It was such a crowd! You would never feel that everyone there was about to set out on a quest to hike Mount Kinabalu. Everyone was attacking the food as though it is his last breakfast. Next task was to hand over the luggage bags to be transferred to Timbohon gate with a charge of RM10 per bag as there is where we would descend to. The final gathering point will be with the guide who briefed us on some tips and crucial information that we should know. Those bags to be carried by porters were weighed too and i could proudly state that the shared bag by all 9 of us was lighter than the rest, talk about traveling light. We're the practical travelers!
Without further delay, we departed from the gate of Mesilau into heaven haha, of course not literally but you know what i mean. We weren't the first group to depart, hence there were many others ahead of us. I remained the first few to lead the group because of the lesson learnt: to enjoy better privileges, you always have to stay ahead, remember, early bird gets the worm. I have heard of horror stories whereby you don't get to shower with hot water if you arrive late, i definitely don't want to suffer that fate!
The hike was fairly easy. We took our own sweet time as I was advised to snap as many photos as possible along the way. Mesilau route is famed for its scenic beauty hence there are more and more climbers opting this route instead of Timbohon route that is way much shorter, 3km in fact.
Along the way, I stole glances at the many peaks surrounding Low's Peak. It was a very cool day and thin blankets of mist surrounded the peaks.
Even the plants and trees are different. They reminded me of giant bonsai plants magnified 10-50 times. For every 1km, there is an RnR stop for climbers to take a breather, fill up their dwindling water supply and to rest their aching legs. Hence, it was a great milestone achievement when we hit our first km. Everyone was cheering to give confidence to each other. It's amazing how people unite under harsh circumstances, that is the beauty of mankind.
As we gained more altitude, the air turned cooler and the wind got stronger. In fact, from time to time, we could hear the wind howling phase by phase, sounded exactly like waves crashing onto the shore and retreating back into the sea. At times, it sounded as though the rain was traveling towards us from afar, which turned out into false alarm. Imagine, being in the forest at such an altitude but you have beautiful lullaby that sounded like sea waves, how calming it is. Slowly, we were able to catch glimpses of Low's Peak and the barren, bleak stone wall.
The mountain peaks didn't look friendly and inviting at all. They seemed to exude this arrogance, challenging us to conquer them. They seemed ever so stony, grand and cold. We felt extremely minute and insignificant being surrounded by ruthless stony stares. The higher we got, the less shelter there was. This means the wind mercilessly attacked us, trying its very best to blow our enthusiasm, zest away. It even seemed as though the wind was coercing, persuading us to go back to where we came from.
You would tend to forget that you're still in Malaysia when you look at your surrounding. There are trees with brown reddish leaves, yellowish leaves and different shades of green. The trees are unique too, unlike the tropical, huge trees that we see normally in jungles in Malaysia. Some trees even arched above the trail as though they were saluting us to have reached so far.
Everywhere I turned, I was greeted with scatters of clouds and plains of green, red and yellow. I really felt out of the world. I was so immersed in the beauty. The absolute quiet made me hear the wind and the rustling of the leaves. They were singing a symphony, a symphony that sang the greatness of us arriving this far. For a moment, I stood there, engulfed by nature, soaked in the beauty so overwhelming.
After the stretch of bowing, saluting trees, we were greeted by steep steps. These steps went up and up and up and up. How encouraging!
We climbed, dragged our tired legs, pushed our heavy buttocks and panted profusely. The only encouragement is the peaks that started to look bigger. From a far spot to something discern.
After KM5, there is this most scenic RnR, perched very near the edge of the cliff overlooking the whole Sabah state. Wind was howling like mad. I had my hair all over my face. I turned 360 degrees and I was greeted by picturesque scenery. It would be heavenly to have a coffee shop serving hot brewed coffee here. Yumieeee, I dreamt on.
We were inching closer and closer to our destination. "Ain't no mountain high enough.." that song ran through my head. More and more steps, never ending steps, exhausting fleet of steps, when would the steps finally end?
After plowing across boring stretch of steps, I spotted the first sight of civilization! It appeared in the form of a roof! My heart skipped a beat, my eyes lit up and my steps turned lighter. This is it, after suffering for 6 hours plus, we were going to make it there soon!
Somehow, those last few meters seemed so dreadful, far and long. I wanted to speed up my pace but my legs just wasn't co-operating. They were very stubborn, plunged deep into the soil and every step I took I had to use great force to pull them out. After much determination and mental strength, we saw Laban Rata Restaurant. I could wait no more, barged into the restaurant and plopped onto the chair closest to the windows to enjoy a bird's eye view. I ordered a pot of hot Milo.
2 comments:
Hi Su. This is Mihai, ex-office colleague from Romania. Thanks for sharing the story of Mt. Kinabalu climb with us.
The pictures are quite amazing.
I hoped to climb Mt. Kinabalu while I was in Malaysia, but I chose other SE Asia destinations instead. Never made it to Borneo.
I am already advertising your blog in Romania. Some Romanian folks I know are planning a trip to Malaysia in August, Mt. Kinabalu peak climb included.
Your posts are useful information to them. So keep on telling how the story goes. :)
HI there Mihai!!!! So glad to hear from you! Wow, you should really climb Mt. Kinabalu, it's simply amazing, i would want to go again, perhaps next year or the year after. The scenery is awfully breathtaking. August is quite risky in the sense that there might be strong wind, which brings along rainfall. This is due to the weather in Phillipines, a country near Malaysia. In fact, the best time to go is probably April, right before any typhoon happens in Philipines and warm enough for climbers. But since you guys are so accustomed to cold weather, anytime between Dec to March should be good, it can get as cold as -5C, which is way too cold for me who grew up in hot country haha.
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