20 September 2007

Mount Kinabalu

Because Soon Yean finally published a post on our Mount Kinabalu trip and Robert linked him, I decided that I wanted to be better. I’m going to do both, publish a post AND link to Soon Yean’s post! Call it kiasu-ism at its best, or worst. *Bwuek*

I must start off by apologizing for taking THIS long to update. Lack of motivation – it’s everyone’s fault except my own.

Anyway, as some of you know, plans for our Mount Kinabalu expedition were underway as early as January this year. If you’re planning such a trip for yourself too, we strongly recommend confirming your travel dates early. I understand from Robert (who made most of the arrangements – thanks buddy!), you can’t climb Mt Kinabalu if you don’t have your accommodation arrangements at Laban Rata confirmed before hand. And of course there’s no Genting Highlands Resorts up there so the rooms are snapped up pretty quickly. You can make your bookings as far as 6 months in advance, and I recommend you do so. More info available here.

Moving along…

Nearing the actual dates, we tried to get our act together by getting in shape. Actually it was just 2 or 3 miserable attempts at Bukit Gasing and Bukit Kiara. Now that I’ve been to the top of Mount Kinabalu and back, my advice to anyone else is forget the bukit-bukit (hills) you find in your area. If you’re serious about getting your body (read legs) ready for the climb, walk stairs! I shit you not. Build up your leg muscles by climbing or descending staircases EVERYDAY! Much of the hike up to Laban Rata is stair-like.

Also, if you’re thinking of packing light, that’s a great idea. But just in case you have extras to carry, like your girlfriend’s backpack when she gets tired, I also recommend you work on your back. Try doing the staircase exercise with a 5 to 10 kilo backpack. If you attempt my suggested exercise and fail (your leg/back muscles give way) do one of the following two:
a) train more
b) cancel your trip

This was our travel itinerary, which you can follow or maybe even enhance to suit your interests. The actual hike up and down the mountain will take a full 2 days and 1 night. We added an extra two nights just so that we wouldn’t have to rush – total 4 days 3 nights in Kinabalu.

Day 1 - fly into Kota Kinabalu. They have a small cozy international airport there so it’s possible to fly in from other countries, although I don’t know the routes. Of course we flew in from KL.

From there, you’ll need to find your way to Kinabalu park. There are a number of ways to do this, i.e. bus, taxi, on foot (highly not recommended). Or you can do what we did – rent a car. A 1,500cc Proton Wira cost us RM90/day, petrol not included). We were a group of 4 so it was ideal. Having a rental allowed us the flexibility to stop by in KK town (10mins from airport) to get Robert, have a meal and do some last minute shopping for essentials.

We didn’t spend too much time in KK before continuing our journey to Kinabalu Park. The journey is very much like driving from KL to Genting Highlands… nothing much spectacular. It got very misty at one part of our journey that we could barely see a few meters in front of the car. Soon Yean did quite well with Grace as his navigator. We stopped along the way to stretch our legs and buy bananas at the roadside stalls.

Trivia – bananas, chocolates and nuts are great sources of energy. I recommend Snickers® - high in both chocolate and nuts. If they ever come up with a banana+nut-filled version of Snickers®… hmmm….

It wasn’t much later when we found ourselves at the Kinabalu Park headquarters. This is where some of the numerous Kinabalu Park lodges are located. People generally check-in for a night before starting their Summit trail hike at Timpohon gate early the next morning. However, our group’s plan was to hike Mesilau trail. Mesilau trail is a longer, more scenic route. After about 6.5km it joins up with Summit trail’s 4.5km mark (approximate) near the Layang-layang rest hut. Mesilau Trail steps are smaller than the huge ones at the early stages of Summit Trail, so it’s somewhat easier to climb at the expense of distance and time.

Soon after we reached Mesilau Nature Resort and checking in, we were sitting down for a nice dinner at the restaurant. To be honest, I was not expecting very much. Pricing in their menu is like much of the mountain, a bit steep. It’s on par with any esteemed café in town. They also have the ambience and setting to go with it so I was not disappointed. The real surprise was that the food was actually really good. The four of us went back to our rooms with happy tummies. Kudos to the chef and staff!

We took the shared hostel known as Bishop’s Head Hostel. There are a number of rooms there with each room housing 3 double-decker beds – so it sleeps six people. We had it to ourselves as there weren’t many travelers climbing from Mesilau on the weekday. Temperature at this altitude is already at the lower end of 20’s, and higher end of 10’s at night. I would have liked to oversleep the next morning but the excitement of the climb didn’t permit it.

We packed a set lunch each from the restaurant, which included tuna or egg sandwich, bananas, chicken wing, a hard-boiled egg and a bottle of mineral water. We had some of the sandwiches for breakfast.

Unsure of how our bodies would be affected by the climb and the altitude, we decided to head out early – 8am. We were the first group to leave on the trail. I truly truly truly hated being in the front because there were lots and lots of transparent spider webs hanging across the trail and I kept walking my face into them. After that experience, I am strongly against being the first to walk the trail in the morning.

We went a slow but steady pace and it took 9 hours for us to get from Mesilau Nature Resort to Laban Rata, arriving shortly past 5pm. Some of the things I noticed, worth mentioning, you should look out for…
- Kipuyut bridge which hangs over a beautiful stream with a spectacular waterfall to one side and the rest of the steady stream to the other.
- Watch as the scene of the forest around you transforms from something so normal, so familiar, into something right out of a Harry Potter movie, with low trees and thick fogs.
- Look through the gaps between the trees when you hit the top of hill ranges. Don’t miss the picturesque view of the valleys and low lands below. Where the weather is good, you may even see as far as the South China Sea in the distant horizon.
- Observe the detail of Summit Trail… I strongly suspect that much of it is actually a waterfall which has had its water diverted off the route so that we can safely traverse it.
- The view from above the clouds is heaven-like, and blinding at the same time.
- It was rainy pretty much the entire time so the wilderness was quiet. But rain or shine, the squirrels and rats which camp at each of rest huts are adorable. You’ll just fall right in love with them and start giving them food you brought for yourself. Heck, you might even snatch food from your friends to feed the animals. And notice how they get bigger/fatter the higher up you climb.

At Laban Rata, the mess hall is full of life with many a climber sitting around with a hot drink or warm food, sharing stories of their climb to this point and their expectations of the next stage. This is where you’ll find expensive yet lousy food, but still appreciate it. This is also where I bought my very own pair of Kampung Adidas as my pair of RockPort hiking shoes gave way to the abuse on the way up. RM14 for 2 pieces of rubber and a pair of black shoelaces. Best money I’ve ever spent… serious!

Temperature at this altitude was about 9 degrees Celsius and once again the view was astounding. Our beds were waiting for us at Gunting Lagadan hut, another 10 minutes hike away. The gate to the next and infinitely more perilous stage of the climb is also here. The rooms had double-decker beds as well, sleeping 4 in each room, perfect for our group.

We sat around for a bit complaining about the sore backs and feet and then got to preparations for the next stage. I believe it was barely 8pm when we put out the lights. Early indeed, but if the next phase was to begin at 2.30am, 8pm wasn’t early enough.

I don’t know why we did it, but we really didn’t have to… set our alarms that is. At 2am the noise from climbers getting ready in the hallways is loud enough to wake the dead (given that we slept like the dead). We left most of the non-essentials there in our room and climbed the rest of the way with just warm clothes on our back, a raincoat, camera, torchlight, water, and some light snacks. All that fits into a nice fat hip pouch. The huge backpack you hiked up with can be left in the room because the biggest item in there (read your warm clothing) is already on your back.

At 2.30am, it was still dark and stormy and our guide didn’t care much for letting us out there so soon. 15 minutes later we were off. I was a bit concerned about reaching the peak on time. Sunrise was scheduled at 6.05am and no amount of complaining in the world could ever postpone that event. As you can imagine, the scenery up there – pitch black. Apart from the light coming from our foreheads pointed at the ground 3 feet in front of us, we couldn’t see anything else. It was just step after step after step after step.

The winds got stronger as we passed well above the trees and there was nothing left to shield us from the burning cold winds except our clothes. My advice: wear 2 layers of climate control material beneath your hooded jacket and use weather proof gloves and shoes. Turning around and looking into the distant, I noticed it was a cloudless dark sky. We could see the lights from the small towns below and even that which was shining all the way from Kota Kinabalu. Breathtaking view!

I like our guide Morris even though I don’t know how to spell his name. He was very encouraging all the way through. He kept our pace and made sure we reached the peak on time.

5.50am, our destination finally reached us – Low’s Peak, 4,092 meters above sea level, the highest peak on the mountain . It was still pitch black except for the lights coming from the torches of the other climbers. We all took turns gathering around the peak for photos. That was the most horrible photo experience I’ve ever had. It was just too cold to smile. When I tried holding the camera, the thick, wet gardening gloves I wore made it impossible for me to press the buttons on the camera. And when I removed the gloves, my fingers were too stiff and shaky to operate the camera properly. Dumbfounding!

I truly regret reaching the peak so early. A 15 minute wait for the sunrise at that altitude, in that weather, is like an eternity in hell (if hell were to freeze over). It wasn’t long before Low’s Peak got too crowded and so we moved downwards to put some of the rocks between us and the wind. That helped little, but it was still appreciated.

As the sun came up the veil of shadow was lifted from the lands below, revealing the most magnificent sights I have ever laid eyes on. The closest thing to it I’ve ever seen before was only on TV, and it was still nowhere near the real thing. The view was… it was… I give up… it just cannot be defined with my limited vocabulary. Just get up there yourself and you will see what I mean.

No time to reflect on our achievements. I was too eager to get back down to warmer temperature. At that time, even 10 degrees Celsius seemed warm to me. That’s colder than any office air-conditioning system would give you. But I would still have preferred it to the near freezing temperatures at the summit.

As we slowly made our way back down the summit, we could finally breathe in the enormity of the mountain. With light, the dark and beastly mountain had transformed into a vast and beautiful rocky landscape. The trickling water from early showers made each and every rock glisten with shimmery light.

To the end of the highest rock plateau in Malaysia, we could now see how treacherous our climb up was. Had we noticed it any earlier, we would probably had taken even more care when coming up. Some might have even given up before making that climb had it been visible. But now that we were up there, the only way to go was down.

And so we took it a foot at a time, with one hand on the rope, and another hand on the rock for balance, and a third invisible hand hanging on to friends for support… knowing that someone will be quick enough to reach us before we fall if we slipped. I strongly believe that that is the bond the four of us built on this trip to conquer Mount Kinabalu. To know that if any of us trips, there will be others quick to catch us before we hit the ground. I now have more trust in them than ever before.

It took as long to get back to the Gunting Lagadan hut as it did to get from there to the summit. We made it back there just before 9.30am and collapsed in bed. Checkout was to be at 11am so that gave us close to an hour’s rest. Our final stage – descending. The weather was still wet with light showers here and there. We were so fed up with having to keep putting on and taking off our ponchos that we just left it on till the last bit.

The first part of the descent was quick and fluent. But I didn’t realize how quick my legs would yield to the constant downhill pace. Barely halfway through, our entire group was down to a slow and steady pace once again. As we went below the clouds, the familiar forest we saw just the day before reappeared once again. With each step, the trees grew taller and taller. Making our way down, the stair-like trail was becoming a nightmare for our legs and minds. At each corner we turn, we would be greeted by more stairs.

4.5 hours later, we made it to Timpohon gate, the start/end of Summit Trail. I was so relieved that it was finally over. A 10 minute van-ride away was once again Kinabalu Park Headquarters where we picked up our certificates and our car. I volunteered to drive the journey back to Kota Kinabalu since the others seemed to be no better off than I.

We had pre-booked a hotel in town for that evening. As we got back into town we began to speculate about the hotel and its layout – “I sure hope the hotel has a lift because I don’t think I can climb anymore stairs”! Hilarious bunch we are. Due to budget constraints, all 4 of us shared the 2 single beds in the small room. We were out cold by 9.30pm.

The next day was a relaxing one at the nearby mall – CenterPoint for a massage (canceled because it was too expensive), and also the Filipino market to pick up some souvenirs. Our flight back to KL was delayed slightly and when we got back to Soon Yean’s apartment, we found Grace’s car battery dead. But that’s another story altogether.

For those of you who are looking to try Mt Kinabalu, the following sites have helped me gather invaluable information.
http://www.mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/wi3/huaying1/sabah.html

Also, consider making a stop at the nearby Poring Hotsprings after your climb, before returning to town.

And please take good care on such a trip. Any attempt to climb Mount Kinabalu or any other mountain of this caliber is no laughing matter. Lives have been lost (even on Mt Kinabalu) on the account of recklessness and poor planning so please prepare yourselves well, both physically and psychologically.

Trivia: The fastest anyone has made it from Timpohon to Summit and back to Timpohon - below 3hrs - mad people!

If you’ve read all the way up to this point, I take my hat off to you. Please leave a message. Thank you!

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