Mount Kinabalu: Day 1

I got up and went early to find the bus station  so I could make my way to Mount Kinabalu.

The staff in the hostel told me the bus leaves at 7:30, I’m not sure why they said that as it’s well known to leave at 8am, maybe it was to make sure I wasn’t late. Anyway I got there nice and early, but ended waiting over an hour for them to leave, which would delay my climbing start. But hey, it was 1/10 the cost of a taxi and 1/8 of the cost of renting a car and making my own way there.

Bus ride was the usual small (converted Toyota van) affair with poor Malaysian driver, I really see no idea why all these public bus drivers have to take so long to change gear and braking ability is limited to stamping on and off in a digital matter, what’s so hard about smooth braking anyway? There was some nice sights on route though when I wasn’t staring at the back of my eyelids. I was certainly pleased I didn’t drive here myself though as I saw no road signs and plenty of junctions where I could have got lost.

On arrival I was pleased that it was quite easy to get around and the staff here actually have a clue what’s going on. I got my climbing permit, packed lunch, and asked for the transport to the entrance gate due to running late and to save my legs a bit, this again was well worth it because it wasn’t the shortest of drives away, all uphill too.

I was with a newly wed couple from London, England, and Egawa, a man from Japan. Eguwa after shaking my hand bowed down in an infectious way so I did it back, and he did it again, I’m not sure when to stop this but it certainly reinforced my opinion that Japan and the Japanese are awesome, fascinating and attractively strange people. Robert-San he called me, and for a moment I felt like the karate kid.

The staff also made Egawa pay me some money, I think this was because I paid to go up alone with 1 guide and the transport, but as he was joining me, and the newly-weds (who I haven’t got the name of) discount for those things made it cheaper for me, which was nice.

Arriving at the Mountain entrance and it was time to go. My packed lunch consisted of 3 sandwiches (Malaysia’s idea of a sandwich is 2 bits of bread and a slab of butter cut and put in the middle – it’s something they need to work on), a piece of cold fried chicken, 2 boiled eggs (I don’t like boiled eggs), an apple, bottle of water and can of 100Plus. So at the gate I bought another can of 100Plus – lime flavour, and a bar of cadburys chocolate, and I’m sure the sugar rush will be needed later. I also rented a bamboo walking stick (best 3RM I’ve ever spent) off my guide Lucy. She was middle aged and tiny at under 5 foot tall, not what I was expecting for a guide, but still I knew right at that moment she’d be embarassing my fitness level later on.

We left about 12:30, they advice to not leave after 11 Just after the start a nice scenic spot arrived so me and Eguwa took pictures of each other, he pulled an inspiringly stupid face for it as those crazy Japanese like to do.

Anyway we set on, instantly uphill this is not going to be easy, Egawa seemed to shoot off quite quickly after that, which is a shame as I had my learn Japanese mp3 files playing and thought we could have a good chat, I also wanted to ask if he’s climbing Mount Fuji (if this mountain goes ok, the Mount Fuji will be going on the to-do list).
I passed a waterfall and noticed there is certainly a few butterflies around too, I managed to get a good picture of one:

The walk to the accomodation is 6km away, doesn’t sound much, but its all uphill, and takes just under an hour per km on average most people find. There is resting points on route which is shelted in case of rain, if it does rain then the climb will be cancelled as it will be too slippery and dangerous. Me and the newly weds (who had their own guide, Lucy was for me and Egawa only) got to the 1km mark to the resting area, Egawa looked bored and ready to go, he was already there, Lucy told him he doesn’t have to wait. So he went on ahead. I never saw him again in the entire climb.
After the rest, a bit of water and block of choclate we set off again. The view got nicer too.

The climbing really started to get harder here, so I had my first opportunity to pull a stupid face, thanks to Lucy for taking it. I made 1.5km about an hour or so in. I really can’t think of how to keep writing about climbing, it’s just walking up rediculously steep steps until you need to collapse, take a break, bit of water, food, cool down and let the heart rate calm down, and continue.
After the 2km mark Mountain squirrels started to become a common sight, mainly at the rest areas where they scavenge for food, a guide said they are fat enough and don’t need feeding anymore, indeed they are a bit fat for their size, but they seem like a really small breed of squirrel though:

More climbing ensued, I noticed the porters more now, These guys and girls are available for rent and take 10kg up and down the mountain for you. I declined to save a bit of money, plus this was a challenge; lets not try bottling out of things!. I was carrying 16kg for reference. The porters seem to carry 4-5 bags at a time. Which in my opinion is insane, that’s 40-50kg! Up a mountain!

I crossed paths with a guy who I met briefly in a hostel a couple of nights ago when I left, from Plymouth in England, he made it to the top but said his knees are seriously painful as he didn’t take a walking stick, I was certainly putting my walking stick to use, and glad I had it. There is rope guide up a few sections to help assist the climb, but they arn’t all the way up like advertised. Walking stick in one hand, and usually water bottle in the other I seldom used it anyway.

I went past the 3km mark and shortly after 2 men informed me I would be missing dinner as I’m quite far down, and dinner finishes at 7pm. Great. So I tried to pick the pace up a bit. The large steps are actually the hardest part I found, they are steep, slow you down, and you really have to put in a knees up effort to ascend. Some shorter women I noticed really struggled on a few they were that tall (maybe 3.5 foot tall steps). It certainly got me sweating, but at least the breeze got cooler, which was nice.

After 4km it was rocky nearly all the way there. I actually found the rocks easier to navigate and you can quickly jump around between them and make good progress. I wasn’t the only one to notice this too. It’s pretty much twice as fast. I also slipped a few times losing my footing, luckily my boots paid themselves off here as I never suffered from a twisted ankle on my climb. This is certainly something you should NOT attempt in flip flops/sandals. It was then around 4km I looked up and saw the peak for the first time during the climb, did I think ‘wow, fantastic, wonderful, awe inspiring’? No – I just thought ‘how am I supposed to get up there?’

I was getting to the end about 4hours later and the views just got more stunning the further you climb. Eventually reaching the top, registering first they put me in a dorm in house rather then a seperate house I was supposed to go to. This place is where the starting point is tomorrow, where the cafe is, as well as being heated. The place I booked is none of those, so I was pretty pleased :D Dinner was ok, but prices of drinks were extortionate. 20rm for a small tiger beer. I felt drunk anyway due to the aphyxiation so no need for that, I settled for a twice the price as normal sprite. Someone left a kitkat where I ate too, so I had that as well. My appetite certainly was up at this place. Whilst eating a smiling face seemed to jump over tables and come out of nowhere to give me a quick man hug. It was Egawa.

AR: I only just arrived (it was 6:30pm), how long have you been here?
Egawa: Haha, I got here at 4pm.
AR: WHAT? You must have ran or something
Egawa: Haha, no, just walked normally. Is this your first time?
AR: Yes it was, Have you ever climbed Mount Fuji?
Egawa: [Laughs and seems to bang his head on the table laughing so much]
Egawa: Yes
AR: How many times?
Egawa: haha, thr*** [couldn’t understand him]
AR: 3 times?
Egawa: Haha, no, thirty.
AR: [Pulls expression only Egawa knows, but a cross between a dropped jaw and shock I think]
AR: Do you live close then?
Egawa: Yes, very close, anyway, eat lots I’m going now.

I settled in my bed realised out of the 4 beds in the room I was the only one in there. And the moment I started to dream about one of those Dream Factory Mattress Outlet units would be the ultimate thing to make me happy, a man came in and said he was in this room but his friend is in another and did I mind moving the mattress out so he could stay in the same room as his friend. Lets just say I was more then happy to hold the doors open for him to get the mattress through.

Tagged as: Borneo, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Travel