29th September - 6th October 2006
I was sent here on a work assignment - to cover the 20th Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon. For the uninitiated, the climbathon is one of the world's toughest mountain race. At 4095 metres above sea level, Mount Kinabalu is the third tallest mountain in Southeast Asia. Normal climbers take about two days to reach the summit, with an overnight rest stop roughly halfway up the mountain. But for participants of the Climbathon, they need to be up and down within six and a half hours. Some complete the race in less than three hours. Well, I'll leave the race to the superhumans. I've decided to summit the mountain at my own pace, but more on that later.
We flew into Kota Kinabalu on a Friday morning. Most of the Singaporean participants were sent by NTUC Club, and it was the club that invited me along to cover the race. Upon arrival at the airport, we were immediately ushered to a waiting bus to bring us to Kinabalu Park.
At an elevation of about 1500 metres above sea level, the weather at the park was perfect. It was cool and pleasant. We were housed at the Kinabalu Rose Cabin, which is just a couple of minute's drive away. After settling in, the rest of the day was spent on settling the logistics of the race for the participants, and bumming around for me. I only had to file a short report on their preparations and I was done for the day.
For the next two days, life was pretty good as well. Other than the fact that I had to wake up before dawn, there's really nothing much to complain about. After the participants were flagged off at 7am, there was nothing else to do but to wait for them to return. Once they returned, I only had to interview them, file a short story, and I was done for the day. In case you're wondering, three of the nine Singaporean participants managed to complete the race. But that's not to say that the rest were lousy. Less than half of the participants, who came from all over the world, managed to complete the race. While the race was already grueling in itself, it was made worse by the fact that it rained heavily on the second day.
On Monday, the team headed back to Singapore, and I sent them off at the airport. After I bade them farewell, I headed over to the other terminal that's used by Air Asia. I was there to fetch Huimin, Shuhui and David. The two terminals were not located side-by-side. In fact, it's not even within walking distance. The terminal looked like a construction site. When I got there, their flight had not arrived, and so I got down to writing my final report of the trip.
After waiting a while, their plane touched down, and we headed over to the Centrepoint shopping centre for lunch. After that, we started on the two-hour journey to Kinabalu Park. I had reserved rooms for them at the Rose Cabin, and so when we arrived there, I left them to unpack while I tried to finish my work in double-quick time. Yeah, I know. It's such a bummer, but work's work. After an hour or so, I finally wrapped up my report, and it was only then that the holiday really started.
There's supposed to be a good view of Mount Kinabalu from the Rose Cabin, but due to haze caused by smoke from forest fires, I was unable to get a clear view of the mountain in my six days there. Since we were unable to admire the view of the mountain that we're about to climb, we decided to walk around the Rose Cabin. Though I've been living there for a couple of days, I haven't really wandered around the place, though I know there are some vegetable farms at the back. We decided to take a walk there, because if we didn't, there's nowhere else to go anyway. After walking a while, it started to get dark and we decided to head back for dinner. I've been having my meals there for the past couple of days. The meat's so-so but I love the vegetables. It's probably harvested from the farms nearby and it tastes so good.
The next morning, we got up early. It was time to ascend the mountain, but first we had to head to the park headquarters to register, and to hire a guide. We started our climb from the Timpohon Gate at around 10am. The trail up was straightforward enough. No special mountaineering skills are needed. Just a pair of strong legs, or at least legs that won't cave in on the way up. Every one km or so, there's a rest stop and we began looking forward to these rest stops. The trail itself was not particularly scenic. It was super foggy and we couldn't see far. All we could see were the various types of vegetation around the trail. And while it's interesting to note how the vegetation changed as we got higher, it didn't distract from the fact that the trail just kept heading upwards. But even as our legs were protesting every single step, we were passed by porters carrying goods and even gas cylinders. How's that for motivation?
As we got higher, the trees got smaller, and because there was less cover, it started to get very windy and chilly. We can even hear the winds howling away, and still no sign of the Laban Rata guest house where we're resting for the night. As we got even higher up, the terrain became more barren. Huimin even felt like she was being blown away by the wind. After more than six hours, we finally caught sight of Laban Rata (elevation: 3272m), which was half hidden in the swirling mist. We couldn't wait to get indoors, but once in there, we discovered to our horror that the heater didn't come on till 8pm. And so we remained in our sweaters and jackets.
After dinner, we decided to rest early. That's because we had to wake up at about 2am the next day for the summit climb. Also, Shuhui and David were suffering from headaches, which were the first symptoms of altitude sickness. All too soon, the alarm went off, but disappointingly, it was pouring outside. Our guide told us it's not possible to push on in such weather, and we decided to wait and see if the rain would stop. By 8am, the rain had not stopped, and no one was allowed to climb to the summit. What a disappointment!
At about 9am, we started our descent. The weather outside was about 7°C, and it was still pouring. But we had no choice but to go down. My top was waterproof but my track pants were not. As a result, my legs were thoroughly soaked through, but surprisingly, it didn't feel cold. Must be due to all that physical exertion. You might have thought that going down would be a breeze as compared to climbing up the mountain, but it wasn't so for me. My knees started to protest about halfway through, and I could feel a sharp pain whenever I took a step downwards. Thankfully it wasn't so bad that I couldn't walk.
After about six hours, we finally reached Timpohon Gate, which is where we started. It was such a relief, but at the same time, I can't help thinking that it's such shame that we couldn't reach the summit. I've seen pictures taken at the summit and the view's gorgeous. Oh well, hopefully my luck's better next time round.
After collecting our belongings at the Park Headquarters (we had left our heavy backpacks there), we hired a vehicle to bring us down to Kota Kinabalu. When we arrived, it was already dark, but no matter, as we wanted to take things slow and easy after the hike. My knees were alright, but my leg muscles were really starting to ache. Likewise for the rest of them. For the rest of the day, and trip as well, we had to walk around really slowly. After putting down our bags at the Step-in Lodge, we headed for dinner at an open-air market near the sea. We then walked around Centrepoint for a while, before retiring for the night.
The next morning, we took a boat over to Sapi Island, which is within the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. By boarding the boat, we had committed ourselves to staying at least half a day on the island, as there were fixed timings for departure from there. But it was a day for relaxing anyway. The beach isn't the isolated beach it's said to be. There were scores of holiday-makers around, soaking in the sun, and splashing around in the water.
Sapi Island.
At about 3pm, we left the island and headed back to town. From the ferry terminal, we took a slow stroll over to the Filipino Market. Within that market, there were scores of vendors selling handicrafts, souvenirs, and even purses fashioned out of frog skin, and if you don't fancy carrying an entire dead frog around, you wouldn't want to get those purses. And I'm not kidding. It really is an entire dead frog, complete with head and limbs.
Moving on, we decided to have dinner at one of the restaurants along the seafront. It was meant to be al fresco dining but it started drizzling, so we had no choice but to move indoors. I don't remember the food being spectacular, so it probably wasn't, and after dinner, we headed to the market nearby. It had stopped raining by then. If you're wondering why it's still bright in the picture below, well, I had taken it before dinner. After dinner, the market was still as bustling, if not more so. I have a tendency to visit markets overseas though I hardly ever buy anything from there. That's because I think that markets offer a great opportunity to get a feel of everyday life. Modern shopping malls are just too sterile and devoid of personality.
After walking around town a while more, we decided to head back to our guesthouse for some card games before retiring for the night. Once again, the biggest loser of the night was... (hint: David didn't play, while Shuhui and I didn't fare too badly. Which leaves...?) Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who. ;)
The next morning, we got up early to catch our flight to Johor Bahru. Due to an antiquated air agreement between Singapore and Malaysia, there are no budget airlines flying between both countries as yet. Hence the need to fly from and to Johor Bahru. But actually, it's not too much of a hassle when you consider the savings in cost. It only took me about an hour to get home from Senai Airport in JB. In some other places, it can take me as much as two hours to get to the airport, and I didn't even need to cross an international border.
But well, that's something for the governments to settle. As for me, I hope it won't be long before I return to Kota Kinabalu. I do want to reach the summit of Mount Kinabalu some day.
