Mount Kinabalu 5-6 August 2017

For Mount Kinabalu climb, I went to Sutera Habour Office in KK Time Square to ask about the booking process in December 2016. So the staff at the counter gave me the mountain climbing reservation form and told me that booking for next year (2017) will open on a certain date so in the mean time I can prepare the list of participants and their copy of IC as well as collecting the booking fee of RM120/pax for the overnight stay in Laban Rata Resthouse and 5 meals during the climbing trip. I did just that and came on the day that the climb dates booking was open. There was a queue and when it was my turn, the previous dates we had decided as a group was already taken even though I was like the second or third person that sat down. Other people there had big folder files with them were most probably travel agents. Thankfully the staff was really patient while I asked my friends about other date suggestion. In the end, I asked the staff what weekend date was available for 10pax and there was only 5-6 August 2017 available which was Saturday & Sunday weekend. I book the date on the spot and paid the booking fee amounting to RM1200 for 10 pax Sabahan rate. There was a limitation of 10pax perday for exclusive Sabahan rate which we were counting on for budget. The normal malaysian rate is different, much expensive but there's the new Lemaing hostel that can be consider as well. I also remember to ask the staff there whether we can change members because what if there were members who bailed out last minute, and the staff explained that we can just get the copy of IC of the new participant and passed it to the counter for their processing. I took the receipt booking that was given that day and keep it safe until the dates of our climb since we need them for our registration at Sabah Park.

On 5 August 2017, we agreed to meet up in Sabah Park by 8am. We ended up having breakfast around 7.30am at the restaurant outside of Sabah Park since it was open early. Around 8 something we drove up and park in Sabah park, paid the entrance fee (RM3/pax), park our cars and head to the registration office. There we waited for our turn to register, get our name tags and filled in the indemnity form. It was obvious that we were handling the booking on our own but the staff there were really friendly and helpful, guiding us step by step what to do. Two guides were assigned to us on the spot. We paid for the permit (RM50/pax), certificate (RM10.60/pax), insurance (RM7/pax), etc at the registration counter, paid the guide fee (RM230 X 2 guide) at the guide counter and went to the Sutera Office nearby to get our insurance sorted. The staff reminded me to take our packed lunch at Balsam Buffett Restaurant located nearby. After the guys got out lunch packs and we settled the porter cost, we paid the transportation fee of RM9 at the transportation office for 2 way transport from Sabah Park Office – Timpohon gate – Sabah Park Office. All in all, we paid not more than RM250 per person to climb Mount Kinabalu given that you do all the bookings yourself. It was pretty easy too since everyone was quite helpful. 

The list of fee for climbing Mount Kinabalu

Sabah Park Office where we registered for the climb

The office was not so big so we took turns entering to fill in the forms,etc but 1 person had to be the Along collecting the fee.Hahaa

 

That's me..being an Along collecting money from my friends

That's our guide handing out the name tags

That's us infront of the transportation office dividing our pack lunch and weighting some stuff (mainly energy drink) to be carried by the potter

Well, apparently we were excited to get on the bus

The guides gave us a short briefing at Timpohon gate and we started our hike around 10am. The climb up was enjoyable since there’s so much to see but we were glad to rest at every hut to regroup. Mount Kinabalu Trail is very well mark with toilets available at every shelter. 

Briefing at Timpohon gate

You can become a Disney princess at Mount Kinabalu

We arrived at Lowii shelter around 12.30pm and feed bread to the friendly fat squirrels. So there were photo shoots going on because everybody wants a photo of the squirrels taking food from their hand. We reached Layang-layang hut around 1.40pm and had our lunch there while waiting for all members to arrive. Then it started raining so we wore our Ponchos before continuing our climb. The climb automatically became hard when it started raining since you the trail became slippery and you can barely see where you are stepping on. Our guide infront was really nice but strict though asking us not to rest too long. Unfortunately since I made the booking he memorized my name so I always got call out for stopping along the way. There’s a point where I was so miserably wet and tired that I just sat down on any rock I saw not wanting to move but he would call out my name to keep moving.   

The many local potters we saw going up Mount Kinabalu. Total respect to them.

The rocky trail

Yeap, that's me the pink ant not wanting to get up while contemplating on changing new hobbies

If I'm folding my arms hiking, I am truly miserable. Hahaa..why was this picture even taken??

Yeap, pure joy on my face when we finally reached Laban Rata. Candid photos courtesy from Aldro.

We finally arrived at Laban Rata around 5pm.. and proceed to just dumped our bags and poncho on the floor of the restaurant and attack the buffet  food. I bought 2 jar of hot water at RM5 each to make drinks and also refill our water bottles. My old school friend, Petrasia and her husband Jene sat at nearby table while the rest of us sat together and enjoyed our meal.  Not long afterwards, my younger brother arrived and joined us and my youngest sister was the last to arrive around 5.40pm. The guide behind had a word with me regarding my sister’s condition and said that tomorrow morning if she can’t make it, it’s okay. 

The buffet was included in the climbing package

Cozy bunk beds

After eating, we registered ourselves at the counter in the restaurant and were given 2 keys. 1 for 6 bunk bed and 1 for a room of 4 bunk bed. Since there are 4 guys and 6 girls we divided the room into gended basis. The bunk beds was quite comfortable with really thick blankets but IT WAS COLD. Once you snuggle into bed there’s a low chance of wanting to get out again. We clean up and changed to dry clothes before bed and we could hardly even brush our teeth because the water was icy cold.. which is why I was impressed with my friend Alisa who actually took a shower and washed her hair. I  tried to sleep but the sound of rain worries me that our climb could be canceled so I just prayed about it and tried to sleep with heating pads stuck here and there. With barely enough sleep we woke up and got ready by 1.30am..head down and the kitchen was still close. The food was only served around 2am.. It was good food though. A few of us took AMS pill as well since for high altitude sickness including myself since I have mild head throbbing in Laban Rata.

Early morning breakfast

I think we all went outside for general briefing just before 2.30am and we even wore our ponchos. But then the rains suddenly stop when we were just about to start the climb with the rest of the climbers. So we took off our ponchos again and pack in in the bag and started the climb with our headlamps in the early hours of the morning. I bought along a small torchlight as wwll.  It was a sea of climbers moving together, and you would generally pass people or let people pass you along the way. Our guide infront was really good and keep regrouping us along the way. At first it felt so cold so I had on 2 jackets but then it started getting hot for me so I took my heavy jacket off and had just my sweater and a windbreaker on. Gloves are a must and a friend gave me very handy tips of putting on a rubber glove first then the climbing glove just incase your glove gets wet, your fingers are kept dried. Up to a certain point my brother and sister was not seen so the guide said that the slower ones will be taken care by the guide behind. So we resumed our climb and made it to Sayat-sayat checkpoint by 4.30am. The guide we got was so dedicated to his job, he identified the person in the group that needed help most which was the youngest’s Tia. He held her arms and walked with her after Sayat-sayat. I was actually waiting for them and my friend, Fei at one area of the rocky trail when I saw that my friend had fallen behind them two. So I did the same thing with Fei and held her arms as we make our way up together to the top. I would like to say that it was a sentimental moment of our friendship but actually we were bickering all the way up.. giving motivation like “we better get to the summit because I’m not repeating this” and “jalan..jalan..stop sana batu di depan..” and “sijil kita masih hitam putih..jalan..jalan..” When we saw the remaining 100-200meter to the peak..the motivation changed to “sijil kita color suda, tinggal gambar sama tu plat”. Pet and her husband, me & fei, tia & the guide arrived at about the same time in the summit area at 6am. But there were a lot of climbers so climbing up near the plate and getting a picture was a challenge itself. We regroup with the other 3 members and had a lot of fun photoshoot overlooking St. John’s peak while waiting for our turn. At one point, we just push ourselves to the front and when we saw a group going down we quickly slip in for our photos. But there was a guy who would not get out of the way (and he was on the phone) even though he had been there for quite some time. We ended up taking our group photo with him sidelining in the picture. Oh well..

Tia and her knight in shining armour

You can actually see a face there at St John's Peak

We made it!!!The guy in the black&white hoodie is actually on the phone not wanting to get give us a proper group photo

As we made our way down the summit, I saw a familiar face, my brother Noel…he had made it to the top alone but it was already 7am and was satisfied that he can see the last 200meter to the plate. We made it down together and along the way meet up with the guide behind who told us that my sister Vet was unable to continue the climb. Laban Rata resthouse had a policy that the climber will have to pay additional fee if they check out after 10am or 10.30am so we made our way down quickly, just stopping for photos here and there. The popular South peak is a must of course. Since it was daylight already, every scene becomes much more beautiful and it’s hard not to stop for photos. 

That's me overlooking south peak

We reached Laban Rata Resthouse around 9am and had our proper breakfast, packed our bags and went down to Timpohon gate. Also if you reach Timpohon gate after 5pm, there is a compensation fee to the guide that is with you. But it was not that expensive, I think around RM20 or so. The climb down was painful actually since our energy was already used up this morning. Once we reached Timpohon gate, we got into the vehicle and was send back to the Sabah Park area office. We were told that we can have our late lunch at Balsam Buffett Restaurant.. all in all we had 5 meals included in our package. We took our certificate first and head to the restaurant to eat before each of us drove home.

Our hard earned certificate

It was a great experience...Just droving home that day and passing the mountain terrains bought a sense of satisfaction and proudness knowing that I have set foot on the highest mountain in Sabah/Malaysia.