Ever since we have been living in Malaysia we have talked about climbing Mount Kinabalu in Sabah again. We first scaled the highest mountain in South East Asia on our first trip to Sabah in 2004, this is probably when our appetite for walking up big hills first started as it was an amazing experience. So, we thought it would be great training for our upcoming trip to the Indian Himalayas to pop up there again. Hang on a minute, training for a holiday! That can’t be right can it? Surely that would involve lying down a lot in preparation for the beach or drinking cocktails to get used to having fruit in your drinks wouldn’t it? Apparently not, it involves walking around Bangsar with a big heavy pack on yer back every night and climbing mountains every weekend! Oh well, I just do as I’m told.
Anyway, we had managed to bag some cheap flights to Kota Kinabalu and I managed to get an extra day off work to make it a long weekend during Emma’s half term. Then we ran into a couple of problems trying to book the huts on the mountain. I went on the old tinterweb and was shocked to find the huts were 369 ringgit per person! (That means almost 800 – about 150 pounds, for the 2 of us to spend about 4 hours in a hut as you get up at 2.00 am to summit) That couldn’t be right could it? Especially as we paid 450 ringgit for a night in a super posh room at the 5 star Andaman on Langkawi last year. I remember paying about 39 ringgit last time, and after all these were basic huts on a mountain, just bunks in a room with other people, no bathroom or heating. Guessed I must have gone on a tour operator’s website and they were having a laugh ripping off unsuspecting tourists, but no, went on the official website and the prices were the same, but hey they did include food, and we all know how expensive food is in Malaysia – ten bob for a plate of fried rice! Sounds like a great deal hey. Not a lot of choice then, if we wanted to climb the mountain we would have to pay the man, so I emailed my reservation about 4 months in advance and they were already fully booked! More research and we found out that we could climb the mountain in a day, which was great news for Emma as she always said it could be done in a day. Of course you miss out on the spectacular sunrise and there is a bigger chance of bad weather being at the top during the day but Emma assured me it would be good training!
So we were all set, we were on the first flight in the morning which required us to leave the house at 4 am! This meant leaving the house at half time during the Champions league final, but at least Barca were winning. As we walked down to KL Sentral to get the Air Asia bus we tried to judge the cheers and groans from the Mammak stalls ( Indian 24 hours restaurants), which were packed with people watching the game. Not long after setting off on the bus the text came through (cheers Dave) to say United had lost, so a good start to the holiday. Checked in and the flight was on time and we were soon at KK airport, we got a taxi to Padang Merdeka ( Independence field) and the driver pointed us in the direction of the minibus to Ranau which passes the entrance to Mount Kinabalu National park. You have to wait for the buses to fill up before they set off so we tried to find some breakie. All the nearby restaurants were Chinese, however, we were after Roti Canai, now bread and curry first thing in the morning is heaven but I just can’t get into greasy noodles at 9 bells! So we declined, which was a good job as we were called to the bus as it was now ready to go. Emma managed to make some butties with our supplies for the trek so we didn’t starve you will be glad to hear. The journey out of KK and up to the highlands was pretty but the bus struggled up the hills. We finally got to the top of one large pass when one of the passengers asked the driver to stop. Must be a call of nature, but no, there was a woman selling huge chunks of pig on a BBQ. Looked like there was more hair and fat on the pieces than meat but soon half the bus got off and a purchasing frenzy ensued, strangely Emma wasn’t up for buying any! Sabah and Sarawak (Borneo to you) is made up of mainly local tribes so despite the government building huge mosques, the place is distinctly un-Islamic and pigs and beer seem to be the order of the day. We soon got to the park and the driver dropped us off at the D’Villa Rina Ria, about 500m past the entrance to the park on the road to Kundasang. We had booked and paid for the room beforehand (surprisingly, not going for the expensive accommodation in the park controlled by Sutera Sanctuary) and they were expecting us. The room was basic but clean, however, the really cool thing about the place was the view from our balcony. Wonderful views down the valley and loads of birds flying around the lovely garden. The staff were friendly and they rustled up some tasty noodle soup for lunch. The plan was to go up to the park HQ and book a guide for the climb in the morning but it started raining. Fortunately, our room had Astro (Malaysian Sky) and so we were able to watch the second half of the game we had missed earlier while we sat out the rain. It was nice watching the game knowing United had lost but two minutes before the end there was a power cut! Drat, we would miss Barca lifting the cup again and more importantly, Ronaldo, Rooney et al in tears!
The rain didn’t last too long so we walked up to the park HQ. We found the office and explained the situation about wanting to climb the mountain in a day. “Sorry sir, accommodation fully booked”, no we want to go up and down in a day”, “Oh, also fully booked”. How could that be so? Apparently there are only 4 people allowed to go up and down in a day and the next day was full. Only 4 people? I enquired why such a small number and that 2 more wouldn’t make such a difference but was told it was the park rules. Further enquiries were rebuffed and we were told to see Mr. John in the office up the hill. We found Mr. John and explained the situation and that we had come a long way to climb the mountain etc but each time he said there was no chance 6 people could go up the mountain. Now Mr. John must have got to the top of the ladder at Sabah Parks due to his ability to question and think for himself and not just by toeing the line, as again and again I asked Why and each time his said it was park rules. Emma had to drag me out of the office screaming why? why ? like a four year old child. You have got to feel sorry for Emma, having to put up with 4 year olds every day at work and me at weekends! But I did really want to know the rationale behind the 4 people limit. It can’t be because they care about the environment as they let 100s climb each day and even have a race up the mountain when speed freaks run up and down in 2 and a half hours! Guess it must be because they want everyone to spend 1000s of Ringgit staying in the ridiculously priced huts, but then why let 4 people go up? Oh well as Mr. John said, they are the rules so we had to come up with plan B.
Plan B was to climb half way up the mountain from the lesser used Mesilau route which starts from the Nature Resort 17km to the east of the park HQ and then descend via the usual summit trail. Sounds like a plan, especially as we wouldn’t have to pay the compulsory guide fee (RM 70 pp) and climbing fee (RM 100 pp). Only problem was getting to the start of the trail, we tried to book transport at the office but they said it was RM 85. Now I’m sorry that this is beginning to sound like a non-stop moan about cash but come on, it costs RM 70 from KL to the airport and that’s 70km and includes tolls. Sounds like they are extorting money from tourists left right and centre, so best check at the guesthouse. Same story there, they are all in on it! So we had to pay the man and book a taxi for 7 o’clock the next morning.
We were up early and the weather was fantastic, clear blue skies and even the included breakfast was edible, so we were all set for our day’s trekking. The taxi arrived and we headed down the road towards Kundasang, along the way we were treated to outstanding views of the mountain. The driver turned off at Kundasang and headed up the road towards the Mesilau Nature resort, a total of 20 minutes after setting off we were at the start of the trail! I congratulated the driver on his pricing policy and we made our way to the small office, paid for our permit and insurance, enquiries as to what that actually covered was met with blank expressions, so I guessed it was best not to break yer leg up there! All negative thoughts about the running of the park soon melted away as we climbed up through the forest and were rewarded with stellar views of the mighty Gunung Kinabalu. We got vastly different views on this trail as we were coming from the east, and the flora along the route was enchanting. The 6 km trail started off at 2000m but after a short climb we were soon heading down and down, must have been to around 1700 or even 1500m. We crossed over a few rivers and passed some waterfalls before heading up again after the 3.5km mark. It was really steep from then on, up and up through the forest and it started to get a bit chilly, Emma kept muttering something about gloves! We eventually came out on a ridge in the mossy forest and the mist had come down, so we were glad not to be going to the top at this point as we wouldn’t be able to see anything, so thanks to Mr. John and his rules! Along the way we had seen loads of different varieties of pitcher plants but Emma was really looking for wild orchids. So she was delighted to find quite a number of different types and we spent some time taking photos of all the different plants. The trail must have peaked at about 2900m before we dropped down slightly to 2700m to join the main summit trail at Layang-Layang. It had taken about 3 and a half hours to get to this point (the leaflet said 5) but we had been taking it easy and stopping loads to admire the views and plant life on this great trail, and best of all, we had not seen a single soul since leaving the Nature Resort till we got to the summit trail – fantastic!
As we headed down the 4 km trail to Timpohon Gate we met loads of trekkers huffing and puffing their way up the track. Was it really that tough when we had done it all those years ago? Now remember I said I’d taken an extra day off work to fit in this trek, well it would have been easy to throw a sickie (not that I would of course!) rather than arrange to make up my classes, but good job I didn’t. As we were descending past a group of trekkers I heard someone say “Hi Steve!” It was Chitra, the head of the English language department at the college I work in. I had no idea she was planning to climb the mountain so it was a complete surprise to bump into her. It would have been quite a task to explain a sickie half way up Mount Kinabalu! She was climbing with her daughter and 75 year old father on his birthday, we wished them well and we continued down and they headed upwards. We quickly made our way down passing lots of trekkers hobbling along after summiting that morning, a lot of them were in awe that we were bombing along but we didn’t let them in on our secret! When we got to the Timpohon Gate it was around 1 o’clock so we decided to take one of the trails back to HQ instead of the road. We soon found the start of the 5.6 km Liwagu Trail and we headed down steeply through the forest towards the river. We found a spot on the trail with a view of the mountain which was mostly covered in cloud and had our picnic. Soggy cheese slice butties taste pretty good when you have been trekking all day! We continued along the narrow slippery, muddy path which followed the Liwagu river about 100m below us. This was more of a challenge than the earlier trails but luckily we didn’t fall off the path even when we had to climb over a huge tangle of fallen trees. So not many people use this trail then? Guess not as we didn’t see anyone until we got back to the HQ. We had really enjoyed the trek despite not being able to get to the top. Kinabalu Park is really beautiful and I guess it was good to explore more of the park than simply trudge up and down in a day. We got back to the guesthouse and were relieved to find the hot water was really hot and the restaurant over the road had cheap cool beer, so we bought a couple and relaxed on the balcony reflecting on a great trek. We had walked about 16km, which is the length of the summit trail up and down and walked from 2000m to about 1500m back up to almost 3000m and down again to the HQ at 1500m in 7 hours.
Up early again the next morning so we decided to head back to the park to check out the botanical garden. Apparently Emma had not seen enough trees and flowers yesterday! We eventually found the gardens but it didn’t open until 9 bells so we headed to a restaurant for a brew. We got a really decent brew (wow, something positive about Sutera Sanctaury!) and sat on a terrace looking at the mountain against a backdrop off bright blue skies and a few fluffy white clouds. It would have been a good day for the trekkers up there so we were glad for Chitra and her family. We headed back to the ‘mountain garden’ and wandered around for a while, we had hoped to put a few names to the flora we had seen yesterday but the limited info was only in latin and I’ve kind of forgotten everything I learned in latin school so that wasn’t much good, but it was a nice way to spend half an hour or so. We headed back to the HQ along another short trail and bought a few postcards in the shop before going back to D’Villa to pack. The girl at the guesthouse said she could get us a seat in a car going to KK but when she phoned they were all fully booked as it was a holiday. Now it always seems to be a holiday whenever you want to get somewhere, but apparently it actually was, Gawai, the summer harvest festival. Never mind, there was a bus due soon so we waited in the garden catching rays while looking out for the bus coming along the road. When we saw it we jumped up and ran to the road but it just ploughed past us, now it looked like there were empty seats to me! We decided to head to the park entrance to see if the next bus would stop there but again it hurtled past our frantic waving. We spent the next half an hour trying to thumb a lift but all the empty 4x4s were not for picking us up. In Thailand you never wait more than 5 mins for a ride, especially at a national park and usually they ask you if you want a lift, but it was proving more difficult here. After a while, a taxi pulled out of the park after a drop off and pulled up. He wanted RM 150 to go to KK as it was a holiday, you don’t say. We bargained him down to 100 which, when you consider KK is almost 100km away, is better value than yesterdays taxi ride. The next bus wasn’t due for another 2 hours and he didn’t want to go back to KK empty, so all parties were happy and we were soon chatting and eating biscuits with driver Tim. The weather was still holding and we had incredible views of the mountain as we headed down the valley. We stopped off at one spot to take pictures of the mountain and a wedding party pulled up for their photo shoot. We declined being in their pics and carried on thinking that maybe we should have tried for a day climb today as the weather so good, but we didn’t and had enjoyed our alternative trek.
We were soon back in KK and headed from the taxi park to the waterfront dining area. Last time we came here for an evening meal the sea stank, but during the day with the tide further in it was fine. We had a nice lunch of fancy sandwiches (courgette on Emma’s would you believe?) at the italianish place next to Coffee Bean and even succumbed to the waiter’s incessant calls for us to have a jug of beer. It was very pleasant sitting by the sea for a while despite it being damn hot, even for us. We checked into the D’Borneo Hotel (I only stay at places that use ‘D’ instead of The these days, I’m that cool!) which we stayed at on our last visit, and the staff were very friendly as usual. We only had a standard room but it actually seemed nicer than last time, much lighter and the rooms overlooked greenery. After a cool down in the AC it was time for sunset beer which arrives earlier than in Peninsular Malaysia, which some may say is a bonus. Instead of heading back to the waterfront row of bars we headed further down the prom. The place next to the big fish statue (Cocoons I think) had been turned into a building site since the last time we were there so the only place with sunset view was Shenanigans, which is part of the Hyatt hotel so we were prepared for more wallet haemorrhaging. We were not shocked to see RM 18 a mug or 60 a jug, then the waitron said the promotion was 4 becks for RM24, er a tough decision had to be made, ok bring it on, cheap as chips (chips are expensive in Malaysia). So we enjoyed our beer watching the sunset from the terrace before heading on to Little Italy for pizza. Can’t go to KK without this experience, and I managed to improve on last time’s by adding pepperoni to the 4 cheese pizza – delicious but we were very good and only had 1 giraffe of wine. Moved onto BB’s Cafe for the FA Cup final but they had a band on and no commentary so moved on but only after Emma the ‘Eco Warrior’ had nearly got us into trouble. A group of lads were fishing goldfish out of the ornamental pond in the restaurant and she went over to try to rescue them. Apparently the goldfish were on the menu and the lads were not too pleased and neither was the fish as it was brown bread despite Emma’s attempts. So to ‘Upperstars’ cafe before I had to appear manly and fierce, where we enjoyed the rest of the footy and banter with the locals. For those worried about my wallet, bucket of Heineken for 20 nett, what were we doing in those other gaffs hey?
Lazy Sunday, checking out the crowded Gaya Street market and having brews before going to the airport. So all in all, a great long weekend in the very beautiful Mount Kinabalu Park. It was good to explore more of the park and get away from the crowds. I guess the moral of the story is, it is not always about getting to the top but enjoying the journey, but we did do some training for that holiday in July!
Travel Information and More Rants about Sutera Sanctaury Lodges
So should you climb Kinabalu? Well, when we did it in 04 it was a great experience so I would have to say yes, do it once, but if you are going to do it be prepared to spend quite a bit of money and book 6 months in advance. Also think about doing it via the Mesilau route or just enjoy the many short trails around the park HQ instead.
I think the extortion of trekkers by Sutera Sanctuary Lodges company which the Sabah parks have given the running of Kinabalu Park to, is in my opinion a disgrace. A national park should be available to as many people as it is environmentally sustainable for, so it is an outrage that Sabah Parks let this company monopolise it for profit. We were told Malaysians also have to pay these high prices too! Unfortunately, if you want to climb Kinabalu you have to give them your cash.
http://www.suterasanctuarylodges.com/
Getting to the Park
Taxi airport to the mini bus park RM 20
Minibus to the park RM 15 about 2.5 hours
Accommodation
D’Villa Rina Ria is a nice place 500m from the entrance with ok double rooms with hot water and stunning views for RM100. There are quite a few places along the road outside the park.
http://www.dvillalodge.com/accommodation.html
