The Sun. The Moon. The Mountain

As I sat down to write today I thought it interesting that I ended my story of climbing a cliff with a cliffhanger. I hope you all found that as funny as I did.

After reaching the lodge we literally didn't move further than 5 m the rest of the night (that is until we went to sleep). We had a wonderful table right next to the buffet dinner. Yeah, they had a buffet dinner which was incredible. It was expensive and the food wasn't that tasty, but after hiking all day it sure hit the spot. Perspective - this buffet cost 33 ringgit while a normal meal costs in the vicinity of 5-6 ringgit. However, all of the food that I've been eating in the price range of 5-6 ringgit wasn't hauled up a mountain on the backs of porters and then cooked in a kitchen that was brought up that same mountain in pieces on the backs of porters in a building that was built from material hauled up the mountain on the backs of porters and helicopters. I didn't mind the little surcharge as I had just climbed that mountain with a small 1 kg pack and wouldn't like to do it again much less with a 20 kg pack strapped to my back. Our conversations and dinner carried us through the afternoon late into the evening or at least that's how it felt. By about 6:30 we were dead tired and struggling to stay awake but forced our prideful selves to stay awake until at least 7:00. We did and then crashed. The morning came quickly enough sure enough a 7:00 bedtime doesn't seem so early when you're awake at 2:00 am. It had been rainy and quite dreary in the evening and there were rumors of rain in the morning so the first thing I did as I popped out of bed was stick my head out the window and check for stars. I was greeted with the most brilliant sky I could have imagined and having prepared myself for the worst, I was overjoyed by this sight. Putting on all the clothes I had (and that wasn't much), I headed to the dinning hall for a quick bit to eat before venturing out into the 5 degree Celsius weather. It was cold and crisp, but the moon was full and the stars were shinning. I couldn't have asked for more. We set out and initially had donned our headlamps but as soon as we came out of the trees they were quickly stored away and we walked along the granite face of this towering mountain by the light of the moon. It was truly an incredible sight. The moon was bright enough that it lit up the clouds and the mountain peaks making for a breathtaking view. And know I know why they tell you to give yourself plenty of time to make the hike in the morning - it's not because it's dark or that you might be tired or that there is rough terrain, but that you will spend more time taking in the vistas than actually climbing. The landscape could vaguely be described as a moonscape with us literally walking across a granite slab. They same that this is a mountain where trekkers are able to feel like mountaineers and I agree with that statement (just wait until you see the pictures and you'll agree as well). We timed our ascent perfectly and right as the first rays of light appeared on the horizon we were on the summit. It was frigid. The temperature had dropped several degrees and there were the ever-present winds which reduced the temperature further but we had only one things on our mind - the rising sun. The sun cast its rays across the summit illuminating the paths we had just walked across and slowly the landscape changed. Crossing this barren landscape in the dark reduces your overall picture of the place to rough outlines - shapes in the distance. The suns light cast a new perspective and the clouds ceased to glow in the moonlight and began to pick up the pick and orange hues of the rising sun which shot out across the horizon. The sun rise had occupied so much of my attention that I neglected to turn around. A need to change my position to a more comfortable one saw me swing my head around away from the sun only to be greeted with yet another incredible sight - the setting of the moon. And there I stoop, 4095 m above sea level with the rising sun over my left shoulder and the moon setting over my right shoulder. I hardly knew where to point my camera. There are few words which can express this event and the sights that I saw without evening beginning to mention the personal satisfaction one felt after conquering this beast of a mountain. It was truly a unique moment. I sat there savoring the moment for as long as I could before beginning my decent. The sun had fully risen into the sky and it's ever-changing position continued to illuminate different parts of the mountain revealing more and more of the mountains secrets which it had concealed in the moonlight. Even though I was retracing my steps back down the mountain, each step was a new one and each sight one which until that moment my eyes hadn't set sight upon.

The descent took no time at all and before I knew it we were back at the lodge. We ate some more breakfast and took a rest before heading out to conquer the final leg of this mountain. We headed off and re-traced out steps down the mountain. Any one who has done any hiking will agree that the ascent is more challenging mentally, but the descent is much tougher on your body. Until I started down that mountain I was fresh as a daisy but once I reached the bottom I was dead tired. We reached the headquarters and headed straight for the restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful lunch and then climbed aboard a bus and headed back into town. I should add that the last kilometer or so I walked with several young girls from the UK, Simon (also from the UK) and Cori and Matt and we talked about candy for a good 30 minutes or so recalling out favorite childhood candies and comparing which ones were available in the US and/or the UK.

I reached KK and hobbled into the guest house and checked in and ran into Greg and Marilyn. We had know that our paths would cross again in KK and it was good to see them again. The four of us (Greg, Marilyn, Simon and I) had dinner and then Simon and I crashed. The next morning I was out the door early in the morning to catch my flight to Kuala Lumpur and that's the subject of the next entry.

RM