Went through Titanic, Ice Age and the Sahara desert. Freezing cold, blizzards and sandstorms. Survived.
I can finally say I've been through hell. Actually, that statement would be slightly misleading, because hell is hot, so I'll say: I've been through freezing hell.
Started the adventurous journey with my head held up high thinking only optimistic thoughts. Thinking that I was all ready, packed all my gear the night before, had my compass, first aid kit, rain gear, clothing, food and water all on me. I said to all my peers: "By the end of this hike, we will be changed people, we will be different and stronger!"
Well looking back, I was right. But I said that not knowing that waiting around the corner, over the metal, over the beaches, over the hills, over the mountains was a 10 hour storm. Little did I know that the worst night of my life was right around the corner.
It was the hardest thing I've ever been through. Worst night of my life. Most physically enduring thing I've ever been through. But..I'm a survivor. I'm not gonna give up. I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna work harder. I feel changed. That experience changed my life. It may sound corny or cliche but it really did. It made me appreciate the little things in life, we normally take for granted like toilet paper, flushing toilets, dry clothes, dry beds, dry shoes, dry socks, food, concrete, solid walls that don't cave in, a roof that is stable and heaters. I love heaters.
I've been through the storm, I've been through the rain, suffered injuries, dealt with the pain. And now I'm a stronger person. I can get through ANYTHING!
I remember getting tired just walking from the ferry stop to the start of the trail. Walking through the roads like turtles with gigantic shells. Shells that were going to be drenched by the end of the night. I could already feel the pressure on my shoulders and on my hips. It killed. But that was just the beginning. I liked the weather in the beginning. It wasn't hot, it wasn't sunny, but the walking and hiking kept us warm. It wasn't wet either, I loved the breeze at the beginning, it felt refreshing. Our spirits were high, singing and laughing and playing games. But the clouds started to put frowns on our happy faces, rain started to trickle. It was simply sprinkling. And I said to everyone: "IT COULD BE WORSE!" with a smile and determination pasted on my face. We were all thinking positive, assuming that the rain would go away. "It could be worse.." Oh and it did get worse.
So we chucked on our ponchos and rain gear like the good troopers we were. I felt like I was wearing a plastic bag. We were like colourful turtles. I remember the hood of my gigantic plastic bag wouldn't stay on my head, and that was a pain. But that was nothing compared to that night.
Soon enough, my legs, shoulders and hips began to ache and I felt pain everywhere. But I kept going. My spirits were down and my head was no longer high, instead my head was kept down. I simply followed the footsteps in front of me. I didn't want to look up, I didn't want to look forward because it only brought my spirits lower with the sights of higher tracks, longer trails and uphill tracks. Looking down was the only way to avoid feeling worse. It was the only way I could keep going.
A life lesson I learnt after this hike is that in life, sometimes all you have to do is move forward. In cases like these, you don't have to look forward, but it is important to move forward. No looking back. This hike made me learn a lot of things, and that was one of the most important things I've learnt. My life has changed, I realise there is no mountain too high, no challenge too hard, for me to get passed. Life is full of challenges. All you have to do, is not give up and MOVE FORWARD.
On the side, I learnt a lot of other things like, next time, bring more socks, more rain gear and there is no need to depend on instant noodles when you can bring canned soup too!
There are so many things I remember, so many things that haunt me. The endless metal trip that literally made me trip. Before the groups parted, Mr Parker had told us that after we got through the long metal part we were going to be near our break. I remember seeing metal and cheering that the shiny metal was a sign, a sign that we were near. But I was wrong. It was a short metal trip, one of many. We had to get through countless mini metal roads till we finally got to the one we were waiting for, I mean, dreading. Metal was my enemy. I missed concrete, I missed solid ground that wouldn't trip me. It was even harder because of the rain, the metal was wet and slippery, a pain. I remember the multiple times when we had to stop in our tracks for Stanley to go to the toilet in the bushes. 1pm, Stanley went to the toilet. 1:30pm Stanley went to the toilet AGAIN. Maybe there's something wrong with his bladder, oh dear. Only kidding. I'm sure the time interval was larger than 30minutes.
After slipping and falling with the metal, we got to rocky ground which I appreciated. At least with this floor I wasn't going to slip so easily but I did trip JUST a couple hundred times.
Then..we got to the beach. Sure, it was a beautiful scene, if I had my head up. I didn't have the chance to appreciate any of it, instead I went through struggle. Struggled walking on the horrible, sinking sand. It not only got on my nerve but it got into my shoes. Going through the beach was a major pain. It was never-ending just like the metal. This time I wasn't slipping, I was sinking. It felt like a swamp, walking through wet sand in the rain. I hated the beach. It was draining. Every step required so much effort and I had to pace myself. Big steps made me sink and made more sand get into my feet but small steps meant more steps. It took forever. I convinced myself it was worth it. And it really wasn't because right after the beach we had a long hike uphill to get to the camp. That trip took forever. I remember looking up and all I saw was up and up. I remember seeing people up there and I thought to myself, I wish I was them. Even though they were only a lot of metres ahead of me, they had a lot of metres less to walk than I did. After all the uphill, we had the downhill. Although it was a lot easier, it was a lot more dangerous. I remember walking down, seeing a patch of land and thinking where was the camp? But that patch of land was our camp. With excitement and relief in my veins I raced down knowing that there was going to be no more hiking, no more uphill, no more downhill, no more beaches, no more metal until tomorrow. It felt good to have a place to rest. First thing I did, was change out of my disgusting dirt and sand filled socks. Bad idea. I fell into a creek. A disgusting creek with disgusting water that was strangely red. I was heading to the toilets..I mean holes used as toilets, with Lakhena and I was completely exhausted and so I was not being too careful where I was stepping, while there was a pathetic, thin piece of wood that was a sorry excuse for a bridge over this red creek. So I missed a step and fell in. Socks and shoes completely drenched with red liquid and my legs had a layer of creek water. DISGUSTING.
After the toilet adventure we had dinner and then a small meeting. The meeting was interrupted by sprinkling rain so we hurried to our tents, our comfort, our dry sanctuary..for a while. The rain started to pour. Pounding against the thin plastic that was supposed to be our shelter. I tried so hard to sleep I wrapped my head with any material I could grab on to. I tried so hard to block out the pounding rain, it became an ugly rhythm at the back of my head. My Ipod became my distraction, the only thing that kept my mind off the fact that it was pouring outside. The rain drops were bullets bringing our tent down. There were so many casualties, I'm glad our tent didn't go down like the others.
It was the worst night of my life. I thought I was going to die. And when I didn't think that, I wanted to die. It was the hardest night I've ever had to live through physically.
This adventure was the most physically enduring thing I've been through. I remember there were so many points where I wanted to give up. I couldn't sleep. The storm didn't stop, it barely slowed, it just kept going. The rain just kept falling down. Minutes felt like days, hours felt like weeks. It was also the longest night of my life. Every second I could feel the walls of the tent falling in, it kept hitting my face, hitting my back, I was drenched. Completely drenched. Every single layer of clothing was soaked. I remember getting up and checking my bag and the entire bag was soaked. Everything in it was soaked. The conditions were so bad I just didn't care anymore. I was cold, wet, feeling sick, wanting to give up. I even used my extra pair of pants which were drenched as a pillow. I could feel the coldness next to my ear, but I didn't care. I just wanted it all to be over. Our tent was flooded, my sleeping bag was soaked. There was no comfort. Lakhena and I exchanged little words, our comments were mainly coated with hopelessness and fear. We were too cold and too scared. Outside we could hear murmurs and we could tell that something was happening, we heard the teachers trying to reassure students, trying to give instructions. At one point I think it was decided that we walk back to the toilet blocks. Which Lakhena and I was not ready for. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go outside. Outside was dangerous. I didn't have the strength to go through the storm, up and over the hills. I just wanted to stay there. I didn't want to move.
Then Mr Parker came around and told us one thing. I'll never forget that moment. All he said was "Make sure you stay alive till the morning." And that brought chills into me, even more chills. I was overloaded with chills. I felt hopeless. It could've been the end. It really felt like the end.
More news came. We found out that Anne and Joanne's tent fell apart and so we shared our shelter with them. I remember the silence. At one point, we all just sat there completely silent, no one spoke. The silence was cold. We could only shiver and chatter our teeth. It was the worst night of my life. I didn't have hope. I was feeling weak.
It felt we were in the Titanic scene with the glaciers, it was hell. Unforgettable.
I remember the morning after..I remember feeling useless, I couldn't move. I just stood outside our tent, shivering. After the packing was done we had to get over to the toilet block which was over the hill. Walking over was hell. Every step forward felt like a step back. The stairs kept on going. I slipped so many times. It was still raining and the wind was so strong and I almost fell at every second step. The wind was a bully that kept on pushing on me. The journey back to the toilet block was unbelievably long. It was never-ending.
But it's all over now! I'M A STRONGER PERSON! I CAN DO ANYTHING!
I survived.
I Returned. Returned with battle scars, bruises on my hips, shoulders and blisters on my feet. But I was okay. I got through it.
I will never forget those two days. Those two days of hell. Those two days that changed my life. No mountain is too high! No valley is too low!
I can get through ANYTHING.
