Sabah Kinabalu & Vatican/ Italy Trip 2005

Sabah Kinabalu & Vatican/ Italy Trip 2005 – Celebrating Backpacking 5^th Anniversary


Back to those days and journeys which film camera was still used!

This was the trip made in 2005, the year of my Backpacking 5th Anniversary! Between the Japan & Taiwan Trip 2004 and this trip, I had had the “Dark Ages” of my life (hopefully, this was the first time and will be the last time), in which I experienced “unemployed months”, encountered bad bosses and difficult working environment. But, I still kept my live-long target alive at those days, I did not give up and shall not give up Backpacking! That was an achievement!

Backpacking 5th Anniversary was a perfect time to go to Vatican giving sincere thanks to God + St. Mary, who are walking with me and taking very good care of me all the time, especially in my journeys. The Vatican part of this trip 是一個追求信仰的故事! I am looking forward to back to Vatican in 2010, the 10th Anniversary of my Backpacking. if not, I will surely be there in 2011! (P.S.  unfortunately, I was in Peru in 2010 and plan may be changed in 2011….)

Furthermore, to continue the mountain adventure, following the Mt. Fuji, I tried and successfully reached the summit of Mt. Kinabalu (4095m) , the highest mountain in the S. East Asia and successfully finished the trek “Path of the Gods” from Positano to Priano, Italy!

Mt. Kinabalu was the mountain where I met Dave, my very important trekking partner (and devil coach!) and best friend, and where the “destroyed man - Rickie” was first appeared (ie. the term was introduced by Dave, which describes the time when Rickie was totally “destroyed” by mountain)! Unfortunately, the “destroyed man” appeared not only on Mt. Kinabalu, but also at the Everest Base Camp in 2007 and on the Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2008. I am not sure whether “he” will appear again… hopefully, not!