We were up nice and early at 5:40am to get ready for an exciting day. My only concern when I got up was - Is it raining outside? Nope! It seemed to be a pretty nice day :)
After a lovely breakfast at the hotel we got in the van and headed out to Kinabalu National Park. I knew it was a fair way from the center of the city but didn't know it was 2 hours away! Well... it gave me a chance to catch up with my friends Isabel and Amanda.
Very excited girls! (obviously we didn't know what was waiting ahead for us).
When we got out of the van we felt quite chilly so I quickly put on some more layers - I guess we were already quite high above sea level (about 1800m).
We are ready! Bring it on!
Boys were much calmer than us.
I couldn't even reach on the map, but this is where I am supposed to go...
My personal tag.
I even got a packed lunch. Boiled eggs, spam sandwich and some fruits.
I started off quite cheerfully. Just enjoying being in the nature, looking at the waterfall etc. But I found the first 2 km very hard. I was already panting - It got very steep very quickly.
There was a pondok with a toilet and resting area at each km marker. We stopped at each one to make sure we drink water and eat some snacks. I quite enjoyed this approach as I felt not hurried and had a chance to reset my body for the next km ahead.
Amanda, Peter, Isabel, Phil and Simon
We made sure we were following the right trail.
It was the weekend so there were quite few people climbing the mountain. You can use a porter/guide to carry the things you don't need until you get to Laban Rata. So that's what we did. Our guide Rowdy had to carry 40kg in total... But he was super fit and very experienced so no worries (he has been doing it for the last 12 years).
There were a few lady porters too. Some were carrying things for the climbers, and others were carrying things for the restaurant at Laban Rata such as eggs, veges, gas bottles etc etc. They were chatting away and texting and talking on the phone (there was cellphone coverage all the way to Laban Rata) as if they were just walking - not climbing the mountain!
As we got closer to Laban Rata, the view got better and better!
I was slightly slower than the others but made it to Laban Rata in one piece and was still smiling!!
Group photo time! Such an awesome moment!!
Things even got better when we checked in at Laban Rata. We found out that we were staying in the VIP room! We had our own shower and toilet and even had these!
Dinner was served at 4:30 so we had an hour or so to relax, look around and play monopoly....
Dinner was actually very good. Good selection and freshly made. I enjoyed the wintermelon soup the most, I had three bowls of it. (it is a kind of vegetable that looks like radish but bigger). I guess my body was craving for some salt.
Time for an amazing sunset - we waited and waited until it was perfect!
I was already full of an accomplished feeling - making it to Laban Rata and being above the clouds to see this fantastic sunset. YES! all the hard walk was worth it!
We were in bed by 8pm as we need to get up at 3am. I found it a bit unsettling with the noise and thin air but finally fell asleep...zzzz
(to be continued...)
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