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Sunset, a day before the climb.
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| Bird nests at our motel |
We woke up at 6am for breakfast, and headed to the entrance to collect our tags. You normally have to book your climb a few months ahead to secure a spot. The first few hours of the hike were relatively pain-free, apart from the occasional drizzle.
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After 3 hours or so, we reached this checkpoint for lunch.
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Standard lunch packs are given out to climbers. The bread is stale, and the chicken looks dry. Not an easy meal to wolf down, so it would be better to bring your own stash of nuts and cereal bars.
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| At the 4.0 kilometers mark |
As you go further up the mountain, the scenery starts to change. This is my favourite part of the climb, because the trees look like they belong in an enchanted forest or something.
Finally, we reached Laban Rata at 3.30pm for a hot beverage and some rest.
We had to get up at 3am the next day to prepare for the next leg of the climb. I was sleepy, having a slight fever, and freezing my ass off. My family and another older couple were suppose to have a guide, but unfortunately the older woman couldn't make it 1km past the lodge. The tour guide stayed with her, and we carried on.
Being in the dark messes up your judgement on the steepness of the path. In reality the ground was probably not more than a 30 degree incline, but to us it felt much more than that. My mother and I stupidly held on to the guide ropes for dear life as we crawled up. Being deathly afraid of heights, I prayed that I wouldn't fall to my death, which made the climb a hundred times scarier. I fully blame the woman for depriving us of our guide.
The view at the top makes the climb completely worth it.
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| With my mom |
You get a colourful certificate in the end for your efforts.
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