After Kilimanjaro, I found myself caught up in a whirlwind of travels. Even after we returned, Cairo’s relentless summer heat – even those early morning hours that used to feel refreshing were now scorching hot by 7 AM. The thought of trekking to our usual Wadi Degla hiking spot felt overwhelming, so I kept postponing those weekend adventures.

Then last weekend UltraIbex,  a trail running group here, organized an event starting from the opposite end of the valley – a side I’d never explored before. That was all the motivation I needed to lace up my hiking boots again.

What a revelation this turned out to be! The landscape maintained that same mesmerizing beauty. This route offered something completely different. Instead of the usual climb up from the valley floor, you start from the top and gradually make your way down. There’s something almost meditative about descending into the valley, watching the rock formations rise around you as you go deeper into this natural wonder.

Here are some pictures from that memorable walk and run that got me back on the trail.

Successfully summited the Kilimanjaro last week!

Thank You: The Village That Made Kilimanjaro Possible

As I'm about to embark on my adventure to Kilimanjaro, I wanted to take a moment to thank the incredible people who made this trek possible. You know that saying about it taking a village? Well, this is my village.

Folks at Home

Thanks to The Missus for being such a sport from the moment she heard about this crazy possibility. She joined me on all those practice hikes even knowing she wouldn't be able to do the actual trek herself. That's love, right there. ❤️

Thank you to my mother and #OhBoy, who have graciously kept their apprehensions to themselves and supported this adventure. They've been wonderful about us being away for hours every Saturday, letting me chase this dream.

The Team at The Quad

From the moment I told Coach Chow at The Quad about this trek, she was genuinely excited for me. She made sure I connected with people who had already conquered this mountain and assigned Coach Yogesh to create my training plan.

Coach Yogesh truly understood the limitations of my situation and location, crafting a plan that worked perfectly for where I was. Thank you!

Later, Coach Roshini became my accountability partner, checking in regularly and keeping me motivated when the going got tough.

Thanks to all of them, I feel so much more prepared and confident about taking on this challenge!

The Generous Souls Who Shared Their Time

Through The Quad and other networks, I connected with folks who had successfully summited Kilimanjaro. Each one of them graciously spent time with me on calls, sharing what to expect and how to prepare. Every conversation added a different dimension to my understanding and training.

Thank you Aswani Kumar Yerguntala, Saraswathy Natarajan, Filbert Pradeep and Amany Khalil! I promise to pay forward the kindness you've shared with me.

And a special thanks to Zohra Merabet  for connecting me with Amany!

The Gear Angels

Being in Egypt meant I didn't have access to much of the trekking gear I needed. So I asked friends who were traveling to Cairo to help me out. These amazing people made sure I had everything I needed:

Anusha Srinivasan — who ordered exactly what I wanted from Amazon.ca Diya — who carried those items all the way from Canada to Cairo Sufian — who brought me the things I needed from India

I'm well-dressed and properly equipped for this climb because of all of you. 🙌

My Team at NFN Labs

Thank you to my colleagues for letting me take a two-week break and being genuinely excited ever since I told them about this possibility. We've talked about it in our weekly calls, and they've stepped up beautifully, picking up the work I'm leaving behind for the next two weeks. Having that support and enthusiasm from your team means everything. 🙏

My Kilimanjaro Crew

And finally, the most important group—the team that made this all happen and with whom I'll be spending every waking moment of the next 10 days:

Rajan Mittal — the man who got me into a regular hiking routine in KL, took me to Mt. Rinjani, and now to Kilimanjaro.Rakesh Aravindan — our forex partner and the ultimate chill pill of the group.Wong Chin Wai — our super motivator and the master of fine print details.Naman Gupta — the one who gave us serious FOMO in our training plan and pushed me to train harder than I had initially planned.

All the best to us — The High Five! 🏔️ 

Last weekend I had to skip my usual practice hike since we were hosting guests. So instead of my weekend routine, I decided to head out for an evening weekday hike — and I'm so glad I did.

I had the entire Wadi Degla completely to myself. Even though I've explored these trails more than a dozen times now, the limestone landscape never fails to take my breath away. There's something magical about having this vast, ancient valley all to yourself.

This time I left my weighted backpack at home, which meant I could move much quicker along the familiar paths. Without that extra load, I managed to push myself up and down the hill seven times without completely exhausting myself — a personal best that left me feeling pretty accomplished.

And then came the reward for all that effort: one of the most stunning sunsets I've seen in weeks.

This was my second-to-last training hike before the big Kilimanjaro adventure. I'm hoping to squeeze in one final hike this weekend before I head out next week. 

The quiet evening, the solitude, and that incredible sunset — sometimes the best adventures happen when you least expect them.

🥾Hiking at St. Katherine Protectorate 📍

It has been two weeks, since I hike Mt. Katherine and Mt. Sinai at the protectorate. This was a preparatory hike for the Kilimanjaro trek that is coming up in June. My team mates were all doing weekly long distance treks in Malaysia and the US. I felt a bit left out and hiking loops at the Wadi Degla, didn't seem like I was doing enough.

Day 1 — Hike to Mt. Katherine

Since I was doing this alone and I had to be back at home for Easter, this was a quick in and out of trip to the Sinai region. We started very early in the morning and saw the beautiful sunrise on the way.

Once we crossed the Ahmed Hamdi tunnel, the landscape was so very different from the other side

Couple of hours later, we reached the valley where would be resting later in the night. The Wadi (valley) was a little green pasture were a few families were doing farming. The fertile piece of land was a welcome sight for the dry features around it.

We unloaded a lot of our stuff, took only water and snacks and started up Mt. Katherine after a very short break. The  way up was daunting to say the least, but I had to do this to see how I would be able to hold up in Kilimanjaro.

The way up was a rocky path, which made the hike a pretty slow and precarious one. The aim was to reach the summit by sunset and get back to the valley to rest of the night. After a couple of hours we were at the same height as Mt. Sinai.

By this time my shoulders were aching, which I later realized was because of me not swinging my arms. And walking 4h straight was causing cramps all over — quads, adductors, hamstrings. Musa, my guide, was very supportive and kept the spirits up. He even helped me stretch my hamstrings, when it was cramping real bad.

We finally reached the summit just after sunset. But the twilight was such a wonderful sight.

After a short 20 minute rest, we started walking back down again. Not sure whether it was the adrenaline from summiting or just gravity, the walk down felt refreshing and easy on effort. The knees and the ankles begged to differ though!

We reached our stay for the night at about 9.30p. Our hosts were waiting for us to eat dinner. So after a quick change of clothes and wash up, I had a simple of meal of rice cooked with lentils and a basic salad. It was a simple and nutritious meal. We decided that instead of starting again at 3.30am to summit Mt. Sinai and view the sunrise, I will take rest and start hiking a little later.

They had provided me a room with just a mattress on the floor and some blankets. I was more than happy to have it in this wilderness. I just crashed after a few quick stretches.

Day 2 — Hike to Mt. Sinai

The next morning, I was well rested and felt that I have a new pair of legs. 

We started the hike at 5.20am and reached the summit in about 2h without a stop. I think the body was getting used to the rhythm by now and I realized that walking slow in Zone 2 heart rate, helped me walked longer without gassing myself at the end of the hike.

By the time I summited, the tourists who had done the night trek to view the sunrise had left and I had the summit all to myself. We had some nice breakfast at the top. I was able to do a video call with the folks back home. 

After resting for about an hour, we started walking back down to Fox Camp.

My guide said he had a different path planned for me, instead of the usual ones that tourists took. We stopped by Elijah's garden and crossed a mountain from there to join the path we took the previous night.

Finally after 3.5h, we reached Fox garden at about the same time we started from there the previous day. Mission accomplished!

After a quick shower and a quick lunch, I started back to Cairo.

The terrain was very different and I huffed and puffed for a while until I found my rhythm. I had to remind myself that I need not race or do this fast. The aim was to do it and come back without an injury. And I think this would be the mantra for Kilimanjaro as well — Pole, pole (Swahili for slowly slowly)

After reaching Fox Camp , where a guide was arranged for me to take me up the mountains and bring me back. The hike was supposed to start at 10am, but guide had some transportation issues and we eventually started out at 11.45am. Not the ideal time to start a hike, but if I had to return the next day, this was the only option. Coincidentally my guide was named Musa (Moses) as well.

Got myself a new pair of Hiking boots for the upcoming Kilimanjaro trek! This one is Altra Lone Peak 9 Waterproof Mid. And along with it is a new pair of Darn Tough 1466 socks.

Last weekend, a bunch of women officers from the Embassy of India in Cairo joined us in our weekly hike of Wadi Degla. Lots of fun conversations and chats along the way. Here is all of them after the hike.

🥾Hiking at Wadi Degla Protected Reserve 📍

Well since the movement from Kuala Lumpur to Cairo, we have been looking for hiking spots here. And except for the Wadi Degla the city has no other place to offer. Wadi Degla is a limestone valley which seems to have formed from water flowing — whether river or sea is unclear, as people have different stories.

As you can see from the photos below the landscape is the exact opposite of what we had in Malaysia. But it has its own charm. You are exposed to the elements — wind and sun. On a winter morning, the cold air is bone chilling. But it also makes the sun bearable. The walk in the valley makes you humble in the vastness of the landscape visible in front of you. It is a form of meditation.

We intend to make the most of this space (also it is the only one 😋) and make it a weekly routine to explore new trails here.

🥾Hiking at Bukit Dinding 📍

After a while, I explored a new trail this morning — Bukit Dinding. I was also in a new part of KL city.

The trail was mostly cemented path. It started with a good incline and then smoothened out. It is a moderate trail, that beginners can do. There is good tree cover all through, so  you can do this later in the day as well. There were a lot of locals, some of them doing it for fitness and some of them were training for trail running.

I walked back down on the cemented path. There was a "pink" trail as well which was supposed to have a good view of KL skyline. Maybe next time.

After a while I got bored of walking in the cemented path and got into one of the trails that was marked for mountain bikes. That lead me to one of the many inner trails for hikes. I took the "green" trail to the peak. It was a nice walk through the trees. I was alone on this trail and had the forest for myself 😍!!

🥾Hiking at Sri Bintang 📍

A month ago when we were trying out Bak Kut The at Sri Bintang, I got to know about the trail nearby. Last week I got a chance to hike it as part of my Thursday hikes. I liked it so much that I went again with my wife on the weekend.

And since we were there, how could we not have our Bak Kut Teh 😋

Just aside the hill top of the 2nd hill there is a beautiful spot where you can picnic. Someone has setup some tables and even left some books for you to read.

On the 2nd hike here over the weekend, there was a hiking group who were there with some of their pet dogs. There was a lady who was lovingly carrying her dog!

This is a very good beginner trail and traverses through two hills. If you are an absolute beginner, you can stop at the 1st hill and then head back. It would probably take you less than an hour. And if you want to make it hard then you can multiple loops of the 2nd hill. There are two options to go up the 2nd hill, and one of them does not have any tree cover. So if you are planning to do it late in the morning, I would suggest some full sleeves and sunscreen. The view from the 2nd hill is great.

Summited Mt. Rinjani yesterday (22 Apr 2024) at around 6.15am. I hope to write more about the trek when I am at my desk and have recovered from assault.

The Mt. Ranjani trek starts this weekend. Though I’m as prepared as I can be, still feeling the butterflies!

Now onboard the train to KLIA2

🥾Last practice hike before Mt. Rinjani 🌋

On Sunday, we did our last practice hike before the next week's trek at Mt. Rinjani. We decided to start 6am at Bukit Gasing, since we wanted to practice the use of head lamps and hiking in the dark.

The hiking in the dark went well and 4 trips of the stamina hill was the limit for me. Otherwise, I felt happy at the way I finished the trek. We completed the 7km loop in 4h. I feel confident about next week's trek now.🤞🏼

The hike was immediately followed up by a breakfast at Kanna Curry House, Petaling Jaya 📍

🥾Hiking the Gasing Loop 📍

As a practice for the upcoming Mt. Rinjani trek, we attempted a longer hike at Bukit Gasing last Sunday. This was my 3rd time hiking at Bukit Gasing and it is one of my favourite spots in the city. It is challenging, but it is also straining. It has plenty of trails, so you are never bored doing the same route.

We started at 7.30am and did a longer loop, with multiple trips of the stamina hill.

While the hike was fairly manageable, the weather was extremely humid that day. The dresses were all soaking wet by the end of the hike at 11.30am.

We will be doing one more practice session next weekend here, before we set off to summit Mt. Rinjani!

🥾Hiking Taman Tugu

After a break on last Thursday, resumed our Thursday Hikes with the fellow diplomatic spouses here in Kuala Lumpur. With most of them beginners, this was a perfect spot to get them started, after warming up at TTDI in the earlier weeks.

It was just us in the entire trail, till be hit the last check point. The day was humid, but otherwise the trek was good.

It was a good start. I hope in May they all get to a level of doing the Gasing Loop!

🥾Hiking Gunung Bunga Buah 📍

As a practice for our upcoming Mt. Rinjani hike, we did a long duration practice hike. We started at 6.30am from KL and then started the hike from the trail head at 7.30am.

This was my first time on such a long trail and I was also testing out a lot of my new gear — Hydration Vest and Flask, Compression Pants, long sleeve shirt and new socks. All of them worked well without any complaints. 🙌

The initial part of the trail till the entrance of Bunga Buah was really good. We were walking through the clouds.

Overall it was enjoyable, but I don’t think I would put myself through those roots, until I am practicing for a long hike like for Mt. Rinjani.

At the end of the hike, I finished tired but not sore. I was smiling and strong. I am now hopeful of managing the long hike at Rinjani.

We wiped ourselves and then had a nice lunch and beers at the Chinese restaurant nearby

The trail after that was full of ups and downs, but what made it really hard were the roots. One had to be very watching where to place the feet and vary of tripping over the broken roots. I was the slow one in the group, inspite of being the youngest. You realise soon that age is just a number and fitness is more of what you practice in your day to day life.

I did not push myself to be fast, but I was not lagging too behind either.

The views were great and the hike got cooler as we reached the top.