Mention Gunung Ledang now and you'll see a smile plastered on my face.
It was just the opposite just prior to the climb.
On October 4th, 2008, a group of 38 people (organised by Messner and Sirdar) climbed G. Ledang. One of them was Eunice, my dear twin.
One day after that, she insisted that I should attempt to climb this mountain and asked Sirdar to organise another climb. Thus, thoughts of Ledang 2 formed and was set to crystalise on Feb 9th, 2009.
I was "bugged" about climbing this mountain even from December 2008 itself. I was certainly not in the mood to even think about it because of my involvement in the Christmas Musical.
January 2009 came ... and the question popped up. I was still uncertain.
I decided to test out my level of fitness by climbing Gunung Datuk on the last day of January. And yes, by reading what happened that day, you can guess how "unfit" I was.
.
We were descending Gunung Datuk when there was a message from Messner saying that Gunung Ledang is closed to climbers due to heavy rain. In my heart, I breathed a sigh of relief.
February 2009 came. I received a text message on the 4th:-
I didn't answer to that message immediately. Part of me longed to go, but another part kept saying "You're not fit enough".
Two days before the climb, I gave Sirdar an affirmative answer.
My dear twin, even though she encouraged me to climb G. Ledang initially, was suddenly very negative about the whole idea.
She told me the following:-
1 - I am not sure if you're fit enough
2 - You must train more
3 - It is a tough climb
And more scary tales of her experience :-
1 - You know, when you get to the rope part, you'd be so tired but you need to use your arm muscle to pull yourself up. Your arms must be strong enough. Do some push-ups now
2 - To get to the trail, you need to climb more than 500 steps. That's double the steps of Batu Caves. Even "I" had to take a rest in the middle of that climb
3 - . Total number of Check Points is 8. The climb gets tougher after Check Point 5. There's one part where they named it "KFC". It means Killer for Climbers (gulp!)
4 - You'd better read other people's blog to see what you're in for
5 - I felt so exhausted after the climb. So please put all your clothes in order so that after you shower, you don't have to waste your strength digging and looking for your clothes
6 - I was so wiped out, I slept on the way back from Tangkak
7 - etc. etc. etc.
So, you can just imagine how terrified I was about the climb.
I decided to call JohnnyK to ask him just how tough it was. His immediate answer was, "You can do it". And he wasn't just saying it to encourage me. He was my "summit partner" for the Mt Kinabalu climb in 2008 and he was certain that I would not have much of a problem.
I was immediately relieved when I heard the confidence that JohnnyK had in my stamina. Believe me, I felt so much lighter after that conversation with him.
One day before the climb, Eunice made me go to the Lake Gardens to "warm up". We'd normally go at 5pm but because we had things to do at 5.30pm, we went there at 4pm. Yes! In the HOT, burning, scorching sun! Gosh!!! I can't believe how I was "forced" to exercise at such a time. She made me walk up and down the stairs, once again, tatooing the image of the 500+ steps into my head and telling me more of her ardous experience. Just hearing her talk about it made me exhausted and drained out, not to mention nervous and terrified.
That night, when we went to U. Beng's house for a Reunion Chap Goh Mei, I was not my normal "chatter-y" self. I kept thinking about the climb and what would happen if I were the only one who didn't summit. I kept looking at the clock, telling myself that I needed to get back early to sleep so that I would have enough strength for the next day. I kept calming myself down.
We left U Beng's house at 10.15pm (original plan was to leave by 9.30pm) and when I got back, I did a little packing and went to bed. I didn't want to take the risk of not being able to sleep and the only way to combat insomnia was to sleep on the living room floor, with the fan at the highest speed and the air-cond at 16C. I managed to sleep despite being eaten alive by the mosquitoes.
to be continued ....
No comments:
Post a Comment