View right outside Borneo Backpackers (rooftop).
I can’t remember the shop name but the Milo sucks. The beef noodle which I ordered wasn’t too bad, but the chilly sucks big time as well. It’s too watery for my liking and practically tasteless. Anyway, BET (Borneo Eco Tours) had arranged a bus to transfer us to Kinabalu Park, 90km away. There we met a very entertaining guide by the name of JC. We were briefed about our climb, what to do and not to do. We had a lot of Q&A throughout the first part of the journey and as expected total silence later on. Everyone was fast asleep. We did not stop at Nabalu (a market place where lots of fruits are being sold) as it was crowded and there was no place to even alight. We were 15km away from Kota Kinabalu park by the way.
A shot of Mount Kinabalu taken from the bus.
We arrived at Kinabalu park at around 10 plus. At that time, it was already crowded with people. The weather was cloudy at that time with occasional drizzle. While everyone else was mostly covered up, we seem a little under-dressed.
Kinabalu Park HQ
Our guide registered us and made all the necessary arrangements for us. While he was doing that, we enquired about renting walking sticks and head lamps. To our surprise, there were none to be rented, only sold. I actually remembered reading somewhere that we could rent all that here. Anyway it wasn’t that important as they are all optional and if you really want to get it, just pay big buck for it.
We were later brief again before being transferred to our dorms. By van, it takes around a minute or so to reach the hostel, by foot, it’s a 5-10minutes walk. There weren’t any room to fit us all 10, so we were spitted into 3 rooms instead.
Mr JC briefing us about our climb and telling us where to have our meals.
This way to Rock Hostel
Rock Hostel
Our bunks, only 4 to a room.
It was free and easy after that and we have the whole day to ourselves. There were actually lots of trails for hiking, but most of us prefer to reserve our energy for tomorrow. After my climbing experience, I would suggest that as well, unless of course you are really fit.
Walking out too look for lunch
The Happy Faces
Photo by Samantha Chin
Photo by Samantha Chin
This is our climbing troop. From left: Jia Yi, Eong Xien, Wei Keat, Tek Loi, Sheng Wei, Samantha, Amylin, Daniel, Me (red shirt), Mei Yan (with the bag)
We had our lunch at a restaurant right outside the park. The air there was really clean and cool. It has been really long since I breathe such refreshing air. So try and breathe as much as you can while you’re up there, it will do you good. Haha! As usual, the peaceful environment is always polluted by our laughter. We headed down further as most of us still need to buy rain coat and we were told that the further shops sells them cheaper.
A view of the Kinabalu Park entrance from the restaurant we had our lunch.
Photo by Eong Xian
Photo by Eong Xian
We did have an unfortunate occurrence that afternoon. One of our friends lost her wallet. We spend quite awhile looking for it, enquiring shops and stalls along the way. It started to rain soon after and we had to take shelter at the park HQ. While our friend went and made police report, we were lingering around the park HQ, waiting for the rain to stop. You’ll be surprise the amount of people checking in. After almost an hour an a half wait, we decided to make a run back to our hostel, making do with only one rain coat.
Ready, left, right, left, right!
Photo by Eong Xian
It was hilarious running under the rain, not to mention extreme cold. We were “macho” people, dressed only in t-shirts and shorts. We braved through the rain anyway and our hands were numb by the time we got back to our hostel.
As with all backpacking hostels, hot water is always limited. I was one of the very last to bath. In fact I did wait 15 minutes as advice by the hostel staff, but the water was still not hot enough. I couldn’t stop shivering, but I had no choice as I had soap all over me.
We spend the next few hours packing our bags for tomorrow, bringing only the bare minimum. We’re always advice to carry as light as possible as it was not an easy climb. Thought I took out almost everything, my bag still feels like it weights around 4kg plus. I have no idea why. Anyway, I was confident that it wouldn’t be a problem.
Before you know it, the sky went all dark and yeah, it was dinner time. It was still raining so most of us made us of our newly bought disposable raincoat. They didn’t lie when they tell you it’s disposable. Their quality is thinner than Carrefour’s plastic bag. It rips easily so be on your gentle side.
Us in our raincoats
Photo by Samantha Chin
Photo by Samantha Chin
We went over to the restaurant where we bought the raincoats from. A few of us needed to get additional supplies. I ordered a Singapore noodle dish for dinner and it’s the worst tasting Singapore noodle I have ever tasted. I somehow have a feeling they took the wrong order, but when ask they confidently confirm it was it. I should have taken a picture of it. I manage to push some down my throat but gave up in the end and ordered chicken soup. Oh, it was during this dinner, I found out the logic to Samantha’s finger puzzle. It was a really entertaining night, everyone was sharing their riddles and jokes. Customers there must be thinking we’re mad.
Our main organizers for this trip, Daniel and Amylin. Thank you once again.
Samantha, Sheng Wei, Eong Xian and me.
As usual, we needed our nightly chit chat before going to bed. Hanging around the fireplace (no fire though) we chat and joke, trying very hard to make as little noise as possible. I went up to bed earlier though as I was really tired and slept all the way till dawn. I’m not sure how late the rest stayed up though.
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