Mount Kinabalu, Sabah

I've stopped travelling for awhile at least to overseas since the year 2013. Hence, I start my vacation again for 2014 with a challenging trip that I've been wanting long ago which is the Mount Kinabalu climbing trip !

The planning and booking were actually started about a year ago as the responses are always good especially during peak seasons. So here we go ! A little briefing on the route, rules and safety precautions before the start.

So it began !

We were accompanied by 2 accredited guides as required by National Park regulations. There are two main trails for the climb which are the Timpohon Gate (6 km) and Mesilau trail (8 km). We chose Timpohon Gate and started climbing around 11:00 am :D

Kinabalu Park is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna that changes in nature as your altitude increases. There are still a lot of greeneries before reaching Laban Rata. Near the top of the mountain the trees thin out and give way to shrubs and stones.

The last 2km is entirely rocky and turned into a water course when the rain started. We stopped by at the fourth rest point for awhile due to heavy rain and thunder storm. We had to continue our climb later in the rain due to time constraint and finally we reached Laban Rata Resthouse at around 5:00 pm.

We then rested and had our dinner before we went to sleep at 8:30 pm. We slept for few hours and woke up at around 1:00 pm to have breakfast before the last part of the climb to the peak. We then started to climb at 2:30 pm. The distance from Laban Rata to the summit is 2.7 km hence there is only 1 check point at Sayat-Sayat Hut. We then rushed up again for the sunrise !

We stopped by behind the big rocks before started descending due to strong chilling wind.

Short rest for some photo :D

Started to descend at around 7:00 am.

We were back to Sayat-Sayat Hut again to check out !

Let's continue to take some more photos along the way...

The descend part is not difficult although it's really steep but we have to be extra careful. The journey down back to Laban Rata only took slightly more than 2 hours.

There are some stuff to bring along other than a good pair of shoe (Kampung Adidas) and warm cloths which are:

  •  Gloves/hat/mask
  •  Extra Socks
  •  Rain and wind gear, raincoat, thick windbreaker, rain cap
  •  Headache tablets
  •  Deep heat lotion (for muscle cramp)
  •  Headlight & new batteries
  •  High energy food (chocolates, nuts, raisins)

We booked through SUTERA SANCTUARY LODGES Kota Kinabalu if you are wondering. It costs RM 600 for Malaysian and RM 682 for non-Malaysian which includes accommodation, shuttle service to National Park, climbing permit, 5 meals, mountain guide, certificate and insurance.

There is a Via ferrata (or iron road in Italian) path consisting of a series of rungs, rails and cables embracing the rock face. There are a lot via ferrata routes around the world and Mount Kinabalu has the world's highest via ferrata. It is a challenging route hence they provide free rental of all safety devices like harness, lanyard and helmet.

Lastly, as always, would like to end this with an amazing view of the South Peak of Mount Kinabalu.