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| Mount Kinabalu |
The past 2 days were the most difficult of our trip so far. But that's what we expected. We planned to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain not only in Borneo but in the whole of South East Asia.
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| Fook Yuen breakfast |
We were picked up early from Hotel Sixty3, by Reynold, our KK area guide for the next few days, and Hanifi our driver (Hans for short), after having popped out to one of the local favourite breakfast spots: Fook Yuen. There wasn't a single item on the self service counter that a bona fide European would have recognised. Fantastic: we were finally eating like Malays. 😁 Totally yummy, if a little unorthodox for the only white faces in the joint.
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| Orchids, and a pink imposter |
Day 1 was for acclimatisation, thus we headed into the foothills to the
Kinabalu Nature Reserve, a rich tropical botanical garden, bursting with hundreds of different orchids, along with ferns and palms growing as epiphytes on their host firs and oaks. The gardens were created during the British rule of Borneo and, along with their strong link to our own Kew Gardens, are very much prided by the Bornean people.
After a good jungle walk, it was time to register for the climb and meet our mountain guide, Ronnie. At 5'1" you could say he cut a diminutive figure, but with shoulders, thighs and calves huge enough to scare any Olympic athlete, he was to be our pocket battleship. And with his big smile and friendly manner, I knew we were in good hands.
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| At the starting gate |
Our mountain lodge for the night had a spectacular view of Mount Kinabalu. Or at least it would have if it hadn't been shrouded in thick cloud. Held as a sacred mountain, local tribes have long believed that on dying, your spirit ascends to the top, from where it continues to the afterlife. And even from the hooded view we had that evening, we could tell it's a powerful looking mountain.
Low and behold, in the morning the clouds had lifted and we saw her in all her splendour. At 4095m, towering way above all the surrounding peaks, Kinabalu is indeed majestic and it's easy to see why she is so revered by the local population.
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| Duncan skipping |
We set off early with Ronnie, our destination being the Laban-Rata mid-mountain lodge at 3272m. Staring at around 1900m, we were to climb 1400m along 6km. That's a lot of height gain in not very much distance, so we knew it would be steep. And it was. Unrelenting steps and inclines from the get go. Within about 200m I was already feeling puffed; the effects of altitude, not being particularly fit and 3 weeks gorging ourselves in South Africa were coming home to roost. Duncan, on the other hand, pretty much skipped up like a mountain goat (that may be just a slight exaggeration but he definitely had more puff than I!) We climbed on muddy paths, and steps made from tree roots, rocks and wooden staircases, on and on and on. We stopped rarely, plodding our way up, the orchids and pitcher plants of the rainforest gently giving way to a more alpine landscape of firs and rhododendrons.
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| Carnivorous pitcher plants |
Occasionally we passed another trekker, but mostly we were being overtaken by porters carrying everything from bags of rice and watermelon to 40kg steel girders and sewage pipes. Immeasurably strong, they too were sweating buckets. The reason for the girders is that they are building new mid-mountain lodges after 3 of the 5 were destroyed in an earthquake 2 years ago, killing 16, including children. It happened after some Australian climbers flashed at the summit and locals believe that the earthquake was punishment for their irreverent behaviour. As a consequence, children are no longer allowed on the mountain and climbing permits are much more restricted.
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| Breakfast and scrabble (should be other way around) |
Handily, each half a kilometer of the trail is marked with distance and altitude gain, so it was with great relief when we reached the last 500m, after a particularly steep 1500m stretch and 20 minutes later we were at the lodge. The first to arrive for the day! And not a moment too soon; within minutes, the heavens opened and a truly equatorial rainstorm settled in. We watched, mesmerized as small rivers quickly grew into raging torrents and other rivers appeared where previously there had been none. Other trekkers were arriving at the lodge soaked through, with little chance of drying out in this
unheated, somewhat damp hut. I 'm grateful the gods smiled on Ronnie, Duncan and I.
As the rain continued unabated, we settled in with an early supper and lively game of Scrabble until the cold got the better of us and at 6pm we went to bed. Not as crazy at it sounds; tomorrow we set off before 3am. We were sharing a double bunk bedded room with a Filipino couple, who had the same idea as us - squeeze ourselves, mostly dressed, into the bottom bunk, with 2 slightly damp blankets, and try to keep warm and get some kip.
It worked! We got a semi-decent night's sleep. Around 1.30am the lodge started to wake up with trekkers getting ready for the final ascent. Dressed, breakfasted and head torches on, we set off at 2.45, following the dots of light already on the trail ahead. Ronnie set a very deliberate pace: Slow and Steady (could it be a political slogan?!) and we quietly headed up the still unrelenting path. The rain last night had continued for a full 12 hours, and as we climbed the wooden stairs plugged into the mountainside, I tried not to think of mudslides, but just keep going, one step at a time. Today we are climbing 900m over 2.5km distance. That's a lot steeper than yesterday's climb and I can definitely feel it. Lungs and legs are complaining but we keep to Ronnie's pace, stopping only very occasionally. About half way up, the path changes and we encounter our first rope, pinned to the rock face. Grabbing the rope, you have to haul your way up using arms and legs, all in the dark. It takes a huge amount of energy and isn't long before Ronnie takes my hand, locks my arm firmly under his and guides me away from the rope, zigzagging across the rock. His steady feet and grip give me all the confidence I need and together we slowly but surely make our way up the face, passing some of the front runners from earlier. I guess they missed the Slow and Steady memo.
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| Summitting! |
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| Sunrise |
We reach the summit just before 6am, about 10 minutes before daybreak. It's exhilarating to have made it and photo op over, we turn around to see the dark red glow of the new day appear behind the horizon. As the sky turns to amber, orange and the sun appears in all its glory, we suddenly see what we've climbed. And boy was it something. The word 'spectacular' is an undersell. Looking south, we can see all the way down to the lush farmlands in the valley, to the Crocker Mountain Ridge, the backbone of Borneo, covered in dense rainforest and over the to the east, KK and Gaya Island off the coast. And on top of that, we can finally see what we have climbed up in the dark.
Endless huge slabs of granite cover the top of the mountain; dark and broody, it gives the immediate landscape an almost moon-like feel. Totally breathtaking. Otherworldly. I can totally understand why this mountain is sacred. How could it not be.
It takes us around 5 hours to descend to the bottom, not including an hour's rest and second breakfast mid-mountain. By the end of it, my knees were knackered, my thighs and calves burning. But my brain and soul were buzzing. Mount Kinabalu is an incredible mountain and climbing it is tough. But it gives back so much more than it takes. And we did it. 😀
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