Blogs from Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia

I got up early to catch the 8am bus up to the park. I have no delusions about myself and I know I'm not a mountain climber. For me, there is no sunset spectacular enough to make me climb half a mountain one day, sleep overnight on the mountain, and then arise at 230am to finish the climb in time for sunrise. I saw my friend's photos; while they were beautiful, they didn't inspire me that much. We had clear weather all the way up the mountain. That is, until we reached the park. Suddenly, we were in a cloud. A wet, cold cloud. Mind you, my friend had told me that the park would be plenty warm, so I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I was freezing. I put on the extra shirt I'd ... read more

We had read that climbing Mount Kinabalu was easy, compared to the hassle of organising it. Having done both, we have to disagree completely. Despite having to pay a national park fee, a climbing fee, a guide fee, mandatory insurance, a fee for transport within the park, and a fee for mountainside board and lodgings, the pain on the wallet compares not to the pain in the thighs, calves, knees, feet, head and heart. But it was worth it, just about, for the sense of achievement and awe-inspiring views of Borneo at dawn. It’s not the distance travelled, nor the time spent walking that hurts, it’s the height gained. It’s hard to convey just how steep the climb is. Try to imagine walking up a seemingly never-ending staircase for eight or nine hours. For the mathematically ... read more

We kicked the day off with some serious energy food at the resort’s restaurant. Soffia ate more in this one meal than she had in the entire trip so far. I think that the colder weather and yummy toast helped a lot! We all felt a strange mix of anticipated nervousness and excitement all rolled into one. We walked to the beginning of the Mesilau Trail and met our mountain guide Rony. There was just enough time for some ‘pre-climb’ snaps and then we were off into the unknown! Obviously it was tough at times but in general I found it a nice walk. The last bit up to the rest point was steep and Soffia struggled with the effects of altitude sickness. We all made it to Laban Rata well before sunset though which we ... read more

I had decided to attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Kinabalu (Southeast Asia's highest mountain at 4,095 metres) this time in Sabah seeing that I had given it a miss last year. I went to the Sutera office in Kota Kinabalu and booked a dorm room 2 days later on the mountain for RM522 including 5 meals and the climbing permit. The other costs involved were RM15 for entrance to the park, RM8 for return trip from park headquarters to Timpohon Gate at the start of the trek, and RM38 for the guide (sharing with 3 others). The day before the trek I caught a local minibus (RM20) 2 hours to a guesthouse just 500 metres from the entrance to the park. The place was in a nice position with good views and cost ... read more

Catching the minibus to Kinabablu NP was surprisingly easy, i made the bus full so there was no hanging around and we headed straight off to the National Park. Having told the driver where i wanted dropping off i thought it would be simple, but i forgot i'm in Borneo and nothing to do with public transport is ever simple! The driver missed the drop off point for Kinabalu Mountain Lodge and arrived at the park where he thought i would happily walk the 1km back to where he should have dropped me off then the 1km up the drive way to the lodge. He turned around and took me back. Kinabalu Mountain lodge is in a perfect setting, views over the mountains and into the valley below, vegie garden and its much cooler than the ... read more

From the depths of the ocean to Borneo's highest peak..... it's been a very busy few days!  After 2 days diving and an overnight bus, we arrived at 4am at the park HQ of Mount Kinabalu. We managed to catch a quick nap on the office sofas before trying to organise our paper work, a guide and a way of paying! It was all rather rushed as we only decided the day before (whilst diving at Sipadan) that we wanted to climb the mountain, and a difficult phone conversation with the park headquarters then proceeded! We wanted to climb a couple of days after diving to give ourselves a rest but the only space available was for the next night which meant a long day of travel and then an overnight bus to get there! We ... read more