Tuesday, September 25, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 10

The climb was not easy - partly due to the wet and slippery condition, but the main factor was because the climb was almost vertical most of the time. We actually needed to climb using four limbs - upper strength was very important. It was a very tiring climb, some parts we had ropes to aid the vertical climb, others we had to depend on the strength of our arms and the "bounciness" of our feet. You see, when your legs are "bouncy", they tend to spring you up the next level of rocks often. ;) Watch the video for complete updates. ;)

God bless..

Sunday, September 23, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 9

We slept peacefully around 10.30pm. In the midst of my sleep, I could hear rolling thunders and strong powerful wind slashing the leaves and branches. Eyes still closed, I realized it was raining very heavily. But there was no fear in me. No doubt. Just peace.

In my sleep, I prayed, "Oh God, let the time now still nite, not morning yet.. so tat by 6am tomorrow the rain would have stopped.. give us a good weather to climb the Pinnacles tomorrow... God, please do not let the climb be cancelled tomorrow.. i don want to cancel my dear climb... in Jesus' name I pray, amen..." Then I doze off peacefully.

Early next morning I woke up around 6.15am. The first thing that came into my mind was, "how is the weather? Was the rain last nite real?" I rushed outside the hostel. To my relief, the sun is beaming from behind the mountains, sky was very clear, except for wet forest floor. Yes, the rain was real. But it had stopped some time ago.

Jun and I took light breakfast and hurried to get ready for the climb. We had planned to start the climb at 7am. However at 7.15, some of us were still packing and doing last minute stuff.. Henry urged us few times, "We are 20min late... bla bla bla..." So we started walking into the forest. 6 of us (me, jun, in, bor, mun, rina), 1 guide.

Then we reached a place where we started to see huge rocks and a sign board stating, "The Pinnacles" (or something like that, i can't remember tat well ok).. "1.4km height... 8 hours climb.. 3L water..." Henry, whom had been walking ahead of all of us turned around. Looked at us grimly.

"You know it rained heavily yesterday? The climb is supposed to be cancelled. Coz our rule is, if it rained the night before the climb, the climb must be cancelled, becoz the rocks will be too slippery and wet - very dangerous. But i know that all of you came this far just to climb the Pinnacles. So I talked them out to proceed with this climb. So you must all be very very careful during the climb. The rocks are very slippery. If any of you get hurt, i'll be in deep trouble."

We nodded. Thank God the climb was on. God, keep all of us safe, please...

Thursday, September 20, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 8

we started our journey with sandwiches for lunch in a pondok. Our guide Henry gave us some instructions for the 8km walk as he had to wait for other tourists at the pondok, "you'll pass by bridge.. small.. big.. one by one.. bridge..walk..." i wasn't sure of what he was talking abt, so i just listened.

The walk was a very simple one - except for the fear of leeches and mud and the burden of the luggage on your back.. it was a very easy one. So we walked.. (real slow.. as though shopping in 1-u..). every once in a while i'll lift up my pants to look for any cunning leech tat's hungry for my blood.. I kept praying in my heart, "Jesus.. i don't want any leech.. tell them to flee from me..." And God is good, no leech hooked on me! But KY, Jo n jun got a few leeches though...

The walk took us 4-5 hours.. by the time we reached camp 5 it was already 5pm and the sun was beginning to sleep.. and we learned that In and Bor who started the journey together with us finished the walk in just 3 hours! oh oh... no comment.. :P
Camp 5 holds some of the best sceneries on Earth! constantly i was reminded of how wonderful is God's creation.. his love..peace.. and i marvelled at the thought of Him. :) and to think of the wreckages human brought unto Earth (deforesting, war, etc)...
tat nite we cooked rice and used some of our canned food for dinner, then Henry gave us briefing for the pinnacle climb the next day, "If it rains, the climb will be cancelled... too dangerous... don't wear baggy pants.. wear tights... no raincoat, but jacket if it rains.. torchlight in case we get back at night.. there was once a group so slow tat they returned at 3am the next morning... water at least 2litres!"
I was screaming in my heart! 2 litres! u know how heavy is tat?! i thought of my 8km walk carrying the 5kg backpack and 4kg hand luggage... if not for God's strength, i would have fainted at 5km! how i dreaded the thought! carrying 2 litres to climb 1.4km mountain.. i'd swoon... So i discussed with jun n jo wat we gona bring up the mountain the next morn.. discounted this and that item to reduce our bag's weight.. so in the end i decided not to bring torchlight ( i'll try my best not to climb slow), bring 1.5l water, a little salt, ORS, sugar and tat's it. Not too heavy... yet.

Tat nite jun, jo and i prayed together, "Dear heavenly Father, give us good weather for the climb tomorrow.. keep us safe... give us strength and courage... in Jesus' name we pray Amen."

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 7

early next morning we woke up early, each with a 3-5kg back-pack plus 2-5kg hand luggage. With this, we were ready to jungle trek the 8km forest trail. (-_-')

We went to the jetty, hop onto a longboat, together with 2 new frens, In and Bor, we headed towards Clear water Cave and Wind cave. These 2 caves contain an adventurous part within, which could be quite dangerous and only experienced cave explorers are allowed in. The world widest cave chamber, Sarawak Chamber is located within the Clear Water Cave. Getting into these 2 caves require some amount of stamina - i didn't count the number of staircase, but it's good enuf to get you panting. hehe..

we also visited Penan village, where the aborigines sell the native/handcrafts..

then we continued a 30min boat ride.. it was a relaxing, beautiful one.. and how i loOoOoOoved the rainforest breeze... (closing eyes, smiling widely). There were some parts of the river where it was too shallow for the boat to pass, and our guide n boat captain had to jump into the river and push the boat. HAha... thank God, the passengers don't have to do so. We've heard before if the water level is real low, all passengers have to get down and push the boat.. hehe..

Our boat landed in a small sandy area called Kuala Litut, and we waded in the stream for abt 2 min... and we're at the very beginning of our 8km walk!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 6

We reached the little cafe near Deer Cave around 4.30pm, and waited until 6pm before we heard people screaming excitingly in all kinds of languages. We stormed out of the cafe.. and wow.. above our heads were thousands and millions of bats flying out into the open sky from behind the mountains in a group! We waited a little longer.. and more bats flew out in curvy wavy lines... beautiful! ;)

soon it began to rain and all of us headed home under the protection of the raincoats. The walk seemed endless, as the sky darkened and the sounds of the jungle got louder.. we increased our speed, and it took us an hour plus before reaching our dear dear hotel - Rainforest Hotel. We took turns to wash clothes, eat instant noodle, cereals, sandwiches and hot water bath! yep!

We then packed our bags for our next journey - jungle trek to camp 5 tomorrow. It would be an 8km walk, and we need to carry our breakfast, lunch and dinner at camp 5 for 3 days 2 nights. Imagine the weight of a 2kg rice, sardine, meat cans, bread, water, etc.. all packed in our backpacks. 8KM!!! we need to outdo ourselves tomorrow. The trekking would not be easy.

We prayed together that night, asking for God's grace and protection and strength. =)

Thursday, September 13, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 5

So we left Garden of Eden and started heading back to Deer Cave, which was the starting point of our adventure. From Deer Cave, 4 of us proceeded to Lang Cave, enjoyed the Bat Exodus, while the guides brought Ash and Sara back to Mulu HQ.

On the way back to HQ (according to the guides), Sara told them 20minutes before falling she saw a vision - she saw herself falling and knocking into something. But she didn't know what it meant, until the vision was realized. She added, "Perhaps i fell because I didn't believe in God." Well, at least she knows the consequences of not believing in God. So why didn't she want to believe in God when she knows that HE EXISTS? Why do people not want to believe in Jesus when they know tat he's the Son of God, and He died for our sins so that we can go to the Father through him?

She alone has the answers. People who don't believe have the answers.

One night while explaining the book REVELATION to Jun, I showed her many examples where the prophecies in the bible had come true, and what is to come. Jun was very intrigued and asked me an innocent question, "You all know that this is going to happen. Why didn't you all tell those in authority so that we can all prevent this?"

I thought for a while, and answered her, "2000 years ago, Jesus descended from heaven and became man. He performed so many miracles, all his words was & came true, and he even predicted that he'll die and rise again in 3 days, and indeed, He rose again and was taken up to heaven. But do people believe that Jesus is Son of God, as Jesus had claimed? Some did, but the rest? People don't even believe in the words of the Son of God. So who are we, mere human to ask them to believe us?"

What was prophecied in the bible will take place, sooner or later.

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." ~ John 3:19-20

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 4

Once we stepped into the forest floor, it was jungle-trekking time. The weather was nice - sun not hot, clouds hovering us. The forest floor was wet and slippery, though coz it was rainy season. It rained almost everyday. Unpredictable Mulu rain - it comes, and goes.. and it comes again.. and goes again.. and... u know..

So we trekked for about 45 minutes, donated blood to the leeches.. and finally, we reached our destination - The beautiful Garden of Eden! There were a few waterfalls there, all sweetly falling from the same source. The highest waterfall was about 30ft high, and it crashes into a deep pool, i think at least 16ft deep. On reaching Garden of Eden, one after another, the guides removed their shirts, climbed up a "diving spot" which is abt 20ft above the pool level, and started jumping/diving into the pool from there, performing all kinds of stances.

The water was crystal clear and cool and clean, i assume tasty too.. and i wanted so much to swim in the pool as well. Sadly, as there was no place to change clothes there, and I didn't want to wet myself, I didn't get to swim... hmmm... Then i noticed Baqly didn't join the others swimming! haa... he can't swim? impossible. I think he's shy... hehehe...

While enjoying our lunch and snapping pictures there, suddenly I heard KY screaming my name. I turned around, and saw many guides gathering around Sara, a foreigner. Rocks there were super-slippery, and Sara, unfortunately fell down, broke her front tooth and cut her lower lip! ouch! After that we quickly packed our stuffs, and started our journey home - using the same path. Sara was rushed to Miri hospital.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 3

As we stepped out of the cave, wow, how i marveled at the sunshine! There was light! Finally! I remembered a verse in the bible, "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?" Praise God... I'm no longer in the darkness. To Jesus alone shall i cling on to. I recalled a week ago KK asked me in an sms - "now is bulan hantu...can't go out at nite.. you went pasar malam tat day, did you see anything extraordinary?"

My reply to him was simple, "I've got Jesus in me, whom shall I fear?"

(ps. these are not the exact words coz i cant remember liao, weeks ago wei.. how to remember, but as long as i remember the content fine liao la..:p )

Anyway, back to Mulu.. out the cave, into the streams we went, with our shoes on. Sometimes the water level reached as high as my knee, but I was ok, coz the guides forewarned us the day before. But the rocks were so slippery, and sometimes i could feel the water current so strong i almost lose balance!

We were taking a real long time walking n balancing on those rocks, but the guides seemed to be easily hopping from one rock to another. Slippery rocks? I dun think the word "slippery" ever crossed their minds. Baqly was rather uptight with us, coz we're behind time. Every now and then I could here him urging us.. faster.. dun take picture.. rain later.. must reach Garden of Eden before tis and tat time..

To boil his frustration, our fren Ash had removed both his shoes and holding them with his hands, fearing to wet his precious shoes! I could see Baqly frowning.. nagging him.. he was behind me and KY u see.. and as I stepped out of the stream towards the forest floor, I heard a loud splash and immediately I knew someone fell. It was a heavy fall.

I turned around. It was Ash. Baqly was just staring. Silence. No more nagging. I dun have to mention this of course - both his shoes were wet, finally. This pic above - from the left was me, Jo, Baqly, KY, Ash. Can you imagine the frown on Baqly's face? oh ya, try to imagine how KY was feeling also. :P

Thursday, September 06, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 2

The rocks flooring deer cave were big, wet, slippery and dangerous. To make things worse, it was pitch dark inside the cave and the rocks were covered with guanos (bats' droppings)! yaiks! And to make things worse for myself, my torch light ain't got battery. In fact, i was "gently" reprimanded by two guides at different times - Baqly & Johnny.

"Mana torch light?"
"Dalam beg."
"Apasal simpan dalam beg?"
"Takde batteri." Good for you, he thought. Baqly's a nice guide, coz instead of punishing me for not bringing a torch, he lit up my paths with his own torch. Praise God. =) Johnny was not that nice, instead of helping me out, he laughed and even mimicked my goose-steppings, "Macam orang buta jalan, hi hi hi.." And he walked past me laughing by himself while exaggeratively goose-stepping. Good for you, i thought.

I had wanted so much to take pictures inside the cave, but it was too dark - the photos would turn out ugly. Besides, as I climbed the rocks with both hands and legs, I've got a little guanos stuck onto my finger tips. How to take picture, especially when the camera is a borrowed one?

The rock-crawling-climbing experience in deer cave was rather easy for both me n jun, coz we don't have to use much upper strength, instead our feet just tap tap tap and we're up on the next rocks. Even so, I kept asking Jesus to watch after me and catch me if i fall. I don't want any injury you see, coz this is only the beginning of our 8-day trip in sarawak. However, it was tough for both KY and Jo that they had to literally sink their hands and bodies into the thick layer of guanos in order crawl/climb the rocks. Few times they slipped and fell and injured here n there...
I thank God for He strenghtened their hearts to continue the adventure despite the hurts and wounds.
After the rocks, we had to wade across the streams in the cave, it was basically stepping unto wet, slippery, acupuncture pebbles.

And the following journey was the river/streams...

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

a trip to sarawak - part 1

In spite of my fear of flying (airplane), I have always enjoyed the air-travelling. I never failed to be filled with awe - everytime i looked out the windows i saw beautiful trees, mountains, green plains, rivers, the ocean.. and the most beautiful of all are the cottony-clouds. Gazing at such natural beauty I couldn't help but to wonder how awesome is our God.. and how much more marvelous is the Kingdom of God?

I went to Sarawak with KY, Jo, and Jun last week. It was an 8-day trip, but we spent 6 days in Mulu alone.. and honestly, 6 days are just NOT enough. We flew from KL-Miri, and in an hour's time on reaching Miri, we were already on FAX - on our way to Mulu. The first day was a free-and-easy one. Coz most of us were very tired (lack of sleep maybe), after checking-in our hotel at Mulu HQ and confirming our itineries, all of us went to slumber...

Early next morning, we gathered at HQ coz we're gonna explore caves tat day! So we walked on boardwalks for an hour plus and soon we're heading towards the entrance of deer cave. This is a very enchanting cave. The entrance was huge. You can see the silhouette of Abraham Lincoln from inside the cave, as shown in this pic taken by Jun. Initially we walked on boardwalks, all limbs relaxed as though we were shopping in a cave. Then we stepped down some staircases and very soon, our journey was totally laiden with slippery rocks.