Mountains

The original plan was to depart from KL Central at 20:00 but there were a few trekkers coming up from Johor to join as well and were only expected to arrive around 23:00. As such, and after meeting up with my brother, we made our way to Kajang instead as the departure was to be from the DATS store much later on. The convoy itself arrived at the Gua Musang Police Station around dawn the next day where

The loop that is known as YYBTN (Yong Yap, Bubu, Tok Nenek) or TNBYY if hiked clockwise, takes 3-4 days and covers three major peaks. One of the peaks is Mount Yong Yap (elevation: 2168 m), the 11th highest point in Malaysia and the 6th in Peninsular Malaysia. The loop has a wide variety of terrain, including tricky bamboo sections, multiple ascents and descents, as well as numerous river crossings. The peak

The scenery that awaited me just south of Namche was absolutely gorgeous. The pinewood (Pinus sp.) forests that laced the southern hills were a mix of vibrant reds and greens, and the backdrop of white and silver layers of snow that adorned the southern slopes of Nupla (elevation : 5885 m) really brought out the contrast of colours. I found that it was significantly easier to appreciate the beauty that lay all around

Despite the ferocious wind that was blowing up the valley from the south, it only took 30 minutes to hike from Lungden (Nepali : लुन्देन) (elevation : 4375 m) to Marulen (elevation : 4210 m). At first, Marulen was akin to a ghost town, as all the houses were bolted from the outside and there was not a single person in sight. I did however end up seeing three people right at the end of the town, which struck me as

Since today was going to be a big day, I decided to spend a bit more time 'fueling up' with three cups of coffee and macaroni and cheese, whilst enjoying the views of Gokyo Tsho that lay just outside the lodge. I left slightly later than the other hikers as I did not want to hike with anyone along the way. This was because I was in search of the feeling of complete isolation (or rather as close as I could get it), as the

I had another lucid dream that night. For some reason I was in Singapore this time around, and was standing on a beach with a rented bicycle by my side. I was looking out over the ocean and was watching some world-class waves being churned up by hurricane-strength winds. Suddenly, a huge tidal wave swept through the coast and washed away everything in its path except for me. The dream had probably been