Mulu Pinnacle August 2017

To be updated soon..

Mount Trusmadi via Kaingaran Trail January 2017

To be updated..

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.

Mount Tombuyukon 16-19 December 2017

Mount Tambuyukon is the third highest mountain in Sabah and Malaysia at 2,579m. But hikers have dubbed it the most challenging one after Mount Trusmadi via Sinua Trail and Mount Kinabalu. What do I personally think? Its definitely the hardest to date but it was also the most memorable one for me. The climb is a total of 28km all round trip and it begins from Monggis Substation which has camping ground facilities as well as bunk beds and facilities such as toilets and kitchen. It is about an hour drive from Sabah Park to reach Monggis Substation. You can actually used any car to drive as the road is asphalt and in good condition. The only part of the road that you need 4wd vehicle is the small road through the village leading into station Monggis which is a few hundred meter.

Our group consist only of 5 person..we did everything ourselves..from the booking with Sabah park to the planning of the itinerary and dates (Mostly all the hard paperwork was done by John). There was not much blogging done on Mount Tambuyukon since not many people wanted to hike it because of its reputation. But if you are an active person who jogs/hike weekly, mind you..not the hardcore hikers since i myself was quite busy this year and had to minimize my outdoor hiking..you can definitely reach the peak as long as you are head strong and don't give up. Hiking with fun people is also an added bonus since you need all the support to stay sane while hiking Tambuyukon. The  few available blogs out there was what really help us to plan our hiking trip. We set our date and our penghulu, John called Sabah park headquarter and inquired about the process. We were asked to write in to Sabah Park and request permit to hike Mount Tambuyukon, stating our full name, ic no and the the dates..afterwards its just the matter of following up our request. We picked 16-19 December 2017 for the hike, a 4 days 3 night adventure as I was more confident with a 4 days hike than a 3 days hike as long as all of us reach the summit. My friend was initially worried because we did not get an answer regarding our dates after some time..to which I consoled him "Tiada orang clash tarikh kita tuh..Orang gila saja mau naik Tambuyukon, kitalah tu orang gila". After following up few weeks later via phone, we were actually granted the permit and just needed to confirm finale details like potter service,etc with Sabah Park one week before our climb. All payment was done at Sabah Park on the climbing dates.

The road leading to Monggis station

The morning of 16 December 2017, we assembled ad Sabah Park, Kundasang and went to register our names. John already reminded the group to bring along our own copy of IC for registration to fasten the process. We did all the registration process at the same counter as the Mount Kinabalu registration..just like Mount Kinabalu, we were given name tags to wear and had to fill in an indemnity form. For 5pax, we each paid RM449.20 at the counter for permits,insurance,etc. Afterwards we had our breakfast/lunch at the nearby restaurant before driving to Monggis station using google map as our guide. We reached Monggis station around 1pm and towards the very last minute removing stuff we decided not to bring. My extra cooking utensil apparently did not make the cut. At the station, we paid the cost for guide, potter service and certificate, which is RM110 per guide per day for 3pax. since there is 5 of us..we paid RM110 X 2 person X 4 days for a total of RM880. The potter fee is RM7 per kg times the total days of hike while the certificate is RM5.30 per person. Us gals opted for the potter fee to carry extra water, extra clothes, extra Pacat spray, our tent and most of the group food supply. It was easy for us to plan out the itinerary together since all of us know each other quite well. I sorted out our food menu so that we would at least have an idea of what we can cook and eat each day.

Monggis station

That's us still packing at Monggis station

Group photo before starting the hike

At 2pm, we took out group photo and headed out. The weather was good and the first day we wanted to camp at Wuluh Camp around KM6 but the guide told us that the recent rain had made the area unsuitable to camp for a big number of people because of the fallen tree. So we ended up camping somewhere between KM5 and KM6. It was around 4.30pm so we had plenty of time to properly clean the site and set out our camp. It's a good thing to have handyman in the group to set up our kitchen camp using canvas that was bought along. I was really glad that we had bought 2 canvas along just in case and they prove to be very useful since there is no proper hut after KM4. John who has the most experience in the jungle bought ropes and parang and all that Bear Grylls stuff.  Tambuyukon trail is not your average hike and the guides assumed you can very well take care of yourself. So having complete hiking gears and extra stuff like cooking gas, cooking utensils, pots and pan, cooking oil and ingredients,etc does not hurt. We cook dinner together after setting up camp and then retired to bed. I woke up near midnight to the sound of rain and the side of our camp was wet as it continue to rain until early morning. The good thing is us girls bought along padded mat for our camp so we were not soak wet. The other guys were not so lucky as the rain made the bottom of the camp soak wet.

The guys constructing our kitchen camp

It's looking good guys

Sapu..sapu all the twigs away so that we can sleep on flat land

Our campsite on the first day

Cooking in the jungle is actually quite fun

The second day 17 December, we woke up early and cooked our breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was instant bubur while lunch was nasi goreng. Then we packed our tents and started trekking around 9am and aimed to reach Musang Camp at KM10.8. It started to rain not long after that so we wore our ponchos to minimize getting soaked wet. We had our lunch and hot drinks at Kepuakan Camp located at KM8 which is just beside the river before continuing on to Musang Camp.

Lunch at Kepuakan Camp

Boiling water with this pot to make drinks because we had forgotten to bring a kettle.Hahaa

We reached Musang Camp at KM10.8 soaking wet around 3pm and the guys set up our kitchen camp. We made maggi kari to warm up before setting our tents. Mother nature is your toilet after KM4..there is a specific area at Musang Camp that people did their "business" because we saw tissues on the ground.

Hot maggi with eggs..the best on a rainy day!

Our campsite at Musang Camp. The guys made us a roof with garbage bags.

The rain continued until night time and the surrounding area was so cold even warm coffee was not enough. It was one of my worst night ever since everything was soak wet from our sleeping bag to our clothes..our hair..everything. All of us hardly had any sleep that night and yet we had to wake up early the next day to trek to the summit. Thankfully the rain stop around 10pm.

Our kitchen camp at Musang Camp

On the early morning of 18 December 2017, everyone looked haggard from lack of sleep but we could still laugh at the situation. Meurel looks extra pale though and he also lost one of his contact lens so he only had one good eye. I bought along my daily lenses but our degrees were different so I could not help him out there. We ate chicken floss sandwiched for breakfast before beginning our hike at 3am. Actually the first 10km hike was not that bad..it was the 4km hike to the summit that was really tough. The first 2km consist of mossy forest where you have to crawl and used tree roots to hurled yourself up..the last 2km consist of rocky terrains that is much...much harder than scaling Mulu Pinnacles rocks. I felt the first 2km was fine for me but then when the rocky trail started I began to feel more and more exhausted with each step. At the rocky trail, Aldro who was initially at the front changed his position to the middle of the group so I was the front person which was okay for the first few minutes. But then, being the tough gal that I was, it was too hard (and stubborn) for me to admit at that time that there were some physical things I could not overcome alone. Now here is the bittersweet thing with hiking with your close friends who knows you very very well. When John saw that I began to struggle a bit to get myself up some part of the rocks. He immediately signal from behind the group for me to stop and went to the front of the pack.. The pros is that I did not even have to say out loud that I needed some help. He was the guide when the front guide was no where to be seen. The cons is he starts to nag me when he was at the front to control my breathing,etc. But I told him my breathing was fine..it was my legs that was not cooperating. Our group continued to help each other out until all of us reached the summit at 9am.

That's me and my partner in crime Fei. It's quite seldom that gals like extreme outdoor like this so having a gal that was willing to try hiking trails like this is a Gem

There was an area around 2km before the summit that had an amazing view. We spend quite some time there taking pictures. Upon reaching the summit, there wasn't actually any view because of the fog but we were quite satisfied taking photos with the summit signage.

My favorite photo taken by Fei. Absolutely amazing view up here

Somewhere 2km before the summit

Well it's me, holding up 3 fingers for 3 of the highest mountain in Sabah and Malaysia that I've conquered in 2017, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Trusmadi & last but not least Mount Tambuyukon

Our group photo on top!we made sure to stand in the same position as our initial group photo. Hahaa

At the summit, we cooked hot water and ate maggi before starting our descend down to Musang Camp. Now the guide infront once again galloped off back to Musang Camp bringing Aldro with him. I could not catch up so once again, I was infront. Hahahaaa.. I remembered saying to Fei "Okay Fei, kita pelahan-lahan ensot turun yaa.." Once we reached the big dangerous boulder where we could fall to our death, I stopped and the remaining guys and guide behind caught up to us by then. Again, John saw the situation and automatically resumed front guide duty. Once we reached Musang Camp, we had to pack our stuff and then continued to trek to Kepuakan Camp for the night. Rice for dinner was already cooked by Aldro while waiting for us to arrive.


It was really agonizing trekking down to Kepuakan Camp since the trail was slippery and I fell down here and there. Again, deja vu I became the front of the pack because the guide infront was too fast and had galloped down with one of the guy. The trail down from Musang Camp to Kepuakan was not that difficult so I was initially fine infront but at one point I keep confusing the trail so John step to the front of the pack to find the right trail while Weiter, our guide took care of the group from behind. We reached the camp together around 6pm but the river level had risen up even though it did not rain. When you have ladies in the group they come with extra drama and spices but rest assured the trip was anything but boring because of us. Hahaaaa. I saw the river and automatically look towards Meurel's face and admitting "I can't do this.." so Meurel called John over to come get me after sending Fei safely to the other side. The 3 guys in our group work together to helped us cross one by one since raging river was not us gal's forte. The guides..well..no comment. It was our last night in the jungle, we feast on almost all our food. I made corn soup in the middle of the jungle..hooray that nobody got food poisoning in those 4 days. The leeches number was highest in Kepuakan Camp but us gals hardly got bitten at our feet there eventhough we wore slippers because of our insect repellent spray. But they keep trying to crawl on our clothes. I finished 2 cans of insect repellent spray in a span of 4 days. The guys, they don't seem to mind donating their blood..they even went for a swim at the river in the middle of the night. Well, boys will be boys I guess.

I would miss the soothing silence I found only in the forest

Our campsite at Kepuakan Camp

The river in the morning had a different vibe once the water level had gone down

Meurel washing his socks

Last day in Tambuyukon

The morning of 19 December, we had to hike back to our starting point.. we woke up early to wash up and pack. I was saving a pack of kolomee sarawak noodles for celebration. While boiling the mee, I said to John who was co-chef of the morning..just let it boil then remove the water like normal instant mee goreng. "Okay..okay" he said so I ran off to wash my face at the river..then lo and behold, I looked around after I finished and there was John nearby washing up too (John??!!) Hahaaaa. I instinctly ran back to the kitchen camp to find the noodles dissolving into a soup..it could not be safe. John came back and I nag him about it and decided not to use it and instead made nasi goreng for breakfast with the leftover rice from yesterday. We shall have our konomee feast in Ranau Isaid.

For the 8km  hike back down, we changed our position with John infront, me & Meurel in the middle and Fei & Aldro behind. My second pair of leech sock keeps slipping down so I ended up being bitten by leeches around my ankle. Meurel has only one good eyesight, so when I fell down, he would fell down the slippery slope as well..which was hillarious at one point. Also, John accused my voice of scaring off a Bakas or pig he was eyeing up infront (Ceh..).

We reached the starting point around 2.30pm and had our group photo taken. Afterwards, began the task of removing all leeches from our legs. All of us showered and changed into clean clothes left in the car before heading out home.

AAww..our group photo when we reached back to the starting point in Monggis station

My bloody feet because my leech socks keep falling down that day

John parting with his leech collection

Aldro's feet looking like a disease. All of our feet look more or less like this because of our wet shoes but they turn back normal once we soak our feet in the river.

We celebrated our day at Ranau's hakka food court.. I ordered all the cold drinks I was fantasizing in the forest. Teh C Special Ping and Nescafe Ping. Heeheee..

The guys looking pleased with themselves at the Hakka food court parking in Ranau

Needless to say, what a year it has been. I scaled Mount Trusmadi via Sinua Trail in December 2016, then went back Mount Trusmadi via Kaingaran Trail in January 2017, climbed up Mount Kinabalu and Mulu Pinnacles in August 2017 and ending the year climbing Mount Tambuyukon!!

I recommend hiking up Mount Tambuyukon with close hiking buddies because at the end of the day, there were gratitude emotions no words could expressed, genuine kindness shown in action not empty words and memories made only in Tambuyukon that will stay with you for the rest of your lives.

Here's a video montage I made dedicated to our trip