Datuk (Msia)
Last December, I went for a 2 day 1 night trek up a 870m hill in Malaysia. I was enthusiastically told that during the night one could get to see a sky full of stars, but as luck had it the skies were cloudy after sunset. Not to be dampened, I set an alarm for 2am (slept in tents near the summit at around 10pm), which proved unnecessary because the cold wind and hard groundsheet kept me awake at intervals. I can testify that at 2am, 3am, and 4am, the stars were still obscured from view. The flip side was that it didn't rain at all.
Now, there were around 30 of us on the trek, divided into 5 tents, and we occupied the space of one and a half classrooms. As such, everyone not asleep could overhear what the occupants of another tent were saying. At 10pm, 4 out of 5 tents were silent. Conversation and laughter was going on in one tent, and the occupants were quite oblivious to the fact that they were either disturbing or entertaining occupants of the other tents.
I personally found it highly entertaining. (Couldn't sleep at 1o anyway) In two ways. One, they were so innocent in making so much noise and disturbing some others that I found it amusing, especially when they burst into acts of cooing and piercing laughter and all the other attendant sounds we may expect from a robust social interaction involving four females and a male. Thus whenever they burst into laughter I couldn't help but laugh silently too, because I could just imagine people in other tents grumbling to each other.
Two, some of the content was kind of amusing, and the situation as mentioned is such that outsiders in the other tents always have the possibility of saying something in reply, as though they were a natural participant of the conversation; if so, then the ensuing silence as they realise that others can hear them would have been an interesting one, and I can just imagine them replying something back, and so start a inter-tent dialogue which hopefully will then go on to disturb those who weren't already disturbed, and maybe then things will snowball to a case where everyone was talking and no one was sleeping.
That didn't happen. But I must remark that when one girl abruptly asked, "So have you ever thought of suicide?" I was indeed quite amused, it coming after a wave of merry talk had barely subsided. And other things: they were trying to persuade the male to sing the One Little Two Little Three Little Indian song for some reason unfathomable to me.
The trek was marketed as an introductory one but, consistent with my overall lack of physicality, I found it fairly tiring. In fact, the last time I was so exhausted was when I was being tickled and laughed so much I couldn't breathe, and when I was doing the military route march. There were parts which inclined up to 70 degrees and hands had to be used, but the main factor was the speed at which the group travelled, which was the speed of a brisk walk most of the time.
Nonetheless, it was enjoyable. It's always nice to push your body to keep going. To exercise willpower. I found the second half of the trek uphill less tiring than the first, maybe because my body is more efficient in the second gear, that is, the gear where you burn up fat for energy. (Or some such thing) Or maybe because the greater the challenge, the more I resolve to rise above it. Or both. As my entire t-shirt and face was drenched in sweat I thought of a number of things. I thought of Michael Loux's introductory book on Metaphysics in my bag. I thought of how it'd be like for the forest to swallow me up, for there were parts where I couldn't see the person in front or behind me. I thought of how a Christian friend of mine would draw on God for inspiration, and that itself gave me motivation, because I felt that faith in faith as an empty arbitrary, concept itself is sufficient for one to overcome one's limitations. But mainly I thought of forcing myself to take deep measured breaths and to keep pushing.
Brief social commentary. I was in a group with 3 male friends and 2 other females we were assigned with. There wasn't too much interaction between us and them, or between us and other groups. Not surprising, since it's only a 2d 1n trek. Though I do kind of regret being less interactive, because I could have gotten to know more things. There was a male nursing student, for example, and I wanted to find out more about his interest in nursing.
A number of strong alpha-males. I observed that males, when in groups, tend to act funny and cute and laugh rowdily. I suspect it's a way of showing males from other groups how tight their cohesion is, as well as a way of attracting females because of that. Females in the group, on the other hand, tend to laugh at almost every single thing the males say. I suspect it's a way of creating a bond with the males in that group, so that they have some protection. My group is not above such human activity. Brief social commentary over.
At 4+am, we (that is, the group I was with) decided to go up the summit from camp. It was kind of exciting because we went without the others and it was still very dark. The short climb up was not free of dangers, because a fall somewhere would mean a fall down the hill. Up on the summit it was cool and windy, and we watched as the terrain slowly came to life. It was a quiet and peaceful experience. I must say I now have more than a vague idea of what Cormac Mccarthy's characters are experiencing in The Border Trilogy when they sit on top a mountain and looking at the landscape below them.
Here are some photos of the trip, some of them courtesy of Colin Tan.
Rest point.
That's me either thinking looking at some ants on the ground or pulling myself together.
At the summit during sunset. It was foggy. And fairly cool.
A barely-there sunset.
Eating instant noodles and canned food for dinner.
Tent area.
Daybreak.
At the top of the hill. Quiet, windy. 
I like this photo for some reason.
Now, there were around 30 of us on the trek, divided into 5 tents, and we occupied the space of one and a half classrooms. As such, everyone not asleep could overhear what the occupants of another tent were saying. At 10pm, 4 out of 5 tents were silent. Conversation and laughter was going on in one tent, and the occupants were quite oblivious to the fact that they were either disturbing or entertaining occupants of the other tents.
I personally found it highly entertaining. (Couldn't sleep at 1o anyway) In two ways. One, they were so innocent in making so much noise and disturbing some others that I found it amusing, especially when they burst into acts of cooing and piercing laughter and all the other attendant sounds we may expect from a robust social interaction involving four females and a male. Thus whenever they burst into laughter I couldn't help but laugh silently too, because I could just imagine people in other tents grumbling to each other.
Two, some of the content was kind of amusing, and the situation as mentioned is such that outsiders in the other tents always have the possibility of saying something in reply, as though they were a natural participant of the conversation; if so, then the ensuing silence as they realise that others can hear them would have been an interesting one, and I can just imagine them replying something back, and so start a inter-tent dialogue which hopefully will then go on to disturb those who weren't already disturbed, and maybe then things will snowball to a case where everyone was talking and no one was sleeping.
That didn't happen. But I must remark that when one girl abruptly asked, "So have you ever thought of suicide?" I was indeed quite amused, it coming after a wave of merry talk had barely subsided. And other things: they were trying to persuade the male to sing the One Little Two Little Three Little Indian song for some reason unfathomable to me.
The trek was marketed as an introductory one but, consistent with my overall lack of physicality, I found it fairly tiring. In fact, the last time I was so exhausted was when I was being tickled and laughed so much I couldn't breathe, and when I was doing the military route march. There were parts which inclined up to 70 degrees and hands had to be used, but the main factor was the speed at which the group travelled, which was the speed of a brisk walk most of the time.
Nonetheless, it was enjoyable. It's always nice to push your body to keep going. To exercise willpower. I found the second half of the trek uphill less tiring than the first, maybe because my body is more efficient in the second gear, that is, the gear where you burn up fat for energy. (Or some such thing) Or maybe because the greater the challenge, the more I resolve to rise above it. Or both. As my entire t-shirt and face was drenched in sweat I thought of a number of things. I thought of Michael Loux's introductory book on Metaphysics in my bag. I thought of how it'd be like for the forest to swallow me up, for there were parts where I couldn't see the person in front or behind me. I thought of how a Christian friend of mine would draw on God for inspiration, and that itself gave me motivation, because I felt that faith in faith as an empty arbitrary, concept itself is sufficient for one to overcome one's limitations. But mainly I thought of forcing myself to take deep measured breaths and to keep pushing.
Brief social commentary. I was in a group with 3 male friends and 2 other females we were assigned with. There wasn't too much interaction between us and them, or between us and other groups. Not surprising, since it's only a 2d 1n trek. Though I do kind of regret being less interactive, because I could have gotten to know more things. There was a male nursing student, for example, and I wanted to find out more about his interest in nursing.
A number of strong alpha-males. I observed that males, when in groups, tend to act funny and cute and laugh rowdily. I suspect it's a way of showing males from other groups how tight their cohesion is, as well as a way of attracting females because of that. Females in the group, on the other hand, tend to laugh at almost every single thing the males say. I suspect it's a way of creating a bond with the males in that group, so that they have some protection. My group is not above such human activity. Brief social commentary over.
At 4+am, we (that is, the group I was with) decided to go up the summit from camp. It was kind of exciting because we went without the others and it was still very dark. The short climb up was not free of dangers, because a fall somewhere would mean a fall down the hill. Up on the summit it was cool and windy, and we watched as the terrain slowly came to life. It was a quiet and peaceful experience. I must say I now have more than a vague idea of what Cormac Mccarthy's characters are experiencing in The Border Trilogy when they sit on top a mountain and looking at the landscape below them.
Here are some photos of the trip, some of them courtesy of Colin Tan.
Rest point.
That's me either thinking looking at some ants on the ground or pulling myself together.
At the summit during sunset. It was foggy. And fairly cool.
A barely-there sunset.
Eating instant noodles and canned food for dinner.
Tent area.
A town below us, from the summit.
Daybreak.
At the top of the hill. Quiet, windy.
I like this photo for some reason.
This is my pick for best photo. You will note that the lights didn't look as bright in reality. It was the camera that did the trick - but you can't say that it's like Photoshopping because the camera merely collected more light than usually enters the eyes. That is, no editing was done.
I like it because it looks like two persons looking onto a world that is being obliterated. Looking on in companionable silence. Looking on in equanimity.
2 Comments:
Nice post. I like your social commentaries. And yes indeed I depended on God for strength most of the time, meditating in my head and mouth especially when climbing the summit ladders for fear of falling.
Hmm...I don't think that's meditation.
Aquila
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