Conquered Mt. Kinabalu: The Journey – Day 2

The journey up Mount Kinabalu continues on Day 2…

Day 2

• 2 AM : Depart from Laban Rata for the remaining 2km up to the peak of Mount Kinabalu
• The temparature is now about 6 degress, and the surroundings is dark but still slightly visible thanks to the full moon. We’ll need to gear up in warm winter clothings, beanie, gloves, and a torch (headlamp) to light our way up from here on (some snacks and water too)



• It’s another series of steep stairs for the early part of this trail (about 500m). Many climbers would basically be queuing up the steps and the exhaustion from yesterday’s climb will start to take its toll for some
• Next comes the exciting part of the entire climb, the beginning of our “rock walk”. Climbing up along the edges of the mountain rocks with a white rope to lead us to the peak and to help pull ourselves up along certain steep path of the rocks, which is also perhaps the most dangerous part of the climb



• We’ll then arrive at the last rest hut – the Sayat-sayat checkpoint where we’ll have out permit checked before the final ascend up to the peak. The climb from here is just a long uphill slope up the rocks. It looks like we’re very near the top from here, yet it’s actually quite a distance from the peak. The tiredness and the thin air effects starts to have some impact on the climb up



• As we get closer to the peak, we’ll see a couple of other peaks along the way such as the Donkey Ears, St. John’s Peak and the South Peak



• I only manage to reach the Donkey Ears during sunrise (Approx. 5:30AM), but eventually made it up the highest point, Low’s Peak at about 7AM. The satisfaction of finally reaching the peak at 4095m and the sense of accomplishment… all the tiredness and pain seems to disappear for a moment



• After admiring the scenery around the peak, it’s time descent back to Laban Rata. The journey down is much easier to the muscles but the pain on my knee can slowly be felt. The stairs can be rather slippery and I almost slip at some part
• About an hour plus later, we’re back down at Laban Rata for a short rest, freshen up and have some breakfast before resuming the descent down
• It’s now all the way down to Kinabalu Park on the same 6km trail. Here’s where a walking stick can be helpful along some tricky parts of the descent and a helping aid to my sore knee. It took me about an hour to descent 1km on average
• Remember the easy downhill walk I mentioned during the ascent? The last 100m of the descent is now a climb up to the Timpohon Gate where we started our trail. After all the descend for the day, my legs felt like giving up on climbing up the steps. I basically limped my way with the walking stick
• Finally, we got back to Kinabalu Park and got our color certificate of accomplishment for having reached the peak of Mount Kinabalu. Due to the time we took to get down, we sort of had our belated lunch cum dinner at the Kinabalu Park’s cafe before departing back to Kota Kinabalu

While documenting my journey up Mt. Kinabalu, I’ve also found an interesting website [ClimbMtKinabalu.com] that’s worth checking out (I think it’s a better description of the journey than what I’ve wrote).

It’s an amazing journey up Mt. Kinabalu. I do certainly recommend anyone with the heart for adventure and nature to give it a go. Despite experiencing severe muscles ache to the extend where I’m basically limping around and going up/down stairs is a real pain for a week after the climb (thanks to my lack of regular exercise and physical preparation prior to the trip); the journey is worth it in my opinion, and I’m proud to say… I’ve conquered Mt. Kinabalu!!

Conquered Mt. Kinabalu: The Journey – Day 1

So here’s my little travel log of my journey to the peak of Mt. Kinabalu…

Pre-Day 1

• Arrived Kinabalu Park at about 5 PM from Kota Kinabalu on a mini-bus (van) en-route to Ranau which took us about 2 hours
• Check-in at our Chalet and have a short walk around the park
• Attended a briefing for tomorrow’s big climb by a park ranger

Day 1

• Had breakfast and packed our lunch from Kinabalu Park’s cafe
• Checked-in with the Kinabalu Park’s reception and assigned to our guide
• Depart on a bus to the starting point at Timpohon Gate. It’s quite a distance from the Kinabalu Park’s reception area, highly recommended to take the bus and save your energy for the actual ascent instead.
• 10 AM : Begin our ascent up Mount Kinabalu from Timpohon Gate



• The journey begins with some easy downhill walk (which I’ll talk about it later) till a nice little waterfall to mark the beginning of a 6km of never-ending path of stairs up Mount Kinabalu



• The vegetations along the way changes as the altitude increase. From the lush dense tropical rainforest to the alpine trees and little scrub plants as we get higher up Mount Kinabalu
• About every kilometer along the journey, there’s little huts to rest and refill our bottles with fresh mountain water (untreated water, but its save to drink – I had a few refills myself)



• The last 2km of the climb before arriving at Laban Rata is quite tough, big steep steps of rocks. I practically took a break approximately every 20m of the climb, arriving at the 500m checkpoints along the path seems like quite far apart (There’s markings every 0.5km along the path to indicate our progress)




• 5 PM : Finally, the sight of Laban Rata… a very welcomed sight after the tiring hike up



• Took a nice heated shower and dinner. Lights out at about 8 PM, and had a well deserved rest before the final ascent up to the peak of Mount Kinabalu at 2 AM

Conquered Mt. Kinabalu

Yes!! I’ve conquered the tallest mountain in Malaysia (4th in South-East Asia), Mount Kinabalu at 4095m above sea level. It’s a tough 8.5km journey hiking up from the foothill at Kinabalu Park via Timpohon Gate to the highest point, Low’s Peak. An adventure which I’ve never prepared much physically but nonetheless made it with lots of determination and perseverance. It’s an exhausting journey but the breathtaking views were rewarding.

Anyway, a picture is worth a thousand words…

View of Mount Kinabalu from Kinabalu Park

Sunrise at Mount Kinabalu at about 4000m above sea level

The infamous Donkey Ears of Mount Kinabalu

The South Peak of Mount Kinabalu (this is the peak printed on Malaysia’s RM1 note)

Vegetation at Mount Kinabalu’s Peak

Finally, this is me having conquered the highest peak of Mount Kinabalu, the Low’s Peak

More of my journey in my travelogue in the coming post…

Wave of Change

Today marks the beginning of a new era in Malaysia. A wave of change in the political scene with opposition parties (PKR-DAP-PAS) capturing 5 states and the biggest mandate ever given to the opposition parties in the country’s 50 years history. Thus, successfully denied BN a 2/3 majority in the parliament for the first time since 1969.

I guess there’s a general sense of frustration and disappointment among the public in the current ruling BN government to lead the country. Crime rate on the rise, corruption on the rise, inflation on the rise, and many other issues seems unresolved. The opposition parties aren’t that good in my opinion, but its the next best option for the people to voice our dissatisfaction with the BN government, and a chance for the opposition parties to proof their worth.

Election 2008 marks the first time I’m practicing my democratic rights as a Malaysian citizen. And I’m glad to be part of it – making history. Hopefully, the opposition parties will now deliver their pre-election promises and bring about changes in the government for the betterment of the society and the nation. Anyway, life goes on…

Review: Kingmax Super Stick 2GB (Vista)

The original Kingmax Super Stick that died on me a few months back is now being replaced (under warranty) with a newer version which I shall call Kingmax Super Stick (Vista) due to its revised physical appearance with a “Works with Windows Vista” label.

The Kingmax Super Stick (Vista) is still one of the smallest USB drive available in the market today. While the previous Super Stick performs badly in read/write speeds, this newer Vista version seems to have improved significantly especially in the write speed. A test on SiSoftware Sandra XI 2MB files test benchmark gives a pretty good read speed of 15906 kB/sec (previously 15770 kB/sec) and an improved write speed of 3959 kB/sec (approx. 2 times faster than the previous 1843 kB/sec).

Physically, the new Kingmax Super Stick (Vista) inherits most of its predecessor’s properties with slight changes in its overall plastic mold. The USB contact points are now better refined, but it still lacks a LED activity indicator which can be very useful to know if the USB drive is in use.

Overall, the new Kingmax Super Stick (Vista) has improved significantly in its read/write speeds which will make it on par with many other USB drives in the market in the the same price range. Its small size will be the only thing that differentiates it from the rest.

Please refer HERE for the original review of the Kingmax Super Stick which is currently R.I.P.

Happy Lunar Rat Year

This Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the first sign in the Chinese zodiac – the Rat. Although I’m not exactly a believer in astrology, but for Chinese New Year, I’ll tend to just have a read at what’s install for the year ahead from the Chinese astrology point of view for someone borned in the year of the pig.

Career: Be wary of changes on the job this year… stay focused on the projects you have been working on and make sure you drive them to completion… be sure to get the support of your co-workers and management. They will be instrumental to your success on the job… work environment is more comfortable this year and that the people around you will appreciate your experience and talent.
- Chinese.Astrology.com

Looks like the astrology advice is rather similar to my 2008 resolutions in my career aspect. I’ll finish whatever projects I have in hand now and see if things work out for the better or worst with my current job. Perhaps a change in job where my experience and talent will be better appreciated. A 2-digit increment (in value, not percentage sadly) for the increased work load and responsibility doesn’t seems like I’m being appreciated.

Anyway, it’s nice to have a long Chinese New Year holidays to relax and “reconnect” with friends and families. Let the gambling season begins… May the year of rat brings lots of luck and prosperity to everyone.