Mt Kinabalu - Malaysia
Prolog
To recap ...
After the half day walk on NZ's Franz Josef Glacier,
I had decided to climb Aconcagua in Argentina,
South America's highest mountain.
But first, one had to get some climbing experience.
Which mountain ?
Mt Kinabalu
As Australia doesn't have any high mountains,
Malaysia's Mt Kinabalu and Tanzania's Kilimanjaro
come to mind immediately.
Friends from Sabah had suggested
climbing Kinabalu as a challenge ages ago,
but I had never listened till now.
So now it is decided ...
Kinabalu first, then Kilimanjaro, then Aconcagua.
Kinabalu is Malaysia's highest mountain.
At 4095 meters,
it is also South East Asia's highest.
(Although Indonesians like to call their
Puncak Jaya at 4884 meters,
also known as Carstenz,
as South East Asia's highest mountain.)
Organizer
World Expedition organized the climb.
The 1st day
A car picked me up from the hotel
to the Kinabalu Park entrance.
There, I was paired off with a mountain guide.
To my surprise, I was the only one with him.
I learned later on that an Australian couple and I
were supposed to be together in one group.
However the car which picked me up was late,
hence the couple had already started their walk
with the designated guide sometime ago.
Thus my guide was arranged on-the-spot,
which also explained
why he couldn't speak any English,
even though the tour brochure said
an English mountain guide would be provided.
Not to worry, we managed to communicate
by hand signals.
But I missed any commentaries on the mountain
which an English guide would be able to give.
Some pictures
1) I don't have a good view of Kinabalu
from a distance ðŸ˜
Because it was shrouded in clouds all the time.
Here, you can just make out
the "Donkeys Ear" peak.
Start walking from Timpohon Gate
From the start at Timpohon Gate,
the guide led and walked in a slow even pace.
He was too slow for me, so I overtook him ...
which was a hint to him that
I was capable of walking much faster 😊
My enthusiam didn't last long though ðŸ˜
The path was like a staircase,
every single step was going upwards.
Soon, I was tired, soaking wet in sweat,
and decided it was better for him to lead
and walk in a slow pace.
You can see I was new to climbing mountains
and committed the cardinal sin ...
never overtake a mountain guide.
2) Me ... in a typical resting hut along the way.
During the climb, I met a young American couple
who were married only few days ago
and were there for their honeymoon.
Amazing !!!
Even more amazing was that
the idea of climbing Kinabalu was hers ...
to test his manhood !!!
It was easy for her as
she didn't carry any backpack.
She got her husband to do the donkey work.
Smart girl !!!
When the honeymoon is over,
bet he won't be so willing to be a slave again 😊
3) A typical scene along the trail.
- You can see the "Donkeys Ear".
- The guy in this photo is my guide.
Laban Rata, the halfway lodge
Five hours later,
we reached Laban Rata, the halfway lodge,
where all climbers would spend the night.
I was very tired.
Because I didn't do much exercise
prior to the climb.
Because I had a flu then
which was good enough an excuse
for not doing anything 😊
I thought I was still young and strong 😊
hence I thought a run around the block
once in a while was good enough.
4) Laban Rata, the halfway lodge.
- Every Kinabalu climber spends the night here.
At dinner time,
I was seated with the Australian couple with whom
we were supposed to be together in one group.
The wife didn't seem enthusiastic.
Her look told everyone
she had rather be in a 5-star hotel
than halfway up a mountain.
In fact, she didn't even bothered
to hike to the peak the next day.
In terms of sleeping, the bunker style dormitory
in Laban Rata was a horror.
People snored, coughed, flushed toilets.
I couldn't sleep the whole night ðŸ˜
The 2nd day
As I couldn't sleep the whole night,
I was glad to be up at 2am,
had breakfast and off to the summit
with the guide at 2:30am.
It was a good day ...
Ummm ... I mean good night ... no clouds.
The stars and the Milkyway
not only lit up the sky brilliantly,
they also lit up the path.
You could see your way through
just by star light alone.
5) The Donkeys Ear is here.
6) Scenery around the summit.
- The peaks here are not the summit
that we are going to climb.
To the summit
7) This is the summit ... Isn't it magnificent !!!
- It is called Lows Peak.
- Kinabalu has a few peaks.
Lows Peak is the highest ... 4095 meters.
8) The summit is in front.
- It is crowed at the top.
- If you wish, you can use the white rope
to assist you in the climb.
The summit - Lows Peak
We reached the peak at 5:30am.
It was still dark.
I gave the guide 30 Ringgits as tips,
then sat down and waited for the sunrise
due at 6am.
After the sun came up,
one could start to appreciate the beauty
of the surrounding landscape.
It was fantastic.
The rock formation looked as if
they were sculptured by the gods.
No wonder the local Chinese named Kinabalu
"Mountain of the Gods".
9) I made it to the summit !!!
Not long after the sun was up,
the guide wanted to leave.
I said ... ummm ... I hand-signalled that
I wanted another 10 minutes
to soak up the beauty of the place.
I knew why he wanted to go ...
He was cold.
He was scantily dressed,
on shorts and a flimsy jacket.
Whereas I was all properly wrapped up ...
down jacket, beanie, gloves etc.
(But the chill still seeped through.)
Down the mountain
Going down the mountain turned out
to be harder than going up ...
Because my muscle were all melted into jelly.
I could hardly stand, let alone walk.
The guide sensed I was in trouble.
He found a tree branch for me as a walking stick.
Ah, the tips I gave him earlier
was money well spent.
Without the walking stick, I swear
I wouldn't be able to get down the mountain.
Next two days
In the next two days, my muscles were so sore
I could hardly walk.
But I was triumphantly happy;
as I had Kilimanjaro in sight now.
The sore muscles were simply due to
lack of exercise prior to the trip.
I won't be making the same mistake again.😊
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