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Published: April 7th 2009
Ross:
On Wednesday 18th March we caught the bus from Sandakan to Ranau, on the road to Kota Kinabalu, and jumped off a kilometre after the Kinabalu Park turning. We'd made a reservation to stay at Mountain Lodge, just outside the park, as a cheaper alternative to the lodgings inside the park proper. Luckily, we'd read a few reviews about Mountain Lodge prior to arrival and had stocked up with some noodles, fresh vegetables and tea/coffee-making paraphernalia. The lodge was about another kilometre from the main road, fairly isolated down a rough track. On the way, Polly took an unexpected and painful slip onto her arse with her full rucksack load, whilst manoeuvring out of the way of a pick-up truck. Luckily, the driver of the vehicle took pity on her and gave us a lift the rest of the way.
As per the online reviews, the place was fairly secluded and we seemed to be the only lodgers for the night, until a group of three Singaporeans turned up a bit later. The guy who manages the lodge was very cheerful and friendly but spoke little English, so after showing us to our room (two mattresses on the
floor with slightly damp bedding), we were left with little else to do other than cook up our stir-fry noodles and relax in front of the TV for the evening. The clouds closed in, the jungle nightlife broke into chorus, and we eventually drifted off to sleep.
The next morning we were up early, with our daypacks stocked full of overnight stuff for the two-day hike up Mount Kinabalu. We walked the mile to the main park, registered for our permits, guide and mountain accommodation, and set off.
The whole of Mount Kinabalu National Park is owned by the Malaysian government but managed by a monopolising resort management company called Sutera. As such, climbing the mountain is not exactly cheap. Nonetheless, it was on our list of things to do, and we were just relieved to have secured places at such short notice. The accommodation on the mountain is very limited but the price includes a total of five meals, most of which is hauled up to the mid-mountain lodges by porters with bulging leg muscles. We decided against paying a porter to carry our personal packs, but this option is also available.
Our walk in Kinabalu
Park wasn't exactly a walk in the park. We set off from Timpohon Gate at 1800m with our guide, Fred, at about 8.45am, covering the first 6 kilometres and 1500m of vertical at a steady pace. The majority of the lower climb is a mixture of roughly cut steps and rock-hopping through temperate rainforest. We spent most of the first day's climb in a cloud which kept us cool, and didn't really obscure any views due to the density of trees. At about 11am we encountered the first few people descending from the previous day's ascent, most of whom seemed relatively sprightly, apart from a miserable English git who did nothing but moan about how much more difficult it was on the way down. Unbeknownst to us at the time, he was well and truly correct.
After a brief lunch stop, we finally broke out of the dense forest at about 3000m, shortly before reaching the small cluster of lodges at Laban Rata at 3300m, four and a half hours after we'd initially set off. We spent the rest of the afternoon acclimatising, resting and eating from the buffet at the Laban Rata restaurant. Our lodge, the Gunting Lagadon
hut, was only about 20m higher than the restaurant but each journey back and forth felt like a major mission in itself, what with the thin air and already-exhausted legs. The heavens opened a bit later on in the afternoon and we were relieved to be in the shelter whilst we watched some of the late arrivals traipse in, drenched to the bone.
Our hut consisted of a series of four bed dorms, so after a shower, an early dinner and a beautiful sunset over the South China Sea (which the clouds conveniently parted for), we turned in for the night at about 8pm, with our sole roomy, Adrian from North London.
We'd been advised to bring warm clothing, waterproofs and torches for the climb but so far had managed in shorts and T-shirts. However, the ascent to the summit started at 2.30am the following morning so, after a brief 'supper' of french toast and coffee, we headed out in the darkness to ascend the remaining 800m, over 2.7km, up to the summit. The temperature at 3300m was down to about 10º C (compared with a steady 30º C at sea level) so we were feeling the chill,
Fred, our guide
Only real men wear pinkbut soon started stripping off layers as we warmed up. The first section was a never-ending series of steep wooden steps and more rock-hopping, made all the more difficult by the fact that Polly's recently acquired torch decided to give up the ghost. Nonetheless, we developed a rhythm, with me covering five metres or so, then shining the torch to enable Polly to follow. Eventually, the moonlight was bright enough for us to continue without the torches altogether, stopping every so often to watch the remaining torchlight snake of climbers ascending below us
We arrived at the first rope section, where the trail traverses occasional exposed slabs of granite - hand ropes are provided at intervals because the rock gets fairly slippery when wet - eventually reaching the Sayat Sayat checkpoint at about 4am. The final section of the climb is across much more exposed rock and a rope runs for the majority of the length of the climb. The shallower sections aren't too bad as long as you plod along slowly. Your body almost has enough time to adjust to the change in height and the lack of oxygen. However, the steeper sections really take it out of
you and require regular breaks in between. The rocky plateau seemed endless, but the looming rocky outcrops and brightening sky make for a breathtaking last kilometre.
The last couple of hundred metres is fairly steep, but with Fred eagerly pushing us on (not literally!) we eventually reached the 4095m summit at 5.20am, ten minutes before sunrise. The clouds had completely cleared by this point so the vista was mind-blowing (apart from one pesky cloud on the horizon which happened to be blocking the sun itself). The temperature with windchill was down to about 2º C by this point so fingers and toes were starting to go numb. A lot of people were suffering with the altitude, us included, with symptoms such as mild nausea, headaches and dizziness so, after congratulating briefly at the top, we were eager to start our descent back down to breakfast at Laban Rata.
The initial climb down wasn't so bad but Polly started to feel fairly sick just before reaching the huts. We were relieved to finally get back to the warmth of Laban Rata at about 7.30am. Unfortunately, over the course of breakfast, fatigue starting setting in and the task of covering
the 6km back to the bottom started to seem a lot less appealing. However, at 9am after some hard-earned and hearty nosh, we decided to make a go of it.
Polly's knees decided they'd had enough with about 4km left to go. The problem with going down, especially steep sections, is the inability to avoid impact on the knees. Unless, you've got fairly long legs, it's difficult to transfer weight gradually when stepping down, unlike on the way up. With the English guy's prior warning ringing in our ears, and Polly starting to look like the recipient of a birthday telegram from the Queen, we made a team effort of hobbling down the seemingly endless rocky trail, with a combination of carefully-considered moves both forwards, backwards and sideways. Pol was treated to some respite half way down when we managed to alleviate some poor Taiwanese tourist of his wooden hiking pole. It was a slow, agonising process but we made it back to Timpohon Gate at about 2.30pm and collapsed in time for yet another extensive all-you-can eat lunch, courtesy of the Park HQ. A truly physical and mental challenge which we'd seriously underestimated (climbing the mountain, not lunch)...
Our comprehensive packed lunch...
...but what to eat first? The chicken or the egg? After lunch, we hailed a cab back to Mountain Lodge and sank a couple of beers in front of the TV. This time we had the place entirely to ourselves, which was a little bit spooky come nightfall, helped along by the sizeable eight-legged beast in one of the bathrooms.
A good night's sleep didn't do much for Pol's poor legs so, after checking out, we hobbled back down the track to the main road. We were luckily picked up within a matter of minutes by an empty tourist minivan returning to Kota Kinabalu, the driver of which was more than happy to take us to the city for a very reasonable fare.
The journey down to Kota Kinabalu took about two hours, and we were eventually dropped at our pre-booked hostel (Beach House Hostel) adjacent to Tanjung Aru beach, about 6km out of the city centre, and near the Air Asia terminal at the airport. We then proceeded to spend the next three days doing very little and walking not-very-far, enjoying a few tasty meals at the hawker stalls on the beach front, a couple of afternoons on the beach and in the sea, and an
Porters carrying supplies to Laban Rata
Check out the guy's calf muscles on the right evening in Kota Kinabalu with some Norwegian friends, Tore and Jeanette, whom we'd met in Semporna and also bumped into on the mountain.
We finally checked in for our return flight to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday 24th March, after a thoroughly enjoyable and action-packed, albeit occasionally crippling, tour of Sabah.
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