30 List: #5 Climb a Mountain
Posted on 02.14.10 to 30 List, Personal, Travels by JoanI’ve said it many times to people I’ve talked to recently — the mountain changed my life. I was pushed far beyond my physical limits and it’s proven to me once again, that I can quite literally make it through anything. It has also done wonders for my physical being and I find that I now am able to push myself to run longer distances without feeling like I want to smash into the ground.
I finally gotten down to putting up photos of KK. Not much, because a large part of the way I was concentrating on not dying. After getting down the mountain, my body was in too much pain to even consider picking up the camera for photos.
The view on the way up, the easy way — in a minibus.
It was cold, 16 deg celcius, and I thought I would freeze on the way up. Instead, I was sweating throughout.
At the beginning, with fresh legs and too much enthusiasm.
The beginning of hell.
I thought the entire way up would be as pretty as this. 10m in and I experienced hell. This view was a lie.
So after the picture above was taken, I kept the camera and never took it out till I got to the rest house. You all know what happened in between: got sick along the way, really felt like dying, and finally when I reached up here, I was too exhausted to even feel relieved.
I was sitting on a rock, in this picture, after sobbing on the phone about how this was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
Nonetheless, the view was beautiful, and I was thankful I made it up.
I’m just thankful I wasn’t housed in that lodge up there because it would mean more climbing for me, and that was physically impossible at that time. The rock at the bottom, is where I was sitting and crying.
The guides who got there early, were playing sepak takraw with each other. How they had the energy to do so, is beyond me.
The three people – Daniel, Hendrik & Kim – who witnessed me fainting all over the place. This was taken before they left for the summit.
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Comments ( 3 )
[...] frightful Kinabalu food poisoning experience (read about it here, here and here) is now documented in Catalog Magazine (April 2010). Much to learn from ‘Swedish ex-military [...]
Catalog Magazine, April 2010 | As My Life Is added these pithy words on Apr 22 10 at 2:53 PMGreat images Joan, and it was certainly an experience! :)
Charlene added these pithy words on
Feb 14 10 at
9:16 PM
i’m so proud of you, babes. *hugs*
one more crossed out of your list.
vanessa added these pithy words on
Feb 20 10 at
11:32 AM
