cameron highland mountain expedition and 19th birthday

Question: Orang naik gunung, turun gunung, naik gunung, turun gunung, cari apa?

A year ago (14/2 & 15/2), I climbed Mt.Kinabalu without any friends or anyone I knew. It was a tiring climb. Many prepared themselves before climbing this mountain. As for me,I went for it without prior training or preparation. I made it. But I could hardly walk the next day.

This year, from the 7th till the 11th of February, I went on a Cameron Highland Mountain Expedition, knowing only one person - Siew Aun, but came back knowing a whole new bunch of funny, super lame and really fit group of people. Before I went for the trip, I thought it would be easier than climbing Mt.Kinabalu as it wasn't as high hence thin air wouldn't be a problem. Plus, I've done Mt.K, the highest mountain in S.E.A, so how bad can these three other mountains be?

Answer: Pretty bad, more challenging, almost can die. Basically, if you've climbed these three mountains, Mt.K would be a piece of cake. But if you've done Mt.K, it's uncertain whethere you would be able to complete all these three mountains (Mt.Berinchang-6664 ft, Irau-6923 ft and Beremban-6041 ft) just like that.

On the 7th, we set up our tents and camped at the foot of Mt.Berinchang. For once in my life, I set up a tent!! Go me!! The sleep wasn't too good- uneven grounds, sloping grounds which resulted into me bumping into cindy, my tent mate, a couple of times, cold weather and the fear of some wild animals coming into the tent.

On the 8th, after breakfast and packing up the tents, our climb for Mt.Berinchang begins. The climb was way different than Mt.K. For Mt.K, you had steps to step on. The only challenge was the thin air. Whereas for Mt.Berinchang, you have to basically find your own steps- roots of trees are the best and following where the person in front of you stepped on would also be a really good idea. Sometimes, there's no place to step on or the gaps are too big so you have to grab onto any visible branches you can reach and pull yourself up (climbing mountains not only work ur calf and thigh muscles now, they do work ur biceps and triceps too!). The challenge of having thin air did kicked in at the start but later part in the climb, we got used to it. Another huge challenge was the backpack we were carrying. Mine was the biggest - 75 litres. I looked more like a backpacker from the Amazing Race rather than a climber. It weighed btwn 7-10 kgs. The climb took around 2.5 hrs but it felt longer than that. Throughout the climb, all I can remember what the guides (Amin, Khairul, Fenzi) were saying were "Sepuluh minit lagi (10 more minnutes), sepuluk minit lagi." Man, those people just love lying to us, don't they? Those "sepuluh minit" soon added up to over an hour since I heard the very first "sepuluh minit".

The grounds were slightly damp and covered with moss. At first, I was trying to avoid getting dirty since I know there's no place to shower. But as the climb progress, I find it difficult to avoid that hence the clean Sher Mayne became a really dirty one after that. My oh-so-white finger nails became black, my blue sandals became brown and I had quite a few mud patches on my calf.

When we reached the peak of Mt.Berinchang, I felt so satisfied. But soon, I realized the place was accessible by car!! GrrRrrR!!! How anti-climatic! But hey! Climbing to the peak feels way better than DRIVING to the peak. From there, we walked 1, 2 km or so on the tar road to our next camp site i.e. the entrance to Mt.Irau. There, we set up our tents and it was our sleeping place for the next two nights. For lunch, we had fried chicken, veges and rice. Sounds yummy? Yes, it certainly was as it was cooked by one of the guides, Fuad a.k.a. Chef Fufu! No, he didn't climb, he drove up with the tiny gas tins, chicken and the other ingredients as well as our tents. Water was a really scarce resource up at the mountains and we really had to USE THEM WISELY. The way we washed our dishes can be said to be worst than how the hawker centres wash theirs. But it's all good, no one had diarrhoea. Speaking about diarrhoea, I did not poo from wednesday to saturday. Only did number 1, but no number 2. Why? Coz I really couldn't be bothered to dig my own hole and poo in it. Furthermore, I doubt my poo-aiming skills. Uhumm... you didn't really need to know that, do you? I'm sorry. haha!

As the night approaches us, it became colder and windier. The branches were damp so we were unable to start a campfire. All we had to warm us up was the food we had and the clothes we had on us. How I wish I brought my thermals along. Light to carry and WARM!!! What acutally warmed me up was the lame stories and jokes told by the guides and some of the climbers. Sorry, they had too many till I couldn't remember most of them.

On the 9th, we climbed Mt.Irau. As we were camping at the same place for the second night, hence we didn't need to take up all our belongings. Just a 1.5litre bottle of water each, a jacket to keep us warm just in case we get lost, torch and our lunch. It was one bag btwn two person. Siewaun carried it all the way up. Thanks! However, the climb was still challenging. More challenging than Berinchang. It was a 4 hour climb to the peak. We had to climb up and down a couple of times. It wasn't just all the way up. I was both physically and mentally challenged. At times, I lose my concentration and start tripping and nearly fell to the ground. Branches and roots became our best friends and mud became our enemy. If you're not careful and stepped onto the wrong place, your whole leg could sink into the ground and get covered by mud up to knee length! And if you're really unlucky, your shoes might get stuck into the ground whilst trying to pull ur leg up. At one point, it happened to me and I thought it was goodbye to my 30 ringgit sandals. But, it lasted all the way. Worth my 30 ringgit for sure :)

At the peak, we had an hour of lunch break whilst admiring the view from the peak. Gta admit, the view from Mt.K looked way better, the sunrise and all that. But from Mt.Irau, we could see Mt.Berinchang from far and it felt great. It's the Omg-I-can't-believe-we-were-actually-there-and-now-we're-all-the-way-here feeling. Sorry, no pictures yet. When I get hold of the pictures, I'll post it up! At 3, it was time to make our way down the mountain as we wanted to avoid climbing down the moutain in the dark. Definitely not pleasant at all.

And you think going down is way easier than going up as there's the help of gravity. But you thought wrong. Most of us thought wrong. Going down was way harder than going up. Lots of technical difficulties were faced but conquered in the end. Bruises were formed and clothings got torn. Well, my socks got torn lar! This time, it was me carrying the bag but towards the end, siewaun was nice enough to carry it again. It was lighter than going up coz the food and water were now stored in our tummy.

By the time we reached our campsite, the majority was covered in mud. We even had a natural layer of mud foundation on our face. I think I was the dirtiest. A shower would be so good then but I had to wait for one more day! I took my swimming towel and wiped my body and gosh, it turned from blue to brown! (thank goodness it's all blue again, love that magical towel!)

We had an early dinner that night and went to bed super early. By 9, I think everyone was asleep.

The next morning on the 10th, we woke up to a cold, windy morning. We were meant to get up at 7 but no one dared stepping out of the tent till 7.30. It was too cold!!! Serious, it felt colder than being in NZ. No joke!! That's why I said thermals would be splendid!

After breakfast, breaking camp and some photo-taking sessions, our hike down Mt.Berinchang begins. After doing Mt.Irau, the hike down Mt.Berinchang felt way easier. From what we thought would take 2 hours to complete it, we reached the foot of Berinchang in an hour or less. From there, we walked through Tanah Rata, passed the town to get to the Forestry Department. There it was, the place to shower as it was next to a waterfall, and toilets to do number 2's as it was a proper camp site and there were heaps of other people camping there too. Gosh! They even had concrete grounds to set our tents up. Mind you, concrete feels way better than uneven soil, rocky grounds. After setting our tents up, it was time for me to rush to the toilets and do my number 2 job i.e. Poo Poo :p Felt so good after that. Went to dip my feet into the cold, refreshing running stream water after that. Ahhh!! I haven't been to heaven but I think heaven would have felt just like that!

At 3, after lunch, it was time for our last climb - Mt.Berembun. It was meant to be sort of a warm down hike for all of us. But I felt really tired and aerobically challenged for this. Before the climb, I already had the thought of it going to be easy. Hence, I underestimated it. I think most of us underestimated Berembun. The grounds were dry and not muddy. It was easy in the sense that it required little thinking on where to place ur next foot on and hands weren't required for this. I only had a bottle of water in my hands. And Thank goodness I actually brought my water along. It was the climb that I drank the most. As the trail was easy, we were moving at a rather fast pace which results to an aerobically challenged me. The hills were very steep so I figured running up the hills would be way faster and less tiring than walking up. But by the time I reach the top, I was panting and what made it even worst is to know that there's many more steep hills like that to climb. The "sepuluh minit lagi" wasn't effective anymore. It turned to "sedikit lagi (little bit more)" and "satu rokok lagi (one more cigarrette)". I don't smoke so I have no idea how long does it take to finish one ciggie. The last climb was the most torturing one. Huge steps and it felt never ending. Soon, it became to "setengah rokok lagi (half a ciggie more)". I was so happy when I finally reached the peak. At the peak, we could see Berinchang and Irau from far. I drank my water till the very last drop which means no more water for the hike down.

We took a different route on the way down to avoid going down and climbing up those steep hills again. We ended up at a cabbage farm and passed by a tea plantation. From there, it was an hour plus walk through the town to get back to our campsite. At the campsite, it was dinner time! This time, it was us and not Fufu doing the cooking. We had BBQ for dinner. Half of us showered first and the other half prepared dinner. At 7, we switched. I was the latter group hence showering at 7pm in the cold river was another challenge to face. It was freezing cold from the start to the very second we got out. But it still felt good. Finally managed to wash myself with soap after 4 days and shampoo my muddy, oily hair. The second we got out, we actually felt warm.

My hair didn't stay nice for a long while. When I started BBQ-ing, it started to smell like charcoal. But dinner was great!! Tasted so good. I thought to myself, eventhough I won't be celebrating my bday with friends and family I'm close to, at least my birthday eve dinner is pretty special i.e. BBQ dinner in the jungle in Camerons :)

That night, we slept pretty late. First it was evaluation of the trip and we gave our comment on what we liked and didn't like. You see, Amin, our guide, just started this outdoor recreation company recently and we were the first group to go on this expedition done by him so he needed feedback on how to improve it. I guess, a level of lameness and a sense of humour is required before going on this trip. Next, we started playing all kind of games. At the end of it, there was another evaluation where it's just YES or NO and we all closed our eyes to answer it. When I opened my eyes after that, a birthday cake appeared right in front of me and then the birthday song. AwwWwwWW!!! I was so surprised and didn't expect it at all. It was simply amazing and was really touched. Thanks to all of them though none of them reads my blog. Thanks anyway lar!! So happy! It was just amazing. And thank YOU for the phone call ;)

On the 11th morning, we were allowed to wake up at 10 after so long!!! It was a great sleep except the sleep was disturbed by the singing of Negaraku, Duli Yang Maha Mulia and another song at 6am in the morning by other campers. I woke up at 9, had my breakfast and then it was one last time dipping into the stream. Heavenly feeling once again.

At 12, it was time to start our walk again to Tanah Rata to the bus station and then we headed back to KL. Reached pudu at 7 something. Usually, I would have take a train from Plaza Rakyat to Masjid Jamek and then switch to LRT to take it all the way to Tmn Bahagia. But I guess we were still in the walking mood hence a bunch of us walked from pudu to Masjid Jamek LRT station and then take it to Taman Bahagia.

Reached Tmn. Bahagia at 8. Matt picked me up and headed home. Showered (warm nice shower) and then went out for my tiny birthday dinner at Chow Yang with my parents. Bro still at singapore as he went down to spent Kar Kei's 21st as well as Valentine's Day. Yes, he's still in Singapore. Coming back tomorrow I guess. Came home and then had dad's leftover birthday cake. Haha! It was still good tho. Tiramisu cheese cake. Lucky they didn't get me a cake coz we wouldn't be able to finish it. Plus, I blew candles at 12am 11.2.2007 already.

Save the best till the last. The last thing I did was opening my presents. And I love opening presents. Parents gave me money as they didn't know what to get me. Think I'll use the money to get me a new pair of running shoes and a pair of watch. Bro got me shimmering powder from body shop and wrote me a really nice, sweet note. Thanks koko!!! I love you too and I'm really ok with you going to Singapore celebrating Kar Kei's 21st bday :) Matt got me a pair of dolphin earrings (i like i like A LOT!!!) and .... listen to this..... my very very first music CD (The Fray-How to Save a Life) in my whole entire life. Yes, I have never owned a music CD before till now. Heehee...yes yes, I'm one hell of a pirate...ARrrrRrr!!!

And then there's the early birthday presents.... Aunt got me a pair of levi's jeans before leaving for Australia. Swannie swan swan my other half got me a Nike shoe bag and a dolphin soft toy. And she also emailed me, texted me, and had a birthday post for me. Heeeheeeheee.... truly my other half horrr? Lolxxx!!!

So overall, the 5 days of being in Camerons was awesome. No regrets in going for the trip at all. I had doubts at first into going for this trip as I wouldn't know anyone. But when the trip ended, I'm just so glad I went for it, so glad that I took up this challenge, so glad that I completed it and came down safe and sound. It was a test for both my physical and mental health. And I'm proud to say that I am pretty alright :D Haha!! I didn't give up at times I really felt like giving up and stay in the tent. I didn't turn back at times I felt like I couldn't go on. I pushed myself. And in the end, I climbed all three mountains. I made new friends, I learnt new lame jokes. I had a great time. The 200 bucks was definitely worth it. What I got out of it was PRICELESS. I'm looking forward to the next climb. But all I know it's definitely not this soon. Next year perhaps? And the next time, I'm gna make sure I'm in my peak condition so I wouldn't feel like dying during the climb. Haha!!

Answer: Orang naik gunung, turun gunung, naik gunung, turun gunung, cari PENAT! so true, so so true :p