Day 3 -- Wednesday, 20 May 2009 (Part 2)

CONTINUE...

It was super windy at Laban Rata. Qin took a video to illustrate how strong the wind was.

The downwards journey was tougher than expected. The endless steps were extremely strenuous on my knee-joints, I used to think that going up the steps is bad enough; going down is worse. If only we had trained going down during our Bukit Timah Hill hike, we would not be in such a bad shape climbing down! =(

Nani used only a umbrella which double as rain shelter & support

Starting to feel the aching in our legs

Tired as she was, Joyce insisted on taking a photo with the pitcher plant on the way down

We did not make many rest-stops as it will break our momentum and pain in the legs will set in faster but we were still way too slow. The last 3km was torturing – I thought my legs would give way and I would just die there. Both my legs were in pain - from the foot to the thigh! Looking at my buddies, they were no better off.

The only rest stop we had at Layang Layang Hut to replenish our energy

It was really amazing to see how easily the porters hopped up to Laban Rata despite the weight they were carrying

TIRED!

EXHAUSTED!

I couldn’t help thinking ‘What are we doing here, TORTURING ourselves?’ We should have just gone for a relaxing trip at the beaches!

After what seemed like ages, the endless downwards steps finally ended. The last 500m is leading upwards now. I could see Qin and Joyce and TIMPOHON GATE just in front of me, at the top of the steps, but I simply could not move forward anymore! I had to rest!

Lynn, Ping and me sat down at the bottom of the steps. It took a good 5 minutes for our aching legs to be ready for the final lap.

We collapsed the moment we reached the top of the steps. The Coke and 100 Plus tasted heavenly as they trickled down my throat.

Finally! We are back at Timpohon Gate!

Seeing that we just came back from the mountains, some Malay tourists came over to ask us about the journey. We had no intention of deterring them from a possibly unforgettable experience, so we replied “It was an experience that we never had before!”

But I think they could judge better from the bad shape we were in that time. =p

We took awhile to regain sufficient energy to board the arranged transport back to the headquarters.

Unbelievable Records!

Our black & white certificates - Though we did not reached the summit, it was indeed an unforgettable experience for all of us!

We headed straight for lunch at Balsam Café near the Mount Kinabalu Headquarter. Balsam Café has a very nice ambience – a tranquil garden feel with beautiful flora surrounding it. However, there is one flaw and a critical one – the food is horrible. We didn’t quite enjoy our lunch but had a great time taking photos.

Balsam Café
Balsam Café之“不能说的秘密”(the unspoken secret)


Balsam Café - a nice corner

Interior of Balsam Café


Last glimpse of Mount. Kinabalu

Once again, we boarded the transport arranged by Exotic Adventure. A different driver was assigned to us each day. The van today was terrible – the air-condition was not working, the speedometer was reading zero and the worst thing, the fuel was getting low! For a good 2 hrs, the van seemed to be rolling downhill via gravity. With the setting sun shining on the van, it was like being in an oven.

The terrible van

Halfway into the journey, a traffic policeman on bike appeared out of nowhere and signaled for us to stop by the road side. Then, a few more police cars drove past followed by a van and a pack of bikers on Harley Davidson bikes. A few more police cars followed through after the pack. We had to wait till the whole procession passed through before we were allowed to continue driving. There must be some big shot in the group!

Finally, we reached Xplorer Backpackers and checked in to the same family as we had in Day 1. This time, we had a hot bath! The warm water washed away not only the dirt but also the tiredness. We all felt a lot better after that.

Then it was an hour of slacking before we headed for dinner. The staff at Xplorer Backpacker recommended us to a local dining area near the Wet Market for a BBQ seafood dinner. It was 20-minutes away by foot. Our legs were aching badly but filling our stomachs was more important.

We limped our way to the Wet Market. It was a big hawker area with rows of stalls selling BBQ seafood. It took us awhile to decide which stall to patronize as they all looked the same. The BBQ squid we had, tasted fantastic – it was fresh and sweet, we had a second helping of that. The fish and prawn were mediocre.

The stall that we chosen - we chose the stall which had the most patronisers

The spread that we chose from - we liked the squid the best

After dinner, we took a slow walk back to Xplorer Backpackers. We checked out the Foot reflexology shop next door and decided that we would visit it tommorow.

Getting ready for a mosquito-free sleep with 'Smiley Faces'

In the middle of the night, I was woken up by Ping. She was having a gastric attack. Groping in the dark, I managed to dig out the gastric pills from my bag. She felt better after taking the pills. I must say together with Joyce & Qin’s supply, we had prepared a very comprehensive first aid kit! =)

Slowly, we drifted back to a deep sleep till the next morning.

......... Day 4