Back to the Past

Back to the land of Oranje for a week for a couple of meetings.

This time I’m bidding farewell to my peers and colleagues whom I have worked with for the last 23 years. Most are now at senior positions and dotted around the world. Indeed it was sad.

We dropped by at our favourite restaurant in a northern town. The old man is still there, we were happy to see each other after nearly 2 years. As usual the mint tea and the shoarma were delicious.

Then followed by the usual stroll along the streets and canals in Amsterdam. The weather this year has been unusually cold for mid summer. But the long day light at least offset the outcast condition.

Last year, it was the the Icelandic volcanic eruption making huge disruption to travelling. This year the vegetable E. Coli scare threaten to have similar impact. But alas it quickly subsided and everyone back to eating salads like normal.

Bencana Buatan Manusia

An incredible picture that saddens the heart. The wars between Iran and Iraq happened more than a decade ago. During the wars and subsequent smaller war between Iraq and Kuwait, the skies were darkened during many days and months by the bombing and sabotage of many oil wells.

When one look at the sheer wastage and disregard of this God's gift to humankind, one would wonder what drives human being to do that. This is one clear example for all to see. But equally, there are other things although less dramatic, that we all waste a lot in our life.

In fact there are enough resources, water, food and space for all human being to live comfortably on this earth. But because of living standard disparity and incredible wastage all around, a lot of people on this earth are living poor. So lets not waste whatever is given to us and our country. And start working seriously for the future when we still have the resources.

Breaking the Mental Barrier

After months of training, with lots of perseverance and discipline, I finally reached my goal.... to eventually run a half marathon distance today. It has been hard, most of the time fighting the mental barrier, bits by bits building and maintaining the distance, and finally I managed to break my 18 km barrier to run the 21.1 km distance. The speed is still below 8 km/hr, nontheless to keep on running for more than two and a half hours is a real feat for me.

So the next target is to increase the pace and go for the ultimate goal - full marathon. Hopefully!!

I'm taking a week off from work this week - my first real break for 5 months. Took the opportunity to settle a lot of things, mostly to do with banks, bills and government matters that were well overdue to be settled.

When I went to downtown (Bandar) today, the place was awfully quiet. There was hardly a moving car as I was walking along the roads. And going to shops and other places was quite pleasant driving. There were hardly any traffic jam. It's the school holiday and many people are either on holiday overseas or just locked themselves at home or in the office.

Day 4: The End

30/5/2011

Distance 13.5 km, 5 hrs 50 mins, 2795 calories burnt, and level of difficulty: moderate but tiring

The last day of trekking. Sleeping in Camp 3 wasn’t without drama. The first thing we observed about the camp was the presence of sulphur powder laid around the edges of the camp. There was only one thing that came into our mind – it was probably to ward off snakes!

The other one was the presence of leeches on the floor which managed to crawl up into the camp from the loose wooden flooring. But worst of all was the story told by our two trekkers who stayed behind in the camp the night before that they heard children running and playing in the middle of the night!

The day break was a welcoming sight. The night seemed to be too long especially if the mind was restless to try getting a proper sleep.

Three of us made a dash to reach Camp 1 and later to base camp. That took nearly 6 hours. The sight of civilisation, the sound of mobile ring tones, the irisistable taste of 100-plus, all were indescribable after such a torturous journey. The leech attacks on this part of the trip were quite ferocious. A number of us got bitten and swamped with the crawling creatures at many unimaginable places. Alas the trekking was finally over.

We clocked a total of 51 km and nearly 26 hours of trekking over many undulating and challenging routes. We have done something that was almost impossible to imagine for city folks like us.

The awards were blistered legs, countless bitten marks, sore bump, torn pants, wet and soiled clothes, but compensated by elevated pride and a few kilos less weight.

We stayed at the newly built chalets, each costing RM220 per night. Next door sits the impressive restaurant and the reception centre. The hot shower and air-condition rooms were such a contrast to the places we slept for the last 3 nights.

Day 3: The Assault

29/5/2011

Distance 17 km, 8 hrs 50 mins, 5384 calories burnt, and level of difficulty: another day of torture.

The final 5 km to reach the summit, a 500 m elevation climb. The route was mainly through mossy forest, most of the time tip-toeing on large roots and overgrowths. In fact we were hardly stepping on proper earth as the whole place seemed to be made of piles of dead leaves and intricate network of roots and tree branches. Most of the time one would be looking at hollow ground below, at other times walking on the edge of steep cliffs saved by a small patch of earth and roots.

The final climb was littered with a number of rope climbs, a few instances of clinging to large roots and tired ropes for dear life. The upper body strength was tested to the maximum to be able to push further on the ascend.

We reached the summit after 3 hours. The celebration was quite long, much needed to please oneself after making such an incredible feat of conquering the in-famous Mount Mulu and perhaps our hardest climb ever in our life.

The descend to Camp 4 was equally challenging, a much shorter affair taking some 2 hours.

After a small meal, we proceeded to decend to Camp 3, our place of stay for the night. The rain however started an hour into the walk. Feeling cold, wet and tired, the whole place seemed foggy, dark and mysterious.

What was supposed to be an easy 7 km stroll became an arduous and lonely walk for me. It took me 3 hrs 50 mins to decend. With the whole place being muddy and slippery, the walk was a real torture. There seemed to be no end to the descend. I reached Camp 3 just as darkness set in, feeling totally drenched and tired. What a day to remember.

Day 2: Day of Torture

28/5/2011

Distance 14 km, 8.5 hrs, 5611 calories burnt, and level of difficulty: survival mode

Day 2 was warned as the toughest day. Andrew wasn’t joking, hearing the seriousness of his tone, I felt really nervous and silenced for a while. The first group of 5 set off at 7am leaving the rest and the supporting group behind.

The first hour was a gentle climb to an unmarked Camp 2. From there it was a 900 m climb that took a solid 3 hours to reach Camp 3 at 1270 m. We were a determined group, hardly stopping except for some intermittent short pauses to sip some water to quench the thirst.

The problem with the track was the lack of signboard showing distance or location. So it was like walking endlessly not knowing when the climb will end to reach our destination.

We reached Camp 3 after 4 hours. Totally drenched, we waited for another hour before Andrew turned up. The words from Andrew weren’t something that we expected. He was saying not only two in our group were struggling but all the porters were making very slow progress going up the 900 m climb.

After two hours at the camp, none of the porters managed to reach the camp yet. Andrew mentioned that it will take 5 to 6 hours to reach Camp 4 at 1800m. So five of us set off again at 1 pm. The first hour was again a steep climb before going onto an undulating plateau which seems to go on forever.

We reached Camp 4 after 4.5 hours at 5.30 pm. Although our sole leader was well ahead - reaching 50 minutes earlier! The place was quite cold and we were deperate for fresh clothing and food. Our fear was that the porters would totally abandon the climb to Camp 4. But after a long wait, it was such a joyful sight to see the first set of porters arriving at around 7.30 pm. The last one arrived at 9 pm.

Day 1: 72 Hours

27/5/2011

Distance: 6.5 km, 3 hrs 18 mins, 1878 calories burnt, level of difficulty: easy

We set off from the Mulu Park Base Camp at around 1 pm, marking the start of 72 hours without any contact with the outside world. Mobile phones became redundant in the mountainous jungle.

We stocked up as much bottled water we could possibly carry. Of course there were also a stockpile of energy bars and supplementary drinks in our rucksacks if required.

The start was an easy 1.5 km walk along a nicely built wooden footpath before setting off for a 5 km jungle walk. We passed through two small streams with water level almost knee high requiring the boots to be taken off.

Apart from the long walk along a muddy trail, the other real challenge was how to ward off from leech attacks. This small creature, a native of the steamy jungle, could propel itself towards a trekker. Once attached, it will start doing its business - sucking blood until it get bloated, sometimes without the person even realising it.

The best protection is to wear a pair of leech socks which provides another layer of protection especially for the vulnerable lower leg. Then add this by spraying with whatever anti leach or insect repellents one could find from the drug store. Anything that could help will make the mind a little bit less tense as we navigate the muddy and sometimes poorly marked path.

We reached Camp 1, standing at just 150 m in elevation, a simple hut by a river. A quick dip in the cold river water really freshen up the tired body after the long and strenuous walk.

The night in the jungle was quite dark and noisy. After a simple meal, it was time to take the night sleep. Suddenly the night was animated by lightning and a heavy downpour. The sound of the swelling and torrential river below made us realise that we were really in the wild and felt really vulnerable.