The Return

I remember as I was struggling up Mt Kinabalu in 1993, I said to myself, ‘Why am I here? This will be my first and last mountain trek.’ But memories can be short-lived sometimes. Soon, the pains and the aches were at the back of my mind and a year later, I was up on another mountain (in China). And since my trip to Nepal in 1998, I had been longing to return for more trekking.

And so when Leow called me one evening saying, ‘Hi, I am planning to go trekking in Nepal again some time later this year. Destination – Muktinath, like to join us? Think about it and let me know later.’ ‘Oh, no need to think, count me in.’ The conversation was short and brief, and it was followed by months of preparation and rigorous training.

Yes, as Leow had mentioned earlier, our mission was to trek up to Muktinath (at 3,800m) via Jomsom. Muktinath, located on the north of Central Nepal, is an important pilgrimage place for both Hindus and Buddhists. It is also one of the most popular treks in the region. We had a much bigger group this time – 14 of us (nine ladies and five men) – including Alice and Leow. We also trained much harder. Our favourite training ground was the steps at Batu Cave, besides the trail at FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia) and Bukit Gasing. Leow had also briefed us that from Muktinath, should time permit, we would proceed to Torong La (Pass) at 5,416m.

At that time, I was overseeing the construction of six 5-storey hostel blocks. Every morning as soon as I reached the office and every evening before I left the office for home, I would ritually walked up from the lowest to the highest floor, stopping at each floor; from the first to the last block. Whether my regular, twice a day appearance at the site had made the workers worked harder and be more conscientious, I was not sure; but one thing I was very sure was that it was a very good training and it helped to improve my stamina tremendously. Coupled with training elsewhere, I was much fitter and much better prepared this time round compared to my first trip.