I began my journey to Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday after school. My task was to flag down the bus I had already bought a ticket for on its way out of town. The thought of flagging down the bis green coach bus made me sick with nerves- what if I missed it? I've never done anything like this yet. After making it on the bus I was able to settle my mind, but the winding mountain roads kept my stomach twisting. After all, I had been sick all week anyways. The closer I got to KK the more I noticed the dark sky that meant rain. I was dreading the idea of walking in the rain without an umbrella when I was already sick, but the rain let up enough for me to take on the walk to the bus terminal a little way across the big city. When I started walking I gained my composure. I almost forgot what it was like to do something like travel alone! By the time I made it to the bus I was confident enough and walked up to a man to ask about the bus I needed to take. Upon arriving to my destination- Tuaran, I waited for a bit at a restaurant until my fellow YAGM friend could find me and bring me to her placement sight. I played an embarrassing attempt at rocks and enjoyed the competition of the girls at their home. I even sat through a group home meeting and the next morning a devotion and staff reflection all before heading on our way to Kundasang.
On Thursday afternoon we headed to Kundasang where a small mini bus brought us to a handicraft market before bringing us to a resort for the night. We slept nestled in a cabin among pine trees, a rare sight, and looked at Mount Kinabalu looming not too far off in the distance. Kelly's and my nerves were pretty intense as we both couldn't believe that we were actually climbing a mountain. Both of us realized that its nothing we ever thought about doing before. Luckily between me blowing my nose and some wonderful conversation we were able to distract ourselves from the mountain in the distance.
Friday morning came and we woke up early. We ate our breakfast and were on our way. We arrived at Kinabalu Park Headquarters, checked in, and waited for our climbing permits and guide. We started our climb around 8:30 am.
Even while beginning our climb I was in disbelief that I was climbing a mountain. We kept our spirits rather high, breaking out into song here and there. Our guide seemed bored as he was constantly sending messages on his hand phone. On average he goes up the mountain twice a week, so I am sure we were beyond slow for him. We quickly made friends with other guides who I think we're fascinated with how fluent we were in Malay. They would be found waiting for us at rest stops and joking with us as we climbed the trail. Around 3:oo pm we made it to the rest house for the night. We had an activity briefing at 4:00 for something called Walk the Torq, which means you go down a section of the mountain with harnesses and pulleys.
We ate and attempted to go to sleep around 7pm, knowing that we had to be leaving by 2:30 am to start out climb to the summit. I couldn't sleep because the rest house was so noisy, I think I managed a few short hours. Breathing through my nose was noisy and almost impossible--this really didn't help anything! We woke around 1:00 and started packing the only essentials we wanted to bring, Kelly and I only bringing one bag we alternated carrying. We ate breakfast and set off with our guide a little before 2:30. Our legs and bodies were tired. At one point the trail ends and you have to use a rope to pull yourself up on the rocks and then continue on up the steep rocks with the rope. At one point Kelly hit a slick part and almost fell, but our guide was really quick and held her up. That was our only close call. About one KM for the top I had to convince Kelly and myself that we should continue. I was having a lot of trouble breathing and at one point made Kelly walk me through the process of breathing in and out. We made it to the top around 5:30 am. I couldn't believe we made it!
After taking some pictures we waited for the sun to rise and started our journey back down. I even some some people running down. I think they were crazy. We had to reach our last checkpoint at 8:00 to be able to do the Walk the Torq activity. Kelly and I were not convinced that we were up to such a task but decided on doing it anyways. I am so glad we did! I remember at first telling the trained the was no way I was going to look down, but he said that at some point I would have to. He's right. I did and the view was beautiful! After some force, he even made me stand on the mountain face with just the support of my harness. I was terrified and almost cried, but eventually made myself do it. We worked our way down a small section of the mountain in 1.5 hours before going back to the rest house, eating our second breakfast, grabbing our things, and heading back down the mountain at 10:30 am. The way down started out easy but turned into pure torture. Kelly and I turned sideways with every step and used our walking sticks for extra support. We moved slowly and with caution and exhaustion. We made it to bottom at 3:15 pm.
It's been on week since my mountain journey. My legs stopped being sore after only four days. I am still in disbelief that I stood atop the highest peak in Southeast Asia but with the help and support from Kelly and the need to believe in ourselves, we made it to the top.
