Breakfast was delicious and there was even something for the girls, who are vegetarian by choice. The auntie of Rose Cabin was nice and friendly and even asked us if we wanted to pack food, which we declined. Before we left, they offered us the use of their storeroom for our extra luggage, which was much appreciated. I, of course, left nothing behind.
We were drove up to the administration office where we were introduced to our guides Jenson and Jenson. Jenson was the short stocky type while Jenson was the small sinewy type. The twelve of us then squeezed into the minibus for a short trip to the gate. We bought a tongkat (walking stick) for RM$3 each. Mine had a peculiar knob at the head which fitted in my hand quite well.
And off we go! I tend to love being at the front of any walk so I was in the 3rd to 4th spot. We pushed Rachael in front and Zhisiang nominated himself to be her buddy. Our energy level was high and we cleared 2 checkpoints easily, each about 40 minutes apart. But before we reached the 3rd checkpoint, it rained.
For those who have worn a poncho out in the fields, you'll know that it is a very miserable experience. Not only does it fail to keep out the rain effectively, it hinders your movement and makes you hot and sticky inside. For that purpose, I did not come to this trip with a poncho. I chose instead put on my jacket, which appeared to keep out the water. It wasn't before long that my decision proved to be right one. The others soon complained of restricted movement and feeling hot. The fact that the rain stopped quickly might have contributed to their judgement. Meanwhile, I was pretty satisfied with the jacket I had put on.
By the fourth checkpoint, the fatigue level on Zhisiang and Chinyi was visibly straining on them. I chose to walk at the back of the line and found Daniel there. Somehow, I got to the front again. Strange, isn't it? :p
By 2pm, we reached the rest house, situated at an altitude of 3,000m. I had lost sight of those in front of me and I picked the path to the right when presented with a fork. I came to a point where I was above the path to the left and presented with a broad view of a granite wall, decorated with long and thin waterfalls. "Chante!", I said, to no one in particular. I carried on walking and met with the group who was behind me (they took the left branch).
We entered the rest house. The digital thermometer claimed that it was 15 degrees Celsius. We collapsed onto the chairs inside, spent. After the paperwork was done, we checked into the rooms.
I was slow and by the time I joined them, the rooms were filled with the required number. I checked with the last room and surprise, surprise. The Tattooed four are together again!
There was a mad rush for the bathroom at 3pm while I was just relaxing in the room. Somewhere during this period, I heard a dragged scream come from the bathrooms, the kind of screams you hear when guys play tricks with the water heater. I couldn't care less. It was later that I knew the story. Wenwei was the second person into the bathroom. He started with warm water, which turned rapidly icy cold. The scream was his. He was fully clothed while retelling his story and claimed that he was shivering inside. I taunted him about being weak and took my turn at the cubicle of death. While forewarned, I felt the water was no worse than other cold showers I had taken during my army time. I emerged unscathed, having better sense than to shock my senses into the next level of awareness.
Dinner was available in buffet form for RM$35. It tasted good but perhaps due to the cold, I wasn't satisfied. I gorged myself silly with 3 servings before a signal sounded in my brain, "Storage full". And guess what? I think my body still demanded more sugar.
Night fell and we tried to aim for sleep at 7pm as we were to meet our guides at 2am. A seemingly impossible task for me as I normally sleep after 1am... We had to get up at 8pm to turn on the heater. Frankly, no one slept. We were all lying in bed, listening to each other tossing in the beds. The room was cold, the ambient noise was loud and the atmosphere was simply non-conducive to sleep. The room was almost pitch dark. I could see the outline of the beds but I couldn't tell if there's anyone in it. Whenever someone goes for a pee, the door scratched and screeched so loud that there was no doubt that it had woken up everyone in the room. To top it off, I had a headache and thought that I could hear my own pulse, beating at an angry pace. I was sure it was no hallucinations and wondered if I was having my blood pressure pushed up dangerously. Daniel, who was across me sneezed every now and then. Obviously, he wasn't getting any sleep as well.
It was the worst sleep we ever had.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 1
-?H?U
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