My KK trip 2014

Challenging but rewarding, that summarises my overall mount KK experience.

Climbing Mount KK was not really on my bucket list in Malaysia but the opportunity for me came up and I was indeed very excited. In fact, it is worth being put on your bucket list. Our trip was organised by APOH (A piece of hope) which organises trips to the summit, the proceedings of which go to charity. So, if you are looking to climb KK, why not do so together with a charitable cause in mind. You can check them out at http://apieceofhope.blogspot.com/. However the price might be slightly higher than the normal price but still, why not for charity?!

We flew by the morning flight from KLIA2 to KK, roughly 2h30 min away on the 19th of August. Once we reached, the APOH team welcomed us on board a bus, bringing us over to Kinabalu park where we had the day for ourselves, just relaxing and chillaxing for the day. We stayed in a Chalet which was very nice, with greenery around. Also, the place had a real fireplace, where you can actually light up a fire, unlike some hotels which have a fireplace just for decoration. We had a buffet-style dinner, after which the APOH people briefed us about the climb and what to expect.

The Chalet Room

The Fireplace at Kinabalu Park

A little night walk on the eve of the climb

There is a good list of FAQs which they touched on, which can be found here:

http://apieceofhope.blogspot.com/p/faq.html

The real game started on the next day in the morning. We had our breakfast at around 6.45 am, after which we had to board a mini bus at around 7.20 am to go to Tiphon Gate for the most anticipated climb. There is actually 2 small shops there where you can rent a walking stick for RM 10 and poncho also for RM 5. The poncho comes in handy in rainy situation and the walking stick is really helpful, especially when you will be going down, on which you can lean your body and descend more easily.

We roughly set off at around 8.30 am and we had to hike for 6.5 km to reach Laban Ratah, our resting spot. In fact, the whole KK hike is 8.5 km and it is divided into 2 parts. The first 6.5 km, after which you will rest and sleep until 2am at night. The other 2 km is done at night, at 2.30 am in the morning.

The first 6.5km was a jungle walk with mainly stairs to climb up. It gets tiring after a while. So do stretch yourselves before the climb. Also, it is really helpful to climb up and down the stairs as a training for the climb. You can do so at any nearby condominium from where you stay. If you can do 20 storeys up and down for 3 times a week for about a month or two, the climb should be easier. As the climb gets tiring, do prepare your energy bars and water. I brought 1 litre of water and a 100plus and this was enough for me for the 6.5 km. Some people told me that they had a very clear weather when doing their climb. However, mine was accompanied by intermittent rain showers and as such, it is imperative that you have a raincoat or poncho, else you can find all your belongings getting wet, a situation you do not want to happen. At Laban Ratah, you can fill up your water if you run out of it. Energy bars, bananas, chocolates and so on prove to be on high demand during the climb. So do pack some. Of course, do not fill your bag until it's too heavy to carry. Judge the amount and also, you need to bring some warm clothes for the 2nd part of the trip.

For the 6.5 km, you can actually wear shorts and tshirt, there is no issue with the temperature as yet. While you ascend, you will see the awesome sceneries. The pictures further down will tell you more. Once you reach Laban Ratah, you need to register yourself at the counter and then collect your keys to go to your dorm room. At Laban Ratah, you might feel a little bit cold. So do bring your sweater. Also, a lot of people experience headache at that point which is normal due to the reduction in oxygen levels. Panadols are very helpful then. However, if you do have massive headache, it might be a sign of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) which can prove to be fatal as well. It is advisable not to climb to the summit if you have AMS as people have actually died from it. You can research and learn more about it through google.

There were 2 waterfalls on our way up

One little centipede

The bromance

The climb until Laban Ratah, mostly stairs

A little break

2 km Pause

There are toilets every 1 km, except for the summit. The nearest toilet from the summit is 1.5km.

Found them, fed them, shot them

View while climbing up

Dinner is actually served at around 4.30 pm and it is a buffet style. After eating, we went off to our dorms to sleep. Yea, indeed we slept at around 6pm. It is important to gather enough energy for the peak ascension at 2am in the morning. So, we slept. I did not have a shower there as the floor was really cold and there was cold water there. If you are not feeling well, it is better not to shower to help avoid deteriorating your health. 

Armed with our jackets, beanies, torchlights and a small backpack, just bearing the essentials, we set off at 2.30 am in the morning to climb to the peak. At this level, it was no longer a jungle walk and we mainly walked on rocky ground. It was tiring and some parts were more difficult. The good thing about hiking at night is that you do not see your surroundings and so, some places which would be difficult to cross during daylight are actually very easy, especially people who are afraid of heights. The climb was tough but the pathway was very clear, with the long stretch of think rope which leads you to the top. Follow the rope, that is what you need to do. If you need to rope for some part of the journey, you are more than welcome to use it. Your walking stick also helps. When climbing to Low's peak, it was the part that we took most rest as different people have different stamina as well. I would encourage not to have a big group to climb. A group of 3 is good, so that you do not have to wait for other people that much. If you went to climb in a group of 20, you can always have sub groups for the climb.

Finally, at around 6.30 am we could see the first rays of the sun and you begin to witness the amazing sceneries around you. Clouds, hills, orange/blue skies, rocks, greeneries, everything started to come alive and it is such a beautiful sight. Some of us were tired and were willing to just settle down where we were. However, it is also such a waste to go all the way up there without going to the summit. With the encouragement and support of different ones, we were determined to climb further. However, as you go up, the temperature gets colder and colder. The fact that some parts were wet and we had to use our hands to climb kinda froze our hands, even though we had gloves. It was so hard to take pictures with our frozen hands. We spent only 5 minutes at the top, where the mountain guides took our names for certification purposes.  We had to go down quickly because of the number of people at the top and also because of the temperature. But going at the top is the best feeling ever. All the challenges and obstacles to reach the top did not matter anymore at that point. 

With a sense of satisfaction and achievement, we were on our way back and it was even more beautiful as you get to admire all the breathtaking views which were unseen during the night climb. INDESCRIBABLE was my description of the surroundings. The video at the bottom will describe this more. We went down to Laban Ratah at around 10 ish am and we went to our dorms to pack our stuffs, before heading for breakfast there. Once done with breakfast, we were already on our way down at around 11.30 am to Tiphon Gate, the last 6.5 km of the hike. This proved rather troublesome for me to go down as I stretched my ligament and it was quite painful. Luckily I had my walking stick. It was slow but I was going down. Also thumbs up for my colleagues who helped me out during that painful period, especially James Tan. That is what friends do when you get injured hehe! 

The weather can be so unpredictable. Do bring your raincoats.

The team

We reached Tiphon Gate, our starting point, at around 5.30 pm and got on our bus to take us to KK resort where we spent the night before coming back to KL in the morning. In summary, KK was a very good hike. I used to be overconfident about climbing mountains as I was doing a lot back in Mauritius. However, Mauritius mountains are mere babies when put besides KK. It was challenging. Actually, it is more of a mental challenge rather than a physical one. If you can push yourself to do something, you will definitely succeed. It only depends whether you have the mindset and will to do it. After climbing KK, I feel like going on bigger treks like Nepal now. It's a really unique experience you will not regret, especially when you witness the awesome sceneries from the mountain top. SIMPLY INDESCRIBABLE.

Here's a video of my trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRnO72DquE0&list=UUh196n3wicmyOOkuTXFc_JA

Malaysia MATTA Fair September 2014

Hey! :P

Last Sunday, I decided to check out the MATTA(Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) fair after hearing about it for the very first time in March. Since everybody says there are cheap deals and since I love travelling, why not!?

It was held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) which is easily accessible by the LRT along the Sentul Timur line. It wasn't difficult to find the place, even though it was my first time there. I just followed the crowd and finally, I was there.

At first, I bumped into the airlines section where there were many airlines, each boasting about the incredible low fares and true enough, there were a lot of good deals. There were numerous airlines, the famous MAS, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Korean Air and so on. Strangely, I did not find AirAsia or other budget airlines or maybe I just did not happen to see them. But true enough, there were some really good deals for the big airlines.

Personally, I find the long haul destinations very worth it. For example, tickets to France were on average around 2.4K (return and all-inclusive) which is really cheap for a European destination, bearing in mind that you can go to so many more nearby European countries once you reached there. London was priced a little bit higher, at 2.6K on average. People can also choose to go USA for a mere 3.5K(NY, Washington, Miami) or even a mere 2.3K (to San Fran/Boston/Honolulu), all offered by MAS. SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE!!! On the other hand, the short hauls are relatively good too but you can always double check with the low-budget airlines as well, to make a better choice. But, it also depends on the level of comfort and budget you want for your flight. Low budget airlines would be most probably cheaper but more crammed. I do definitely recommend going to MATTA fair with you wanna buy for long haul destinations. MATTA fair is usually in March and in September (in KL). Short hauls can always be cheap with so many budget airlines around.

Other interesting thing is that you can also buy other stuffs rather than just tickets during the fair. There is a section for all travel accessories/goods. For example you can get travelling bags (as low as Rm 499 for a set of 3 luggage bags), winter wear, powerpanks, beanies, gloves, backpacks, etc... However this section is small and it would be great if they could include more sellers and variety of products related to travel. 

The main section was governed by the countless travel agencies, each advertising about their different packages and a fee of Rm 4 applies. There was one hall for inbound destinations and another hall for outbound destinations. Depending on the travel agencies, some packages would include airtickets and some might not. Some are only concerned with ground tours. I made a few rounds and there are some pretty good deals but to be honest, I find it difficult to buy a package, unless you really know your exact dates and you have a lot of money. There are so many agencies offering different packages and the least would be to go around and compare the differences and then get an idea. To be frank, this would be a real headache for me. It is like going to Low Yat to buy a phone but you have very competitive prices and deals of the phone on every floors and thus, it makes it a difficult decision. Moreover, there are numerous people and there is a lot of waiting time before you get information from the tour agents. But you can always take your time and find the deals that you want. However, it would be best if your travel dates are within the period until the next matta fair. If your travel dates are too far, they might not want to entertain you.

One thing that attracted me was the Matta Academy. They propose a few courses if you want to know more about the travel industry. All the prices for the courses are discounted during Matta fair. After the fair, the prices are back to normal.The courses proposed are as follow:

1- Tourist Guide Course 

     Basically, a tour guide course, priced at Rm 5000 instead of Rm 6000. (5 months course)

2- Tour Leader Course

    A professional tour leader is important to ensure group travelers are well looked after and have a         memorable holiday. A 2-day course at Rm 350 (Normal price: Rm 600). This is ideal if you have a     full time job and you want to travel for free during your weekends.

3- Tour Coordinator

    This course is more to travel and tours operation (more to the management/marketing side). A 2-         day course priced at Rm 350 (Normal price: Rm 600).

4- Driver Guide

    Training to have the desired skills/knowledge for a driver guide.  A 3-day course at Rm 500                 (Normal price: Rm 700).

5- Airline Reservation

    Ticket tracking, reservation and issuance. A 3-day course at Rm 350.

6- Airline Ticketing

    More to the ticket tracking, fare record tracking, deletion of fare record, etc... A 2-day course at           Rm 300.

I was personally interested in the tour leading course which can help me to get a part time job in the future. 

To conclude, MATTA fair is a really good place for cheap deals but I advise that you have a good idea of what you want when you go there, that makes things a lot easier rather than you going through various deals to make up your mind of where to go. Know where you want to go and when, research a bit on the place(s) you want to go and if you are travelling in groups, make sure that everyone is on the same page about the trip details!

Visit the following for more details:

http://www.mattafair.org.my/index.php/en/state-matta-fair

The fair moves around Malaysia the year round, so stay tuned on their calendar on the link above. ;)

Selamat Hari Merdeka Malaysia! #57

Hey there!

Haven't been really updating my blog lately. Was quite busy lately. I went to travel to a few places the past few months and I have yet to update the posts. Hopefully that will be soon. But meanwhile, here is  a little post about Malaysia, since it was Merdeka (Independence day) just on Sunday.

Malaysia has been a land, full of new beginnings for me and it has always been exciting. It's so huge that I am still discovering it little by little, one step at a time and I am loving it.

Here are 5 most exciting places I've visited in Malaysia (of course there are many more):

1. KL Helipad Lounge
Nothing better than watching a good sunset while drinking some beer on a rooftop bar. It is located near to the KL towers at Jalan Sultan Ismail. The building is Menara KH which is very accessible by monorail. You can get down at Raja Chulan and the building is next to it and the bar is located on the 34th floor. It opens at 6pm everyday except Sundays. In order to access the rooftop, you should buy at least one drink. Here are a few shots of the rooftop.

They allow casual wear before 9pm. If you want to sit and catch the sunset, try to go there early. I went there at around 6.40pm and all the seats were taken already. Nevertheless, sitting or standing, the breathtaking views will not fail to amaze you. 

2. KK (Kota Kinabalu)

I climbed mountains before but KK tops it all. This is the highest mountain I have climbed and it was really a great experience, challenging but rewarding at the end. The scenery at the top is just indescribable and so beautiful, accompanied by a real sense of achievement. It sure is tiring but that won't matter after you reach the top. I will be writing another post on KK soon but meanwhile here are some shots: 

3. Putrajaya

This place is just beautiful and clean and I believe the cleanliness is the main thing that attracts me to this place. Putrajaya is by far the cleanest place I witnessed in Malaysia and is well kept and maintained.  It bears the presence of numerous government buildings and homes to ministers. It is very accessible by train. Just take the KLIA transit from KL sentral and you will be there in less than 30 min. You can go around driving also but there is also an interesting offer for Rm 1. YES RM 1!!! Apparently you can get a 2 hour guided tour around putrajaya, at various spots and photostops for just Rm 1. You just have to sign at the booth at Putrajaya Sentral with the signboard "Best of Putrajaya Tour". It is available only on weekends at 11am and 3pm. Each slot has a capacity of 40 people. So the earlier you go there, the better. Also, numerous festivals are held there: for example the balloon festival, fireworks and so on. Here are a few shots:

4. Penang

Penang is the land of milk and honey they say. It is famous for the food : namely Penang Char Kuey Teow and Asam Laksa. I went there a few times and it was 90% about food. You can read my Penang post here : http://kelvinbtravels.blogspot.com/2014/05/penang-food-haven.html (date 24th May). Other 2 places I highly recommend to visit are : Straits Quay and the Penang Hill.

5. Sunway Lagoon

It is quite difficult to select another place because there are many nice places but if you are looking for fun, leisure and entertainment, Sunway lagoon is a really great place to go. They have added new rides in the last year: namely the Vuvuzela which is a really cool ride. Unfortunately I have lost my pictures but do check it out. This water themed park has 5 parks in it : Wildlife, scream, water, amusement and extreme. There is a wide range of activities and one day is just enough to complete most of it. Some activities include: Roller coaster, Scream park, Flying Fox, Rock Climbing, Paintball, ATV riding, Canoeing, Archery, 5D waterplexx cinema, mini zoo,etc...The tickets are priced at around RM 120 on the official website. However, it can be obtained for around Rm 90 on Asiatravel.com. But do also bear in mind that some rides are not included in this package. For example, you will have to pay for Go-Kart separately and some other attractions. Nevertheless, this place burst with life and joy. It is hard to get bored, unless you have been there a lot of times. :P

There are many more places worth visiting in Malaysia, these are only a few. My next target is to try the islands besides Penang. I haven't gone to any yet but enjoying the ride so far. To end this post, here is a video review of some of the places I have been to this year (click the link below the picture):

I AM _____ & LOVE MALAYSIA VIDEO