Tuesday March 29 and Wednesday March 30 – Days 4 and 5 – The Mother of Mountains

We left our sanctuary in the park early in the morning; ate breakfast; and climbed into the bus to take us up to the starting point of the climb. Oswald had briefed us to a “t”; so much so, that it made us anxious. We got instructions on procedures for an earthquake – there was an earthquake on June 5, 2015 magnitude 6, and 18 people were killed…..and the trail only reopened mid December 2015; we got instructions on the various “dangerous” parts of the climb, like one area where there was a narrow path and a steep drop off; instructions not to stop in certain areas because of falling rock; instructions on “behavior” at the top of the mountain – e.g. no posing for pictures naked; and instructions on the symptoms of altitude sickness. So, it was with a mixture of excitement and nerves that we set out.  A quick group photo at the start – and off we went.

Just to give you a little more information on the “behavior” issue. Our guide told us this story, but I have copied this directly from Wikipaedia as it matches the story we were told:

“According to the claims of local natives, the earthquake was caused by "aki" (the mountain protectors) who had become angered over the acts of ten western tourists (comprising six men and four women from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) who "stripped and urinated at the mountain (which is believed by local natives as a sacred place) on 30 May", six days before the earthquake happened.The tourists also shouted vulgarities when they were told to desist by their mountain guide. The acts provoked outrage among Sabahan natives who want all of the alleged offenders charged in native court and forced to pay the "sogit", a type of compensation, given in the form of money or livestock, to appease the aggrieved party according to local Kadazan-Dusun native customs. It is imposed on wrongdoers for the purpose of appeasing "the aggrieved", thus placating the native community.However, as most of the detained tourists have been released from Malaysia's prison and escaping native court, the local villagers had perform their own rituals.”

The moral “heed the power of the gods”!!

The first few steps went well….a nice downhill with easy walking on a wooden boardwalk;  we laughed; we knew that wouldn’t last! Then we started the climb. Now I know why it is a climb, not a trek or a trail walk or hike! For the first part of the first day, the canopy of the trees shaded us but the second part of the first day we were sunbaked. The second day we left the hostel at 3:00 a.m. in the dark. 

We climbed up, and up, and still further up…we began to look forward to a flat part; it never came! We thought it would be impossible for the rocks, boulders, and irregular steps some of which were as deep as above my knees, to continue; but they did. In parts we were scrambling, or hauling ourselves up over the boulders; in other parts we willed our legs to take a two foot step, and in parts we hauled ourselves up with ropes over the steep granite slab at the top. It never let up. It was the hardest, toughest, physical activity I have ever endured, and I think that was mutual amongst the 16 of us. Of course the altitude didn’t help. You really notice the lack of energy at 13,435 feet. But Ray and I were taking altitude pills and it made a huge difference from the way we felt on the Macchu Picchu climb and the Everest Basecamp stay; no headache, no sickness, no tight chest. The only symptom I had, and that was caused by the pills, was tingling fingers. I was so grateful for the way my body handled it all. 

For me, the top part of the mountain was the easiest. Once I reached the ropes, and the granite, I seemed to get a second wind and made it to the top relatively refreshed! It was probably having my head above the clouds that made it all feel so good!! One of the guys who climbed with us, was an ultra runner – 129 miles – and he said that the climb was even harder than that!! We climbed for about 6.5/7 hours the first day and 3.5/4 hours the second day. Then also on the second day, it took us about 4.5/5 hours to go down. The last 4k of the descent was particularly hard for Ray and some others as by then their leg muscles were shaking like jellies. There were a few minor falls and the fact that we all got down uninjured was an achievement in itself.

Despite the physical exertion, and the mental stamina required, the trail was fun. The Borneo jungle is a tropical rain forest:  we listened to the musical songs of the birds; feasted our eyes on the colourful flowers and leaves the size of huge lily pads; and amazed at all the different shades of green around us. And not only was the route beautiful, but the people were beautiful too. Ray and I were part of a group of 6 at the flank, so we ran into a lot of people coming down,and of course people were passing us on their way up, and yes, we were passing people on our way up. It was quite a people highway, not like the Inca trail where the only people we met on the trail were from our own group. Our guide told us there were 145 people on the trail that day, and they cap the number at 200. Everyone spoke to us as we passed. The people going up would say “Good luck”; the people coming down said “Keep going. The view from the top is amazing and well worth all the effort!” The porters carrying supplies spoke too. It was one jolly group of people giving the mountain their all! The mountain was kind to us on our climbing days: no rain, no fog, no snow, no wind, no cold. It couldn’t have been more perfect. 

Some of the people coming down were injured, or hurting somewhere. There was one lady being carried down on a  guide’s back.  Just about every 500 meters there are shelters where you can go to the loo and take a rest – at  each shelter there was a stretcher – we deliberately tried to ignore them!! There is also a mountain patrol who are a group of people keeping everyone safe and helping with first aid just like the ski patrol does on our ski slopes in Canada.

Our overnight stop was at a hostel called “Laban Rata” (3272 m above sea level) around kilometer 6. It was a sanctuary in the wild: there was power, so lights; warm water for showers; and a great restaurant and meeting place much like a ski lodge. The dormitories and bathrooms were all in good shape.

Reaching the summit was like completing your first half-marathon or marathon. All my emotions welled up and spilled over when I reached the large flat granite area just before the final one hundred metres to the top. It was spell binding: the jagged rock on one side, a big round mound of rock on the other, and the sun starting to rise on the horizon – all this at 13,435 feet! Then I dragged myself up the last 100 metres to a spectacular view from the top. The sun played hide and seek with the clouds, then slowly daylight emerged. It was all about the sun and the sky; being above the clouds you couldn’t see the ground although wisps of cotton wool floated over the valleys exposing small mountain villages perched on the hill sides.

After we hit base camp again, we tried to eat some lunch around 2:30 p.m. and then set off in our bus for an hour and a half’s drive to our stay at Poring Hot Springs. We passed an hour or so before dinner like zombies and then fell into bed around 9:30 p.m. and with our minds full of images of the mother of mountains, we fell asleep.