The Running Duck: Mt. Raja Basa, Kalianda, Sumatra @ 2,120 masl (Jul...

The Running Duck: Mt. Raja Basa, Kalianda, Sumatra @ 2,120 masl (Jul...: " I barely slept. I kept waking up to the sounds of insects, mosquitoes wanting to feast on me and strange sounds of some lizards, as ..."

Mt. Raja Basa, Kalianda, Sumatra @ 2,120 masl (July30, ‘11)

      

I barely slept. I kept waking up to the sounds of insects, mosquitoes wanting to feast on me and strange sounds of some lizards, as I was told later on. Since I couldn’t sleep, I was so sensitive to my surrounding. I could smell almost everything. I didn’t like it. I just waited for time.

The drive to Kalianda was kind of nuts. The driver was fast and we almost got hit head on. Switching rides to motorbikes was the one I enjoyed best. I had a close view of vast plantation of bananas, cacao, coffee, durian and coconut trees. The fusion of their smell was good, but made me heady later on.

 

I got out of bed at 5:30 in the morning. Nobody was up yet so I just went to get a shower and get ready. Staying in that humble house, was a different experience in itself. Everything there was traditional, especially the toilet and the kitchen. It was like being in those reality tv shows about ‘switched lives’.

                                   
Finally we started heading off to Mt. Raja Basa at 7:30. My guide, Dico, a mountaineer from UNILA was all set.  His friends were all eager to see us off. Had two bottles of water and pocari and some rations.
 

The base was interesting. There were more cacao, durian, bananas, coffee and banyan trees. I started to lose my sense of time, and distance, as I appreciate the things around me, and became sensitive to the creatures in the jungle. Then different noises came. Dico told me to look up the trees and there I saw, monkeys looking down at us, seem  to be calling and taunting. Too bad I couldn’t take pictures of them, they were fast to move and they were beautiful. They were all black, hanging and dangling above us and for some split seconds, I thought they were smiling at me. Birds also hooted from somewhere. It’s like being on NatGeo Wild or Discovery Channel.

It was dark in the jungle and it was only like ten in the in the morning. To give you an idea about the place, it was like in the movie: The Blairwitch Project. There weren’t much of a view of the outside world. Banyan trees were so thick, it was literally blocking the sun. As we continued to ascend, the path was becoming rocky and jagged. And I slipped several times due to some 'hurdles' along the path. Tall bushes, fallen old rotten trees, grass blades, wild pandan, fern trees crowded our path. Thick leaves cushioned some pathways. Mosquitoes were vicious and bloodthirsty! They were having a grand time quenching their thirst with me as their prey. I felt good killing a few of them. My legs had red spots and some cuts. While swatting here and there, I suddenly remembered about malaria being common in the jungle. That thought hit me. I just hoped and prayed there's nothing of that here. Good thing exotic snakes were out of our way; I wasn’t ready for them. I saw spiders too showing off their big white webs, but what scared me were the huge centipedes. Just the sight of them crawling made me jumped and shrieked. I ran!

My camera was of little use here. Everything was dark. I just took photos of trees and only trees and I’m not good at it. There wasn’t much of a view. I constantly asked my guide if there were any flat clearing where I could take photos of a good view of Lampung province and the sea. But there were none. So it was all about the jungle and me and running and walking and swatting mosquitoes every step of the way.

 

Compressions were forced. My guide was feeling altitude sickness. He was puking early on and was puking more as we went higher. He’s dehydrated and I was worried about him. He kept apologizing for it. I offered for us to go back but he refused, I guess that’s out of manly pride. I readied myself to go back any time he wishes. His safety comes first. I could come back and climb Mt. Raja Basa again. I knew he lacked salt. I offered to make him eat some salted chips but he didn’t like it. He just took in water and a little bit of food. A few hours later, Dico started cramping, so we had to stop a few times. Still he refused to go back. At that moment, I was busy recalling my First Aid course. I was growing anxious. I kept close watch at him.

 

Reaching the summit after five hours felt good.  I wanted to stay a bit longer so that Dico could rest, eat and rehydrate. I took some photos. The view was all about the thick trees and the clouds covering the mountain; that was all I could see. From where I stood, I could hear the monkeys making their now familiar sound again. I was lucky to see a blur of Cinta beach when the clouds cleared for a few seconds. Only then I realized we are really high up in the mountains.

Trudging down was a lot easier, and it was better for my guide, his cramps wasn’t too bad anymore. I was growing hungry by the minute but it didn’t bother me much. I was more busy thinking about the next mountain I’m going to take in a few weeks: Mt. Bromo, Mt. Gede, and Mt. Semeru in Eastern and Central Java. I knew I needed to climb more and run more to be ready for the Kinabalu Climbathon in October, because i know I don't have much training since coming to Indonesia. It is my hope, for the third time to summit Mt. Kinabalu and finish it with a better time this time.

 

It was almost four in the afternoon when we got down. We rested for a few minutes and snacked and while at it I spent some time practicing my Bahasa with some friendly locals. It was good laughing with them and learning from them. Another good memory of people I will never forget. I bid Mt. Raja Basa goodbye and left Kalianda with gratitude in my heart.

And that's my story of Mt. Raja Basa. Thank you for reading. I’ll see you in the next mountain.