Life is like an odometer: Tambuyukon voyage

Team members

Tambuyukon "The" Trail

23 July 2010 (Friday)

Group photo with out-going Dr.Neren

My phone clock showed 10pm, and we realized we are still in Neren's farewell party..gosh! Rin, Hasan & I have Poring to catch tonite! Quickly we "escaped" the party and made our way home for final packing. (But still managed to snap few final shots inside & outside Swiss Inn before we rushed home.hehe)
11.15pm : Finally departed Sandakan. After 3 1/2 hrs of non-stop "flight"..we reached PoringLodge (some 500m from the Hot Spring) Went straight to bed and unconscious immediately.

24 July 2010 (Saturday)

6am : "Hasan, kul brapa nak gerak?" Hasan replied..."kejap lagi" (Both continued sleeping)

7am : "Hasan, bangun...dah kol 7" Hasan replied..."ok,kejap lagi"

Akhirnya, jam 10.30, setelah mengagih2kan brg2 & mknan; kami bertolak ke Hot Spring. (Another friend of us who's supposed to join from KK pulled out at eleventh hour...leaving us wth more luggages to carry.huh) Anyhow...was not too bad:)

Selepas menempuhi perjalanan yang agak menarik selama 1 1/2 jam (dengan merentasi dua sungai), kami pun tiba di Sub-stesen Monggis (sebahagian drp Taman Kinabalu)

1.30pm : Kick-off! Pendakian bermula (bermulalah suatu perjalanan yg "getir" untk hasan, azniza, rinelda, aziatun & aslam)

4 pm : Sampai di Kem Kera (KM.4) Berkhemah di sini dengan tenang bersama pacat dan sedikit agas2.

(Makan malam : Nasi, sardin & cucur adabi)

25 July 2010 (Ahad)

9.15 am : We left Kera Camp with full determination (of course, can't help with the departure time..hehe) KM.4-6 was horrible and I graded as the worst section of the whole track (changed my mind after I saw the last 4Km...hehe) The track was slippery and I had humpty-dumpty falls numerous times (till I lost count huh!)and I just skid down on several places (skidding was much faster). Moreover my shoes & balancing failed me on many occasions here!)

1 pm : We reached Kem Wuluh, which has the Wuluh River running by its side. We had to descend an "awesome" "mini waterfall" of about 25 metres to reach this camp.

We cleaned & fed ourselves while thinking "is it too late for us to return back to Monggis?huhu"

After about 45 mins breather, we continued another 2km of relatively better track to reach Kem Sg. Kepuakan..Km8 (da name sounds spooky, rite?hehe); where da soothing Kepuakan River runs. We had our Zohor & Asar there, before crossing the river & endured into last "never ending" 2km of the day; which was literally almost 90% of climbing at >30 degrees!

6.15pm : FINALLY we reached Kem Musang (KM 10.7) We only found out on the last day that we were buyok-ed by Leron & Messi, who told us that this camp is placed at KM 10! (Kununnya mau kasi kami semangat supaya teruskan perjalanan dari KM 8 ke Kem Musang.huh!)

Quickly we set up camps under Mejar Hasan's orders & agas2 were even faster than us when it comes to their "feeding" time. They mercilessly "fed" on us leaving us to scratch the whole nite! And a pacat on my waistline, woke me up in the middle of da nite!

Hah...one interesting fact about this camp site is that, the water source is situated merely 80 metres down the hill...AND this 80 metres takes us about 20mins to reach (if u dont get lost:)

(Makan malam : Nasi goreng ikan masin, sayur campoq sweet& sour, kobis wth salted sardin, hupseng wth teh tarik kunun) I was chef-de-mission & wat made me girigitan was...I alone had to eat 3 plates of nasi but my other 4 beloved friends took only 2 plates among them!

26 July 2010 (Isnin)

6am : Kami bangun dgn iltizam tinggi untuk memberi persembahan terbaik pd hari ke-3 pendakian; seterusnya untuk mencapai puncak.

9.30am : Mula berjalan (seperti biasa...kami saaangat menepati masa!)Sempat mengemas tempat khemah kat Kem Musang dgn pengharapan malam kang, dpt berkhemah di Kepuakan (mmg kunun2 jak la akhirnya...:)

Sangat pantas kami sampai di papan tanda KM 11...(masa tu blom tau lagi pasal pembuyokan si liron & messi!) Kami pun pikir..ni mcm harapan cerah nak sampai puncak & turun balik sblom senja! Tapi...

KM 11 ke KM 12 .. kami jalan punya jalan...xsampai2 gak. Nasib baik ada satu kawasan landai sejauh +/- 70 meter sekitar General Camp..yang memberi sedikit kelegaan dan semangat!

KM 12 ke 13 .. huh...speechless!

KM 13 ke 14 .. huhuhu ...

KM 11 ke 14 adalah trail yg saaaaaagat menarik...cerun sahaja...tiada maaf, tiada ampun! (kecuali 70 meter di sekitar General Camp)

I stopped at 13.6km..as it was almost 2pm and in front there's another stunning 400m trail which may take us anther 1hr plus to reach the summit. If we were to continue, we may end up climbing down in dark & rain) We "picnicked" at Km13.6, relaxing & posing; while waiting for other friends to come back from the summit. It was fun there...relaxing on the rocks, looking at the sky...the feel was like floating in the sky:)

The last 800 metres is astounding indeed..in terms of the trail & the views. It was made up of rocks, "pokok2 renek" took over the big trees; and there are 7 "false" peaks before u reach the real peak...hence the name "Tambuyukon" heralded!

4pm : Started our descend and we reached Kem Musang at 6.30pm..all wet, as the final 2 hrs we were blessed with rain:)

6.30pm : In darkness, cold breeze, wet attires & "soothing" agas2 attack, we rebuilt our tent (luckily we only dissembled one tent bfr we left Musang earlier)

All my attires were wet (including underwears!)...my sleeping bag too. After Solat, we had Maggi soup for dinner..made by..hasan & rinelda (I refused to cook becoz of wat happened last nite!)

Though it was wet, I still slept wth my sleeping bag & partially dried up attires.huhu. And the most wonderful thing was...i was kissed on my lips by a pacat..sory to my wife-to-be...u wil not be da first to kiss me..haha.

27 July 2010 (Selasa)

Last day for us...mixed feelings of sadness & happiness..

Woke up as early as 6am (awal la kunun).. 6.30am turun p tpt ayaq...nak BO utk kali petama dlm 4 hari.haha!

Lepaih kemaih2, 9.15am mula la turun...ikut trail yg sama & sekali lg KM 6-4 mengecewakan dgn belaku byk "tackling" ...seluaq putih aku menjadi coklat begemerlapan!

Alhamdulillah, it was an uneventful descend...we stopped at 4 spots (Kem Kepuakan, Wuluh, Kera & Kikulat) and was at Monggis by 6.15pm.

Lepak2 sat kat Kem Monggis..kol 8.30pm bertolak balik ke Poring Hot Spring, pastu pi mkn sat kat Ranau...12MD, left to Sandakan. 3.45am, smpai Sandakan & 8am smpai hospital...nak oncall.hehe.
The trip was really a wonderful experience for all of us.
The adventure was tremendous, the thrill & fun we had was magnificent!

For those adventure junkies who's itching to try this place, few guidelines:

Try to get the best suggested month to hike (dry period la kunun). Around October according to our guides.
Call up Sabah Park & send a letter of permit application detailing # of participants, time u want to be there. Ensure you follow up regularly...if not they might just wait till the eleventh hour to give u the green lite..
Plan your trip well (especially those from out of Sabah) I suggest 4days 3 nights. The night before you start, try to get accomodation at Sub-Stesyen Monggis. Day 1 start hiking latest by 7 am and aim to overnite at Kem Kepuakan (KM 8). This may take you at leisure about 10 hours.
Day 2 : Hit straight to General Camp (KM 11.5) which might take you only about 5-6 hrs the most. (The only thing is you've to carry adequate water to the camp from Musang Camp (KM 10.8 + 80 metres)
Day 3 : Start from General Camp at about 6am (SHARP!) and shoot up to the peak in about 4-5 hours. Spend 1hour or less at the peak and descend all the way to Musang Camp in 4hours. Leave everything behind, except camera, raincoat, drinking water and some snacks when you shoot up to the peak. Forget about plans to cook at the peak...you will regret later:) When you start at 6am, leave your tents...you can pack up later when you descend. Do not waste your time packing up things that morning. Be sharp..start climbing at 6am. According to our guides, best time to be at the peak is latest by 9am..well you will need a mammoth's stamina to reach the peak from General Camp in less than 3 hours.huh. The other way is start climbing before dawn kalo berani to climb in dark..(not recommended) Seriously it is a tough ride!
Day 4 : Wakey from Musang Camp at start descending latest by 9am. 8-9 hours should be sufficient for you to home sweet home back at Monggis.
Make sure you bring all necessary stuff & everything to combat pacat all along till KM12 + agas2 at nite!

Here are some pics that we captured...