Happy April Fool's!

It was a great trip over the weekend!
Because I'm real busy at work right now, and also in pain from all that climbing up and down, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

White Water Rafting at Padas River

It started with a ride on a really old rickety train that would moan and screech with every turn of the wheel. The train ride itself was quite an experience, even before we hit the rapids.

You could sit in the coach, stand in the goods compartment or sit on an open air platform meant for bigger cargo (in my mind I saw cows singing the Chattanooga Choo Choo). The train would chug along real slow along the Padas River and stop in the middle of nowhere to let passengers off (and they'd disappear into the jungles). Ah, the jakun-ness of a city girl.

Padas is a Grade III-IV river. Not for the meek. But not for those with a death wish either (for that, there are Grade V-VI rapids in Perak).


That's YL riding the front of the raft like a bronco. Guess where I am? Hee hee. I took this picture from the video they were showing us at lunch after our ride.

We sat in the open platform on the train ride back.
Got a little sunburn on my shoulders and knees, but hey, it was really fun.



The sweetest prawns I've ever eaten.

I kid you not. These are the best in the worlddd!
If you're ever in Kota Kinabalu, don't miss the super fresh prawns at Salut Seafood Restaurant. They have their own prawn farm. And while some other seafood restaurants have the same (we had dinner at two places), Salut's prawns are sweetest BY FAR.



The Climb

In short, going up was easier than coming down, cos it was hell on the knees and leg muscles. But it's beautiful up there. And the journey was as wonderful as the destination.



If you ever go, make sure to keep your eyes open for the pretty orchids, flowers and funny plants along the way. There were even wild raspberries! Yes, I have an obsession with berries. :D



It was absolutely freezing up at the summit (I so clever didn't wrap up warmly enough), but the view was breathtaking. Knowing that you're so high up there is simply surreal.



Did I forget to mention that it took over 5 hours from Timpohan Gate at Kinabalu Park to reach Laban Rata, the 'base camp'? Then it's another 3 hours to the summit, 2.5 hours to Laban Rata, and 4.5 hours back to Timpohan Gate. Alot of people could do it faster of course.

OK. Enough blabbering. More pretty pictures.

Sunrise from the Summit



More views from the mountain.



Finally, this is Laban Rata, where we stayed the night. We could only manage a few winks of sleep before having to wake up at an ungodly hour of 2am to begin the climb to the summit. Also, in the freezing cold, the best thing you could possibly eat is a hot bowl of Maggi Mee soup, with egg and vege, the works. I won't tell you how much I had to pay for it, but it was worth every cent.