After spending several days around Vietnam, I flew to Kota Kinabalu (on Borneo Island) through Kuala Lumpur (flights through KL always seem to be cheaper). I knew I was back to civilization when our awesome hotel had a back door into a mall. That's SE Asia for ya!
Yeah those are the right colors... |
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia:
The first full day in KK we spent going downtown, having a delicious breakfast/lunch and then trying to find a ferry to one of the islands (I picked Manukan after some research). As we were walking down to the pier a guy stopped us and asked if we were trying to go to the islands and that he can give us a ride (for a price) on his boat. After looking at his actually reasonable prices, we agreed. A few more minutes until we gathered some more passengers, and we were off! It was a shortish, windy ride, but the weather was gorgeous and the view of all the islands, as well as the smell of the sea, was great!
One of the best beaches I was at this summer! |
Manukan itself is a relatively small island, has a resort on it, but is also open to the day tourists such as ourselves. The water was clear and beautiful, and there were fish everywhere. Many would swarm you, though only a few were biting us. I decided to not snorkel, but just relax in the water and on the beach. We then went on a short hike across the island and decided to take the deserted beach route on the way back. Was pretty awesome and beautiful though a bit rocky. I definitely recommend this island.
The rest of the evening was just spent relaxing, and the next morning we checked out and went on to get ourselves to the Kinabalu National Park, from which climbs up Mount Kinabalu are done. I booked everything ahead of time (about 2 weeks) and was lucky as this was the popular season for climbing it apparently. The drive there was on a large coach bus, and the last 45 or so minutes it was epic seeing the mountain through the windows, even though most of the time it was shrouded by clouds.
After checking in at our lodgings in the park, we did some preliminary hiking (was kind of unnecessary considering what lay in the days ahead, and how steep it was) but it was something fun to do. The rooms at the park were a lot better than we expected, that's for sure.
Climb Day 1:
Summit trail with all the rest stops and checkpoints. |
We got up pretty early, around 6:30 am or so, in order to get ourselves dressed, go have the buffet breakfast, collect the packed lunch, and hire a guide. Usually you want to be up at the trail and hiking from around 8:30ish. We found a couple of Brits to share a guide with us to cut costs and set out! Right away, it started being really hot. The first part of the hike, until where most people take their lunch, is about 4 km. We reached it by 11+am, and had a nice break. We were already sweaty and tired, as the whole way up was pretty steep. Didn't see to much interesting stuff a long the way, but it was just beautiful in general. Already that high up the mountain was cooler (at least when you stopped).
Our British companions! |
How the stairs were pretty much the whole way up! |
Climb Day 2:
Laban Rata resthouse |
By 2am or so we were down at the rest house with the rest of the climbers. For some reason I was so awake and energetic! I couldn't really eat much at the buffet "supper", but had a bit, as well as some coffee (first time for me at 2 am, but I wasn't sleeping till that NIGHT, so might as well right?). Muscles were sore and I did end up getting sleepy on the way up, but I was pumped. I won't lie, it was pretty epic starting the hike. A line of climbers in the dark, each with their own headlamps to light the way. Since we were lagging again and I tried to be better at staying back, one of the more awesome sights was looking ahead/up and seeing the winding line of headlamps ahead. Sometimes this made me a bit anxious as to just how high we had to climb.
The first portion of km's 6-8.7ish km was similar to what was before. Lots of stairs, either wooden or made from rocks and soil. Slowly though, this transitioned to more rocks and boulders. At this point somewhere came The Rope. A thick, white, rope, whose purpose was to help you hoist your tired self up certain steps and also to serve as a guide once the terrain became basically barren rock and you had no idea which way to go. I did look down the mountain quite often (mostly to look out for Hau) and the panorama that was emerging was quite magical. Still in the dusk, a while before actual sunrise, one could see the outlines of the hills and the lights of the towns below.
Climbers eating at the resthouse |
I won't lie - I got altitude sickenss somewhere in the last km. This was characterized by lightheadedness (enough to make me stop every 15 or so meters to make sure I didn't fall off the mountain), followed by nausea. This, on top of the cold and the soreness and sleepiness that was coming over me, did not make for a happy Tanya! Many others were experiencing the same, and we all kind of joked about it, which certainly made it easier. Really though, this was quite a challenge to the willpower muscle. Of course I wasn't going to NOT make it! At some point, I just booked it to the top. This was because I could see it, but mostly because this meant I could go back down quicker and not feel so ill anymore.
At the top at sunrise (night mode on) |
Seeing the sunrise at the peak and looking out over the surrounding area made me feel like such a champ! I met up with our Brit friends, took some pictures with them, and waited a little bit for Hau (though certainly not too long). He was being dragged up by our amazing guide just as I was coming down ( I really felt too ill to wait for him much longer), so I told him I'd meet him back for lunch at the resthouse. It was all downhill from there. The exhilirated feeling that I got going down was unimaginable.
Coming down.. couldn't believe we went UP that! |
At the top |
After gathering my things from our dorm room and changing into something more suitable for warmer weather, I went down to the resthouse, met up and had lunch with the Brits, and then waited a couple of hours for Hau. I won't lie, I was getting worried, even though I saw him near the summit and the guide was excellent. Eventually he walked in around 9:30am, had a quick breakfast, and then we were off down the rest of the mountain (6km). Our guide was insistent that we leave by 10 am otherwise we may not make it down in time for lunch haha...
Coming down |
It was pretty good going overall. I could literally have ran down the whole thing, but I just enjoyed the scenery, chatted, and didn't get ahead too much. We passed a lot of porters on the way up, as well as a lot of people who were in our shoes from yesterday. We wished them good luck. I still could not imagine how we went up that thing, as it seemed so steep to me. Anyway, we got done with plenty of time to have a nice lunch and chat with some people. Some were seasoned climbers, who warned us that altitude sickness will strike anyone who is not acclimated, no matter in how good of a shape you are otherwise. I guess that's why my iron lungs and quads of steel were not enough! Haha...
Coming down |
Carrying a mattress up a mountain, nbd |
Anyhow, we then returned to Singapore, had amazing Fish Head Curry, I picked up my luggage, and went back to the airport. There I walked around, and spent the night napping on the chair where I got my foot massage (with calf emphasis, as I asked). Changi Airport really is great!
So ends my story in Asia for the summer of 2012!