Day 2 -- Tuesday, 19 May 2009 (Part 2)

CONTINUE...

After downing a few cups of hot tea, we finally felt rejuvenate enough to move to our dorm – Dorm 11.

Dorm 11 consists of five double-decker beds. A group of five uncles (also 3 Malaysians 2 Singaporeans) shared the room with us. There is a small heater in the room which will be switched on after 7pm.

We hastily unpacked and headed to the common bathroom. There are only 2 bath cubicles – one with icy cold water; one with slightly warmer water. Lynn and I got the latter. But it made no difference; we still jumped as the water hit on our bodies. We bathed as quickly as we could and slip into our warm clothes.

After coating our legs with Counterpain and Salonpas, we hit straight to the dining room for dinner.

Dinner Time!

Hungry climbers filling their stomachs

At 3272m, the food were warm and delicious enough – the black pepper mutton tasted extremely succulent. We all had two helpings except for Joyce who was down with cold as a result of walking in the rain. But even she could not resist eating a 2nd piece of mutton.

It’s postcard time! I chose a nice postcard with the view of the portion of Mt. Kinabalu that we will be climbing in a few hrs time and circulated it round the group for endorsement.

Click it for a larger view

The wind got bigger and the rain pattered hard on the walls of Laban Rata as night fell. But our spirits were high and we were all looking forward to sunrise tomorrow.

After dinner, Nani briefed us on the next day climb. She told us to pack light for the next 2.7km trek that was to come. A small backpack or waist pouch will be ideal.
More warm clothing was required as it would get colder as we ascend. The trekking poles were necessary too for the first part of the journey as well as the journey down; otherwise, our hands should be free to hold on to the white rope that will guide us to the summit. She commented us on our regulated pace on the way up – 6 hrs is the average record for most people. =p Nani said she was proud of our performance! She said that at the speed we'd ascended, we could set off at 2 am for the next day climb and would likely be able to reach the summit before sunrise.
However, as the next day climb would involve more slippery granite stones (these stones slowed us a lot), 'kiasu' Joyce suggested that we set off earlier at 1.30am and we agreed. We were dying to see sunrise!
Then comes the sentence that we did not want to hear.
She told us to prepare for the worst – the climb could be aborted if the weather does not turn for the better! It would be too dangerous to climb up in the heavy rain and howling wind.

We decided to have an early night so as to conserve energy for the climb that is to come. But it was only 8pm! No matter how I tossed and turned in bed, I just couldn’t fall asleep. To make things worst, our room mates (the uncles) started to snore, loudly and in symphony. The snores soon came from all directions – top, back and side. It’s impossible to sleep!
At 9pm, I gave up trying to sleep and groped in the dark for my iphone. With the music drowning the snores, I finally drifted to sleep.
The sleep did not last long. I was soon awakened by Lynn and Ping who were trying to get down from their double decker bed in the dark. As all three of us couldn’t get back to sleep after that, we went down to the dining room for a drink. All was quiet except for the howling wind and pattering rain. Hot water won’t be available till breakfast time at 2am, so we have to satisfy ourselves with plain water.

It is really amazing at how the walls managed to block out the wind and rain. At 3272m, I am gratified to the people who came up with the concept of shelter which protect us from the brutality of the nature. I am also glad that we chose to stay at Laban Rata – at least we do not need to trek in the wind and rain for every meal.

It was nearly midnight when we climbed back onto bed – in an hr time, another quest awaited us.

.......... Day 3 (Part 1)