Kim's Travels

Kim's trek to Mount Kinabalu - Borneo


Mount Kinabalu ( Malay: Gunung Kinabalu ) is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia. It is located in Kinabalu National Park (a world heritage site ) in the east Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo.


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Mount Kinabalu is well known for its tremendous botanical and biological species biodiversity, many of which are unique within Kinabalu Park and are not found anywhere else in the world.


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Much of the climb's beauty and interest lies in tracing the transitions from one ecosystem to the next as you gain height.


The mountain takes you through a series of landscapes beginning with tropical luxuriance, montane oak rhododendron, conifer forest of the middle altitudes to eventually the rocky sub-alpine summit plateau.





The mountain trek is divided into two sectors.





Day (1) You follow a steep trail as you make your way up to Laban Rata hut at 3300m (10,800ft).
From this point I witnessed what remains to be the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.


Day (2) After a restless nights sleep we wake at 3am to proceed to the summit for sunrise. The final part of the climb is slow going on naked granite rock to Lows Peak (summit) at 4100m (13,440ft).

Here you wait in darkness for the sun to rise and reveal majestic views. The arrival of daylight reveals the remarkable summit plateau of the mountain, a vast expanse of smooth rock with an assortment of rocky pinnacles rising from it.



After watching a breathtaking sunrise emerge through the clouds below we begin our descent back to the base of the Mountain.

The diversity of the landscapes witnessed along with the views, and incredible sunset and sunrise make the experience unforgetable and well worth the effort.