Click the links to look at my photo albums:
Climb up: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99344&l=7362bea9d4&id=617438242
Climb down: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99346&id=617438242&l=379f24bc93
Shangri-La Tanjung Aru
Climb up: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99344&l=7362bea9d4&id=617438242
Climb down: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99346&id=617438242&l=379f24bc93
Shangri-La Tanjung Aru
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99485&id=617438242&l=f6e0d8f6f9
This weekend we traveled to Malaysia, to the island of Borneo. We visited the city of Kota Kinabalu, located in the state of Sabah. Our group included myself, David, Jeff and Stephanie. We arrived Friday evening as the sunset, and by the time we got to the hotel, the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, it was dark. The hotel is very impressive and beautiful. The warm air hit us as soon as we stepped outside the airport. We ate dinner at the outside poolside restaurant, Coco Joes, then prepared ourselves for our adventure. We woke up Saturday at 4 am. We took off in the tour van at 4:45 am (everyone was running a little late) and set off for the 2 hour drive to Mt. Kinabalu.
In my research, Mt. Kinabalu is typically done as a 2 day climb. Starting at Timpohon Gate at 5,900 ft elevation, normally the day one is used to climb from up to Laban Rata at approximately 10,800 ft elevation. This is the only lodging on the mountain and one must reserve it ahead of time. One is not allowed to camp outside. Then, people who stay there normally start hiking again pre-dawn, around 3 am, in order to reach the summit by sunrise. The summit is 13,435 ft.
However, this has become quite popular and now one generally needs to book the Laban Rata lodging months in advance. Therefore, the only option is to try to climb in one day. This would require a lot of speed.
By the time we got the permits in order and our guides assigned to us (required by their local law for all climbers to have guides, permits, etc), we started climbing around 7:45 am. We had two guides. Stephanie and Jeff felt the speed and they went ahead with the first guide. David and I were not too slow, either, but not as fast as our friends. The steep trail was tough! The steps were big, a lot of times the ground had large rocks. We all used walking sticks, which was very helpful.
The elevation started to wear on David and we took several little breaks. I packed us too many snacks, making our bags heavy! I felt happy, though, climbing up this mountain. We made it to Laban Rata around 11:40 am. We debated trying to continue on to the summit. The tour organizer had told me if we made it to Laban Rata by noon, we could continue. However, our guide, a tiny and short local guy who grew up in the mountain area and would take frequent cigarette breaks whenever we stopped to catch our breath or have some water, suggested we not continue to the summit. He said it would take 3 hours. I didn't believe him based on what we had read. I heard quick people can get there in 1.5 hours from Laban Rata....but, he is the guide.....he's the one who climbs the mountain a few times a week. David felt super tired and had a hard time breathing. So, we took the guide's advice and we rested at Laban Rata until 1 pm.
I bought a Tom Yam soup at the lunch counter (something like Thai Tom Yum soup) and drank free coffee and tea. David had some, but mostly he wanted to sleep. He lay on the ground to take a nap, and then after a while realized the ground was making him extra cold as the cold was trapped there.
Around 1 pm our guide got us and we headed back down the mountain. It started drizzling. Every kilometer there is a little shelter, a toilet, and a place to fill up your bottle with more mountain water. Now, as a runner, a kilometer sounds very short. However, as a novice mountain climber, let me share with you, a kilometer is quite a long distance! After maybe a half hour or so, we decided to take a 5 miute rest at an upcoming kilometer marker shelter. What timing! A minute after we stopped, the rain came. It got harder. We chatted with many hikers who were going up for the two-day climb and would have lodging at Laban Rata. We earlier chatted with hikers who were coming down the mountain, having stayed there the night before. There were only very few people like us trying to do the hike in one day. After waiting for maybe 10 minutes, we realized the rain would not stop. We went out in the rain, David covered in his yellow plastic parka, I sporting my new waterproof jacket and my backpack with the waterproof (I thought) cover wrapped over it. Our guide extinguished his latest cigarette and off we trekked back down. David, Jeff and Steph had purchased cheap tree sticks at the start of the hike to use as their waking sticks. I had purchased a nice walking stick in Hong Kong at an outdoor gear store that had "spring action" in it (yes, I fell for that), and which turned out to be much lighter than rain-lodged sticks the others had. I really got such good use of my walking stick and it was so necessary for the down climb. No matter what kind of stick...we all appreciated and needed it. However, I noticed our guide didn't use a stick. He made it seem so easy, effortless.
We continued down the mountain, and where at first I was so cautious of trying to step on stones a certain way, I felt that, with the rain coming down, I was actually feeling more comfortable, for a while. I felt that it was like we were really there with nature. David commented, now this is a South East Asian rainstorm! Now we had first-hand knowledge of it. After 15 minutes, however, I started getting cold as my shoes got soaked through (I wish I bought the wateproof shoes at that point instead of opting for the less-expensive non-waterproof shoes). At one point, my backpack cover fell down and I could feel it hitting my knees. Our guide stopped to help me put it back on (hours later when we were done, I discovered the contents were pretty wet, including my spare socks).
This weekend we traveled to Malaysia, to the island of Borneo. We visited the city of Kota Kinabalu, located in the state of Sabah. Our group included myself, David, Jeff and Stephanie. We arrived Friday evening as the sunset, and by the time we got to the hotel, the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, it was dark. The hotel is very impressive and beautiful. The warm air hit us as soon as we stepped outside the airport. We ate dinner at the outside poolside restaurant, Coco Joes, then prepared ourselves for our adventure. We woke up Saturday at 4 am. We took off in the tour van at 4:45 am (everyone was running a little late) and set off for the 2 hour drive to Mt. Kinabalu.
In my research, Mt. Kinabalu is typically done as a 2 day climb. Starting at Timpohon Gate at 5,900 ft elevation, normally the day one is used to climb from up to Laban Rata at approximately 10,800 ft elevation. This is the only lodging on the mountain and one must reserve it ahead of time. One is not allowed to camp outside. Then, people who stay there normally start hiking again pre-dawn, around 3 am, in order to reach the summit by sunrise. The summit is 13,435 ft.
However, this has become quite popular and now one generally needs to book the Laban Rata lodging months in advance. Therefore, the only option is to try to climb in one day. This would require a lot of speed.
By the time we got the permits in order and our guides assigned to us (required by their local law for all climbers to have guides, permits, etc), we started climbing around 7:45 am. We had two guides. Stephanie and Jeff felt the speed and they went ahead with the first guide. David and I were not too slow, either, but not as fast as our friends. The steep trail was tough! The steps were big, a lot of times the ground had large rocks. We all used walking sticks, which was very helpful.
The elevation started to wear on David and we took several little breaks. I packed us too many snacks, making our bags heavy! I felt happy, though, climbing up this mountain. We made it to Laban Rata around 11:40 am. We debated trying to continue on to the summit. The tour organizer had told me if we made it to Laban Rata by noon, we could continue. However, our guide, a tiny and short local guy who grew up in the mountain area and would take frequent cigarette breaks whenever we stopped to catch our breath or have some water, suggested we not continue to the summit. He said it would take 3 hours. I didn't believe him based on what we had read. I heard quick people can get there in 1.5 hours from Laban Rata....but, he is the guide.....he's the one who climbs the mountain a few times a week. David felt super tired and had a hard time breathing. So, we took the guide's advice and we rested at Laban Rata until 1 pm.
I bought a Tom Yam soup at the lunch counter (something like Thai Tom Yum soup) and drank free coffee and tea. David had some, but mostly he wanted to sleep. He lay on the ground to take a nap, and then after a while realized the ground was making him extra cold as the cold was trapped there.
Around 1 pm our guide got us and we headed back down the mountain. It started drizzling. Every kilometer there is a little shelter, a toilet, and a place to fill up your bottle with more mountain water. Now, as a runner, a kilometer sounds very short. However, as a novice mountain climber, let me share with you, a kilometer is quite a long distance! After maybe a half hour or so, we decided to take a 5 miute rest at an upcoming kilometer marker shelter. What timing! A minute after we stopped, the rain came. It got harder. We chatted with many hikers who were going up for the two-day climb and would have lodging at Laban Rata. We earlier chatted with hikers who were coming down the mountain, having stayed there the night before. There were only very few people like us trying to do the hike in one day. After waiting for maybe 10 minutes, we realized the rain would not stop. We went out in the rain, David covered in his yellow plastic parka, I sporting my new waterproof jacket and my backpack with the waterproof (I thought) cover wrapped over it. Our guide extinguished his latest cigarette and off we trekked back down. David, Jeff and Steph had purchased cheap tree sticks at the start of the hike to use as their waking sticks. I had purchased a nice walking stick in Hong Kong at an outdoor gear store that had "spring action" in it (yes, I fell for that), and which turned out to be much lighter than rain-lodged sticks the others had. I really got such good use of my walking stick and it was so necessary for the down climb. No matter what kind of stick...we all appreciated and needed it. However, I noticed our guide didn't use a stick. He made it seem so easy, effortless.
We continued down the mountain, and where at first I was so cautious of trying to step on stones a certain way, I felt that, with the rain coming down, I was actually feeling more comfortable, for a while. I felt that it was like we were really there with nature. David commented, now this is a South East Asian rainstorm! Now we had first-hand knowledge of it. After 15 minutes, however, I started getting cold as my shoes got soaked through (I wish I bought the wateproof shoes at that point instead of opting for the less-expensive non-waterproof shoes). At one point, my backpack cover fell down and I could feel it hitting my knees. Our guide stopped to help me put it back on (hours later when we were done, I discovered the contents were pretty wet, including my spare socks).
We continued and trudged, every step an effort down the large trail stairs and rocks. I started to just step right in to where the puddles formed. At least I knew that where the water formed is the bottom. The other rocks that still stuck up were somewhat more tricky in my mind, and slippery. Down is definitely harder than going up! You use the stick to brace yourself, to poke a safe spot, before taking a giant step down. Every now and then we would pass some people who were still going up. I was so thankful at that point to be going down. Also, I had a little regret at not going up to the summit. But, when I thought to myself, I am so cold, now that I am soaked through (except for my jacket area, which did stay dry), then I would realize, if I'm cold, then Stephanie must be REALLY cold, as we heard they did make it to the summit (our guide stayed in contact with their guide on their phones). At this point, I was happy to be climbing down, not up , and happy that we were closer to the bottom than Stephanie and Jeff. Every kilometer wore on and on. The rain did not stop. It was surreal. It was cold, but it was alive and fun, too.
When we were going up, I shocked myself that I did not have to use the toilet even once. However, coming down, after having eaten that spicy soup and a bunch of other snacks, cofee and tea, I felt the urge for the toilet a few times. So, at the K huts, I pulled out my roll of toilet paper (they had toilets but no paper) from the ziploc (thank god I put it in there as it worked to keep it dry) and was thankful for the toilets along the way.
There are no roads along the hike up to the mountain....no way of getting up or down except to hike. Thus, even the workers (those who cook and clean and take care of the lodging accomodations) at Laban Rata have to hike up to their jobs (we hear they also sleep there, maybe they come down once a week or something like that). All supplies are carried up by strong porters who know these trails in and out and have strength and speed like we can't believe. We heard from our driver that to become a mountain guide, one must first work as a porter, and also take tests and show special knowledge of the mountains and how to handle emergencies. It is a tough life, I would think, but amazing, too. Our little guide said once a guy got hurt and he had to carry him down the mountain.
After stopping to take photos of the mountain frog and large worm and continuing down, the rain finally stops. For perhaps the last hour, finally there is no rain. Every half K that is marked is a mini celebration, but also amazement at how long each K turns out to be.
We finally make it back to the Timpohon gate! David and I are so cold. It's 4:40 pm. The air has a chill. The rains and wind are not everyday occurences, so, although April is often considered a good month to climb there, we did not have the best weather. We are freezing! We shed what top cold layers we can and rest in the van. Had I known before the hike that we would have the van waiting for us, I would have packed a nice pack of warm clothes to leave inside of it. Instead, I am sitting in my blue shirt and short tights I wore underneath. The top is fine, having been under the waterproof jacket, but the shorts are kind of wet. We wait for Jeff and Stephanie, who make it back at 6 pm. They look like hell! They made it to the summit, but these guys took two hours to do that. Therefore, possibly another two hours to come down, just to Laban Rata. And so they had to have been making amazing time between Laban Rata and the Timpohon Gate, starving, too, as to make such fast time, they barely stopped to eat anything. We learned that Jeff and Stephanie really hardly ate anything all day. I had prepared bags of snacks for all of us, but smartly, they had left majority of the snacks in the car. This made them lighter. David and I were carrying our snacks, most of which we did not eat, and this added weight to us. Apparently, we learn that it was sunny when they reached the top, but a few minutes after starting the climb down, which, by the way, at the summit, you are doing via a white rope that you must hold or you fall down the granite face of the mountain, it was pouring rain and they feared for their lives! What crazy people claimed that people of all ages can do this hike! This is one tough climb.
Finally, we left in the van as the sun set, heading back for the 2 hour drive to KK. We excitedly and exhaustedly talked about the day and found out more about the summit conditions. Then we dozed off.
We arrived around 8 pm back at the hotel, which was like heaven. We took showers and ordered room service, Malaysian food for dinner, having zero energy to do anything else.
The next day, we woke up late, had breakfast buffet in the hotel, commented that the grounds were beautiful, and a lot like being in any other resort anywhere. Like, we could have been in Kona or Kaananpali. It was great and relaxing. We hung out by the pool for a couple hours. Then, the afternoon rains came again, just like the previous day when we were on the mountain. We saw the sky grow dark. We knew it was coming. It came down from the mountain. It started as a light drizzle. But, this time, we had the protection of the sun umbrellas, and the sanctuary of the hotel room a short walk away. Stephanie and Jeff went for their massages at 6 pm. David and I took naps for a couple hours. Then, we had a delicous Italian dinner at the hotel. We asked the hotel for suggestions on dining in the KK city centre, but were told there were not much options for restaurants in KK.
The next morning we again at the breakfast buffet and then headed back to the airport, which is a very modern and new international airport, for our flight back to HK.
When we were going up, I shocked myself that I did not have to use the toilet even once. However, coming down, after having eaten that spicy soup and a bunch of other snacks, cofee and tea, I felt the urge for the toilet a few times. So, at the K huts, I pulled out my roll of toilet paper (they had toilets but no paper) from the ziploc (thank god I put it in there as it worked to keep it dry) and was thankful for the toilets along the way.
There are no roads along the hike up to the mountain....no way of getting up or down except to hike. Thus, even the workers (those who cook and clean and take care of the lodging accomodations) at Laban Rata have to hike up to their jobs (we hear they also sleep there, maybe they come down once a week or something like that). All supplies are carried up by strong porters who know these trails in and out and have strength and speed like we can't believe. We heard from our driver that to become a mountain guide, one must first work as a porter, and also take tests and show special knowledge of the mountains and how to handle emergencies. It is a tough life, I would think, but amazing, too. Our little guide said once a guy got hurt and he had to carry him down the mountain.
After stopping to take photos of the mountain frog and large worm and continuing down, the rain finally stops. For perhaps the last hour, finally there is no rain. Every half K that is marked is a mini celebration, but also amazement at how long each K turns out to be.
We finally make it back to the Timpohon gate! David and I are so cold. It's 4:40 pm. The air has a chill. The rains and wind are not everyday occurences, so, although April is often considered a good month to climb there, we did not have the best weather. We are freezing! We shed what top cold layers we can and rest in the van. Had I known before the hike that we would have the van waiting for us, I would have packed a nice pack of warm clothes to leave inside of it. Instead, I am sitting in my blue shirt and short tights I wore underneath. The top is fine, having been under the waterproof jacket, but the shorts are kind of wet. We wait for Jeff and Stephanie, who make it back at 6 pm. They look like hell! They made it to the summit, but these guys took two hours to do that. Therefore, possibly another two hours to come down, just to Laban Rata. And so they had to have been making amazing time between Laban Rata and the Timpohon Gate, starving, too, as to make such fast time, they barely stopped to eat anything. We learned that Jeff and Stephanie really hardly ate anything all day. I had prepared bags of snacks for all of us, but smartly, they had left majority of the snacks in the car. This made them lighter. David and I were carrying our snacks, most of which we did not eat, and this added weight to us. Apparently, we learn that it was sunny when they reached the top, but a few minutes after starting the climb down, which, by the way, at the summit, you are doing via a white rope that you must hold or you fall down the granite face of the mountain, it was pouring rain and they feared for their lives! What crazy people claimed that people of all ages can do this hike! This is one tough climb.
Finally, we left in the van as the sun set, heading back for the 2 hour drive to KK. We excitedly and exhaustedly talked about the day and found out more about the summit conditions. Then we dozed off.
We arrived around 8 pm back at the hotel, which was like heaven. We took showers and ordered room service, Malaysian food for dinner, having zero energy to do anything else.
The next day, we woke up late, had breakfast buffet in the hotel, commented that the grounds were beautiful, and a lot like being in any other resort anywhere. Like, we could have been in Kona or Kaananpali. It was great and relaxing. We hung out by the pool for a couple hours. Then, the afternoon rains came again, just like the previous day when we were on the mountain. We saw the sky grow dark. We knew it was coming. It came down from the mountain. It started as a light drizzle. But, this time, we had the protection of the sun umbrellas, and the sanctuary of the hotel room a short walk away. Stephanie and Jeff went for their massages at 6 pm. David and I took naps for a couple hours. Then, we had a delicous Italian dinner at the hotel. We asked the hotel for suggestions on dining in the KK city centre, but were told there were not much options for restaurants in KK.
The next morning we again at the breakfast buffet and then headed back to the airport, which is a very modern and new international airport, for our flight back to HK.
Oh, yes, the muscles are still sore from the climb! It is now Wednesday, the hike was Saturday, and the quads are still in pain.
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