4 km above Sea Level

It was something that we have been thinking about since last year and we just made the final go on it last week by booking the package. But physically we have been training for it every weekend for the last 4 months.

The last time I climbed the mountain was 20 years ago. I could not remember how hard it was. Now that I did it again, I found it was grueling, tiring and very cold up there.

There are porter services available to ease one's climb but then I thought of doing the hard way by carrying a 10 kg backpack. But this was nothing compare to what the porters were carrying. A group of lady porters were carrying 20 kg of restaurant supplies each and they were paid RM100 for that. They could be earning RM3000 per month if they do it everyday - not bad. The male porters are normally for tourists. They charge from RM8 to RM10 per kilo. I saw one was carrying 38 Kg. That's a good RM300 worth of work.

We followed a guide but left him and the group behind as we were eager to climb on our own pace. We managed to overtake lots of porters and climbers and yet it still took us 5 hours and 15 minutes to reach the staging camp which is called Laban Rata before the final climb.

At times we climbed an endless trail of wooden and rocky steps for an hour before taking a rest at the resting huts dotted along the trail. The air was getting thinner as the elevation increases and most people do get slight headache because of that. So a good rest and sleep is required to acclimatised before the final climb.

The Laban Rata could accommodate up to 140 climbers and is normally full. One has to book months in advance if not to be disappointed. The whole place is now run by Sutera Habour and has became very expensive. Facilities are still pretty basic though.

We woke up at 1.30 a.m. in the morning and started the final ascend, some one km vertically up the summit. The final climb has to be done in darkness, albeit aided only with a touch light, as the climb is more daunting. There are no longer any vegetation and everything are just barren rocks. From the top, one could see countless small lights from the villages below, a sight one normally see when flying at night.

Faris was the only kid amongst the 140 climbers. Children are more vulnerable to the thin air. And it was hard for him. Most people climbed the final leg at their own pace and talking enough rest. Some people like us just did it slowly, taking regular rest and so on. The weather was very cold and windy.

Finally after 3 hours and 40 minutes we reached the 4000 m mark at the foot of the final pile of rocks. It was just another 80 m. Faris could not do it and he was just too tired. But he has done enough. I could not imagine I would have done similar feat at that age. For most kids nowadays, pampered by their parents and most of the time staying indoor and in front of their computer, we tried our best to give our kids a taste of the real outdoor. Altogether it took us 9 hours from the base to reach the summit. The feeling up there was amazing. The scenery looks unreal. We could see the other mountain ranges and the green lowlands below.

Going down was actually the more difficult part because of the slippery condition and the constant hard impact on the foot and knee. It took us 5.5 hours from the summit to the entrance gate. All in all it was a very tiring trip but more importantly our 13 year old made it. Faris really enjoyed the experience.