Thursday, 1 October 2009

Brisk Walker Toh Tian Lai Conquered Mr Kinabalu

Dear Briskwalkers,

Last weekend we scaled Mt Kinabalu - 4095 Metres above sea level !

It was a long and arduous journey , we set out at 8am and only reached the 3/4 way at 6pm after 10hrs ! We rested for shower , dinner and set off at 3am to climb the peak . Some stretches of the peak are angled about 70% steep and with the help of rope managed to inch up very slowly . The climb was done in darkness with our LED headlight attached on our forehead .

At 0630hrs finally reached the peak and took this photo . Climbing down was the hardest and it took another three and half hours (10am)to reach Laban Rata our mid point .We had a quick break for brunch and headed downslope at 11am . It was downhill all the way in in-hospitable terrain most of the time slippery and dangerous .Rain came ( very cold and wet ) and we have to trek for the next 5 hours to reach base camp !

We finally made it and all I can say is it is a once-in-a lifetime experience and well worth it despite of my asthma and my trek shoes(soles) opened up after the first hour and had to endure another 9 hours 'flopping' along to reach the 3/4 point before I could buy a pair of locally made rubber shoes .

Some of you should try it !!

Regards

Toh Tian Lai


Paro Taktsang (spa phro stag tshang) / (spa gro stag tshang) is one of the most famous monasteries in Bhutan. It was built around the Taktsang Senge Samdup (stag tshang seng ge bsam grub) cave where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated in the 8th Century. Today it is the most well known of thirteen taktsang or "tiger lair" caves he meditated in at different places in Tibet and Bhutan.

Completed in 1692, the temple hangs on a cliff at 3,120 metres (10,200 feet), some 700 meters (2,300 feet) above the bottom of Paro valley, some 10 km from the district town of Paro.
I climbed the Tiger's Nest on 22 April 2009.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello. Great job. I did not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a great story. Thanks!