Mount Kinabalu Climb

On the 17th of February 2013, EFR 18 went on a journey to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to climb up one of the highest mountains in South East Asia region with his group of friends (10 of them in total). They have planned this trip since September 2012 which was about 6 months ago. They booked the trip through the this agent, Amazing Borneo Tours Sdn Bhd. The package which they went (3D2N Mesilau Trail) is RM900 but they have already increased their price this year in 2013 to RM950. A deposit of 50% is needed upon booking and the remaining 50% is to be paid 1 month before the trip.

Everything checked.

Day 1 (17th February 2013)
On that day, early in the morning, they woke up at 4 a.m. to double check that they have packed everything into their back packs and catch the Skybus service from One Utama to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal ("LCCT"). They arrived at LCCT at about 6 a.m. in the morning. While waiting to depart from LCCT to Kota Kinabalu, they had breakfast at Old Town White Coffee in LCCT. They were all so excited about the trip and can't wait to be there and start climbing.

Departure from LCCT was at 7.55 a.m. and they arrived at the Kota Kinabalu Airport at 10.30 a.m. The flight is about 2 hours 30 minutes. Upon arrival, the tour guide was so punctual as he was already waiting for us outside the airport with a huge bus all by ourselves. After they board onto the bus, the tour guide began to brief them about the trip.

They arrived at the foothill of Mount Kinabalu at about 3 p.m. and started exploring the Mesilau Nature Resort Park while waiting for the dinner to be served at 7 p.m.

In front of the Mesilau Nature Resort.

They had the whole restaurant for ourselves during that night and the food was reasonably good which was better than what they had expected.

Dinner at the Mesilau Nature Resort.

After dinner, they went back to their rooms which is sort of like a backpacking style chalet with double decker beds. It is a nice place to stay because they had water heater for us to bathe as the temperature there was kinda cold at night which was probably as cold as Genting Highlands. They made sure that they had enough rest that day because they have to start hiking up to Laban Rata Resthouse (mid point in Mount Kinabalu whereby many people stop and stay for a night) the following morning.

Day 2 (18th February 2013)
They had breakfast in the morning at about 9 a.m. and then the real journey begins up the Mesilau Summit Trail which is about 8.5 km to reach the Laban Rata Resthouse.

2km mark of the Mesilau Summit Trail.

Somewhere along the way where they still have some energy to smile :)

They were all drenched wet due to the heavy rain. The trail became more like a river stream but it didn't stop them from going up.

Finally, they arrived at the Laban Rata Resthouse after 9 hours of hike.

They arrived at the Laban Rata Resthouse at about 6 p.m. which they took slightly longer than what they expected to due to the heavy rain. However, it was just in time for dinner to fill up their stomachs after a long journey. The food was not too bad but they definitely preferred the one down there at Mesilau Nature Resort.

After dinner, they begin to unpack their things as they could actually leave some of their things behind before they continue up to the summit the next morning. However, due to the heavy rain earlier, all their things inside their backpacks were drenched although they had water-proof covers over it. Clothes were all wet and it made it hard for us to sleep despite the fact that they only had about 5 hours left to sleep by the time they finished their dinner because they have to wake up at 2 a.m. the next morning.

Day 3 (19th February 2013)

They couldn't sleep well last night as some of them had headache, suffered from the cold, and too excited over the climb. However, nothing stopped them from going on. They gathered, had breakfast in the morning, and the last stretch of their journey began at 3 a.m. It was still dark in the morning and they had to use their headlamps to help them watch out on the path. Ropes were needed at certain parts as the incline of the mountain was too steep and slippery. They planned to reach the summit at 6 a.m. in order to catch the sunrise. Finally they reached the top at about 6.15 a.m., although slightly late, sunrise hasn't begun yet. However, due to the cloudy weather, the sunrise couldn't be seen clearly to their disappointment.

At the top. (4,095m above sea level)

EFR18 at the top.

Just a glimpse of the sunrise.

They didn't stay long at the summit and begin to travel down back to Laban Rata Resthouse to have their meal before continuing all the way back down but through the Timpohon Summit Trail this time.

The hike back down.

They reached back at Laban Rata at about 10a.m. Packed their things, had their meals, and the journey back down to the Timpohon Gate. They were quite tired and exhausted but they have to go on because they needed to catch their flight on that day's evening.

Coming down was much faster. They only took about 4 hours from Laban Rata Resthouse to Timpohon Gate but that is because the Timpohon Summit Trail is actually 2km shorter compared to the Mesilau Summit Trail which they used when they went up.

Immediately upon reaching the Timpohon Gate, they boarded onto the bus and went straight to the Kota Kinabalu Airport. They only had a small amount of time to have their dinner at the airport and they had KFC as a small reward after completing the climb. Their tour guide told them that, they are the first team in the last 9 years of his service that managed to climb up all the way to the summit as a team because usually part of the team would be left behind at the Laban Rata Resthouse due to injuries or altitude sickness. Great effort and good teamwork to them as they all encouraged each other to go on all the way to the summit.

All in all, it was a great trip indeed. Nice sceneries, great experiences, and a good company to go with. :)

Panoramic shot of Laban Rata Resthouse

Panoramic shot from the Low's Peak (summit of Mount Kinabalu)

-MY Gerardo-