Mt. Kinabalu Day 2

We woke up early, around 5:30 a.m. to have breakfast and meet our guide. The breakfast was quite sumptuous but we only had the essential as climbing with a full stomach is a bad thing. By 7, we were at the HQ to get our guide arranged. Soon after, we met our guide Mr. Billy. He is a petite man and has 8 years of experience as a mountain guide. Billy started off his career at the young age of 19. Later we got one of our bags weighed for Billy to help us porter it. The bag tip the scale at 9 KGs. Since we did not train for this trip, it’s better to have it ported for a less strenuous climb. It does feels ashamed but we have no other choice than to do so. But I did felt some sense of accomplishment of carrying my camera bag with me all the time throughout the climb.

We started out climb from Timpohon Gate at 8+, it was quite a pleasant start for us. Gradually we can see the vegetation changing from the usual tropical forest to stout vegetation and along the path was covered with moss. The climb went on fine till we reach the 4 Km mark at Layang-Layang Hut were we had out “lunch” break at about 10 mins to 10 am. The break lasted for about 30 mins with a short photo session and we resumed the climb after the cakes and chocolate. Our bodies started showing signs of tiredness after 4 KM of journey. Breathing became short and shallow, while we can feel the tensed muscle in our legs. But the pace came back as our spirits to scale the peak kicked in. starting from this point, the path becomes very rocky and steep. It takes extra effort in every step we advance. It took us nearly another 2 hours to reach Laban Rata. It was a fulfilling climb and out legs were begging for a break. It was quite windy that afternoon and the chilling sensation tingle down our spines as out shirt soak in sweat came in contact with the wind.

Lunch at Laban Rata

We had our own lunch at Laban Rata as having lunch at cafeteria will cost us RM 60 each. We decided to save on the lunch as we had out cup noodle on standby. The 4 cups we had cost around RM 6 and hot water is readily available on the counter thou sometimes it may not be as hot as you want. After lunch we quickly move unpack our stuff and get ready for shower. There are timings to hot shower at Laban Rata as its timer controlled. Hot water only become available after 2 pm. But I thought I’ll just give it a try to check whether the timer is accurate or not and found out that there is. Quickly, I grabbed my stuffs and rush to shower. Soon my “Keh Khiangness” paid off; water stop flowing halfway while I was shampooing my hair. Its cold and the longer you wait, the colder it gets. I got no choice to quickly finish my shower with the hot water dripping from the shower head. Later I found out that the hot water that I was using was actually left over from the morning session. What an experience.. -_-

After we had our shower, we went outdoors to explore the wilderness. It was less windy and the air is cool and refreshing. We went on snapping photos but along the way we paused somewhere just to admire the breath taking view of Mother Nature. Time seems to come to a halt here, you wouldn’t notice hours slipped by when you are surrounded by such magnificent creations.

By the time we head back to the lodge, it was already close to 5 p.m. We waited at the makan place for dinner as it start at 5 p.m. We made the right choice being “kiasu” as the people having dinner there was much more than expected. This was because Laban Rata Rest House is the only lodge that provides food for all the huts there. We finished off our dinner with another 3 climbers who work in Singapore. After dinner, we did a repacked of my bag to bring only the essentials stuffs for the summit attempt. We turned in pretty early as the next hurdle will start at 2:30 a.m.