It has become apparent over the course of the trip that silence by myself on this blog only gets broken during moments of spectacular achievements, special occasions and feats of epic proportions.

Well, today I write to you for precisely one of those reasons.

For three days ago, Jenna aka Big Cat/Loose Cannon/Boss/Shellé and I undertook a challenge of quite monumental magnitude.

While the other two TripRoasters did their own thing (a period of well-deserved relaxation for Sugar Daddy and what appears to be an incredible diving trip for Pesky), the two of us embarked upon a two day, 17.44 km round-trip trek to the highest peak in south-east Asia: Mount Kinabalu!

There is just one word to describe this magnificent wonder of nature: colossal! Standing at a mind-blowing 4095 metres, or 13435 feet above sea level, the mountain reaches far above most cloud ceilings. Even three days later, our bodies still hurt from the challenging terrain of mostly mud, rockface and rubble….with the occasional unsturdy step and newly-formed river thrown in for good measure.

Upon approach in our hired ride to Park H.Q. from where are journey was to begin, the sheer size of this over-sized hill became apparent. As clouds began to shift from the peak, the mountain appeared to rise from the earth beneath us, until we were straining our necks to look at it.

Our first day began with a 5 hour, 6km trek to summit base-camp, where we were set to grab an early night in eager anticipation for what was in store the next day. We rapidly found ourselves amongst the clouds and some heavy rainfall (well this is the rainforest!) and for the most part had no conception of how high we were from all the mist! The final ascent to Low’s Peak began at 2:30 am the next morning, shrouded in complete and utter darkness. With not even the moon in sight to light our way, flashlights were a necessity to traverse the uneven terrain. The stars were magnificent however; quite beautiful to see them in their full glory without the blighting effects of artificial city light. We soon found ourselves surpassing the tree-line - the altitude where all flora could no longer grow, with an endless stretch of granite rock-face beneath us.

Just as we reached what we thought to be “the” top, another peak would take its place as a dark shadow in the distance. “Man, where is the top!?” we thought.

As the effects of the altitude began to be felt (light-headedness, nausea and headaches), a feeling of jubilation descended upon us as the realisation that we could not only see the summit but had also eclipsed all other surrounding peaks! There was no way nature was going to beat us!

We reached the summit just in time to witness THE most spectacular of sunrises ever seen - a great way to top off the morning! Coupled with 360 degree views of the whole island of Borneo - we could see for miles! Wonderful sights, we truly felt on top-of-the-world. As per usual, the pictures don’t do the spectacle much justice - it’s just not the same! But they will remind us of one of the most fulfilling feelings we’ve ever experienced.

The descent was certainly not straight forward or fast I might add and we both agreed that going up is not only more enjoyable, but is certainly easier than going down! Our hands were shaking and our knees were weak, we couldn’t seem to stand on our own two feet….we were all shook up….let’s just say that the NHS might be footing the bill for some new joints earlier than expected!

Well that just about concludes the most recent installment of epic proportion stories and one more life-long goal achieved. Jen, thanks for sharing the experience with me, it was one for the books for sure and a memory that will last forever! There have been fewer accomplishments in our lives that match this and we have both agreed that it will be hard to top this one. Truly worth every moment we spent and every subsequent moment of pain.

Well, we came, we saw and WE CONQUERED! What else is there left to say but “Everest here we come!”.

Pictures to follow and love to all!

P.S. Next stop……..BURMA!! OK, sorry rents, bad joke. No seriously, we arrived safely in the Philippines the other night and shall be relaxing on some beautiful beaches when we’re not turning up the heat a notch or two by climbing some active volcanoes!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pm and is filed under On the move, Malaysia, Borneo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.