mt. kinabalu trek- august 2004
This was my first Kinabalu trek. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu airport in the morning and there was the tour guide, Mr Leong, a retired biology teacher, to welcome us as we loaded our luggage. He brought us on a city tour and we saw the city’s prominent mosque. We got off the bus on the way up and took a look at the majestic Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia at 4095.2m. I wondered if we had trained enough, and if we were actually going to climb all the way to its peak(click on pic to see pop-ups).
At the Pines Hill Resort we settled into our rooms in the evening and took some time to catch fantastic views from a wooden platform. The weather was cool and I was still thinking, “Wow, we are going to climb THAT!!??” At the Kinabalu Park Headquarters we registered ourselves, were given identification tags, and introduced to the mountain guides and porters who would carry our bags. Some do make the climb with their bags but we wanted to have an easy climb and enjoy the scenery.
At the Timpohon Gate (1866.4m), the starting point, we saw an
awe-inspiring signboard with names and times of the most recent climbathon. It is hard to believe that there are people who RUN up and down this mountain in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. And we will be doing it over two days, including an overnight rest.
It was an uphill trek with all kinds of steps both man-made and natural - thousands upon thousands, while all around you is cool fresh mountain air, and tall and straight equatorial jungle trees, full of green foliage. There were hardly any mosquitoes. I was beginning to get an idea what this climb was all about and began to wonder if the training in our tiny Bukit Timah Hill in Singapore would be sufficient. Two shirts and a jacket will suffice as the temperatures in the morning were about 20 degrees centigrade and it became pretty warm in the afternoon and we had to take our jackets off. Having a trekking stick helped.
There are about eight shelters along the way before you reach the resting house for the overnight stay. These are a welcome sight as we could just sit and rest (like Linda and
Jenny in pic) and chat for a while, sometimes with strangers. It is interesting that because people you meet on the mountain share a common goal it is easier to chat or say hi to anybody. Besides the shelters, there were also water tanks containing spring water (which Eric drank on the way down and was none the worse for it) and restrooms along
the way. As we got closer to the top, the vegetation changed. It gave way to montane wiry trees and bushes that look like older wiry men, with smaller leaves, and dryer bark. It was also windy, cooler and the oxygen level seems to be thinning, slowing down our movement up. Of course, after five hours or so of plodding, we were tired too.
When we reached Laban Rata, we went to the canteen, ate some and drank lots, washed up and settle into our bunk beds, dormitory style, and tried to rest until about 2 am. We got ready, equipped ourselves with sufficient warm clothing, balaclava, head-torches, gloves, energy bars, etc., and waited for the guides. Christine Ng and Wei Li were not feeling well and stayed back. It was pitch dark when the rest of us began, and none of us were thinking of photo taking, as the tension was there, and the breathing was difficult.
We plodded up in single file; it was hard going; and we could only see a few steps ahead. After an hour or two, we were at the Sayat-sayat Hut(3668.1m). We have journeyed 7km since we started from Timpohon Gate; there is 1.72km to the Low’s Peak, the highest point, but it will be the toughest stretch. The wind was strong; it was very cold; my nose was running, I was making little progress and stopped often to rest and take photos and look at the sunrise, while my wife, Jenny, and Eric and Nellie had gone up ahead. Tan was behind with Rahim helping him. Soon Linda and myself and Rahim 
were told by the guides that its getting too late to go to the peak, even though it was within sight. He tempted us,”We will give you the same colour certificate as those who have gone all the way up…just as good, okay?” We thought, “Yeah, why not, same cert” and we were so bushed we fell for it. Why not? and we sat there, while Eric at the peak was wondering, “Where are the guys with the cameras? We want our photos taken, leh.” (Ha, ha….next time bring your own camera). Later they came down and we took all the shots. So my better half made it to the Low’s Peak, while I made it to the base of Low’s Peak; so near and yet so far!
We later visited Poring Hot Springs, which was more like, “boring” hot springs, but we later enjoyed the canopy walk above the rainforest trees, walking on suspension 
‘walkways’. Finally we went to the Sutera Harbour five star hotel for a well deserved rest. On Sunday morning the Gaya Street Fair is an interesting place to go just to catch the atmosphere. You can see all kinds of things for
sale including puppies and tongkat Ali, a local aphrosidiac. For an hour or two we forgot the pains all over our legs. Then it was island hopping and snorkelling off Kota Kinabalu. This was quite fun, though the variety of fish and coral can’t compare to Pulau Tioman’s. It was my first experience of snorkelling and I struggled with the equipment, but it was a good experience.
This was a tennis group but one evening after a game I mentioned in passing about climbing Mt Kinabalu before we are too old to do it. The idea took hold and became a reality (never underestimate the power of an IDEA!), and lo and behold, our spouses were with us and we were climbing and enjoying ourselves. For me it beats any eating and shopping and sitting and waiting holiday!
From left to right: Kenny, Jenny, Wei Li, Rahim, Eric, Linda, Christine,Tan and Nellie.
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