Out of a sheer moment of insanity, or perhaps stupefied by the mere thought of all the free time I would potentially have, I decided on a whim to go hike up a mountain. There’s something about the great outdoors that’s very calming to the soul and keeps your reality in check. But with it being the rainy season and all, a friend did expressed his mild horror - "SIAO ARR??!" - at my idea of a holiday. Heh. Whatever.
The mountain of choice, after a methodological elimination process, was Gunung Ledang or Mt Ophir (dunno since when got engrish name). It's only 1,276m but technically still a mountain. There's a catch tho. Eventho it's elevation is that of approximately 31.2% of Mt Kinabalu (at 4,095m Mt Kinabalu is the highest mountain in South-East Asia), it has the notorious reputation of being the country's 6th toughest trekking route, and Mt Kinabalu did not even make it into the top 5, nope nope nope. It's also apparently very very mystical, like twilight zone mystical.
I tried Mt Kinabalu eons ago and barely survived it even in my limbering youth then. So it's very understandable that I was having more than second thoughts and I magnified every small injury (mosquito bite) or health impediment (one cough) I had into gargantuan proportions. But in the end, I went along coz I secretly enjoy torturing myself and most importantly, I NEED to get out of the KL/Selangor border. It's a getting-called-back-to-work phobia thing. Common in people in my line of duty.
To prepare myself for this adventure, I went and pig out on food, food, beer and more food for 2 whole days. There's something about the impending holiday season that brings out the Homer Simpson in me. Got meself a spanking new pair of cheapo hiking boots, as cheapo as they can get anyway. No point investing in something I would probably use for the first and last time. Went to gym after a whole month hiatus (hey, gotta show some effort la). If you happen to read my earlier post, you would know how that trip (pun intended) turned out.
We set off to Sagil on Thursday noon and made our way along the clogged up highway. Made a pit stop in Melaka to pick up a member and of coz, to eat - chicken rice balls, Melaka's pride. Save for the outline of fingers printed on every rice balls, I personally don’t find anything too special about them. Then again, it's probably something that's lost on me since there are almost 10,000 restaurants of like in Melaka itself.
After another 2.5 hours drive on the highway and thru some rubber estate, we finally got to the park. Met up with the park ranger who briefed us a bit before proceeding to tell us horror stories about jungle rats the size of cats! Apparently they can smell food a gazillion meters away and can chew thru our kickass branded whatever-proof knapsacks. Definitely not like those malnourished ones you find scurrying in the longkangs behind the house. We were advised to make sure there's no food lying around in the open and also to brush our teeth before we go to bed. Wouldn't want any jungle rats getting all cozy with us.
He also added, with every good intention in mind I'm sure, that only the fittest attempted successfully to go up and down the mountain in a day.
O-kaaaayyy
See, Alexis, our lovely team leader, has the utmost confidence that we can finish the whole route in say, 5 hours, probably 7 hours max. Obviously she forgot about incompetent amateurs like moi. She’s a very mild version of a she-Hitler and if she says we can finish it in 5 hours, WE WILL finish it in 5 hours. I understand why she’s so upbeat about this whole thing coz she’s a bloody 21km-going-on-42km marathon runner. The only marathons I ever go for are the retail types.
I couldn't really sleep that nite, a bit stressed (during holiday season? wtf??) and also coz the air conditioning in the room is stuck at only one temperature, which is COLD. The situation reminded me of the time we couldn't sleep before the hike up Mt Kinabalu and suffered the dire consequences. Translation: Fail to reach the summit.
As though someone up there heard me praying, it rained! *angels singing* I was SO relieved coz it’ll definitely be too wet to climb. Yayy! Well, the enthusiasm is, needless to say, short lived. I should've known better that a little rain could never dampen the fiery enthusiasm of a bunch of hardcore health fanatics. Rain only ma... bah. It stopped anyway.
So the adventure begins as a motley crew of 10 set off from the base of Gunung Ledang at 7am on Friday. Almost immediately we started off on a hike. No flat ground whatsoever to humour me a bit. Oh boy. Half an hour later I was already breathing madly like some 60 year old aunty, who, if it's my mum, is probably fitter than me. What little confidence I had wavered. 7 hours wehh... whatever made me think that the sporadic gym visits would help in any way??!! What if I can’t get my sorry ass to push on? What if my legs turn to jelly? So many what ifs! Maybe I should turn back now...
Suddenly, a girl was experiencing nausea and giddiness. She wanted to turn back and I couldn't be more than happy to offer her my company. I'm just thankful that it wasn't me who broke first, tsk tsk. I could never live it down. But it's kinda potong stim to give up so easily so we pushed on. Miraculously, she felt better and the hike got surprisingly easier. I'm sure there's some explanation involving altitude customisation and climbing pace and what nots, but it's allllll goooood.
There's not a lot of flat ground to walk on. It's upwards all the way. After a certain magic point - checkpoint #5 - we were served with smatterings of Indiana Jones-like obstacles. I don't know which is more painful. Blistering our unprotected hands or seeing ourselves drag our fat asses up.
Jungle flora. Some kind of fern, I guess
Another type?
Introducing Mr Lonely
First glimpse of the world above the clouds
What awaits us after that blissful view *shivers*
We exceeded out target ETA by 1 hour but it's no biggie, the way down should be faster. Had a quick lunch with a million dollar view. It's so worth it! Love the feeling of being on top of the world!
Now, this is where it got interesting. Halfway down, I realised Alexis was lagging behind. I’m actually faster than her for once! Less than an hour ago, she was prancing around like some merry mountain goat, leading the pack. Kinda worrisome too coz she had only recovered from a fever 2 days before.
My fear was realised when her hiking partner mentioned she was babbling incoherently and walking like some drunken shaolin master. The guide hastened him to catch up with us and make our way down first. Alexis was progressing very slowly and he didn’t want to get stuck up in a mountain with so many people. Makes sense, in a way.
We suddenly realised that the sky was turning dark FAST. Not good, not good. Fear IS a factor as we brisk walked and hopped our way down, hoping to catch up with the faster group. It didn't help that the paths in the forest were not properly marked. It's no wonder that we always read about people getting sesat in the forest for 2 whole weeks. How hard can it be to mark the trails?
We came to an open space with 5 paths leading away from it and we have no frickin’ idea where each leads to. You see, this is where Malaysia fails miserably at eco-tourism. We have so much to offer and yet we're more preoccupied at tossing up the biggest roti canai o_O Priorities dear people!
Anyway....
Pretty soon we couldn’t even see our hands in front of us. There's something about the big black darkness that magnifies every small rustle in the bush or some far away echoes of happy campers. Damn creepy wei. Of coz, it would be so uncool to lose it in front of people who I only got to know a day before, so I did what I usually do best - act cool. Kept telling myself that the worst worst thing that could ever happen now is the possibility of us spending a nite in the jungle.
OK-la, I can accept it as a big adventure coz I haven't camped in a jungle before and it's good fodder for story telling time to my future grandchildren. In a way I guess I’m lucky I got stuck with the only 2 guys in the group. They could be my modern day heroes, my pillars of strength. Rupa-rupanya, as I found out in the end, we were all actually trying not to freak each other out. Predictably, they thought I was pretty cool... for a girl... heheh...
After what seemed like forever and a day, we finally got out at 8pm, 6 hours after our target time - exhausted, dehydrated, hungry, stinky. Not to mention worried too as the guide and Alexis are still in the jungle. The faster group who got out first had been in contact with the park ranger who got word from the guide that everything's under control. And true enough, they got out 30 mins after us. Although it would definitely be more exciting if they send in a search team and helicopter. Jeez... I need a life.
What I gained at the end of the day.... construction worker's hands
All's well that ends well. I don't wanna brag, but I personally feel this a feat of great proportions. I came away feeling proud, with a great sense of accomplishment. I conquered Gunung Ledang yo!! If you want proof, I’ve got the cert hanging in my toilet. As if this is not lesson enough for us, Alexis was leading a discussion about a possible next trip, during the journey to a late dinner. Maliau Basin, Sabah. 5 days RM2.5k.
You must be kidding! But err…. yeah…. I’m looking forward to it.
Fun will never been more painful.
BTW, I highly do not recommend a cold shower after a long hike. Especially not one where you had to share the shower stall with 30 unrecognizable flying things bugs. Coz you'll get a fever which will spoil the rest of your days off. Obviously not bekos of the bugs la!
Au revoir.
0 comments:
Post a Comment