Yesterday, I picked up what may be my last rolls of developed film.  I have to say, there’s definitely something to the delayed gratification of seeing your photos for the first time as prints in your hand.

A couple things I hope to still do when I convert to pure digital:

1. Compose the shot right the first time.  I realized, with my digital point & shoot, I would take 20 photos to try to capture a picture (instead of 2 or 3) just because I could.  To some extent, that’s the benefit of digital…  But I think if I’m not careful, I’ll just get sloppy.
2. Printing photos.  I love my scrapbooks.  I like having my vacation in a book on my shelf rather than just up on some website.

Anyways, here are two of my favorites from these rolls:

baby elephants!

petronas tower

It’s about 10:30pm & I’m waiting in Kuala Lumpur International Airport for my 12:30am (6 hour) redeye to Beijing. To my amazement, they actually offer FREE WiFi in the terminals (!).

Anyways, will be back loading some photos & stories from the last few days in Malaysia soon. But just want to report that I am VERY sore from my climb to the 4095m summit of Mt. Kinabalu….which was absolutely breathtaking.

Walking around Kota Kinabalu, post-hike.

 local boats to the islands.

filipino market.

boats at sea

It was beautiful seeing what we had just hiked up in the morning light.  Though the rock was slippery… and the descent was slow.

looking back to the peak – notice the size of people for prespective

karen falling

chris’s descent into the clouds

rock faces

pools – it was slippery

We had perfect weather at the summit.  It was cold, but not freezing.  And the skies were mostly clear, with just enough clouds to give perspective & help color the red morning sky.

There were probably about 100 people up at the top… of all ages & ethnicities.  The oldest person to climb the mountain to date was 81 years old.

karen at summit

sunrise
(kodak moment killer: that’s an umbrella on his back and he’s sending a text message.)

looking down

chris, karen, & guide

treats at the top

The lodge was warm & heated… and had lots of food.  The kitchen was stocked with water, chocolate, and other supplies (INCLUDING postcards & stamps – I sent one to my parents)  .

All the supplies for the lodge are carried up by porters.  As we were hiking up, we saw locals carrying HUGE loads strapped to their back and hanging from their heads…. as they passed us.

Up to this point, the sky has been foggy & drizzly.  Just before sunset, the skies cleared for the first time.

on the balcony

sunset – on level with the clouds

Chris & I left the trailhead around 10am with our guide Julius.  (I know that’s probably not how he spells it… but that’s the best that I could pronounce.) 

The trail was steep & I started really feeling the altitude about 2 or 3 hours in.  Chris (who had just climbed Mt Rainer) taught me a couple helpful tricks, including power breathing (taking a full, short breath out every few breaths).

We arrived at Laban Rata around 4pm.

start of trail – looking fresh

scenary

sillhoutte

action shot

start to see peaks

My friend Chris & I decided to climb Mt. Kinabalu.  The summit is 4095 m (13,450 ft), the tallest between the Himalayas & New Guinea.  For some perspective, Mt Rainer is just taller 4392 m (14,410 ft) - although, since you’re trucking through snow, Rainer is a tougher climb.

The climb up Mt Kinabalu starts at about 1866 m (6,122 ft).  The first day, you hike up to Laban Rata at 3272 m (10,734 ft), where there is a lodge to spend the night.  The next morning (around 3am) you start the final 823 m (2,700 ft) climb for sunrise at the summit.  After hiking back to the lodge for breakfast, you make your way back down.

Some dibits…

• Full roundtrip:
  • 2229 m (7,312 ft) elevation gain
  • 8.72 km (8.41 mi) each way meant it was straight up/down…. no switchbacks.
  • 28.5 hr trip with about 14 hr of hiking for us….
  • 2 hrs 41 min is the roundtrip record (which is just ridiculous)
• Generally, altitude headaches start happening around usually takes 2400 m (8,000 feet). 
  • Heavy doses of advil helped this.
  • Fortunately, neither of us got really sick.
• Hiking poles
  • These are seriously the best invention ever.  (okay, not really… but they certainly helped!)

mt kinabalu from a far

our tags for the hike up

my gear

Based on a recommendation, my friend Chris & I headed out to the Kuala Gandah, an elephant sanctuary about 2 hours outside of Kuala Lumpur.  We had the most excellent Mr Razali as our guide.

The elephants at the sanctuary were found injured and/or trapped.  The sanctuary also runs an elephant rescue & relocation program.  Much of the elephants’ natural habitat in Malaysia is now plantation crop & many elephants are trapped in “islands” of forest that are too small to sustain them.  The sanctuary tries to mitigate this by relocating them to the national forest for protection.

The highlight our trip was the baby elephants – Siput (female, 10 months) and Shawal (male, 12 months old).  They were just adorable.

at first, we were just in shock that we got to pet them. (here we are with siput)

but they were just so darn cute….  sawal liked to nibble on our hands

we tried to take as many photos as we could

we were there as volunteers, so we helped prepare their “baby formula” and feed them.

…and then we helped scrub them down.

the adult elephant’s feet were just fascinating

elephant montage

The Petronas Twin Towers were beautiful at night.  It’s no wondering they’re a symbol of Malaysia.