Malaysia truly Asia: For the Best Time of Your Life

** This post comes with a design disclaimer. Blogspot seems to have a mind of her own, and while I couldn't get the photos and text to flow just right, I've decided just to post this since it is long overdue!!

Mt. Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in SE Asia. Why did we ever choose to climb this beast?

I have no idea how Pat and I decided on Malaysia for our first big Asia vacation. Could it have been all of the local TV ads (Malaysia truly Asia!)? But once we started researching, we learned that Malaysia has some pretty cool stuff to offer.

Only 2.5 hours away from HK, Malaysia has two regions: Malaysian Borneo and Peninsula Malaysia. We flew into Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo, home to South East Asia’s tallest mountain, Mount Kinabalu. Now it would be a stretch to say Pat and I are in peak physical condition, but nonetheless, we decided we couldn’t go to Malaysia and not climb to the top! From there, our trip took shape and we set out for a few days of adventure and a few days of r&r.   Here are some highlights!

White Water Rafting

Our old school train ride.

Day 1 we woke up at 5am to go white water rafting on the Padas River. We took a 2-hour bus to a train station, where we then boarded an old diesel train for a 2-hour ride through the backwoods. The train ride itself was quite an experience. It was sort of like the train in Slumdog Millionaire. No joke. People were carrying live chickens.  We then spent a few hours rafting on class 3-4 rapids, taking in some of the gorgeous scenery in Malaysia.

Climbing Mount Kinabalu  DAY 1:

Day 2 of our trip we were up at 6am to head to Mount Kinabalu. At 4,095m/13,435 feet, she’s Southeast Asia’s tallest mountain and one of the most popular climbs because there are no technical skills needed for this climb. In fact, you see people of all ages on the mountain – including kids and elderly go-getters! (The oldest person to summit the mountain was 98 years old and Japanese tourists around 89 or 90 regularly climb the mountain. What?)


We met our guide, Jimmy, at 9am and set off on our hike, which is divided into a 2-day climb. We each had a small backpack with overnight clothes, a few warm layers, rain gear, a headlamp, and lots of water and power bars. The first few minutes of the hike were downhill. Don't be fooled! The rest of the way was 8.7km uphill. The trail is literally some sort of "step" all the way up hill, rocks, tree roots, wooden steps. But, our guide kept encouraging us to go slow and take breaks. There are 7 shelters built along the trail and your guide makes you stop at each to take a quick break.

2 medicinal tigers: beer and balm

A few hours later we were at our camp, Laban Rata, for the night.  Laban Rata is situated at about 6km and 3,273m) up the mountain and is perched well above the clouds and city far below. It only takes 100 or so guests per night and the only way to get there is by hiking! This place is like a ski lodge – everyone’s sitting around the main room in their hiking gear and hats and gloves (yes, it gets cold!!) and exhausted and sore. Pat and I played a few games of black jack for peanut m&ms and then enjoyed the early bird dinner special at around 5pm, when they cooked up a giant buffet feast. At around 7:30pm we called it a night, retreating to our bunk beds in a group dorm room, which we shared with a few Japanese and Chinese hikers.

Sunset from Laban Rata

Climbing Mount Kinabalu DAY 2: 

At 2am everyone in Laban Rata was awake again and prepping for the morning ahead – a climb to the summit…in the dark!  With 2.72km left to climb, we set out bundled in thermals, led only by our headlamps and the stars above. After about an hour, we were high above tree level and the ground below us shifted from stairs to pure granite. We continued the rest of the way holding onto a rope. A welcome break for my tired and shaking legs!  

By around 5:30am we had made it to the top and took a seat to watch the sunrise. While we waited, there was an amazing lightning storm in the distance. We were so far above the clouds that all you could see was the clouds light up. It looked like fireworks!

It’s really cold on top of the mountain – often reaching freezing plus a major wind. Whoever had warned me to bring extra layers, I should have listened…but I pushed through long enough to watch the sky change from black to navy to orange and pink and finally to a pale blue.

Some straglers made it up after sunrise, but they still made it to the top!

 Then we headed back down for a quick stop at Laban Rata for breakfast, a 15-minute power nap, and then off again. Only 6km left to go.

I thought going down would be easy. Ha! Mentally the hardest part was over. But physically my legs were buckling underneath me and I was trying to navigate stepping down rocks and mud and boulders, etc. Luckily we had walking sticks. I felt like Dr. Gregory House. If only I had had his vicodin… I have NO idea how a 90 year old does this decent…. But Pat seemed to run most of the way down.

If you think we were working hard, imagine being passed by a tour guide in her 50's wearing flip flops, smoking a cigarette and talking on a cell phone. That happened more than once! The other amazing hikers were porters who are hired to carry food, gas tanks, beer, dishawashers, water tanks, you name it UP the mountain to Laban Rata. They get paid by the pound and make several trips per week carrying anything from vegetables to heavy appliances. They hike to and from Laban Rata in about 3 hours. The average hiker takes around 6 just to get up! Talk about being in good shape....

When we finally finished, I felt great and in touch with my long-lost crunchy side. It was an awesome thing to do and do together – and I think it just whet our appetite for all of the cool adventures we will have here. We’re already planning our next hiking trip!

R&R

We spent the next few days relaxing 

at a resort, which was well deserved if I do say so myself! We did some great snorkeling with the prettiest live coral I have ever seen, saw a shark snorkeling and didn’t die, did 2 scuba dives and saw some really neat looking sea slug that looked like snuffleupagus. All of this would have been awesome enough, but on top of that, our resort had some crazy monkeys running around and even a few newborn monkey babies! 

I've never seen a blue star fish!

It was a great way to unwind before heading back to HK and going back into the real (working!) world. And I have to agree, Malaysia is truly Asia (that jingle is in your head now, isn't it?).

 xoxo, Gillian