Mount Tombuyukon 16-19 December 2017

Mount Tambuyukon is the third highest mountain in Sabah and Malaysia at 2,579m. But hikers have dubbed it the most challenging one after Mount Trusmadi via Sinua Trail and Mount Kinabalu. What do I personally think? Its definitely the hardest to date but it was also the most memorable one for me. The climb is a total of 28km all round trip and it begins from Monggis Substation which has camping ground facilities as well as bunk beds and facilities such as toilets and kitchen. It is about an hour drive from Sabah Park to reach Monggis Substation. You can actually used any car to drive as the road is asphalt and in good condition. The only part of the road that you need 4wd vehicle is the small road through the village leading into station Monggis which is a few hundred meter.

Our group consist only of 5 person..we did everything ourselves..from the booking with Sabah park to the planning of the itinerary and dates (Mostly all the hard paperwork was done by John). There was not much blogging done on Mount Tambuyukon since not many people wanted to hike it because of its reputation. But if you are an active person who jogs/hike weekly, mind you..not the hardcore hikers since i myself was quite busy this year and had to minimize my outdoor hiking..you can definitely reach the peak as long as you are head strong and don't give up. Hiking with fun people is also an added bonus since you need all the support to stay sane while hiking Tambuyukon. The  few available blogs out there was what really help us to plan our hiking trip. We set our date and our penghulu, John called Sabah park headquarter and inquired about the process. We were asked to write in to Sabah Park and request permit to hike Mount Tambuyukon, stating our full name, ic no and the the dates..afterwards its just the matter of following up our request. We picked 16-19 December 2017 for the hike, a 4 days 3 night adventure as I was more confident with a 4 days hike than a 3 days hike as long as all of us reach the summit. My friend was initially worried because we did not get an answer regarding our dates after some time..to which I consoled him "Tiada orang clash tarikh kita tuh..Orang gila saja mau naik Tambuyukon, kitalah tu orang gila". After following up few weeks later via phone, we were actually granted the permit and just needed to confirm finale details like potter service,etc with Sabah Park one week before our climb. All payment was done at Sabah Park on the climbing dates.

The road leading to Monggis station

The morning of 16 December 2017, we assembled ad Sabah Park, Kundasang and went to register our names. John already reminded the group to bring along our own copy of IC for registration to fasten the process. We did all the registration process at the same counter as the Mount Kinabalu registration..just like Mount Kinabalu, we were given name tags to wear and had to fill in an indemnity form. For 5pax, we each paid RM449.20 at the counter for permits,insurance,etc. Afterwards we had our breakfast/lunch at the nearby restaurant before driving to Monggis station using google map as our guide. We reached Monggis station around 1pm and towards the very last minute removing stuff we decided not to bring. My extra cooking utensil apparently did not make the cut. At the station, we paid the cost for guide, potter service and certificate, which is RM110 per guide per day for 3pax. since there is 5 of us..we paid RM110 X 2 person X 4 days for a total of RM880. The potter fee is RM7 per kg times the total days of hike while the certificate is RM5.30 per person. Us gals opted for the potter fee to carry extra water, extra clothes, extra Pacat spray, our tent and most of the group food supply. It was easy for us to plan out the itinerary together since all of us know each other quite well. I sorted out our food menu so that we would at least have an idea of what we can cook and eat each day.

Monggis station

That's us still packing at Monggis station

Group photo before starting the hike

At 2pm, we took out group photo and headed out. The weather was good and the first day we wanted to camp at Wuluh Camp around KM6 but the guide told us that the recent rain had made the area unsuitable to camp for a big number of people because of the fallen tree. So we ended up camping somewhere between KM5 and KM6. It was around 4.30pm so we had plenty of time to properly clean the site and set out our camp. It's a good thing to have handyman in the group to set up our kitchen camp using canvas that was bought along. I was really glad that we had bought 2 canvas along just in case and they prove to be very useful since there is no proper hut after KM4. John who has the most experience in the jungle bought ropes and parang and all that Bear Grylls stuff.  Tambuyukon trail is not your average hike and the guides assumed you can very well take care of yourself. So having complete hiking gears and extra stuff like cooking gas, cooking utensils, pots and pan, cooking oil and ingredients,etc does not hurt. We cook dinner together after setting up camp and then retired to bed. I woke up near midnight to the sound of rain and the side of our camp was wet as it continue to rain until early morning. The good thing is us girls bought along padded mat for our camp so we were not soak wet. The other guys were not so lucky as the rain made the bottom of the camp soak wet.

The guys constructing our kitchen camp

It's looking good guys

Sapu..sapu all the twigs away so that we can sleep on flat land

Our campsite on the first day

Cooking in the jungle is actually quite fun

The second day 17 December, we woke up early and cooked our breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was instant bubur while lunch was nasi goreng. Then we packed our tents and started trekking around 9am and aimed to reach Musang Camp at KM10.8. It started to rain not long after that so we wore our ponchos to minimize getting soaked wet. We had our lunch and hot drinks at Kepuakan Camp located at KM8 which is just beside the river before continuing on to Musang Camp.

Lunch at Kepuakan Camp

Boiling water with this pot to make drinks because we had forgotten to bring a kettle.Hahaa

We reached Musang Camp at KM10.8 soaking wet around 3pm and the guys set up our kitchen camp. We made maggi kari to warm up before setting our tents. Mother nature is your toilet after KM4..there is a specific area at Musang Camp that people did their "business" because we saw tissues on the ground.

Hot maggi with eggs..the best on a rainy day!

Our campsite at Musang Camp. The guys made us a roof with garbage bags.

The rain continued until night time and the surrounding area was so cold even warm coffee was not enough. It was one of my worst night ever since everything was soak wet from our sleeping bag to our clothes..our hair..everything. All of us hardly had any sleep that night and yet we had to wake up early the next day to trek to the summit. Thankfully the rain stop around 10pm.

Our kitchen camp at Musang Camp

On the early morning of 18 December 2017, everyone looked haggard from lack of sleep but we could still laugh at the situation. Meurel looks extra pale though and he also lost one of his contact lens so he only had one good eye. I bought along my daily lenses but our degrees were different so I could not help him out there. We ate chicken floss sandwiched for breakfast before beginning our hike at 3am. Actually the first 10km hike was not that bad..it was the 4km hike to the summit that was really tough. The first 2km consist of mossy forest where you have to crawl and used tree roots to hurled yourself up..the last 2km consist of rocky terrains that is much...much harder than scaling Mulu Pinnacles rocks. I felt the first 2km was fine for me but then when the rocky trail started I began to feel more and more exhausted with each step. At the rocky trail, Aldro who was initially at the front changed his position to the middle of the group so I was the front person which was okay for the first few minutes. But then, being the tough gal that I was, it was too hard (and stubborn) for me to admit at that time that there were some physical things I could not overcome alone. Now here is the bittersweet thing with hiking with your close friends who knows you very very well. When John saw that I began to struggle a bit to get myself up some part of the rocks. He immediately signal from behind the group for me to stop and went to the front of the pack.. The pros is that I did not even have to say out loud that I needed some help. He was the guide when the front guide was no where to be seen. The cons is he starts to nag me when he was at the front to control my breathing,etc. But I told him my breathing was fine..it was my legs that was not cooperating. Our group continued to help each other out until all of us reached the summit at 9am.

That's me and my partner in crime Fei. It's quite seldom that gals like extreme outdoor like this so having a gal that was willing to try hiking trails like this is a Gem

There was an area around 2km before the summit that had an amazing view. We spend quite some time there taking pictures. Upon reaching the summit, there wasn't actually any view because of the fog but we were quite satisfied taking photos with the summit signage.

My favorite photo taken by Fei. Absolutely amazing view up here

Somewhere 2km before the summit

Well it's me, holding up 3 fingers for 3 of the highest mountain in Sabah and Malaysia that I've conquered in 2017, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Trusmadi & last but not least Mount Tambuyukon

Our group photo on top!we made sure to stand in the same position as our initial group photo. Hahaa

At the summit, we cooked hot water and ate maggi before starting our descend down to Musang Camp. Now the guide infront once again galloped off back to Musang Camp bringing Aldro with him. I could not catch up so once again, I was infront. Hahahaaa.. I remembered saying to Fei "Okay Fei, kita pelahan-lahan ensot turun yaa.." Once we reached the big dangerous boulder where we could fall to our death, I stopped and the remaining guys and guide behind caught up to us by then. Again, John saw the situation and automatically resumed front guide duty. Once we reached Musang Camp, we had to pack our stuff and then continued to trek to Kepuakan Camp for the night. Rice for dinner was already cooked by Aldro while waiting for us to arrive.


It was really agonizing trekking down to Kepuakan Camp since the trail was slippery and I fell down here and there. Again, deja vu I became the front of the pack because the guide infront was too fast and had galloped down with one of the guy. The trail down from Musang Camp to Kepuakan was not that difficult so I was initially fine infront but at one point I keep confusing the trail so John step to the front of the pack to find the right trail while Weiter, our guide took care of the group from behind. We reached the camp together around 6pm but the river level had risen up even though it did not rain. When you have ladies in the group they come with extra drama and spices but rest assured the trip was anything but boring because of us. Hahaaaa. I saw the river and automatically look towards Meurel's face and admitting "I can't do this.." so Meurel called John over to come get me after sending Fei safely to the other side. The 3 guys in our group work together to helped us cross one by one since raging river was not us gal's forte. The guides..well..no comment. It was our last night in the jungle, we feast on almost all our food. I made corn soup in the middle of the jungle..hooray that nobody got food poisoning in those 4 days. The leeches number was highest in Kepuakan Camp but us gals hardly got bitten at our feet there eventhough we wore slippers because of our insect repellent spray. But they keep trying to crawl on our clothes. I finished 2 cans of insect repellent spray in a span of 4 days. The guys, they don't seem to mind donating their blood..they even went for a swim at the river in the middle of the night. Well, boys will be boys I guess.

I would miss the soothing silence I found only in the forest

Our campsite at Kepuakan Camp

The river in the morning had a different vibe once the water level had gone down

Meurel washing his socks

Last day in Tambuyukon

The morning of 19 December, we had to hike back to our starting point.. we woke up early to wash up and pack. I was saving a pack of kolomee sarawak noodles for celebration. While boiling the mee, I said to John who was co-chef of the morning..just let it boil then remove the water like normal instant mee goreng. "Okay..okay" he said so I ran off to wash my face at the river..then lo and behold, I looked around after I finished and there was John nearby washing up too (John??!!) Hahaaaa. I instinctly ran back to the kitchen camp to find the noodles dissolving into a soup..it could not be safe. John came back and I nag him about it and decided not to use it and instead made nasi goreng for breakfast with the leftover rice from yesterday. We shall have our konomee feast in Ranau Isaid.

For the 8km  hike back down, we changed our position with John infront, me & Meurel in the middle and Fei & Aldro behind. My second pair of leech sock keeps slipping down so I ended up being bitten by leeches around my ankle. Meurel has only one good eyesight, so when I fell down, he would fell down the slippery slope as well..which was hillarious at one point. Also, John accused my voice of scaring off a Bakas or pig he was eyeing up infront (Ceh..).

We reached the starting point around 2.30pm and had our group photo taken. Afterwards, began the task of removing all leeches from our legs. All of us showered and changed into clean clothes left in the car before heading out home.

AAww..our group photo when we reached back to the starting point in Monggis station

My bloody feet because my leech socks keep falling down that day

John parting with his leech collection

Aldro's feet looking like a disease. All of our feet look more or less like this because of our wet shoes but they turn back normal once we soak our feet in the river.

We celebrated our day at Ranau's hakka food court.. I ordered all the cold drinks I was fantasizing in the forest. Teh C Special Ping and Nescafe Ping. Heeheee..

The guys looking pleased with themselves at the Hakka food court parking in Ranau

Needless to say, what a year it has been. I scaled Mount Trusmadi via Sinua Trail in December 2016, then went back Mount Trusmadi via Kaingaran Trail in January 2017, climbed up Mount Kinabalu and Mulu Pinnacles in August 2017 and ending the year climbing Mount Tambuyukon!!

I recommend hiking up Mount Tambuyukon with close hiking buddies because at the end of the day, there were gratitude emotions no words could expressed, genuine kindness shown in action not empty words and memories made only in Tambuyukon that will stay with you for the rest of your lives.

Here's a video montage I made dedicated to our trip

Mount Trus Madi via Sinua Trail, Sook Keningau

So this is my ultimate goal this year..was to hike the Trus Madi trail via Sinua, Sook which people said is one of the most challenging trail after Mount Tambuyukon. I already booked our date since October which is from 16-18 December 2016 for a group of 10.  Payment was made before the trip. We took the package 3 days 2 night which was not inclusive of food and transportation priced at RM245/pax. All arrangement for the trip can be made directly with Dennis or Dennis's wife Veronica at  013 5425415 / 013 5403262.

One can climb Mount Trus Madi from 3 different trail which will take an estimate 2-4 days to complete depending on the trail one pick. Wayaan Kaingaran trail in Tambunan is 4.9km from starting point to the peak, Wayaan Mastan Trail in Keningau is 4.3km from starting point to summit while Wayaan Mannan trail in Sinua, Sook is 11.6km from starting point to the summit.

Excitement and fear all roll into one as we made plans to meet up at Kimanis first on 16 December 2016. Since I was not convince that my petite axia car can make the journey, we decided to convoyed in 2 4wd vehicle which will take 8 of us and meet up with the 2 ladies in Keningau. The road to Sook was actually accessible asphalt road except when we arrived in Kg. Sinua. Then, thank God for 4wd vehicle because the road we came upon was a not so nicely maintained dirt road..we were being tossed around in the vehicle for a few minutes.. Thankfully, we were able to get there by 6 something when there was still some light so the signboard Sinua Trusmadi Tainiskon Camp was still visible to the eyes. We also had some help though from a villager who pointed out which way to go from the roundabout. The 2 gals from Keningau had already arrived 30minutes before us. So, uncle Dennis was not feeling well that night therefore the briefing was postponed to tomorrow morning. I showered and changed to my hiking clothes and we had our dinner at the recreational camp which even had a TV and cooking utilities for our convenience. Veronica who happens to be Dennis's wife was there to entertain our inquiries of the journey and she was really fun to talk to. I head to bed around 9pm and found out the rest of my friends have already fallen asleep.

Sleeping area for hikers at base campsite

The next morning we woke up early around 6am to eat breakfast and pack. Veronica asked us to bring any of our stuff that we would required porter service. I found out the day night before that the kitchen at campsite KM8 was quite complete so we left behind the mini cookers and bought the butane gas only. So food porter is basically service for 1 way trip..meaning you have to carry your stuff for the trip down. Personal porter is a 2 way trip. The porter service is RM6/kg and a minimun of 10kg per trip. So me and my friends, we combined our load to save some money and opted for the food porter since we wanted our food carried anyway. Now I could not stress enough the importance on bringing rice, tin food, maggi and 3in1 drinks if you have opted to prepare your own meals. The stove gas is available on the camp site at KM8 but we still need to bring our own butane gas. The 1st day is considered leisure hiking for 8km..the last 1km to the top was where the mossy forest started and I got excited seeing the beautiful landscape.

Recreational area at the base camp. Also where we had our briefing.

We started our trip around 9am after being briefed by Uncle Dennis with 3 young guides, I remembered crossing a bridge and 2 rivers..We took our shoes off for the first river but the second river was quite a short distance so we just balance on rocks to try and keep our shoes dry. The trails for the first few kilometres was okay but a bit painful to trek on because of all the rocks..they say it used to be a old road for transporting kayu balak. It started to rain halfway so we put on our ponchos and continued on. Initially we wanted to have our lunch anywhere around the afternoon but dummy me packed the rice I cooked for the group in the morning and gave it to the guide/food porter to carry. They were really behind because they were carrying heavy loads and also act as the sweeper of the team. So in the end we just ate what we have with us at the moment which were some candy and buns. The last 1km to the camp site was when the mossy part of the forest started and instantly rejuvenate your eyesight. I took out my handphone and placed it into a waterproof bag and start taking pictures here and there. I could also feel the air becoming colder as temperature starts to drop due to the rain and altitude..We arrived at the camp site around 3.40pm and spotted the first group at the kitchen Camp. The 2 of our younger membersof the group have yet to arrive. We headed to the sleeping tents to unload our bags and instantly I started to shiver because of the cold. We changed into dry clothes immediately. Then, I headed to the kitchen Camp which was just beside our sleeping camp..then to my surprise there were loads of maggi and coffee 3in1 left behind from the previous expedition. Since our food porter have not yet arrived and Burn, the guide gave us the thumbs up to feast upon the food..I went into chef mode and cooked a feast of maggi mee for the group with my friend as my Co-chef. We were starving since the last time we ate was breakfast. The kitchen camp was really complete..with cups, spoons, plates, pots, pans and kettles. We even boiled a kettle of water so to make black tenom coffee. Our evening feast consist of maggi noodles perisa ayam and black tenom coffee..God bless the good hearted souls who left behind all those food. They were life savers.

The camp sie at KM8

The kitchen camp area

The last of the group arrived around 5 something soaking wet and were immediately handed hot black coffee the minute they arrived. Around 6 something in the evening, we prepared our dinner. We used the many pots available to heat up each tin food..I could even add a little spice of onions to the fish sardines in tomato because there were even big onions left behind (Thank you kind souls..) We ratio the rice that was cooked earlier in the morning and thankfully it was more than enough to feed us all..Another pot of kettle was boiled to make 3in1 drinks. Into the night, all 10 of us were at the kitchen camp eating and chatting..the guides came to give us a briefing afterwards about tomorrow's journey. The time given to start the hike was 1am. Lester the guide said he have to see the weather if it continues to rain maybe the timing had to be postponed. We retreated to the sleeping tent around 7 something..The rain was so heavy, Tia's sleeping bag was soaked wet so she & Vet shared a sleeping bag together. Thankfully that night, it stop raining around 9pm..How do I know this? because I could not sleep..at all..Not with a proper sleeping bag..not with dry stoking..not with heating pads..the cold wind just cut through everything and I could not get any sleep so I just listen to music using my earphones to pass the time.

So all of us woke up before 1am, packed just the essentials and headed to the kitchen to eat our breakfast. By 1am we were all ready and informed the guides as well. But well, we only started the journey at 2 something which we assumed was because one of the guide overslept. We prayed together in the tent which was nice. That day we have to cover 4km to reach the final summit of Mount Trus Madi and then hike back 4km to our campsite..Pack our stuff left behind at the camping site and then hike down another 8km to our base camp. 

Our group photo before the summit attack

We took a group photo before heading out with headlights guiding our way..The first summit was 2km away. While the front group marched onwards, few of us opted to wait for the younger members of the group who had Lester as their sweeper. But hiking in the dark was no joke, at times it was peaceful, at times scary because you can only see the very few metres infront of you. The trail was just upwards..Its also actually a good thing that we are unable to see the trail in the dark because come daylight when I was able to see the whole trail, it amazes me how on earth did we manage to climb up some of the places. We arrived in Summit 1 while it was still dark and the stars in the sky was mesmerizing. By this time we had already break into 3 groups..The first group..middle group and the youngest at the group behind. At summit, the 3 of us just took loads of wefies and videos..the scene was breathtaking..no clouds or mist so everything was really clear..We caught glimpse of Mount Kinabalu far off. By this time, you can see the whole landscape of Mount Trus Madi which is so beautiful. The many species of periuk kera or pitcher plants along the way was one thing that I enjoyed seeing while hiking. But, there were few areas where the trail was quite dangerous..But it was a thrilling experience to say the least. 

The trail

Peak no.2 view

To say we looked like hell is an understatement, due to the rain the trail was a bit muddy so our knee high socks were drenched in mud. At 300meter to the final summit, since we were the middle group I came face to face with the guide of the front group.The front group have hike down from the summit so the guide insist that we followed them... to which I would not back down either because it was just a mere 300metres to the top. But I have to applaud the young guide, Burn for bickering with me, he was just merely executing his responsibility but I would bicker with anybody at that point just to complete the hike. The bickering at to the top lasted until Lester, the lead guide/sweeper turned up and said the magic words "I will bring them to the top..".

The 3 of us at Peak No.3

My solo pic at Peak No.3

So the first group went down and the 3 of us with Lester made our way to the top. The 2 girls behind successfully reached Summit 1 but were unable to continue the journey. At the final 100metres, there is a big cross erected to honor the life lost from a helicopter crash at the area. I waited for my comrades to arrived so that the 3 of us can step on the final summit together at the same time. Now one might say it's just a signboard..its just a peak. But that feeling of accomplishment that you made it through to stand at all 3 summits was what we were looking for. We quickly proceeded to take photos with Lester's help, in about 10 minutes we made our way down.

Halfway down to our campsite at KM8, it started to rain. When we reached our campsite ,the first thing I did when I arrived was go to the toilet..I just couldn't bring myself to pee in the mountains. My sister rushed towards me with a hot cup of tea when she saw me. Hahaaa. We were soaked wet from the rain. Lester asked us to rest and packed because he will bring us down while the front group could go down earlier since they have finished packing. We decided to leave all the canned foods and 3in1 drinks that we had not used  at the campsite for the use of future hikers. Who knows they might come in handy. There were 5 of us hiking down with a guide while Lester act as the weeper. But after some time, the 4 gals were behind with Lester while I and the middle guide managed to catch up with the first group. That is after 5km of turbo speed without rest..I thought legs would give away..then I saw him slow down and thought "Yess..he wants to rest.." But then he excitedly point out to me some people silhouette upfront..apparently he made me pushed myself so hard to follow his pace, we caught up to the front group before the river. So we re-group with the first group afterwards ..I thought the first river looked dangerous..then when we successfully passed through it I was so happy..I forgotten that there was another river up ahead and that was the longer one. When we arrived at the second river..my heart went into my stomach.. I immediately panicked because I saw the river had waves, turned brown in color and was much much deeper than the day before. All the rain had flooded the river. I knew I said it out loud what I was thinking at that moment "This is my worst nightmare.."  So the 2 guides took 2 bamboo stick and stood there in the middle of the raging river and made like a line so that there was something we could hold on to while crossing..I want to say that everything went well..but No, I actually slipped and fell into the river but thankfully I did not let go of one of my friend's hand...I have no idea how but miraculously they managed to get me up and my face never went under water. But my bag did and it was twice as heavy as I walked slowly to the riverbank. I knew my handphone and wallet was inside but I could care less..I was numb from shocked (Post trip I found out my handphone and wallet safe and sound because they were sealed in plastic ziplock, can't say the same for my earphones). From that point on we used our headlamp because it was getting dark..By this time, I could feel the pain in my legs especially when walking through the simen pavement at the final stretch of road. We finally arrived at the base camp around 7pm. I just sat there at the recreational area for some time, exhausted, in pain, in shock..everything..I remembered just lifting my feet to remove my shoes was painful..no leeches was able to bit my leg (double sock layer) or my body..But one leech bit me at my cheek though and it continued to bleed at the base camp..so I knew I looked like some corpse. After some time I asked about the 4 girls behind..how were they going to cross the river with just Lester. Dennis assured me that a rescue team will be deployed. With the remaining strength I had, I used it to shower and changed to dry clothes..but my hair was wet and the air in Sinua that night was very cold. At first after changing I sat with the other members at out sleeping area of the base camp..Then I got worried so I went to sit at the recreational area where the guides were all assembled..From time to time I asked them whether they have found the 4 gals..Dennis answered truthfully "not yet.." the rescue team was then deployed to locate them since they were not responding through the walkie talkie..and I knew Dennis tried to called Lester through the walkie talkie from time to time because I would not stop asking. At one point it was so cold, I filled my water bag with hot water and hugged it just to keep warm. After some time, 2 of girls in the group joined me and told me they had to go back earlier because they were working. So we bid farewall and I sat there again at the table alone. Afterwards, the other 2 guys came to the recreational camp and said that they had to get going as well. So It was just me and another guy friend waiting for the remaining 4 girls. We never left the recreational area until the 4 of them arrived safely around 11pm. One of them suffered from leg cramps so the team had to walk slowly to wait for each other. Lester and my sister worked together at the river to bring each member one by one across and I heard Lester injured his ankle during the process (God bless you Lester for what you had to go through to keep the girls safe). If I could pick the guide for the trip to Mount Trus Madi via Sinua, Sook, I would in a heart beat have Lester lead again. The dedication he showed during the trip is beyond admirable.

All our bags were loaded at the back of the 4wd vehicle, hoping they would not bounced off during the long drive. We thanked Dennis and his guide for their help, took our certificates and drive out from Sinua at 12am because my friend had to work that morning. I was supposed to be the co-driver but I keep seeing imaginary chickens and cows on the road so I was not much help. I slept on and off and I sleep more during the hours in the car then during the hiking trip. The ride home was memorable as well with occasional laughter due to leg cramps and delusions. Thankfully everybody arrived home safely including our driver who I knew arrived home around 4.30am and had only 2 hours of sleep before work that day.

The trip was a mixture of bitter sweet memories for me. It gave me life lesson about my own strength and human nature especially when put in brutal situation like this. I'm really happy that I was able to complete the whole summit until summit 3 with my close friends and all of us in the group were deemed worthy to received our certificates. The lyrics from a song by Tim McGraw "Humble and Kind" came to my mind when I reminiscent about the whole trip.. "I know you got mountains to climb, But always stay humble and kind"..

With that said,  I would recommend the Mount Trus Madi via Sinua Trail for adventure seekers..those 90 degrees cliff would make any bear-grylls fan proud.

Tinorindak Hill, Kundasang

On 3rd October 2016, a group of us (12 person) consist of my long lost school friend, Emily who I reconnected because of hiking..hahaa..and my usually group of hiking buddies. Now our group was quite late to get to the starting point, sorry for that Emily..

Now how did we arranged this? Just go to their facebook page Nulu Tinorindak Kundasang and get in touch with one of the handphone number advertised and set a date.
The fee consist of ;
1) Entrance fee which is RM15/person (Sabahan)
2) Guide fee which is RM50/group of 5
3) Certificate RM10 is optional.

So since we are a group of 12..Entrance fee RM15 per person + guide fee RM12.50 (RM50 x 3 / 12) + RM10 for certificate, which give a total of RM37.50 per person.

When you get there, you can park your car at the area allocated and get a simple briefing from the guides who happens to be local youth there (kudos to them).

Parking dulu..nasib ada toilet dekat sana

The guides will then take you to the starting point..have to walk for some a bit to get to the starting point, which is a good body warm up. Then we did the whole body stretching we learned while hiking in Kawang while waiting for my sister vet to catch up near the starting point. Now my sister usually end up being the sweeper, slow and steady but you have to give her credit that she always, always reaches the top of any hike. Hence her endurance and heart to finish any trail..So when we waited for her at the starting point, soon as she arrived..she babble on  about sticking a stick up some guy's axxxxxe. So actually we did passed by a group of guys who were descending down and I didn't even looked up to them when they start giving sarcastic remarks about this is just the beginning, you guys haven't reach the starting point,etc.. not worth my eyesore, ketara lahir tidak hensem itulah gaya macam kerbau. They passed my sister and actually have the audacity to laughed at her she said. These are actually quite pathetic type of people which I hope will never reproduce offspring.

Walk to starting point

Ini baru the real starting point

The trail here is really enjoyable, you know that the youth there have put many thoughts and efforts to make the trail. Since Kundasang is naturally cold, the hike for me is enjoyable and the scenery is breathtaking especially when you get to the top. Mount Kinabalu seems so near that you get lost in thoughts just staring at it.

The trail up

Choose left or right?

Breathtaking view

Wait til you reach the top!view is amazing

 

At the top, the guide asked us do we want to descend the normal route which is where we came from..or the newer route which has not been opened officially to the public and hence much more adventurous. So Emily's group wanted to go for the new route and we follow suite after..the new route was much more fun (and at times dangerous since it's not quite safety proof yet..hahaa)

New trail that we tried

The last signage to the finish point

We even pass through someone's garden I think because there were dogs and all. Luckily the weather only started to change when we were almost towards the finishing point but the wind was so strong that all the pictures we took at the last signage was really funny to look at. Good thing for our habit of bringing extra change of clothes so that we can change in the toilet nearby. This was a fun hiking trip for me and I could definitely see myself going again.

Lugas Hill, Tambunan Sabah (Bukit Lugas)

Lugas Hill in Tambunan has caught my attention the other day, its unique features different from other hills have entice me to try and find it. My siblings and I were attending our cousin’s wedding in Tambunan in Mid July 2016 and early the next morning we went in search of this mysterious hill. Coincidentally, it was my young sis’s birthday so I suggest a celebration on a hill..which she was not so keen about *smug face* Back then , Lugas hill was not yet that famous, after going through facebook I was able to get a vague direction for the hill.. Someone in facebook was kind enough to upload a picture of the starting trail beside the roadside. So we just drove towards Apin-apin Keningau from Tambunan town until we found Kg Kitou using Waze, just after Kg. Kitou we scout a trail up-hill looking very similar to the facebook post I saw. Mind you the hill wasn’t that famous at that time..there were no cars parking beside the road and I wasn’t sure if we found it or was trespassing a stranger property. But we decided to just hike the trail and apologize to any villagers we’ll meet along the way if it was the wrong hill.  Well, we did bump into someone up the trail with a dog..the dog was barking madly but the guy just smiled. I asked if this was the infamous hill and he told me that it was but we had already passed the trail towards the famous peak. He mentioned that he made a signage with water bottles so we thanked him and head towards the real trail.

The hike up was not that far, roughly 15-20mins or so..But the morning cold air was like a slap to the face. When we finally reach the first peak..we can already see the breathtaking view and the mind blowing steepness of the peaks. At one point from peak 2 to peak 3, it seems that only one person can make their way to the next peak. My big sis would not budge from the first peak so only 3 of us daredevils continued to peak no.2. By this time we saw a group of 4 girls has just arrived. From afar I can clearly see that they were themselves thinking of crossing the peak. When we finally got to peak 3 which was the goal, we saw 2 of the girls made their way across. We took a lot of photos while waiting for them to get to Peak 3. Once they arrived, friendly chatters were exchanged before we make our way back..It seems that 2 of their team mates would not budged from the first peak as well so at least my big sis have some company while we took our sweet time. But I could feel invisible daggers from afar aimed at myself so we hurried back to a not-so-happy sister. I announced a hearty breakfast in Tambunan town as peace offering and all was forgiven..