So I had this plan of climbing the majestic Mt. Kinabalu for the 6th time while I was still based here in Sabah, or at least before my job called out on me and demanded that I be returned to the Peninsula again. I was determined to do it before 2023 rolled to its end. So I had actually started eyeing for a slot right from the beginning of the year via the Sabah Parks official website – or even the year before. I knew slots were running out quickly but my indecisiveness in dotting in a slot had cost me quite dearly. Before I knew it, slots had almost run entirely out and I only managed to get a weekend slot where my availability was not even guaranteed on the 31st of August.
So with quiet limited physical training, I drove over to Kundasang the day before the climb and stayed at a cottage hotel called Mile 36 Lodge. The room was tiny but I liked it instantly. The staff hospitality – which is hardly a rare encounter when you come to Kundasang where the locals are mostly so super-nice to others – made me like the place even more. I actually did not expect that they do provide free breakfast (not really free but included in the room price) but my simple hello to an elderly man who happened to be one of the caretakers of the chalets while I was walking towards the car after checking out had led me to him telling me that I should take the free breakfast before leaving. And damn, the breakfast was not bad at all. The fried noodles were good and so was the coffee, and they were served in buffet style, something that I would have missed out on if I did not say hello to the elderly man!
So after the unexpected breakfast, I drove over to the Kinabalu Parks office where I did all the registration and payment requirements. Since the regulation was to have a guide to take care of a maximum of 5 climbers, I had thought of joining a group that could still take in a climber so that I didn’t have to pay for the full RM350 per guide fee but decided not to on a second thought. Instead, I asked for a guide who could take good pictures. The lady at the counter went onto her walkie-talkie and asked for a guide that could take good pictures. That led me to Julius, a veteran tour guide with more than 30 years of guiding experience. The moment I talked to him, I knew it was going to be an exciting and interesting climb.
So I did the usual stuff – registration at the entrance gate and a little bit of safety and dos and don’ts briefing by Julius the guide – and started off slow and steady for the first few stops. The heavy breathing at the beginning of the climb was definitely expected, as it was part of the warm-up. The package that I took didn’t provide a lunch pack, and I was glad that I prepared a lunch pack from the hotel room myself. At least it could keep me going until I reached the Laban Rata restaurant where lunch was supposedly waiting.
I’m not sure if it was the age or simply my lack of preparatory training, but I found myself quite struggling this time. I remember during my last climb back in 2016 when I literally ran my way all the way up to Laban Rata and later to the peak. But that was when I was climbing just about every mountain and hill that I could think of and doing marathons and running events like there was no tomorrow. Coming to Mount Kinabalu this time, I knew I was quite physically unprepared. I reached Laban Rata at about 4pm, which was a far cry late from the last time I did it when I reached sometime before noon.
So after taking the late lunch and all, it wasn’t long before dinner came. Being surrounded by strangers in a packed restaurant and later at the dorm, it wasn’t really a pleasant experience. I was far from new when it comes to mingling among strangers since I travel solo quite a lot too but it had proved to be different when you are traveling solo in your own homeland. I was not interested to talk to anybody but somehow, I got irritated when people talked too loudly and disregarded the existence of others in the room. I found it quite disrespectful. Perhaps it is just a Malaysian thingy because I remember when I was in Bromo where I had to confront a group of Malaysians who stayed at the room next door and talked so loudly with each other, denying us the peace that we needed so badly before hitting onto Mount Bromo early the next morning. Then a group of Malaysian aunties who happened to visit the same massage parlour that me and my group of friends did back in Krabi, Thailand. Seriously, they were just so damn loud.
I actually wished I could stay longer at the restaurant after dinner so that I didn’t have to go back to the dorm early where I’d most probably be tortured by the loud mouths of an all-lady group. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t serve anything past the dinner time, so I didn’t have much choice but going back to the dorm. I was shocked when I found the door was locked, and after a few rounds of light knocking, a lady came opening it – and I was even more shocked to see that the lights were all switched off so it was completely dark when it was only about 7pm! I mean, they’d only start climbing to the peak at two the next morning, and they already went to bed at 7pm! Again, I wished I had somebody that I could talk to at least before I was sleepy enough to go to bed.
Feeling defeated, I joined the clowns and pushed myself to sleep. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep and I had some of the longest hours ever before I could really put myself to sleep. Needless to say, I was probably the last one to get out of bed the next morning, putting on my climbing attire and walking groggily to the restaurant for breakfast before starting off towards the peak. For a moment I thought I couldn’t find Julius the guide and had to ask around before he finally showed up sometime before 3am. I assumed either he overslept or he probably saw my performance the day before and decided I could start the summit attack a bit late at about 3am, an hour late from the usual 2am.
Climbing to Laban Rate was already a struggle, and pressing for the peak at three in the morning was not an easy feat either. I had to gather all the mantra and summon all the motivational quotes into my head before I even managed to get to Sayat Sayat – the last hut before the peak – half an hour before the cut-off time at 5.30am after which climbers would not be allowed to continue. There was one time when it was beginning to drizzle and me and most of the climbers had already put on a raincoat, but somehow the rain just stopped as quickly as it had come, putting me and the rest into a big relief. At 4000m, things could turn ugly when it was raining and in certain cases when the rain poses some level of danger to the climbers, climbers are often asked to turn back.
Somehow – the weather just kept on improving even though there was no apparent sunrise because of the heavy clouds. And yet – reaching the peak this time was somehow very satisfying, as it was my first time of doing it since I hit 40 about 5 years ago. It emanates some kind of assurance that I’ve still got it – despite the struggle. Heh.
Things just went quite smooth and easy from the peak onwards, and all my breathing and muscles suddenly relaxed. I took all the time in the world to enjoy the views from the peak, probably the longest that I’d ever done since my first climb as a 14-year-old school kid about 30 years ago. In most of my climbs there was always the urgency to descend, but this time I refused to listen to any of the urges to descend quickly because well, nobody was there waiting for me anyway. I must be up there for about 30 minutes or so before I decided to descend, and even taking all the time in the world to slow down and enjoy the views in their entirety along the way.
Julius the guide was also so great, taking me off the beaten tracks, doing detours and let me see the views away from the usual trails. He also told me about their incredible rescues in the past including the famous disappearance of a pair of kids from Britain where the elder sister was found dead at one of the peaks, while the younger one was found sound and safe at the foot of another peak. Then the death of one of the army group members that went on a mission to dash across the mountain range and refused any escort offer from the mountain guides. I was told that it took them more than a week to reach to the body.
Then of course the infamous earthquake that rocked the mountain and killed about 18 people back in 2015, mostly kids from Singapore who were doing the world’s highest via-ferrata when the earthquake hit. Julius told me how they were killed by fallen rocks, and that they were not allowed to take pictures of the scene. The way he described it, it was definitely a horrible scene. RIP.
After what felt like a never-ending descent, I arrived back at Laban Rata at about 10.30am and rushed to get the breakfast before it was supposed to close at 11.00am. After a quick pack-up, I continued descending, this time determined to go the fastest I could. And sure enough, I managed to reach the Timpohon – the exit gate – before 2pm. After saying good bye to Julius, I returned to my car and for a moment I was worried that I might not be able to drive. I was actually prepared to stay another night in Kundasang if my legs were too shaky to drive so I started off towards the direction of Kota Kinabalu while eyeing for a place that I could probably stay in for the night before returning to the city the next day. Somehow my legs felt just fine so I just continued on until I reached the small town of Pekan Nabalu after which I knew I was going to drive all the way back to Kota Kinabalu.
Driving along the Ranau – Kota Kinabalu zig-zag road, Mount Kinabalu was showing itself in full, towering high against the blue sky of Kundasang. It was hard to believe that only that morning I was very much on top of it, enjoying the view of the mountain range to the East and the blue South China Sea to the West. It felt surreal really.
So that was about it – my 6th climb, and my 5th to the peak. I’m not saying no to any possibility of another climb, but I might need to be prepared more to enjoy it more. There are so many other mountains that I’ve been planning to climb but Mount Kinabalu certainly has a special place in my heart, probably the only mountain that I don’t mind climbing again and again and again. We’ll see.