Day 4 - Fight till the End

The day before, our guide had asked us to come down to Laban Rata and meet them for breakfast/supper at 2am. That night, having gone up and down the route a few times for check in and dinner, we decided not to waste energy and time by going down again in the morning. So, we are left to figure out how to relay the message to our guide as we had forgotten to take their phone numbers! There were another group which consists of uncles and aunties who were kind enough to suggest that we try to call their guide and check if he knew our guide. However, their guide was already asleep as he is not answering the phone. Hence, Kak Ilah and Azril volunteered to go down again that night to ensure our guide gets our plan. Terima Kasih! ;)

So, the next day, we woke up around 1am and starts to get ready. Those who are ready gathered at the lobby and started to exchange food. Omin brought Tuna & Sandwich, Akmar brought Maggi, Marlina brought her 2 in 1 Goats Milk and I brought biscuits and of course, energy bar. But I guess I spent too long time munching my breakfast that I did not realize it was already 2.30am until Kak Ilah mentioned that “our guide is here”. Argh!! Frantically I dashed to my room and get my gears ready. Luckily, none of my stuff was missing/misplaced and we managed to gather on time. At around 10mins later, we started the 2nd part of the hike.

At first, it was all wooden stairs. Then, it turns into rocky stairs. At this part, I still felt OK. I even stopped a few times to wait for Azleena. Then, we reached the famous “Rope”. At the end of the stairs, you will see a rope hanging down from a rocky wall. You then need to pull yourself up and from then on, the rope will be your good friend.


Thats when my brother get his "Altitude Sickness" again. He gets dizzy and slows down. I stayed back to ensure he move on. Thus, Azleena and Aida went ahead. In hiking Mt Kinabalu, the rule of the game is "Never Wait or Never Chase" for other people but "Move at Your Own Pace". Thus, when one of our tour guide came to my brother's rescue, i moved on. Alone. At first, there was Lily. But as we continued on, i started to slow down. Slowly, i lost sight of Lily. It was only me, the sky, the stars and the wind. I took 10 steps, stopped, looked up at the beautiful sky filled with stars and then move on. This is really theurapatic. The sky was magnificently lit up with stars. As we did not manage to get it into pictures, here is an illustration of how it felt. :P



Although i have that theurapatic moment, i still need to fight with myself. ;( I keep asking the guide "Is it still far?". His standard answer is "Not far...15mins..See that light... Just right there". But when i look up at the light he is pointing, it seem a gazillion years away. "Are you serious? That's like the end of the world. When will i ever reach there?!" the unspoken words shouting in my mind. At one point, i started to think that "Nah...it is OK if you don't reach the top..this is already consider the top" . I ended up walking slower but i still did not stop. The word of wisdom from my friends keep ringing in my head "Just walk at your own pace...Don't stop" Sometimes , it felt surreal that i am walking on top of this mountain by myself, being blown by the wind now and then, loosing my balance. Where did i get this courage? To tell the truth, i am quite a coward. Darkness scares me. As i get myself lost in thoughts, someone familiar greeted me. It's my brother who finally managed to caught up. Lucky i did not wait for him or else i will end up slow him down. ;) So, both of us walk slowly and then, miraculously, we bumped into our friends, Azleena, Aida, Azrul, Bullert and Lily who had just finished their Subuh prayer. They have found a perfect spot just minutes below Lows Peak. We performed our prayer too and after that, it is history. Just a few steps, and we reach Lows Peak. :)

The team has this last minute plan of bringing a banner which did not materialize.

Thanks to the Putrajaya geng for bringing this flag.

Bro & me

Flag in action again!

The descend.

It used to seem forever to get there, but now we are leaving. ;(

Donkeys Peak

Thanks Azleena for this National Geographic shot. :P

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh...........

Alhamdulillah for this pair of eyes.

Checking out at Sayat Sayat

The picture makes it look more scary. But it is really not that bad. ;)

Back to the rocky stairs.

Wooden stairs.

Pack our bags and back to Laban Rata for breakfast!!!

We did it!!