The Highest Point in Malaysia

Apologies to all those who have been waiting so anxiously for this post. I've been having exams. So here's your post. You can stop pressing F5 now.

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Back in 2008, I got the opportunity to climb Mount Kinabalu. I can say it is one of the best experiences I've had in my life.

This is my favourite mountain in my favourite state.

I've been to Sabah twice, and it doesn't disappoint. What's there not to love about Sabah? Its got everything a tourism capital needs: white sandy beaches, treasure troves of coral reef and marine life, a bustling modern city, friendly people, a scenic waterfront, and not to mention the majestic mountain smack in the middle of the state.

The water front

So, anyways, one day my mum asks me, "...you want to climb Mount Kinabalu?" Of course I had my initial apprehensions given that, in a briefing, I was told about altitude sickness and how if it rains during our summit bid we would have to turn back. Ultimately I decided to grab the rare opportunity. My good friend and fellow adventurer, Mark, joined me on the endeavour, skipping his termly examinations.

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Fast forward a few months and we're in a bus driving up green slopes of the Crocker range.

 

We took a few hours to drive up the winding road that led to our first stop. Everyone was constantly looking up for holes in the clouds looking for iconic image of Mount Kinabalu.

Finally it emerged through the clouds, giving us a tantalising peek of its 4000m high peaks.

We arrived at a rest resort after an hour and a half being in the bus; the resort's name I cannot remember. It was at about a 1000m altitude. There we stayed for a night to prepare for the first part of the ascent the following morning.

From the resort we got some of our first good views of the usually clouded mountain.

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The chalet I slept in 

The amenities were complete albeit simple. Anyway, we only spent the night there. If you're wondering, it was around about 20°C there.

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The next day we got up at about 8a.m. and had a sumptuous breakfast overlooking a valley which stretched out to the mountain. It was daunting to see the grey granite peaks looming up among the clouds, but at the same time the prospect of being up there was really exciting. We got set to go!

Getting into the bus for the ride to Kinabalu Park HQ

After several bus and van journeys we finally got ourselves to the starting point of the trail at about 11 a.m.

Young porters carrying our bags for us. Child labour? Questionable. But indeed, these agile tireless kids made us all look weak.

View from the base

We begun the ascent at noon from Timpohon gate(1866m). The gates swung open and there lay the path before us!

Though we had a large group, Mark and I, being the young people, ended up far ahead of the rest of the group.

Much of the trail consisted of steep steps

Roughly every half an hour of climbing we would pass a kilometre marker on the trail adding another 0.5km to the last. That means we hiked about 1 kilometre per hour. Yes, that slow. But I was told the distance is calculated without including the height. That made sense.

 The air got thinner as we ascended. The surroundings changed, the air became cooler and less humid, the vegetation more sparse, the trees more twisted and alien-like. Every step we took used up immense amounts of energy.

It was like: Climb 3 steps, rest for 2 minutes, climb 3 steps, rest for 2 minutes etc. Exhausting!

 

 It was interesting that up at such an altitude, the lack of wildlife meant the forest was completely silent and still. Every time Mark and I stopped for breaks, all we could hear was our own heavy breathing and some intermittent wind.

 It was six grueling hours before we reached our rest stop destination: Laban Rata(3273m).

Yes! Finally!

In our utter exhaustion we had some food and took some pictures.

Beautiful view from Laban Rata

  Everyone taking pictures

And so that night, after a freezing shower, we got to bed at about 9p.m. in order that we could wake up at 2a.m. for the summit attack. I managed to sleep despite the excitement and anticipation of the following day. What an exhausting day!

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Post on the summit attack will be up soon! Till then...