Generally :
- we depart by Air Asia - the very first flight hubby board (minus the one he took when he was 1 yr old)
- Via Timpohon Gate : most people will take this route. The route are mostly upward and shorter than Mersilau.
- Via Mersilau Gate : Longer by more than 2Km from the Timpohon route. But the scenary is just fantastic. The route - naik, turun, naik, turun.. jaga kaki!
We took the Mersilau route anyway, not because aku eksyen nak route yg lebih challenging, but most of our group members has already climb tru Timpohon, they want something new. Aku ikut je.
- Anyway, the Mersilau trail is beautiful. The mist, the trees, the path, the flowers.
- Pass your heavy bag pack to the mountain guide (malim), and pay them. So u could enjoy the climb. Jgn jadi aku yg bawa bag berat pastu sakit belakang.
- I realized that I had problem with high altitude. At around 3 km away from gate, I felt dizzy and nausea. Makan panadol sebijik then baru boleh sambung. At 5 km, my fingers swallow, liquids dripping off my ears and nose - pelik kan? At 8.5 KM (a few meters away from peak), jgn cerita lah!
- We have to stop at Laban Rata, and spend a night there - for we can only climb to the peak early morning (2 am /3am). I start my climb from Mersilau at 8:30am and reach Laban Rata at 5:30pm - dekat 10 jam! (around KM)
- Upon reaching Laban Rata, its already dinner time. Don't worry, the food is included in our climbing package, plus it's buffet, eat all u want.
- We spent our night at Gunting Lagadan hut. The night was extremely cold (for me at least). At least, the temperature must have reached 0 degree. For those who can't stand the cold weather (macam aku), bring your sleeping bag together. It helps, and we need to get some sleep, for some energy to climb back at 3 am.
- I vommit, during my sleep, on my bed. Shahrun keep telling me, to not go for the peak. Yeah right, I have another 2.5KM to go, nak stop ke?
- We start our climb at 3:30am, 1 hr late from the other climbers. Why? Because we do not want to rush with the other climbers. But I actually feel I should start earlier, I'm a slow climber.
- The peak trail, was almost all rocky. I have to use my 4 wheel drive (tangan, kaki) to climb. Everything seemed so cold, even with the 2 layered clothing, and socks. So cold even to walk.
- Most of the climbers has already climb down, but I need to reach the top.
- I am another 100m to reach top when my husband told me to stop, the wind was strong and I can't hardly open my eyes. So I stop, hampir nangis, tolong lah sampai the peak!
- About 300m walk after that, I felt very-very tired. And I wish to stop and have a rest. Once I sit, I felt lost. Aku pengsan.
- Luckily my hubby notice that I'm very slow, so he went back and saw me, unconcious. He called the mountain guide, and they transported me down using a stretcher until Gunting Lagadan's hut.
Such an experience, sebab memang takde org lain dapat turun guna stretcher dan diangkat mountain guide. Haha.
Anyway, I did get the certs, 2 certs (1 for climbing via Mersilau, one for reaching the peak). Note : eventhough i did not reach the peak, certs are given to all climbers that reached until Sayat-Sayat hut (another around 500m to peak). But I am so glad I could even see the peak from 100M away. And i'm glad that i also did saw all the other peak : South Peak, Ugly sister peak, Donkey's Ear peak.
But, Mt Kinabalu, wait again for me. I'll be coming back to kick your peak. This time, I'll remember to drink water, just wait!
