me. But watching this family and village I feel they truly know how lucky they are and are grateful. There is respect. Lack of material value and a real sense of everyone working together. It's gorgeous. Plus the babies of 1 and 5 years old clung to me like limpets so I found that hard to resist :))

And just a brief final drivvle on the hairy vegos of the forest, Orangutans!.... As I stood motionless looking skyward at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilition Sancturay I was delighted to finally be living a private dream. A beautiful, swinging hairy primate broke through the leaves in search of his daily banana. So majestic, humanlike and cheeky. My grin matched theirs as I tried to capture just an ounce of their personality on film. The babies stole my heart. The community heirarchy and interaction obvious and tangible. I loved it. The noise of the dense jungle reminding me once again of tha Amazon mixed with smells of other parts of Asia. My scent memory sending me back in time.

But driving for hours afterwards through vast Palm Oil plantations is sad. I know people need to have a primary industry to survive. I know I am being altruistic. But to see the result of the rapid rape of the natural environment that is creating hundreds of orphaned orangutans every year is frustrating. Palm oil is definitely on my list of ingredients to try to avoid.

Well, drivvle, gush, drivvle. I need to create a written memory of this adventure. I've never loved being solo so much and feel this year is unfolding in all the best ways. Nature really is the key to understanding myself and with so much of it here I can't help but have a gigantic grin :))))

Thanks for all your emails everyone. SO appreciated. Sending a sweaty hug to everyone until Sarawak.
Lots of love
Kris
xxx

*Drivvle indicates copious gushiness and can only really be remedied by an immediate delete button reaction. Otherwise endure the emotion at your own risk :)

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