Kinabalu

I'm going to take a quick diversion away from my Everest Base Camp chronicle to give a description of my recent climb of Mount Kinabalu (and what it took to actually get to the mountain!)

Before I left, I spent a lot of time online trying to get accurate information about getting to Kinabalu National Park, and getting accommodation on the mountain. A lot of the information seemed to be conflicting and confusing, and I ended up very unsure about whether I could actually make the climb... So I'll attempt to describe how I managed to get to the mountain, and hopefully it'll be of some use to you.

I made a last-minute decision to go to Borneo, Malaysia & climb Mount Kinabalu. About 1 week before, I started making my plans. Not really an advisable way to do things because, in particular, you need to have guaranteed accommodation on the mountain before you'll be allowed to climb, and all the available accommodation is typically completely booked up many weeks in advance. Nevertheless...

The big logistical things I had to think about were:

• Flights (to Kota Kinabalu, in Malaysia)
• Transport to Kinabalu National Park
• Accommodation for the night on Mount Kinabalu. (Mandatory - otherwise, you're not allowed to climb the mountain)

Flights

I found this to be the easy bit. Air Asia, Malaysia's low-cost carrier, have frequent fairy cheap flight to Kuala Lumpur, and on to Kota Kinabalu (the closest city to Mount Kinabalu.) Depending on how far in advance you book the flights, they can be very cheap. I paid ~$100 each for flights from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu.

Accommodation in Kota Kinabalu

I found a very agreeable and reasonably-priced boutique hotel in the main shopping area in Kota Kinabalu - Hotel Eden 54. I paid about $35.00/night for a very well-equipped small room in a very friendly hotel. (Weirdly, many of the rooms have no windows, but there's free WiFi, and everything is spotlessly clean and modern.)

Transport to Kinabalu National Park

Kinabalu National Park is about 90km from Kota Kinabalu, but it's on a fairly well-traveled route, and there are a few different ways of getting there. I had done my research and had decided to get the public express bus to Renau & get the driver to drop me off at the park. this was a very cheap option, at about RM 15 (~$5.00). However, to get the bus, you first have to get to the main bus station at Inamam, about 10 km out of town. A bit painful. So, I stopped at the local tourist office (on Jalan Gaya, same street as Hotel Eden 54) & asked them about the options. They suggested going to the minibus station, next to Merdaka Field, about 5 minutes' walk away from the tourist office. There, you can get a shared ride in a minibus for about RM 20 ($7.50). Problem is, the minibus doesnt leave till it is full. I decided to try this, anyway -- sounded easier than the public bus. I wandered over at about 7 am and I was approached by a number of the drivers. Eventually, I got into a shared taxi (with 3 other locals) and we got going very quickly. As promised, it cost me RM 20 for the trip -- very reasonable for a taxi ride all the wait to the gates of the park (even if he did stop several times along the way!)

Accommodation on the Mountain

This is the most critical bit. You will not be allowed to climb Mount Kinabalu if you dont have confirmed accommodation on the mountain for the night of your climb. And accommodation is controlled more-or-less completely by one private company, Sutera Sanctuary Lodges (a very frustrating situation.) It's not easy to get around this situation -- the main entrance to the park is through the Tymphon Gate, literally a gate, manned by park officials, where you have to show a valid park permit.

A few days before I headed to the park, I emailed, then called Sutera (+6-088-889077) to check for availability at Laban Rata, the main lodge on the mountain. (Everybody stays either at rooms/dormitories in Laban Rata or the nearby huts.) I was told nothing was available, but to try back for cancellations. When I called back, they directed me to the Park HQ (+6-088-287887) where, to my surprise, I managed to get a dormitory space in one of the unheated huts (a cancellation, I imagine). I think the moral of the story here is to keep trying, as there are almost always cancellations, and the system is somewhat chaotic.

The stinger here is the cost, RM 385 for me (~$130.00) for one night's accommodation (and 5 included meals!) in a bunk bed in an unheated wooden building -- really an outrageous exploitation of tourists coming to climb the mountain. (In my case, though, I confirmed a space without having to pay anything up front. Usually, you need to pay the full cost of the accommodation in advance, with no chance for a refund if you cancel.) But, I was happy, under the circumstances - now, I could actually climb the mountain, without resorting to anxiously traveling to the park on the day and hoping for a stroke of luck...!

Right: Laban Rata, our accommodations on the Mountain

Entry to Kinabalu National Park

The park entrance is a short 2 minute walk from the main road. There, it's fairly easy to navigate around. (First, however, you have to pay a RM 15 (~$5.00) park entrance fee -- there seem to be a frustratingly large number of sundry fees involved, that eventually add up to a significant cost.


I went first to the accommodation office where they confirmed my lodging for the night, took my RM 385 (which, fortunately, you can use a credit card to pay for), gave me my meal vouchers & directed me to the main visitor center where I had to pay for a permit for the climb (RM 100/$33.00) as well as for a (mandatory) guide.

Left: the dining hall at Laban Rata

I bumped into three other trekkers at the office, and we teamed up to share a guide for the climb - this makes things cheaper - we then paid RM 100/$33.00 between four of us, for the guide. (The so-called guide is another bureaucratic money-making scheme -- we hardly saw our guide, Rowdy, for the entire 2-day climb and Rowdy really made no attempt to "guide" us, but casually set us on our way, then popped up at various stops along the way, languidly smoking & giving us some laid-back words of encouragement. So, it makes sense to join with as many people as possible to share a guide - once the climb begins, you're more-or-less on your own anyway!)

Left: our guide, Rowdy

The Climb

As for the climb itself, not too bad, actually! Really, the logistical side is the hard part. We climbed up to Laban Rata on the first day at a slow, steady pace, starting at about 10 am (I started climbing on the same morning as I arrived from Kota Kinabalu), and arrived at the lodge at about 2:30 pm. After a fairly enjoyable meal at 5 pm, we stayed up to watch the spectacular sunset, then went to bed by 7:30 - 8:00, and woke again at 2 am for "breakfast". We started trekking towards the summit at 2:30 am (most others were either already on their way or almost ready to go by that time.) I had a bit of a rush of blood to the head (and, I was feeling very good) so I started up at a good pace, passing lots of the slower climbers. There were some steep, sheer, rocky sections, but there were fixed ropes along much of this higher section, and I didnt find the going hard. Before I realized it, I was close to the summit by about 4:30 (something of a dumb move, in retrospect - it meant I had an hour-and-a-half to wait before the dawn - I didnt feel cold during the climb itself, but I was soon freezing, waiting for the sun to rise!) Nevertheless, a very satisfying experience, and when dawn finally broke, the amazing vista was worth it...