MOUNT KINABALU - DAY 1 & 2

I had a wonderful experience climbing up Mountain Kinabalu from from Aug 12 - 13. The weather was very good and the sky was clear. We saw magnificent view of sunset at Laban Rata and sunrise at Low's Peak (the highest point at Mount Kinabalu). Everything went on smoothly right upon arrival at Kota Kinabalu International Airport. I thanked Allah the Almighty for that.

Day 1

Arrival at Kota Kinabalu, after checking in at the hotel (we chose hotel instead of backpacker's lodge as we wanted better services), we went to Jesselton Point to have our lunch and to find out more about island hopping packages. It rained at night and I was praying that it'd not rain the next day. Slept early as the tour guide will pick us up at 6.00am.

Day 2

Had breakfast early at 5.30am after subuh prayers. I prayed to God again for good weather and for everything to go on smoothly. The tour guide came and picked us up at 6.00am.

It's a 2 hours drive to the Kinabalu Park from the city area. The guide was cooperative enough to stop his car as when we saw good places for photo opportunity. In fact, the guide was very friendly, informative and knowledgeable. We were lucky to have him as our guide.

Reached Kinabalu park at around 8.00am. Had to wait for the guide to register us for the climb and to pay for all the fees for permit and climbing guide. A guide by the name of En. Rashid, a Kadazan dusun guy, was assigned to us.

The guide took us to Timpohon gate where we started our climb. At the entrance, the results of the last Climbathon were displayed on a board. The top three men did it in less than 3 hours and we planned to climb to Laban Rata in 6 hours! What a big difference! Well, they are pros and we are just recreational climbers, that's the difference!

We started the climb at around 9.00am and we were glad to note that toilet, rest area and water point are available at every 1km. I used the toilet and rest area facilities along the way. I used the toilet at least three times as I had mild diarrohea. It must have been the 'sotong bakar' that I had the night before, even without the chilli dip. As for the water points, I never refilled my streamer with water from the mountain. The water was very cold, it's like water that has been kept in fridge overnight. It's untreated water and it's advisable to use purifying pill to avoid stomach upset. Of all the things, I forgot to bring the purifying pill. Regret not, I didn't have to drink the untreated water as I had enough isotonic drink to rehydrate myself up and down the mountain. In fact I was surprised that I didn't finish 1.25 liters of isotonic drink on the way up.

We were given packed lunch that consisted friend chicken wing, two hard boiled eggs, sandwiches, apple, coke and mineral water. I ate the lunch around 12 noon at KM3.

We took a long break at KM3 for lunch and fed friendly squirrels like the one below with bananas from the hotel.

The day was cloudy, misty and breezy too. It was cold and some climbers were seen putting on their warm clothing. I chose not too as I could still withstand it and in fact I enjoyed the change in weather condition.

As we were getting closer to Laban Rata (midway lodge), the weather was getting colder and the surroundings looked more beautiful with more and more conifers.

As for the trail, we were hiking steps all the way up, mostly man made hiking steps. It's simple hiking without any of those tough terrains like what we experienced in Nuang and Ledang. However, it doesn't mean it's not challenging. It's about endurance and fitness!

If pictures are worth more than a thousand words, then the pictures below can give better idea on how the trail looks like. The surface changed from clay to rock as we climbed to higher altitude.

We reached Laban Rata at 2.30pm, that means we managed to do it within 5.5hours, 30 minutes earlier than our target. Here, we enjoyed the sunset scenery from our room. The sunset was magnificent and the climbers were there at the balcony to snap pictures. And I thanked God for the opportunity and for having a safe and successful journey so far.

We had our dinner of fresh greens, eggs, lamb, beef and chicken before retired for the night. Thank you to the porters like two of them below who transport fresh foods to Lab Rata Lodge for the climbers daily. I dozed off early at 7.30pm to get ready for the next day's final push to the summit, Low's Peak, 4,092.5 meters above sea level.