Rooftop

Doing a tour around Asia is a good occasion to try things you never tried before, and climbing a 4,095 meters high mountain was certainly one of them for me. The Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and the Snow Mountains of papua Barat (New Guinea Island), and the tallest one in Southeast Asia. Unlike its European counterparts, it can be climbed without any specific equipment, due to the relatively fair weather here...and unlike any other place, you climb it partly at night to enjoy the sunset early morning!

First day

We started the climb from the Kinabalu park Headquarters, located at about 2,000 meters above sea level. After a nice waterfall, the way is 99% uphill, and extremely repetitive - despite regular breaks the legs hurt quickly. The way up is nice as it goes through some rainforest, which slowly disappears at the expense of steep rocks.

The weather in the area is the always the same and it invariably starts raining early afternoon, making the climb more difficult. We started the climb at about 11.00 in the morning and arrived at the night camp, located at 3,300 meters high), at 15.30. We then had dinner - it is served at 17.00 - at the expensive restaurant (see travellers' advice below), before going to bed at about 18.00 - earliest time in my life, that is.

Climbing at night

The reason why you go to bed so early is that you wake up at 3.00 in the morning to climb what is the steepest leg of the trip - 700 meters high on a 2.5 km trail.

I have to say: there is something pointless in climbing a mountain in the dark

So there you go, we hit the road equipped with our warm cloth and torches, being almost asleep. That part of the trip is a real challenge, and our guide told us that many travellers just give up on the way. It is sometimes so steep that you have to use ropes, although no proper climbing is involved. Temperatures average between -10 and 5 degrees (around 0 when we did it). After this however, you enjoy what you came from, i.e. a nice sunrise on top of the clouds.

This is all very nice, except for the dozens of people watching the sunrise with you!

Second Day

The descent is equally taxing. Whilst going up destroys your breath and knees, going down is a killer for your legs. And sadly enough, it took us as long as the climb...

Part of the trip is to suffer from altitude sickness, although effects strongly differ from one person to the other. But if you're not used to it you can get a bit dizzy or suffer massive headaches.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience to climb Mt. Kinabalu. The good thing is that you can then relax in the nearby hot springs, which is what we did today before heading up to the jungle tomorrow. See you soon...

Travellers' advice:

• Climbing Mt Kinabalu is no cheap activity. Sanctuary lodge, which has a monopoly on accommodation, has just been privatised and this resulted in an unacceptable increase of prices - 16 Euros (80RM) for a bed in a dorm (6 Euros for dinner). This adds up to the park entrance fee of 15 RM (3 Euros), a climbing permit of 100 RM (20 Euros), a mandatory guide at 70 RM (14 Euros), and other hidden fees, on top of the climbing equipment that you buy yourself...
• In any case, do not take the rip off "all inclusive" package (41 Euros!!!) proposed by Sanctuary lodge and just ask for a bed in a dorm (unheated is OK). Being your own sandwich and food to save money.
• It is necessary to bring very warm cloth including gloves (purchased in Kita Kinabalu), a good torch, lots of energy drinks, and...your stamina. Take it easy on the climb, stamina is indeed the key.