Mount Trusmadi Expedition via Sinua Trail

2 weeks ago, I embarked on a journey to the top of Mount Trusmadi, the second highest mountain in Malaysia with a few friends from my Mount Kinabalu expedition.

Despite being the second higher, it offers a tougher challenge to its climbers compared to Mount Kinabalu.

Here, I present you our 3 days 2 nights trekking via wayaan Mannan a.k.a Sinua Trail.

Day 1  (Monday, December 11th, 2016)

At around 1.30 pm, my friends and I left Ranau for Keningau and then we proceed to Kampung Sinua, Sook to Tainiskon base camp. I was so excited because I have never set foot in Sook before, overjoyed like a child who's been given a lollipop!

Turned out, Sinua is located so far away from Keningau. About 100 kilometers from Keningau Town, it took us 2 and a half hours to reach there, excluding our special excursion to the border of Keningau and Tenom :p Anyway, thank you Arif kasi tumpang kereta :D

Then, from Kampung Sinua, we drove another 2 kilometers to Tainiskon Base Camp, the camp we were to stay for the night. The road to the base camp was quite challenging, but still accessible by non four-wheel-drives.

The shelter at Tainiskon Base Camp. We slept together openly under the same shelter, but no worries, everybody got their own bed. :D

The toilets + showers at the Base Camp. The view is breathtaking! We were advise to take our shower properly here because water won't be enough for shower at Camp 2.

The 'kitchen'

Bedtime selfie is a must during time like this!  There are spaces for our baggage at the head of our bed.

After dinner,  I immediately hit the sack as I wanted to recharge myself for tomorrow's climb. I was quite worried about my physical ability because I didn't do any training to prepare myself for this. The bed, anyway, with a structure of a stretcher, was amazingly comfortable. 

Day 2 (Tuesday, December 12th, 2016)

The next day, we woke up as early as 5 am to take a shower and to get our breakfast and lunch ready. We took the cheapest package available, so, we couldn't depend on the organizer for food.

The 'cooks' :D

After filling our tummies with cold maggi haha and bread, we immediately left the base camp for Camp 2. We trekked through 8 kilometers of secondary forest to Camp 2; the journey was challenging! 

As I know my own limit, I had some of my things brought by the porter and some on my own. They charged us RM60 one way for every 10 kilogram, it was worth it. But, being physically unfit for mountain climbing, I had my friends bring my backpack for me in the end hahaha. Thanks Bianus, Faldey, Ed and Elsa. You guys are the best ;)

The journey commenced! 

Crossing the fast river

anddddd leeches are everywhereeeee, especially when it's raining

Speaking of leeches, yes, Mount Trusmadi is very infamous with leeches. My family had warned me earlier about the leeches, so, I was quite prepared about it. Haha. I used the dry tobacco leaves as my 'leech-repellent', though smelly, it works wonder.

It was annoying though. Having to watch your every step, making sure you're not feeding any with your blood. They said, it can be under the dead leaves, behind the rocks or on the hanging tree branches (maybe?). One managed to get inside my shoes, luckily, I had already prepared myself mentally to handle it. Still, I cried. HAHAHA Thanks Salman for picking it off for me. I still remember him said "Lap tu air mata kau" HAHA

The trek from Base Camp to Camp 2

I was out of breath but yeah, must smile for the camera

After 8 hours, we finally reach the shelter at Camp 2. 

Kupi-kupi sesh with the group members

The shelter at Camp 2.

Dinner is served!

At 8.00 pm, we all settled down for the night. The temperature was freezingly cold (not Laban Rata cold, but still cold!) I couldn't sleep properly!

Day 3 (Wednesday, December 13th, 2016)

On the third day, we woke up at 2400 hrs (yes, only 4 hours of sleep), had a cup of hot milo and bread, then we started trekking through 4.2 km of mossy forest to the summit. I only managed to reach the 1st summit, because I wanted to and because I didn't want to go through the steep and muddy trail from Peak 1 to Peak 2.

So, I had all the time before sunrise at peak 1. While others were on their route to the final peak, I had my very own 'kupi-kupi' session with our guide; Bianus, waiting for the sun to emerge.

Ready to conquer the 1st summit!

0300 hours, after 2 hours of tree-climbing haha

while waiting for sunrise....

It was breathtakingly beautiful!!! My camera didn't do the view justice.

I actually quite regret my decision to settle at the 1st summit. Haha. But the beautiful sunrise took my regret away :p

After about an hour, we started our descend to Camp 2 to have our lunch and collect our bags. Then at 12.00 pm, we continued our descend back to base camp and directly back to Ranau in the evening.