The Much-Fabled Bukit Tabur

So this morning I finally climbed the much-fabled Bukit Tabur, which I've been wanting to do so for quite a while, along with Alicia, Andrew, Daryl, Elise, Jen Lyn, Phraveen and Vishal. To those who don't know, it's the hill/mountain behind Melawati where people can go hiking. Yes, I know that's a most accurate description.

This was actually my first time hiking/mountain-climbing/jungle-trekking. So this was something completely new for me. Heck, this was probably my first time doing anything this outdoorsy. Well, there was that Gua Tempurung trip in Form 1 (which was quite fun), but that's a whole other story.

I think I seriously underestimated the difficulty of the trail (and probably overestimated my own fitness as well. Haha.) I'm not quite sure which was the most physically taxing; going up the steep, rocky trail which left me an unpleasant combination of slight nausea, mild cramping and numerous stitches in my sides; climbing up and down near vertical rock faces; or descending the slippery, earth-sodden path which made me highly value the flexibility of my knees and ankles. Not to mention I got stung by a bee for the first time. Heh.

Alright, so the experience was long (3 hours 45 minutes), exhausting (the legs ache pretty much everywhere) and quite, quite painful, but I actually really enjoyed the whole thing (not so much the bee sting though). Maybe it's my dormant sense of adventure. Hehe. My Aunty K would be proud.

Next up, Mount Kinabalu! Woot!