August 11, 2008
On Sat, I did something somewhat uncharacteristic of me. I woke up at 6am to go hiking.
My GPS working its magic. I'm hardly pious but maybe it is God Providing Signals.
Admittedly, I had very naive ideas about hiking. My last hiking experience involves walking on a tar road and mentally planning what to have for dim sum after.
Passing by a dam on the way to the mountain.
The weather was simply splendid.
This time around, there were no tar roads. There were however, 2 rivers to wade through and 3 streams to hop over. Not forgetting the fallen bamboos and trees to climb over and under.
Wet to the ankles. Hiked all the way up and back down with my shoes and socks soaked.
When they told me the hike takes 3.5 to 4 hours, I presumed it was both ways. I was evidently mistaken considering we started at 9am and only returned after 6pm. Either we spent all that time hiking or got sucked into a time warp. I only wish it was the latter.
The fallen bamboos
Even if I were to ignore the hours spent in the jungle (I'm not kidding here), my body - especially my legs - definitely sent me a very very clear message. The 'message' became very intense towards the peak where I finally decided to live and fight another day. Even though I did want to go on, my body just would not let me. Definitely a case where the body couldn't keep up with the spirit.
Abandoned fort at the peak which I did not make.
Now that I've made my way down the wretched mountain, I find it easier to appreciate the experience more. For one, there was cellphone reception (though spotty) on said mountain. And plenty of mosquito repellent to go around. Also, for the first time of my life, I stripped down to my black boxer briefs and just dipped myself in the waterfall. All inhibitions stripped from me, together with my energy after 9 hours of a grueling hike.
I arrived home about 10pm and went to bed 30 minutes later. Had the best 13 hour sleep of my life.
From the whole experience, I prefer to come away with good memories. So here's a self-reminder that I did have fun and it was 9 hours and 1100m/3600ft above ground.
My GPS working its magic. I'm hardly pious but maybe it is God Providing Signals.
Admittedly, I had very naive ideas about hiking. My last hiking experience involves walking on a tar road and mentally planning what to have for dim sum after.
Passing by a dam on the way to the mountain.
The weather was simply splendid.
This time around, there were no tar roads. There were however, 2 rivers to wade through and 3 streams to hop over. Not forgetting the fallen bamboos and trees to climb over and under.
Wet to the ankles. Hiked all the way up and back down with my shoes and socks soaked.
When they told me the hike takes 3.5 to 4 hours, I presumed it was both ways. I was evidently mistaken considering we started at 9am and only returned after 6pm. Either we spent all that time hiking or got sucked into a time warp. I only wish it was the latter.
The fallen bamboos
Even if I were to ignore the hours spent in the jungle (I'm not kidding here), my body - especially my legs - definitely sent me a very very clear message. The 'message' became very intense towards the peak where I finally decided to live and fight another day. Even though I did want to go on, my body just would not let me. Definitely a case where the body couldn't keep up with the spirit.
Abandoned fort at the peak which I did not make.
I arrived home about 10pm and went to bed 30 minutes later. Had the best 13 hour sleep of my life.
From the whole experience, I prefer to come away with good memories. So here's a self-reminder that I did have fun and it was 9 hours and 1100m/3600ft above ground.
Post a Comment