** 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!!
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Some straglers made it up after sunrise, but they still made it to the top! |
We arrived late Friday night and dropped our bags off at Hotel Eclat before heading straight to one of Taipei's many night markets. The markets are filled with stalls and stalls of food. This was my kind of place! I was also surprised at how much shopping there was in the market! Jess and I browsed for some cute, cheap, finds (scarves, jewelry, jeggings!) inbetween stopping for snacks.
There were a lot of seafood options -including the squid, octopus and prawns!
