Issys mountain story

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Trip Start Sep 14, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Aug 16, 2010 Next
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  Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Sunday, February 21, 2010

               Dad and I decided to climb the mountain Kinabalu. It is 4 098 meters high. It is the tallest in south east Asia. To give you an idea of how tall it is Ben Nevis is less than 2000 meters.

                I stared at the mountain thinking that we were never going to make it to the top of the mountain. It almost looked impossible to reach the top. The side looked as though it was a rock climbing wall. Clouds covered the middle of the mountain.

                We made friends with these two people named Stephen and Jane. They live in Chang High but were over here for their 6th wedding anniversary. We climbed the mountain the mountain with them.

                The steps up there were not even, so you had to make sure that your foot was in place was in the right place. Sometimes my foot got wedged in-between the rocks. Every 1 km the trees changed and it got harder to climb.

                As we walked the air was getting thin. My head felt like it was soaking up water and expanding. Things started to get all a blur. I sat down on a rock and my hands started to shake. (my sugar level was low) I was able to eat a chocolate bar.

                Sweat was dripping off Dad. On the back of his shirt there was not only a sweat mark but a mark from where his bag had rubbed. We both laughed at the fact that dad had sweat so much. Though in the end the Dad was mocking me for my hair being all messed up.

                The steps were all uneven and it made your brain work supper hard. Which Just made my head ace worse. I was listening to my iPod the way up as I saw the clouds were surrounding me. I felt as though I could touch them. Though I knew that they were too far away for me to lean out and pick one up.

                I looked up at the stairs and thought that we would never finish this alive. My face must have turned pale as Dad asked me if I needed a chocolate bar. I just shook my head. I was kind of getting sick of chocolate, as I was having to have it every time I felt sick but it gave me energy.

I was very relieved to see the hostel as I was feeling very tired and sick. As soon as I got there I took my walking boots off and slipped into bed for a sleep. Dad woke me up a bit later for some dinner and after I felt even worse and so could not get to sleep until 11pm. What seemed like five minutes later I heard these Japanese people shouting next door, it was time to get up again!

Climbing in the dark was very hard, it was important to watch where I put my feet and to concentrate all the time. I could only see a small round circle of light where my torch shone. My torch was on my head and I looked like a coal miner. It was also hard to grip the rope and it felt very uneasy walking into what felt like a black nothing.

It felt like a nightmare and I was so tired and my legs felt really really heavy. We came to a sign that said there was 700 metres to go but it looked very steep and miles away to me. I said to Dad that I could not go on and I had to stop. He said no, that we were going to make it and he gave me confidence and encouragement to go the rest of the way up holding my arm all the way.

Pulling yourself up at the top was like rock climbing except that it was freezing cold and my feet felt as though they were going to fall off in pain. It was very small at the top and I sheltered a bit just below in a rock alcove. When we got to the sign we had some pictures taken and I got a little Santa out for a photo with me that my BFFL, Lilly gave me.

On the way down I slid down and split my trousers, actually they were Aidan's but he did not mind! Going down I was so determined to get back that I set off very fast from the hostel after breakfast. I wanted to beat the time of 2 and a half hours from there and we really pushed ourselves. I was in the front and towards the end Dads knees were hurting but we made it with two minutes to spare. Mum and Ady were waiting with us and I was so relieved to see them. We went back and had a big meal before sleeping.

The next day I felt like the tin man from Wizard of Oz who squeaks a lot. Dad was even worse and had to walk down stairs backwards.

It is still hard to believe that I achieved it and I feel very proud that I climbed it. Each time now I pass a mountain I look at it and wonder if I could climb it!

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I can't go o!	Sunrise with Santa	Got there and Lillys Santa too	The top
Bank robber?	Sliding down	Going down	On the run down
Told you I would do it!	Going down	Going down	Oops
At the bottom, we did it!

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