Mind.Wanders

I haven't been writing on here for a while, and I kinda miss it (and also, because I haven't really been anywhere, haha). So today, I'm going to post some old photos of my climb up Mount Kinabalu, about 6 years ago (I think). Reason being, a few days ago, I was reading some of older my blog posts of my earlier trips to Chamonix, Paris, Cappadocia... and the thing that I kept thinking about was 'thank God I blogged about this',  I was able to re-live the memories of the places with photos, and the experience with my stories. 

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So here goes, some photos of my Kinabalu trip with my homies...



There was a point in my life where I was pretty active in my hiking and running activities and kept on browsing the 'running calendar' for the next months. One day, I came across one in Sabah, which was the Borneo International Marathon (BIM) 2012. I asked Fizal (who at the time was just my friend, haha) and my friend Nadhira if they wanted to join the run in Sabah. Fizal immediately said yes but Nadhira had her job commitment that she had just started, so she had to back-out from the plan.

I then thought about flying all the way to Sabah for the marathon; 'who would want to fly out to Borneo just for a 10km run?' and I know I was not fit enough to do a 21 km and most definitely not 42 km, so the idea of climbing Mount Kinabalu crossed my mind.

"If we're gonna be flying to Sabah to join the run, why not climb this highest mountain in Southeast Asia too while we're there", I thought.

So I asked Ika and Sarah if they wanted to join and of course they did! It all happened so fast. After deciding to go, Fizal and I registered for the BIM run and I settled the climbing registration/accommodation and all with (Sutera Sanctuary Lodges). So that was pretty easy and straightforward.

The trip to Sabah was a 5-days trip. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu (KK) on the night (delayed flight, pfft) before the BIM run. Had dinner and went straight looking for our lodge for that night. We had a good night's rest as Fizal and I had to wake up early for the morning event (flag-off at around 6am). The run went well and ended at around 10am. After taking a short nap after the run, later that day, we went around KK town, including getting some souvenirs at the Pasar Filipina and also went wall-climbing at the Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre. The next day, we took a trip in a minibus from KK to Ranau, and stayed at a friend's house the night before our climb. Fuhh! Sorry for the long-non-stop intro. Haha.

So here is where it all started...


We started the climb in the morning, of course, looking all fresh and cheerful. haha.

Off we go!

Husky sledding has ALWAYS been in my bucket list for a loooonggg time! and I finally got to do IT in no better place than Finland! I knew that Lapland was one of the best location for husky sledding and since we're going to Finland, why not, right?!

We booked the tour with Lapland Safaris in Rovaniemi a day before the actual excursion. We went to their office in Rovaniemi city centre, and booked everything there. There were 2 departure times in one day; 9:15am and 1:15pm, and we chose the latter, because we thought that the morning ride would still be dark since sunrise was around 10:30am. But the staff said that it didn't make much difference because in the morning the sun rises late, but the evening ride would be near dusk anyway.


We were asked to meet at their office 30-minutes before departure for some briefing and meeting with our guide and the rest of the group. We were escorted to the changing areas where we had to gear up in their coveralls, waterproof boots, were given gloves, wool socks, scarves and even hats. Of course, you can wear your own if you prefer, but they'd recommended we wear what was provided because they were thicker so they'd keep us warmer in the forest later on.

Once everyone was changed and ready, we hopped into our minibus and departed. The husky farm was just about 20-minutes drive from the city centre. When we reached the farm, there were already so many huskies barking non-stop - all ready for their evening exercise! Our guide had said that whenever any new group comes, the dogs get really excited because they know they'd be running (how cute!). The farm owns about 300 huskies, some Siberian and some Alaskan.

Some dogs on their rest days were kept aside at their kennels.

One of the staff briefing us on how to drive the sled.

We were briefed on how to control and steer the sledge, the basic stuff - break, slow down, run, turn, etc. Fizal took charge of driving the sled and I sat all the way through the ride. And oh boy was the ride fantastic!

Not only the dogs were really adorable - every time we had to stop, they'd turn around and look at us, and started barking loudly. And then when the pack in front of us started running again, they'd bark louder while jumping and looking at us as if saying 'come on! let's go!'. Even when we slow down they'd look at us annoyingly, haha. Whenever there was some uphill slope, Fizal would help push the sled with his foot because the dogs tends to slow down a little. There were a total of 7 dogs per sled, the leader (one in the most front) are usually females, because they said that female dogs learn their directions faster than the males. They males would just be too excited to run but they don't really know where they were going. haha. But our pack were so active and they'd go really fast if they could. Ones right in front of us, not so. So we always had to slow down again after catching up to them.


The scenery throughout the Lappish forest was mesmerising beyond words. It was unimaginably beautiful, MasyaAllah - like something out of movies (and even some of those were CGIs). The fluffy, fresh snow that was filling the the woods gave such amazing view. Although my hands and my face were freezing (from taking so many photos, with my bare hands) in the cold air and wind from the ride, I couldn't stop snapping photos and recording videos. And when I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, I tucked my hands in gloves and just stared in awe, enjoying the moment and the beautiful landscape that's right in front of my eyes. This may sound a bit dramatic, but it really was unbelievable. Indeed, Allah s.w.t. is the best Creator and He has created such a beautiful world. There's really no way to describe the feeling, so I'll just let the photos do the talking.
Since we were moving quite fast, it was hard to take nice still photos, and these photos will never do justice, but these are the best that have.


Our 10km ride ended too soon. We didn't get to appreciate enough of it and we were already back at our starting point. Then, we were given some time to look around and take photos with the huskies. It was funny because the dogs that were so hyper before their runs have all quieted down because they were tired. Some were even laying down right after we had stopped.



 So tired........

We then went into a wooden lodge nearby (included in the 10km Husky Safari tour by Lapland Safaris) to warm ourselves up. It was a warm, cosy atmosphere. There were fireplace if we would want to sit around the fire, and also toilets. They provided us warm berry juice and some gingerbread biscuits (awhh, how nice). Our guide told us stories about the huskies - about their bred, how much they'd eat, their personal behaviours, how they get really excited about running in the snow and many more.





After we had spent quite sometime and it was already getting dark, we started to make our way back into town. When we reached the Lapland Safaris office, we returned their suits and gears and changed back into our own. And guess what, the suit worked out well, because throughout the sledding in the forest and as it got darker and colder, we stayed warm and snuggly in our big, thick coveralls. :P


It really was a one time experience. I truly am glad and very thankful for the opportunity to be able to experience this. I never even thought I'd be able to even step foot in Finland, but here I am, writing a blog post on one of the things I've really wanted to do. Alhamdullillah.