in a daze

arrived in montreal after 25 hours of flight, excluding connection times. Achievement of the day(s?!): 50 minutes transfer time in LAX because FUCK YOU that's why I wear my running shoes. My head feels heavy and dizzy and people have to repeat things to me. I tried speaking French and nobody was killed so I guess there's still something left in me. The hotel is beautiful and there was a platter of fruit waiting for me that I polished faster than you could say "WAIT!". The hotel is beautiful except for one thing: the lift beeps loudly (like bomb tick loudly - the movie ones that is, not the ones that really kill you) at every floor, which would be allright if my room wasn't on the 28th floor. I start praying for my life about 6 floors before my destination and dash out of it as soon as it stops. I went walking for ten minutes before the crash started unfolding. Montreal seems beautiful, with lots and lots of people on the street: that's because it's still Friday! I found a Starfucks (boo!) and a H&M (yay!) and there's a very very steep hill right opposite the hotel, which i'll explore on Sunday. 

A trip to write home about

This weekend I had a visit from somebody from Singapore. On the spur of the moment and prodded by the local climbers, we just packed our stuff and drove to the Grampians, 424 km away. Now, as I had an important run to do on Sunday, we had to come back on Saturday night. This meant that I drove 600kms, climbed for a whole day, all in 24 hours. Needless to say, I slept like a baby on Saturday night.

Here's a picture of me carrying a fridge, aka the boulder mat.

And another one trying to do something with a roof (now I realize why my neck muscles feel so tense).

Sunday morning found me running the most horrific run in Adelaide so far. We ran to the city dump (not a dump really) and on the STEEP Adelaide hills, for 3 hours. The views are absolutely fantastic, and you can see the Adelaide CBD (our start point) from far far far away. That was the only bad part about this, because seeing the CBD from far far far away only meant that you had to return back to far far far away. But I did a bit of light trail running as well and could sort of justify the binge that followed.

After that, co-workers and I went to eat. And eat we did, going to the Cheesefest! Here is a picture of pure heaven for me (and also the reason why I don't look skinier in those pants ahah)

After that, met friend who had by now woken up and slowly found his way to town. Collapsed in bed by 7pm and slept till 6am. Going back to sleep some more, as I am not young anymore.

A much needed holiday

To Kangaroo Island (pics to come probably tomorrow), which is only SEVEN times bigger than singapore, and also australia's third largest island. We saw a lot of animals, both alive and dead (roadkill) and had an absolutely fantastic time, all by ourselves! No phone signal, no internet - absolute quietness!

Sadly, two months of loneliness are soon going to start as marian is going back to singapore tomorrow.

What I did this Saturday

1. I love and hate traveling by myself. I love that I can read my book whenever i want to. But i hate that i have nobody to discuss what i see with, nobody to share the food (imagine that, me wanting somebody to share the food!), nobody to discuss the plan, nobody to look at e frigging map while I drive, nobody to bicker at when I get lost.

2. Yesterday I decided to go to McLaren Vale to see some wineries such that when people decide to visit (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) I can actually take them some places other than work and my favorite central market.


First I went to Willunga to the fresh market, where i bought fresh grapes and apples and bread and cofffee. Then I wanted to go to Port Willunga and got lost. This is what I found when I got lost.

It's winter here, so everything is a bit barren

Eventually i reached my destination and had a fish for brunch. Good fish. No picture:

And soon I reached the wineries:

Some vines still had dried leaves on them

Had lunch overlooking this hill

Thank god for thick books

Shiraz, anyone?

Yallo!

Mount Kinabalu and Via Ferrata

Well this post is about four months overdue but still, better late than never! I had previously been to Kinabalu but i was there alone. This time I wanted Marian to climb it too, and also to be away for New Year's eve, as it has been my plan for the last 3-4 years. That is, away from civilization. Add that two labmates that were also willing to come and ther eyou have it, we were a party of four!

The plan was to climb Kinabalu on the night of the 31st to the 1st of Jan 2011, and then descend on the Via Ferrata. The via ferrata was more the cherry on the cake for some than the actual climb. For others, it was really hard and they struggled to pull through but pull through they did, much to their increased confidence and esteem after that! I was a bit miffed by the fact that you are actually downclimbing the via ferrata rather than climbing it, and also by the fantastic price (~400RM) we each payed, but I thought it would be a nice touch.

While in 2007 I payed for everything separated by myself, these days it all comes in a package: accommodations in Laban Rata, buffet lunch and breakfast, etc.

Here's us at park headquarters. We came in early and by 7:30 am had gotten ourselves a guide and were ready to go.



What I really hate about the normal route on Kinabalu is the amount of stairs that you have to climb (and descend). This is why last time I took the Mesilau trail. And while last time it was all about training for the Alps and Aconcagua, this time it was all about taking it slow. And slow we took it.





It was the rainy season and as such the rain started around 11 am and kept up for the bigger part of the day. Good thing for our rain jackets!


Around 3000m B. started to feel the effects of altitude and lack of training and we had to move very slow (and hear him wail). Nonetheless, he pushed through and we were at Laban Rata in no time. Of course, flowers and pitcher plants greeted us on the way.





At Laban Rata we dried our clothes while waiting for the buffet dinner.



In the meantime, around 3 pm, we went to the Via Ferrata guys for briefing and safety instructions. Chris Bonnington had been there!!



At night, during dinner, Marian unveiled why his bag was much heavier than ours: he had been sekretly carrying a bottle of champagne, which we shared with everybody in the mess hall. A great New Year's celebration at 6pm.



And so we went to sleep. At least we tried, because B. was sadly still feeling the effects of altitude. We woke up around 1am, got dressed, and headed out. Our formation was me, B., C., and Marian closing the line. It was dark, thankfully not cold (last time i froze my ass off), and drizzling. I am very happy about the "dark" part of everything, because like that neither B. nor C. could see the walls we were moving on - there is a roped section on a slab wall that I think might be scary for noobs. We moved slowly, very very slowly because B. was really struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Amazingly, he did not quit and we managed to reach the top before sunrise.


We took various sunrise pics and then started to descend for our second part of the journey!









We got to the meetup place for the via ferrata descent. Here's us looking very pro:



And we started the descent. This is where things shifted in our group. Where before C. had been the rock between the B.-C. duo, now she was suddenly aware of the enormity of the task at hand (we had to descend 600m! on a vertical wall! rock! harness! gear!) and was slowly breaking under pressure. In contrast, B. was loving every minute of it, trusting the gear, and all in all having a fantastic time. This time, I was the first, followed by Marian, B. and C. last, next to our guide - a good thing too because he could take care of her - a bad thing too because he was prone to joking and saying stoopid stuff, which i do not know how well went down with C.





The route was nice enough to keep Marian and me somewhat entertained, but it was also very very long, enough to break C.'s composure and leave us wondering how much more is left.




I loved my new yellow jacket and i think it comes out quite nice in pictures.



We had various bridges we could monkey on:



And we reached Laban Rata before the morning rain




A quick breakfast - the buffet breakfast was over by now but they let us order something - about a half an hour more of rest, and we were off. Sadly, B.'s knees chose this particular moment to give in and it took us quite a while to negotiate the horrible steps below, but in the end we reached the park entrance (among the last), but happy and content. I was even more happy because Marian had snuck ahead and collected a LOT of wild raspberries for me.


We were supposed to have buffet lunch, but it was 5pm by now, so they allowed us to have buffet dinner instead. The food was not great but we had free flow of tea ...

Annapurna Circuit Trek - Part VII

[Read the rest of the annapurna story here.]
Day 14. Tatopani to Gorepani and Poon Hill

This has got to be one of the most beautiful and tiring days of the trek. Mostly because we have been walking for two weeks now and basically we could use some rest. And some air-con. And some wifi connection. But who cares when everything is so beautiful around us!

Today we finally left the road and travelled through villages and up various fields all the way up to Gorepani and Poon Hill. We started the day early, us and the two groups of tourists left. They were carrying almost nothing, as the rest of the things were carried by their porters. Please excuse the "holier-than-thou" attitude, I guess we were all pissed by the fact that our only pair of pants had so much dust in them they could walk by themselves, whereas you could see the porter-tourists in clean clothes!


We started with a light uphill through terraced fields.




And despite the heat and the long climb, we were still able to enjoy the fantastic views. That white fang in the background is Dhualaghiri, at only 8,167 m.






Marian of course is not praying to the mountain or the ipHOne, but taking the GPS coordinates.


The valley is beautiful and the sights and sounds we see and hear distract our attention from the fact that this is one serious uphill we have to face.




We reach Gorepani around 4pm in the afternoon, totally and utterly spent. With a last push the boys go to change money whereas I go up around fifty more steps to the hotel with the best view, as recommended by lonely planet. And best they are, with fantastic sunsets over the Annapurnas.





The boys settle down to some chess while we wait for a mostly carbohydrate dinner.



We go to sleep early because in the morning we have to wake up at 4am to go see the sunrise up at Poon Hill. Tonight, Marian and I are lucky because the stove pipe runs through our room and is saving us from the cccccold outside. And it was ccccold, as you can see I am wearing my heavy duty jacket.




Day 15. Gorepani and Poon Hill to Pokhara
Today was an even harder day than yesterday. We wake early to go see the sunrise at Poon Hill. Because we are not carrying our back-packs, we literally fly the 300m to Poon Hill (3210m). We are the first to reach the hill and also most probably the first to freeze our asses off because it still takes a while until the sun rises.

The panorama with Dhaulaghiri and the Annapurnas warms our hearts.










One last look at the mountains and we head on down.




And down we go, over a series of infinite rock steps, of different height and width. I remember three things about the day.

First, this young boy saw that I wanted to take his picture and turned his sister around and gave us a fantastic smile!

Second, we ate passion fruit straight from the tree. And third, a bunch of schoolkids from Singapore recognized my marathon t-shirt and had a chat with us.

Other than that, the stairs went on and on and on and on.


Finally, we reached the village before Nayapul around 3pm +. That was when I realized that one of the people in Gorepani had told us that the last bus was at 4pm. And here began our last bid for the bus, because we really really wanted to be in Pokhara by the end of the day. We reached Nayapul around 4:10pm, but the buses were still there. However, the only places available were ON the bus, so we took a cab instead, at roughly double the price of the bus ticket, after ample and furious negotiations.

In Pokhara the next day we walked around the lake, the guys had a shave, we had coffee and fresh pastries, and did a lot of souvenir and clothes shopping.







But most importantly we had beef steak and beer, by far the best steak I ever had in my life, most probably because it was so well deserved.