Mt Kinabalu - and the rest of KK

We flew into Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah in Western Borneo on Tuesday night, spent the night there and the next morning were on a public bus (pronounced rickety old mini-van) heading to Mt Kinabalu. The bus ride to the mountain was less than ideal. We arrived at the bus station thinking the bus was going to leave by 7.30, but close to an hour later we finally departed. The ride itself was quite average too. The bus was so old and run down that it could barely handle the steep roads leading to the base of the mountains, and we found ourselves being overtaken by trucks regularly.

Nevertheless, we finally made it to the base of the mountain, and after jumping through the administrative hoops required (and paying huge amounts of money) we were ready to climb.

The first day’s climb was 6km to the Laban Rata rest house located halfway up the mountain. The first day wasn’t too bad, and we made steady progress up the mountain. We rarely saw our guide the whole day, but he kept popping up intermittently. I don’t think a guide is really needed as the track is very well marked out, but it is a requirement of the park to have one to climb the mountain. The terrain and climate changes quite noticeably as you climb. At some parts we were able to see the pitcher plants which only grow in Borneo. Towards the end of the day the wind started to pick up and it became very cold, but eventually we made it to the rest house after about 4.5hrs of solid walking uphill.

The rest house itself is quite nice (but freezing cold). It lacks heating or hot water, but the dorms are acceptable, and the staff there feed you as much as your heart desires. The first night we were given a buffet dinner. We woke at 2am the next morning to be treated to a buffet supper. After “supping” we started the climb to the summit at 2.30am with the aim of reaching the top by sunrise. It was quite a crowded climb with many other tourists there, and as such was slow going. The last 2km is up rock face, and the climbing is assisted by ropes. In some places it is steep enough that found I could not stand and needed to crawl up.

After about 3hrs of tough uphill climbing we made it to the top just before sunrise. It was a bit crowded so we couldn’t stay long. Even without the crowds we could not have remained at the top for long because it was so cold. Every time you stopped moving, your body would start to freeze. This was quite a surprise, considering the extreme heat we faced in the town of Kota Kinabalu, only 2hrs away.

After taking our photos and admiring the unique view, we made our way back down the mountain, stoping for buffet breakfast at Laban Rata. The descent wasn’t anywhere near as tiring as the climb, but it was very straining on the legs. The last kilometre was the toughest, and by the time we reached the end each step was painful.

The legs were sore for the next two days, and climbing stairs proved to be quite the challenge. But nevertheless, the mountain climbing experience was definitely worth it.

Now onto the town of Kota Kinabalu (KK): We had trouble finding decent accommodation their, staying in three different hostels on each of the three nights we stayed there. But it did prove to be a case of third time lucky, with the Kinabalu Backpackers Lodge proving to be the best. The town has a really good market, one of the best I have seen, and Philippino BBQ which we ate for dinner there was excellent (if not a little messy to eat). The shopping in the town is much better than Kuching, but nowhere near the standard of KL or Singapore.

Other than that we spent one day at Sapi Island which is part of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, just off the coast of KK. We spent the day snorkelling there. It was my first time snorkelling, so it was fun to be swimming through the coral and fish. The island itself, much like the town of KK, was nothing spectacular, but a passable tourist destination.