Well, it’s taken a while but here they are, finally.
To see everything (without captions) visit the Mt. Kinabalu page in the gallery.
The journey from Kota Kinabalu to Mount Kinabalu takes around two hours and involves a long, steep, twisty road. However, instead of having a sporty car to enjoy the road with, we have a minibus… with dodgy tyres. It makes for an interesting journey. Driving through the mountains, there are peaks as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, rounding a bend, an enormous mountain looms far above everything around it, partially obscured by cloud. My first thought was “uh-oh.”
The record board. Some people say those times also include the descent.
At the start of the climb, we descend to a small valley.
The smile didn’t last long.
Yeah, we’re headed for the summit…
Past a waterfall.
Five hundred metres! How hard can it be?
Well… it gets more difficult.
Only another 5km to go…
Stairs. Uneven height and endless. From memory (I didn’t count) there are 3500 of them.
Mountain squirrels are everywhere. They’re timid, yet friendly.
Halfway!
We ascend through the clouds and everything becomes shrouded in mist.
While we struggle up the mountain, our female guide has no trouble. She doesn’t even break a sweat. The porter carrying up thirty kilograms isn’t struggling, either.
Our guide, pointing something out.
Looming out of the mist, we spy Laban Rata. It’s a relieving sight, as we’re both exhausted.
In the morning, we can clearly see Laban Rata perched on the side of the mountain.
More rainforest…
A shelter.
Standing next to the shelter, looking up the trail.
Turning around, looking down the trail.
Cloudy.
As I said, there are more photographs in the gallery.
I’m recovering slowly, and I’m feeling a bit better now. I leave Kota Kinabalu for Bangkok tomorrow morning, and I’ve got three days planned there before heading elsewhere. I’m not sure where yet – maybe Chiang Mai, maybe the north east instead.
I’ve been made aware that the Singapore Open golf tournament is going to take place in mid November, so I’m quite tempted to go to that. We’ll see…
I will be in Singapore for the nights of 10th & 11th of November and could offer free share accommodation to you if this corresponds or is near the Singapore Open. Also I am also in Bogor, Java (elevated tropics so not so bad heat and humidity wise) 12-17 or 18th of November and could offer free share accommodation at one of the branches of our hotel chain in Indonesia (Crawford Lodge, Bogor) and you could participate in some sporting and other visits planned for the meeting I am at. This which will give you a unique insight into life in this region well away from the tourist routes you have been on so far. Or you could do a walk up Mt Salak, an eroded volcano 2200 meters high near Bogor with personal guide.
Valuair offers online cheap flights Sing to Jakarta.
Sounds like an awesome trip …and you’d never see such friendly squirrels in Britain!