This is not a scheduled post.

 

I’m blogging live from China! AHahahha, but since the past 2-3 posts have been all about China, I don’t wana bore ya with more Cheena details.

 

I know many of you wana know if I’m suffering here or not, so I’m purposely EVADING that topic for now. Read about it in future posts lah

 

So this post is gona be about a post that I’ve also been EVADING for a long, long time, 4 months to be exact.

 

Guess what picture this is?

 

As hard as you look, it is not a picture of Paris Hilton doing something funny in the dark.

 

And neither is it a picture of Tan Sri Chua Soi Lek doing something funny in the dark.

 

I’ll give you a hint : It’s about a Mountain.

 

And the light spots you see are….

 

 

Yeah babeh, this is the view while climbing up Mount KK at 3am in the morning!

 

Imagine this. You wake up at 2am in the morning, stumble groggily out of your bunk bed. Outside your room, other climbers are already gearing up and preparing for what’s ahead. There are no lights on, only light from headlamps can be seen. You sense the excitement in the air ; everyone is talking in whispers and some are already outside…there’s no time for breakfast, and everyone moves out and starts….The Summit Climb.

 

It’s an incredibly surreal moment.

 

 

With hardly any time to take a proper photo, all I have are faint memories that start off with a steep staircase and a medium rocky path climb in the pitch black. And unlike the day before, no one could move fast due to the low visibility. Everyone moved together slowly and were literally ‘crawling in the dark’!

 

There was a section that the locals call the ‘Danger Zone’, where angles go as steep as 60 degrees, and only way to go up was with a rope. I really had to HAUL my big ass and bigger-ass backpack up using the rope..No rope = no climb. That’s how steep it is.

 

And some sections scared the shit outta me, where I have to walk on a jagged ledge, and a bad move means falling down the mountainside to a certain death. All hands on the rope man…even a camho will resist the chik-chak moment I tell you LOL. Cos it probably will sound like ‘chik-chak – Ooops – aaaahhhhhHHHH – BISH’

 

It was only past the Danger Zone when I was ahead of the others where I stopped and grabbed a few shots that I could…

 

 

 

 

Then I KO for awhile cos didn’t have breakfast LOL.

 

Not easy lor I tell you. You need balls of steel to do this with an SLR + Flash and a bloody heavy Crumpler bag.

 

I was lucky that I wasn’t affected by altitude sickness and was able to keep a steady pace. It’s important to keep moving all the way even if you’re tired and need to take small steps. Cos if you stop, your body will slow down and it takes awhile to start up again. And that’s not cool.

 

 

Shooting got a little easier at about 5am thanks to the slowly rising sun…but that meant that we had to speed up to reach summit before sunrise!

 

The peak that you see above is not the summit. There are a few of these peaks before the final Peak, pretty frustrating…Just when you thought you reached the end, there is another for you to climb ahead!

 

So we climb…

 

 

 

And climb…

 

 

 

Photography in the mountain is good, because if you’re slow, you can blame it on stopping to take the shots and sound like a very dedicated photographer, instead of saying that your knees hurt, and your half dying. Which was exactly how I felt…Half Dead.

 

I think what helped to elevate my spirit was the rising sun coming up on the east….

 

Nice leh…my never-seen-before footage…i should apply for a job in National Geographic. Can explore the world with Sponsored Lenses, yummy.

 

 

As a rule, and as a photographer, you should always look out for patches of water for that reflection and ‘enhanced ‘cold’ effect.

 

 

 

If you did notice, this also means that we missed the view of the sunrise from the peak   T_T

 

 

 

This is where I stopped to rest my dying feet take shots of climbers coming up from behind me.

 

Can’t see them? Look closer!

 

 

At that point, it was hard to believe….Did I really climb that high? wtf!

 

 

We were above freaking clouds level!

 

With that in mind, it makes 0% sense to give in to my failing legs and go home. All I needed was just rest and pretend to take more shots LOL.

 

 

It wasn’t really that cold. I just wanted to see how I look like with the burglar ninja hood. Hehe.

 

 

That’s Arhnue hiding behind a rock. I think she just completed a successful piss or poop, hence the victorious look on her face. I THINK.

 

Desmond Lim the Chocolate factory boss and Rachel also look pretty happy here..Desmond did, and I confirm this, take a poop on the way up the mountain somewhere in the dark at 4-5am. No worries, no pollution, it’s all organic.

 

 

 

 

 

With my legs partially recharged, It’s time to push it for the final climb!

 

 

 

And finally…so close more…

 

Mountain also got traffic jam one. What is this.

 

So while waiting for traffic to clear….what does a blogger do?

 

And…after 36 hours of stretching my body past its human limits…we finally got what we came for..

 

  

 

Arhnue potong stim cos she was too tired to climb another 10 steps to reach the peak ahahaha.

 

 

And the view was …… Fantastic.omg.

 

 

 

 

I tell you…if you think that people who bring big ass DSLRs up the mountain with big ass bags are semangat…check out this guy who even brought a tripod along. Whoooooaaa. I only use a rock to prop up my camera man…LOL

 

I wonder what the guy on the right side brought up. Sniper rifle ke?

 

 

 

In my world, there is one main rule when you climb mountains. Don’t ever, ever think that the peak is the final destination. Because that was what I had in mind. Reach peak, end of story.

 

But what I forgot was that…whatever distance I climbed up, I had to climb down it as well. Wah damn shit wei already wana die at that time.

 

Find out what happened to Kit Loong in the next Mount KK post

 

Click these for my other KK Stories:

1. Mount KK : [Part I] The Reunion

2. Mount KK : [Part II a] Up we go!

3. Mount KK : [Part III] Laban Rata Go Go Go!!

 

Cheers!
-EVo-

 

Many mountains in the world have been explored and mapped out. Mostly for geographical, commercial, or purely time-wasting purposes.

This is the commercially available map of the mountain trail up to Mount Everest.

 

This is the commercially available ski map of the mountain trail at Anzère, Swiss Alps.

 

 

And this, my friends, is the commercially available map of the mountain trail up our beloved Mount Kinabalu.

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See, we love the environment so much that we print our maps black & white. No Color. On paper that has been reused TEN times, that’s why it looks like ‘HAM CHOY’ HAHA.

 

No lah, the paper was originally white and clean, just that we got caught in the rain and I forgot to protect the map

 

But really, even if you bust the map, you won’t get lost on the way up Mount KK. There are 2 trails that one can use. 1 starts from Mersilau and the other starts from Timpohon. They both meet at a fork before Laban Rata, and from there it goes straight up to the summit. And there’s only 1 path to walk throughout the journey.

 

It takes a lot of imagination and genius to actually lose your way up the trail haha.

 

So here continues Day 2 !! *bersemangat gila*. Other episodes: Part I & Part II

 

Some of the things I appreciated were the 1/2 km milestones that indicated my progress on the way up the trail. It was just what I needed to think LESS about the long, long 8km that lay in front of me. Nice lor these Sabahans

 

As you can guess, the km’s felt like they were getting further and further apart, as the steps seemed to get steeper and steeper…

 

 

Quite instantly, me and my bottle of 100 Plus became the best of friends. Nothing quenches your thirst as orgasmically as 100 Plus (damn I can’t believe I just used ‘orgasmically’ in my sentence lol)

 

 

As I mentioned, Mr Mersilau-Trail (from the right) will meet Mr Timpohon-Trail (from the left) before the two paths merge to go up to Laban Rata, at a small clearing known as ‘the fork’.

 

 

And at the clearing, our normally strong and tireless porter was spotted hiding away from us under a tree. Gotcha!

 

OK, so they’re human too. HAHA.

 

It’s very important to stay hydrated and rest every 20-30 minutes. Go at a steady pace, instead of sprinting ahead of everyone and burning up faster than everyone else. If you wana be Kiasu, you must be fit. No Fit = No Kiasu. And if necessary, pop an energy bar or energy gel for a quick recharge.

 

For me, I use Clorets chewing gum. *no need la energy bar laaaa*

 

Somewhere along, we encountered a crazy porter rushing down past us. And I mean REALLY rushing.

What the hell man. These people’s knees made of STEEL or what???

 

Intentionally underexposed shot. What do you think nice ah nice ah LOL.

 

When it’s foggy and looks like rain, you can either express yourself to the sky…

 

…Camho…

Or….you can just stare blankly into the camera like Arhnue lol.

 

The one thing about carrying a DSLR around while climbing is that it has to be kept in a secure, padded compartment in my bag, and when it is time to take a shot of something or someone, I must:

(1)  Stop walking / climbing
(2)  Unhook front safety latch.
(3)  Unhook one shoulder strap
(4)  Pull backpack to the front.
(5)  Reach my hand over my monster bag and pull open the zip. Then pull the camera compartment further out. Note : Must be careful here or you may end up with the catastrophic dumping of your lenses / flash onto the ground wah cry.

By the time the camera comes out, your subject would have reached the top of the mountain already.

OK lah, I exaggerated a bit there. But truth is, DSLR is quite a pain to carry up the mountain, although the shots are worth it. I suppose that is the way pros do it, so I must learn that! or die trying! cheh wah dramatic.

But at least I put everything into one bag, instead of carrying a separate camera bag like some other DSLR photographer.

Guess what. Eventually his camera bag became porter luggage hahahahaa. Okay, he was carrying Rach’s backpack as well. That surely deserves some credit.

I also guess that he finally realized that his 5D is probably safer with the porter than with him xD

May I also add that on the night before, his camera was already..slightly damaged, by ahem…me. Cos I tried to put my EFS lens into his EF camera lens hole. @.@  what! short of one ‘S’ got so big difference meh??

Anyway, I damaged it. Slightly. One of the mirrors cracked and fell out, that’s all. Desmond’s viewfinder changed from a nice big frame to a 5-sen-sized hole. But still can see a bit lah. Hey his shots still turned out ok Haha. Sorry Desmond.

 

Everything was forgotten when I caught a glimpse of the bare-rocky mountainside about 1.5 km from our destination.

It’s truly quite a sight to admire momentarily, when for the past 5 hours, I saw nothing but trees and valleys and squirrels. Some mean-looking mountain babeh!

 

 

 

It was at this point when the moment we were hoping to avoid came…it started raining!

 

Ey, when raining quite scary la. With this device in my bag which cannot kena a single drop of water one. A rain cover + poncho is a must when rain comes in.

Sadly, I’m not very good at putting on ponchos. When you’re tired and really very hungry, all you wana do is get that damn piece of plastic over your head and body. I ended up punching big holes all over the poncho instead. It was simply no protection at all.

Even Pian Porter had to use an umbrella *chik chak*

Yes, despite the rain + hunger, the Shutterbug in me prevailed. Jai-Ho! Cam-Ho! But while shooting must wrap camera in Plastik Beg or habis.

 

I’m beginning to think that I should have shot in RAW mode, so i could recover the underexposed foreground…is that what you would do? Does it work that way?

 

 

The final kilometer before we reach Laban Rata, and before sunset!

 

And finally, an extremely welcome sight…..

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LABAN RATA GUESTHOUSE!

 

 

As you can see, Mount KK is quite popular until there was hardly any tables left. Kit Loong, our hero, however, reached first and was able to get a table just in time for us xD

 

And the best plate of Chap Fan I had for years (it seemed at the moment) I had for dinner.

 

Eat until. damn. Puas.

 

And the timing was just nice. Ngam ngam sunset…! Cam-Ho alert! Jai-Ho!

 

It takes a real good photographer to capture the full range of colors while correctly exposing the contrasting parts of the pic wei. I need more practice…I need more KK trips!

 

 

 

My 3 favorite shots =)

 

Did I mention that the room which I tried to get in the main Laban Rata resthouse wasn’t available? That meant I had to bunk in alone at another resthouse, 15 mins away. It’s quite a thrill, hiking up at night…

Can you imagine the excitement while jostling amongst other climbers at 3am the next morning to the summit? It’s incredibly surreal. @.@

Check back soon for the next part =)

 

If you liked this post, do check out Part I & Part II ok…!

Cheers!
-EVo-

 

Here to read Mount KK : [Part I] The Reunion!

It’s not everyday that I can wake up to the fresh smell of forest trees or cool mountain air.

 

It’s day 2 of Mount KK climb yo!!

Fwooooar. That time damn gun cheong don’t know what to expect lor. Wake up only rush to toilet to clean up, siap dengan toothbrush + towel to find…NO WATER in toilet!

Wasn’t a big thing of course. I hardly shower anyway.

 

That’s Kit Loong with his ‘secondary luggage bag’..it’s supposed to be the best way to pack your stuff for the porter to carry. I know you guys thought he was the rubbish collector wahahahaha. Upon closer inspection you will notice that his rubbish bag is 2-3 times bigger than his backpack..to be passed to the porter. That’s his definition of ‘travel light’ haha.

On the way to the breakfast room…

 

And this is our American breakfast.

Not something I expected from a mountain resort *digs in greedily*

I was in a rush that morning so I had to delay shaving myself until after breakie.

And with our stomachs full, and hearts on fire, on we go to the starting point! It’s 5 minutes from the makan place, so there was plenty of time for a good shit before we made off.

Us and our porter luggage. They charge a very reasonable RM9/ kg uphill and downhill..and I will show you how strong these buggers are in a later photo. Amazing.

Don’t be misled by our jackets though. It was cool that day, but even before we started the hike, I took mine off. Too hot!

Here’s Rachel looking quite satisfied with her sticks..

 

I will very honestly share with you: Buy the stick or die! Cos I know I wouldn’t have made it without mine. Only RM5 / stick but oh man your knees will love you for that.

 

There’s gona be lots of pics from here…readdddyyy…GO!

 

As I was innocently shooting the clouds in the sky, suddenly Arhnue took off her baju and changed into a singlet. So hot man.

 

I’m kidding. She took off her jacket only xD

 

This is Kadis, our guide. A very patient man of few words, but when he spoke, everyone listened. He was like this mountain guru that gave nothing but chun advice. I tell you, everyone bought what he said (about shoes / climbing practices / pantang etc) like innocent sheep.

 

This is our porter, Pian, umur 26 tahun.

Mount KK porters are really, in my opinion, the heroes of the mountain. Some of the stronger ones can take up to 70-80 kg UPHILL. I’m confident they’ve got ox genes mixed up among their chromosomes.

 

See these people la. See nice tree already start camho. Little did they know there would be SO MUCH of these trees on the way that we all eventually got bored of shooting them LOL.

 

Proper disposal of your trash is a mandatory practice. Come on guys, we gota leave the mountains clean for our grandkids to climb a’ight!

 

Hey lil guy!

 

When the fog sets in, you usually have to worry. It’s an indication of rain, which we were quite lucky to have avoided so far in that day.

 

 

 

 

Notice that there’s more portrait shots now, cos that’s what you get when you go up…

 

Up…

 

UP SOME MORE..

 

Really, your knees should be hurting by just looking at these stairs pics. Had a a real b*tchin time climbing them man.

Then the trees start to look cute here.

 

And after that hard work..about 12.30 we stop for lunch break! Also packed by the lodge. Not bad eh.

 

And here is where we hiked up a bit of level ground. And also where the view started changing from ‘Niiiice’ to ‘Waaaaah’.

 

 

Mersilau Trail is known to be the longer trail (2km more than Timpohon), but the view along the way very surely makes up for it.

Also included as part of the package is a grand view of the available toilets…introducing ‘Sistem Pembetungan Mount Kinabalu’!

On the right you’ll see the cubicle. Not exactly the best place to be but when nature calls, choices are limited.

Closer inspection on the left side reveals…

 

That’s where the climbers’ bi-product are collected for periodic disposal.

I haven’t mentioned also, that everything that needs to be transported uphill or downhill are carried by porters. No pickup trucks, electric conveyor or helicopter to help.

So imagine when the waste in the pangsai-tong needs to be taken downhill. Are the porters required to do that?

 

 

 

 

 

I also hope not HAHA.

More on Day II in the next post!

Cheers!
-EVo-