At lower altitudes of Mt Kinabalu(1500m - 2500m)

Its time to move on the experiences and visions we saw on the way to the top. The initial phase of the climb was in high spirits, as you can see in the pics where my friends Praveen and Ananth have all the energy to 'pose' for a shot(actually stealing some rest). The small, lithe man is Mollonius Tinggal, who was our mountain guide and impressed me with the effortless ease with with he seemed to conquer the mountain(thrice a week)- his simple method- "do it one careful step at a time" ;-)

The forests were dense, with vegetation everywhere and the temperature and humidity quite high. Most interesting were the smaller plants, wild orchids ,ferns and mosses which gave a impression of a green sari woven over the mountain (pachai pattaadai porthaal pola- Bharathidasan on seeing SriLankan Kandy mountains). The climb was well organised by the authorities, and there were small huts with basic amenities at every km of the 6km trek.

There were quite a few climbers that weekend due to Chinese New Year holidays in SE Asia. While the fittest were cruising up, most others were trudging along, taking ample rest wherever they felt like. Dont ask me how I fared, since I dont like to boast nor try to be modest, I prefer to be hopelessly uninformative on such personal matters :)