“Eat up! Young People!” urged Mr. Lim. “This plate of rice will give you energy to scale the mountain later!”
When I heard that, I forced myself to chew and digest the whole plate of rice. After all, energy is all I need now. I trekked all the way here just to see the Pinnacles. Plain rice or white rice… at least it’s fried and it has salt and eggs.
Then, I dragged myself up from the table and inched towards the bedroom to pack my bag; My packed lunch, a pack of biscuits, 3 bottles of water, my handkerchief. With that, we turned left and headed towards Gunung Api.
“Enjoy your climb!” the energetic ranger shouted out before we departed.
We walked along a beaten path, leaden with rocks to prevent slipping and laid out the path towards the rock. It was 7am. The weather was so cooling. As we walked, the cold wind brushed against our faces. The forest smelled of fresh grass, fresh dew, and fresh mud. Hmm…. I’m loving this!
10 minutes later, we arrived at what seemed like a dead end.
“Look up!” Mr. Lim halted us. “We’ve now arrived at the 90 degree wall. Look for places to hold and just climb up. Be careful. There’s no safety harness, hardhat, whatsoever. Remember, you are responsible for your own safety.”
I looked up and saw only a wall of rocks. How am I going to climb this? “Oh No!” I groaned inwardly.
Step by step, Mr. Lim climbed up the rocks effortlessly. We soon followed suit. The rocks were sharp, and I forgot to bring my gloves. Adam lent me his. I had a hard time where to hold, where to place my hands and feet; constantly looking up for handholds, and looking down for footholds. By the time I finished scaling the whole section, I was out of breath. Then it was back to normal jungle tracks. Well, I could do this, I thought.
As we walked further up, the hill became steeper and steeper, and I had to use my hands and feet all over again. My friends were far ahead of me and I struggled to keep up with them. Finally, I decided to take my own sweet time. After all, I came here to have a good time. It did not matter much to me if I managed to see the Pinnacles. To me, the taste of hands on experience of rock climbing was sufficient.
I remember the first time I was exposed to wall climbing was during the DDYPC team building session in KK. I climbed up half way and when I couldn’t reach one of the spots with my right leg, and stretch my right arm, I just decided to dangle mid air and pose for the photograph!
This time though, we had little time for photographs. We had to reach the First ladder by 11am. If we didn’t, we would have to climb down. Well, I didn’t’ want to be the sheep that held them back. So, when we reached the Mini-Pinnacles at 800m AMSL, they went on ahead.
Wow! To think that I climbed all the way up just to see this 'Mini-Pinnacles'!
It is only half my height!
Unlike Sandstone which crumble easily, carbonates are sharp, hard and non-porous.
Our guide decided to let them go ahead and guided me back. Actually, he just walked ahead of me and left me to fend for myself. At the beginning, I tried to keep up with him. In the end, I realized that this is not the time to practice the policy of “If you can’t beat them, join them.” I will just take my own sweet time to go all the way down.
As I adopted this school of thought, the climb became much easier. It seemed more of a walk than a struggle. I rested when I was exhausted, resumed when my energy returned. The climb down then gradually became a walk. I even had the time to see a baby snake slithering between the rocks and tree trunks! I wanted to whip out my camera only to realize that it was with my friends! Oh! I will just store that in my memory bank as well.
When we came to the section of the 90degree wall, Mr. Lim shouted out to me,”Hey! Be careful! Take your time to climb down yar!”
Having said that, he climbed down like spiderman. With a leap, and a jump, and a walk, he scaled down in 10 steps. Without looking back, he just walked ahead once again.
I looked at the section from the top, and stared down. Oh! How am I going to go down this section of the rocks? Mr. Lim!!!!!Mr. Lim!!!!! “ I shouted out like a baby.
Mr. Lim turned his head, without turning his back. “Hmm?”
“How do I climb down this wall?”
“Just climb! Turn back and look before you move! Be careful yar!” That was all he told me and he continued his journey.
“Well, You’re in this alone, Jean! Use your wits! This is not the teambuilding session, where you have people to tell you where to step. Come on! Move it! Move it!”
I bit my lip once again and mustered all my courage to scale down the wall, step by step. Not a single thought of thirst or hunger entered my mind. All the time, I was thinking, “Jean! This has to be one of the toughest things you’ve done in your life. If you can survive this, you can survive anywhere! Just Do It!”
When I finally made it to the base, I was leaping for joy in my heart! I was all smiles! Yes Yes Yes! I moved on. Every step after that couldn’t have been easier. The path was well laid. Tree trunks were steps instead of stumbling blocks. After what seemed like an hour, I finally made it back to the camp. I was super exhilarated! I’ve finally made it back! I desperately wanted to swim in the river. But then, when I thought of all the heavy clothing that I’d be carrying the next day, I thought.. “Oh.. my! Oh My! I don’t want to add more weight to my burden!” so I abandoned the thought and went for a cooling bath.
Then, I opened my lunch pack and munched on the sandwich which was only 1mm thick of tuna. Hmm… Anything’s better than nothing!
As I sat there munching on my sandwich, I befriended this Australian couple, Jeff and Kylie. Jeff was a scientist studying Lizards; while Kylie just graduated from law school. They were here on holiday. We were talking with Jeff when he leapt up from his bench all of a sudden and ran towards a particular tree in the middle of the garden.
“I just spotted a dragon! Can you see it!? Look! Look!” He pointed towards North East.
I looked and I couldn’t see anything. A boy, the nephew of the ranger, came running to see what the commotion was all about. His sharp eyes spotted the dragon immediately and he pointed out the lizard.
Jeff was so excited. “Kyl! Kyl! Get the camera! I want to snap a picture of this dragon!”
A second later, the ‘dragon’ jerked and jumped down onto the ground. Jeff wanted to catch it. Then only I realized that it was not a dragon Dragon, but a green lizard! A hah! A dragon is a green lizard! The nephew of the ranger came bringing a rattan basket, intending to trap the lizard. But the nature loving Jeff did not approve of it. He stopped the nephew and said, “No no no. Let it be.”
He crept up behind the dragon, silently caught its tail and held it up! Oh! How come its tail doesn’t snap and detach itself from its body?
As if sensing my question, Jeff said, “This type of lizard is tough. Its tail doesn’t detach as easily from its body as normal lizards do.”
Oh! Now I see!
Just then, Kylie came with the professional camera and snapped pictures of Jeff! Then they showed me pictures of him in Australia with snakes and all sorts of reptiles! And of the national park in Australia! Wow! I was impressed! I’m a firm supporter of national parks after chatting with these two nature lovers!
By 3pm, my friends were not back yet. The caretaker of camp 5 voiced her concern. “Are your friends back yet? I’m worried about them. I think your guide should be guiding them up. Not leave them to knock their way around.”
The ranger too voiced his concern. “Where are your friends? Are they still up? Can they make it?”
My guide was worried and exhausted from the climb at the same time. He seemed to be in constant contemplation. “Jean! I know Amelia can make it to the top. How about Adam? Can he make it?”
I sometimes think I have a 'flair' for telling people what they want and like to hear. This can be good, and it can also be bad. Especially in situations like this.
To the caretaker, I said, “Hmm.. well, I’ll ask the ranger.”
To my guide, I said, “I think Adam can make it. They always hike in the jungle together.”
To the ranger, I said, “Hmm.. it’s 3pm. my friends are still not back yet. What do you think we should do? Where do you think they are now? Can they make it back in time before it rains and before it turns dark?”
The ranger then responded, “I’ll wake Mr. Lim up. Ask him to go and search for your two friends.”
So, the poor Mr. Lim was awoken from his sleep, and made to venture back into woods to search for his ‘protégé’ in the rain.
As my 2 friends were trekking in Gunung Api, I played with the local kids. Taught Mandarin to Jess, conversed with the Australian couple, played chess with Jess and Magdalene, folded birds, balls and the planes. We chatted about dreams and ambitions, snapped pictures, and had chocolates in the middle of the jungle.
When my friends appeared out of nowhere, I was only too happy to see them! Drenched in rain water, they looked absolutely contented. As if they’ve seen the most amazing thing on earth! They had, after all, just reached the viewing point of Gunung Api at 2.4km AMSL and scaled a total of 4.8km in a single day. I was so proud of them! I believe they have challenged themselves to the limit! I just couldn’t wait to see the pictures they took at the Great Pinnacles!
The Rewarding View-The Great Pinnacles!
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