I just arrived back in Kuala Lumpur after a super brief trip to the Cameron Highlands in Central Malaysia.
I left Chiang Mai riding a tide of really good experiences. I met up with some Dalian friends and met a new friend (a fellow Canuck teaching in Chiang Mai) in the process... I think I might even move to Thailand! Maybe that's a bit of a leap, but the thought crossed my mind while there. I had an awesome time in Thailand and kept eating all the food I could get my hands on. I made it to the yoga session I hoped for, but because my Lonely Planet didn't have any current information, I was foiled in my attempt to do the overnight meditation session at one of the local temples/monasteries.
My next flight out of Chiang Mai (after a terribly late night and an awesome free ride to the airport by my new friend KG) led me to Kuala Lumpur where I met the Seaths, and then it was off to Borneo for a trip up Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak between the Himalayas and New Guinea. The hike was amazing, and 5 days after the fact my calves are still aching. We spent a night in Kota Kinabalu before heading north through the Sabah jungle to the base of the mountain. We spent one night chilling out before starting our ascent up to 4095 meters (or over 12,000 feet). We did part one of the climb (6kms up to 11000ft) before stopping for the day/night. Our trek to the summit began at 3am that night (technically the next morning) where we'd reach the summit for sunrise.
At our departure, it was probably about 20 degrees and very comfortable. We wore headlamps and made our way slowly up to the bare granite rockface that began after the first km (we had nearly 3 clicks total from our accomodation to the top of the mountain). We then used moonlight and a large, white rope to the top of the mountain where the temperature dipped to about 6 degrees and the wind howled in our ears. Each step became more taxing as the air thinned and the legs tired. I neglected to bring mitts and froze my hands on the way up (which happens when constantly touching cold rock, I found out). About 100m below the summit, I realized that I was plenty early for sunrise, so I hiked another 50m and found a warm little spot out of the wind on some shrubbery that kept my heiney off the rock. I kinda ploughed ahead of the Seaths, as I was feeling strong and just wanted to get to the top.
As the light started to show in the morning sky, the Seaths found me and we found the top of the mountain around 6am. The scenery was breathtaking and the outline of the mountain cast a shadow clear across the Borneo jungle. After some freezing-cold picture taking and drinking in the awesomeness of the scenery, we hiked down slowly, trashing our legs with every large step. After stopping at our accomodation for food and again for food at the base of the mountain, we went back to our hostel, packed up and got on the bus north to the Borneo jungle.
The Seaths and I spent a couple nights in Sipolok so we could check out some rainforest and hang out with some orangutans at a orangutan rehabilitation centre. We finished the night with some awesome food and turned in, as I had to fly back to KL the next morning after the taxi ride to the airport.
So I'm now back in KL. Steve Peters (my best buddy from high school) met me here on his way to Adelaide for a med school rotation. We spent the first night catching up and checking out the sights of Chinatown (the backpackers ghetto) before spending the next day exploring KL and checking out the sights. Later that day, we met up with Steve's friend Ahmad or as we got to know him, Bowlat (a nickname from his father for being a pudgy kid) and actually stayed the night in Shah Alam outside of Kuala Lumpur with his family. I've had little contact with the Muslim faith and culture, but I got a fantastic introduction to both through Bowlat and his wonderful family. We spent the day driving around to his grandfather's village outside of Shah Alam, where his grandfather was a pioneer in farming, beginning the first rubber plantation in the area before converting to palm oil, which is farmed widely across Malaysia. His grandfather is now 86 and still very healthy. I got to meet his uncles and aunts as well, who treated us to coffee and tea and snacks at every spot. Bowlat's father is actually the Minister of Transportation for Malaysia and his mother is a lecturer at a massive university in Shah Alam. We also saw a few mosques and met a Muslim woman volunteering for the mosque in Putrajaya where she led Steve and I through a little Q&A session about the faith, ranging from prayer rituals, worship, to polygamy and the tradition of the hijab. After this, we spent the night eating traditional Malay food and hanging with Bowlat's friends at various eating locales around town. Such an awesome time.
Yesterday we made a quick bus trip up to the Cameron Highlands to do some hiking and see a bit more of the countryside in Tanau Rata, which we did. We spent this morning hiking through the central Malay jungle and roaming through tea plantations. The pictures are absolutely stellar. After getting in a bit of trouble for our late checkout from the guesthouse, we got back to KL, found another GH and are on the way for food and to meet another of Steve's friends in about an hour.
I'm off to Cambodia tomorrow to see Siem Reap, then to Vietnam for the remainder of my trip. It's time for food, so off I run. From near the equator in the sweaty part of the world, lots of love.
T
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