15 JAN-at Mount Kinabalu

Panar Laban - the 'place of sacrifice' - was where Sir Hugh Low and his local guides performed a ritual sacrifice(cockerels) to appease the ancestral souls for their 'disturbance' to the spirit world.- told by abang @ poring

After dinner, we walked cluelessly to our dorm at Gunting Lagadan Hut(3323.5 M)

- Dormitory Bunk Beds (60 beds)
- Basic Cooking Facilities, Common Bathroom
- No Heater

Wearing a thin sweater, I was shrivering all the way up. The hut is definetely out-of-ordinary, they dont even have STAIRS to go in.You need to climb/crawl/slide our way up.

Sitting on the front porch and staring out at the starry night sky that looked as if a thousand little ants with lights were crawling around in a dark puddle. Its amazing that the sky seems so near from earth, and you're so far from land,so much so you can reach it and pluck the stars down.

Its like looking straight up to the universe.

Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really...”Do the stars gaze back?" Now *that's* a question. -stardust 07

If stars do gaze down on me, they will laugh at how insignificant I am.(and how pathetic I look in thick and bulky clothing)

view from laban rata would be something like....

"The Starry Night by Van Gogh"

8 of us shared a tiny room. Without heater, we put on tons of clothing before sleep.I didnt sleep well that night,iys freezing! Anyway, we'd only 5 hour to rest (8pm-1am).

how far we went...
Full with anticipation, we started off around 3am ,relying on the weak light of our torchlight. The beginning part is endless ladders, then hand railings . The barren landscape is full of precipices,shrubs and never-ending rock walls to the summit .
A friendly guide chatted with me on the way up, telling me " man-man"(walk slowly) and joked that I looked like spiderwoman(I crawled whenever its steep). The funny thing was, he asked whether I took ADD MATHS for spm; saying that I looked like someone he knows(or maybe this is their pick-up lines). He looked kinda disappointed *hint* when I told him I'm not studying at UMS!

the first rays of the sun now breaking over the eastern horizon,

There are two theories about the origin of the name Kinabalu. Kinabalu stands for 'Chinese widow" with Kina being a woman(make more sense if pronounce in Hokien)Balu being a commonly-used term for widow in the local languages. The story goes that a Chinese prince visited the region .This was and either to look for a giant pink pearl or to slay a dragon that was terrorising the neighbourhood, or both of the above.

After accomplishing these mighty deeds he fell in love with and married a local girl. He then returned to China, promising to come back for her, but never did; because the emperor was so angry with the prince and arranged a marriage from with a princess. Being a fillial son, the prince obeyed. His wife at Sabah waited for his return for years.But her place was too far from the port where the prince sailed. Thus, she climbed to the highest mountain, day by day, and stood facing South East China sea, awaits her husband. However, the harsh condition on the mountain (which i truly understand) had taken a toll on her. She grew ill and eventually died at the mountain.

Her loyalty abd sincerity touched the spirits of mountain, who observed her for years. They decided to turn he into a stone facing South East China sea, so she could wait for her husband eternally.

(why dont they give her eternal life instead?)

If that's too sad for you, an alternative explanation is that it stands for 'the revered place of dead' in the local language.

*freezing*

Morning light reveals succession of granite spires...

Its 6.30 am and I'm perched atop on the peak,zipped tightly to my windbreaker, I still felt the cold wind assaulting me. My hands are so cold, in fact,nearly numb when I took off gloves to using my camera.
As I sat in cold, dawn gradually creeps over the far horizon, illuminate the darkness with glorious light. Its a sunny day,the blue sky stretchs indefinetely , with sea of ruffled clouds floating on it. Looking down, the sabah spread out below, as if I'm guarding them.
I'm so close to heaven.

I marveled the the beauty of this magnificient view, and told myself "I MADE IT!"

After half and hour, we'd been instructed to descend, as haze usual form at this hour.

The way down wasnt as easy as the way up. Many times I looked at those cliffs and wondered how am even managed to climb up and the darkness, its seems much more dangerous!

Reached Laban rata around 9.30 am. Have lunch and start our journey back by 11.30.
Timpohon trail is not as demanding as Mersilau trail, the steps are well-built. However, the past few hour of hiking has taken a toll on me.Lay kei and I agreed to descend slow and steady.

While we're walking (dragging) , several porters passed us carrying everything-from food to cooking gas 'tong'-, they even have porters to carry and dispose waste from Laban Rata.
Those porters basically HOP/jump their way down, I bet their calves is the size of my tights!
Abang weiner(jiamin) told us that most of the porters is locals( but not orang asli), I felt gloomy when he said that porter is one of few jobs that available in mount kk.

reached timpohon gate by 3 pm, where other waited for us around 1 hour.