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Published: April 4th 2010
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On my list of must do was to climb Mount K and I am happy to say that I came, I saw , I conquered and am now having aches in my thighs that make me walk down any flight of stairs like donald duck. Looking back, it was enjoyable like all holidays but tough. Just one of those things you want to do once in your life.
Lodging at the Midway Accomodation (Laban Rata) and the Park HQ has been increasing approx 15+% every financial year. It is no longer cheap to climb Mount K, well at least not as cheap as when my colleagues back at the office climbed it years ago. Which was why our climb was scheduled for 31 Mar. Climb another day later and we would have to pay 15% more. Reason for the annual hike is attributed to the organisation which seems to have a monopoly over the surrounding accomodation. A quick read online reveals that prices have increased as much as 4 times since 2008. I felt no organisation should ever be allowed to monopolise what nature has to offer for purpose of profit. The mountain should be for all to
climb and enjoy. The organisation doesn't own the mountain. They shouldn't have exclusive rights to control the prices. Having said that, there isn't much the man in the street can do about it and this is how it is for now.
And so, Team K consisting of Tom, Shan, Xia and myself made the climb up to our midway accomodation. The standard plan was to set off in the morning at 8am and reach our midway accomodation (Pendant Hut) early afternoon. We would sleep and set off the next morning at 230am to ascend to the peak (4095m Above Sea Level). After that, we would carry out our Via Ferrata Activity during out descend. Full of energy and enthusiasm, we bounded up the 6-7km. Towards the last km, I had some difficulty, as I seem to cope worst with the higher altitude. Didn't feel too good, didn't eat too much, the throbbing headache made me doubt if I could attempt to reach the summit the next morning. Does sound like I am climbing Everest doesn't it. I think to some, Mount K is a walk in the park but it certainly wasn't, at least for me. I went
to bed praying that the headache would go away.
It did. I felt better and we were ready to set off at 230am. Our guide arrived at 3 and we headed out into the cold dark wilderness with our headlamps, gloves and thick clothing. We had 2 time windows to meet. 6am to catch the sunrise at the peak and 8am where the window to do the via ferrata activity closes. We were worried as we needed to cover 3km to the peak within 3 hrs in this thin air. A thick white rope leads the way to the summit. When I first saw the rope, the ground was steep and I needed to pull myself up using my upper body strength. My mind wandered if it was going to be like this all the way up. Thankfully, the ground was less steep in quite a few stretches. Nevertheless, it was tough but we finally reached the summit at 610am ! woohoo , the view I must say was very rewarding as daylight breaks and you get to see how pretty it is above the clouds. The peak isn't very big and everyone around me was scrambling up
there to take pictures. We didn't stay very long as it we needed to meet our Via Ferrata timing. We reached the checkpoint at around 740am. Took a rest and it was here I felt unwell again and threw up in the toilet. Felt better after that and was ready to go.
The Via Ferrata at Mount K is the highest in the world consisting of steep rock faces, iron rungs, suspension bridges and tight ropes. We were already quite tired but we already paid up so there was no turning back. Could see some anxiety in Shan and Xia's faces as we geared up and waited to go over the cliff. I know the feeling cause it was how I felt when I first did abseiling and rapelling. Our instructor Fred turned out to be a jolly and friendly guy who talked us through the activity. Turned out to be much more managable and enjoyable after the initial anxieties. All i can say is that there is enough redundancy to ensure our safety. All of us enjoyed it.
We were a little slow during our via Ferrata activity and we already dead tired when we
reached back to our midway accomodation. I was so tired, I could hardly bring myself to eat. But we knew we had a long 6-7km back down. Ate quickly and took a 10 mins nap before getting ready to go down. I thought going down would really be a walk in the park but I was wrong. Apparently, it isn't so easy on the knees as go down the many many steps. THe walking stick I must say is really a life saver. Without it, I think I would already need a knee replacement now. We were so tired and making slow progress down the mountain. We were so tired and our thighs, calfs and hamstring started to burn supporting our weight. Every step was a pain but we endured and finally reached Timpohon gate at 620am. It took us 5 hrs to get down from our midway accomodation. A total of 11km of pounding our knees took for the day. I slept on the bus as it sped towards town for the hot showers that awaited us in our hotel.
We decided to cancel on Padas Rafting as there was feedback that the dry season made the
river quite boring. We opted instead to island hop along the clear waters and pretty islands (Manukan & Mamutik) of Kota Kinabalu. The ache in our leg muscles showed up and we found it really difficult to walk down any stairs. Thank god our hotel has a lift. We had our fair share of sea sport activities in the form of jet skis, parasailing and snorkelling. The waters are really warm and clear. So many fishes and corals to see in the crystal clear waters. It was nice.
The food in Malaysia is another draw. Often, I find food in Malaysia delicious and tasty simply because they cook it differently from our country. The Bak Kut Teh, Kuching Laksa, kaya toast, chicken wings, mee soto, mee goreng and sea food was so delicious.
A very enjoyable trip in the company of enjoyable friends. Looking forward to the next trip already. Cheers.
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