Sabah, Malaysia 20.06.2006
At 4095 meters above sea level, Mt. Kinabalu is officially South East Asia's highest peak. It is also one of Sabah's major tourist attractions and only 149 people are allowed to stay each night. When we first arrived we were told that the accomodations were fully booked for the next three weeks. We decided to just show up and hope for a cancellation. Luckily enough we managed to get a spot and started our trek at 7:30 the next morning.
We were introduced to our guide Kenneday, who was a saint and my saviour later on. The hike up to Laban Rata (the end point for day 1 and our accomodation) was easy enough. We had tried our best to prepare for it while in Sagada. I took it slow and just kept moving while Bobby was bouncing around like a Tigger. We did alright with time, it took us about 4.5 hours, they estimate it to take 4 to 6 hours. The jungle was breath taking!! There was constantly a mist clinging to the dense jungle. It did sprinkle on us for about half the way up but it was nice because it helped keep us cool.
We planned ahead for food and ordered some sandwiches from the restaurant outside the park for our dinner and brought up as much snacks as we could carry. The prices are really high at Laban Rata because any supplies needed on the moutain (cooking supplies, cleaning or even construction materials) are brough up on the backs of the porters. That is truly some hard earned money. They are paid by the kilo and it takes them about 2.5 hours to make it up to Laban Rata. It was pretty humbling. We arrived at Laban Rata extremely sweaty, a bit tired but very content!
Day 2- What goes up must come down
We were up at 3 am to start our hike to the summit. My head light broke literally the night before we left as I was trying to replace my batteries and so I was left with nothing more than an LED light which is on my lighter. It wasn't very strong but sufficient. We reached a very steep part where we needed to use a rope to assist in climbing. At that point I needed to put the lighter in my mouth so I could use my hands. I started to feel really nauseous from the altitude; Kenneday was fantastic and really helped me get up the cliff and made sure I was alright.
As we started to approach the summit the sun was just rising, it was truly stunning. The clouds began to gather; it looked more like an island studded sea than a mountain scene. The actual peak wasn't as impressive, every one was just clammoring for a chance for their picture. We took our photo and then lingered on the way down enjoying the views.
"You want me to do WHAT!?" Descend from the steep cliff backwards of course! Yes, that makes perfect sense... So Kenneday was behind me to make sure I don't plummet to a painful death. What a patient man; I basically had my eyes closed so I didn't have to look down and to him it is the most natural thing in the world to just walk down a cliff.
The rest of the way down was just painful. Bobby's knees are typically bad and I never knew I had bad knees until we had to go down. Most of the steps are pretty steep and made for some excruciating moments. It actually took us about an hour longer to get down than it did to get up. We were hobbling so badly at the end we decided to spend an extra night outside the park instead of returning to the main city because the idea of walking any further was out of the question.
