Borneo, Malaysia: A Tale in Two Parts

Part One: Mount Kinabalu - or - The Crucible

Mark Twain famously said: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

This oft-quoted passage stirs those infected with the travel bug to put their fears aside and strike out into the great unknown in search of new adventure.  It is with this spirit that Nicole and Jesse embarked on their latest journey, a trip into the heart of primeval Borneo to hike up one of the tallest Mountains in Southeast Asia.  One wonders how Mr. Twain's quote would have changed if, instead of a few measly waves, he was faced with 13,435 feet of treacherous rain forest terrain and a granite-capped summit.

Mount Kinabalu is a legitimate mountain, although it is considered to be one of the most accessible mountains to climb.  This relative accessibility is the reason that novices like Nicole and Jesse are allowed to try to scale this peak.  For reference, below is a picture Nicole put together to show the scale of Kinabalu.

Our passion really brought the capacity crowd to its feet

Arriving in Kota Kinabalu (KK), the travelers, accompanied by their friends Lyndsay Hatlelid and Mike Atlas, spend a restless night in a dingy backpackers' hostel a short walk from the airport.  KK is a relatively large city on the Malaysian Island of Sabah, a landmass that is shared with the autonomous and oil-rich nation of Brunei.  The island is dominated by some of the most dense rain forest in the world, and running from North to South is the Crocker Mountain Range.  Since the land slopes all the way down to the ocean, you really get the full view of the mountain, although the summit is generally shrouded in dark and foreboding clouds.  The night before the climb was spent singing karaoke at the Borneo Bar, entertaining the locals with stirring renditions of classic Pop tunes from the '90s. The food and drink were mere distractions from what was really on everyone's mind: Mount Kinabalu.

Day 1: The Trek to Base Camp

The view from the trail head.  We had to go the rest of the way on foot.  

The average climber does the Kinabalu trek in two days.  Day one is a grueling six kilometer slog uphill over a series of slipshod stairs and loose rocks.  From the moment Nicole and Jesse set out on the trail, they knew they were in for a serious challenge.  First of all, these are not your average house-stairs.  These are rough-hewn, uneven, root-entwined, demonic slats forged by Lucifer himself!

On the grind up the "stairs"

OK.  Fine.  While that may have been an exaggeration, these stairs were more than we bargained for.  Nicole had a devil of a time with some of the steps that were two or three times as tall as an average house-step.  You try going up stairs three at a time...for a full day...and tell us how you like it!

Hiking uphill, in a river, in the pouring rain.  Awesome.

The day one hike was extremely taxing on the lungs, as the relentless climb went on for over five hours.  The upside was that Nicole and Jesse were hiking through a beautiful rain forest, and that every water break gave them a chance to check out the dense foliage and mountain streams and waterfalls.  They continued on a steady, if exhausting, pace for the first four kilometers of the hike before things got truly interesting.  At kilometer four, the skies opened up, and just when it seemed that hiking uphill couldn't get any harder, they were proved wrong.  Very wrong.

Quite literally we hiked uphill in a river.

As the hikers took shelter in a rest hut, the torrential downpour raged on with no sign of stopping.  The hiking trail went from rock-strewn to river bed, and a deluge of water cascaded down the path.  Our fearless guide, Jo-Jo, assured us that this torrent was the best way up the hill, so, not wanting to spend the night under a corrugated lightning rod, the now drenched hikers soldiered on in the pouring rain.  The hike was much more challenging at this point, both physically and mentally.  Each one of the hikers questioned their sanity, and their decision to forgo Borneo's pristine beaches in favour of this god-forsaken crag.  As frigid muddy water sluiced between their toes, thoroughly soaking their hiking gear, the hikers had no choice but to put one foot in front of the other. This cheery excursion kept up for a solid hour and a half before the rains subsided and the group was able to joke about what they had just been through.

Mercifully, and likely through hard-earned experience, the park rangers had installed rest-stops at regular intervals along the trail.  These had benches to rest your legs, a basic toilet (for those suffering from travel ailments), and vats of untreated water.  After thumbing their noses at the first two of these water sources, claiming that they would never drink untreated water, by the time their water supply ran out at kilometer four, you better believe the hikers were chugging that mountain water like Dick van Dyke at the fountain of youth.  Little did we know that the untreated water was the least of our digestive worries on this trip.

The group, and our 'hitch-hiker' Felix, a quick-witted and courageous Australian youth.

Five-and-a-half hours after the ordeal began, we stumbled into our base camp for the night, Laban Rata, the main lodge on the hill.  Six kilometers from the trail head at an elevation of 11,000 feet, Nicole and Jesse began to feel the first effects of altitude sickness as they pushed the last few meters towards the lodge.  Fortunately, the main symptom at this stage was euphoria, making their arrival at camp, and the end of the day's hike, that much sweeter.  At this point, it didn't even matter that Laban Rata was experiencing a power shortage and the hot water supply had been cut.  There was a roof, and there were walls, and sometimes that is enough!

Laban Rata: A sight for sore eyes!

Perhaps the mountain spirits pitied the weary travelers for their hellish ordeal on the way up, but in any case, as the group arrived at Laban Rata, the clouds evaporated, and the group was able to enjoy a hearty meal (yes, full buffet - much to Jesse's liking) and watch the world-class sunset as the sky lit up wonderfully and the sun dipped into the South China Sea. Having started the day at 6am, and traveled uphill to 11,000 feet, the group retired to bed at 7:30pm.  Don't make fun: part two of this story starts at 2am the following morning.

Sunset over the Sabah jungle

Nicole and Jesse from the deck at Laban Rata

Day 2: To the Summit and Back

Hiking in the dead of night

The alarms started ringing at 2am, but before that time most of the group had been awoken either by indigestion or the sound of 50 or so other hikers waking up and going through their morning routine.  On Mount Kinabalu, day two of the hike starts in the pitch black with the hopes of making it to the summit in time to see the sunrise.  There are several important variables to this outcome.  First, you must be able to reach the summit, a journey of some 2.7km, in about three hours - no mean feat.  Second, fate must smile on you so that your sunrise is not ruined by pouring rain, snow, or cloud cover (as we were told happened the day before).

As if uphill hiking was not challenging enough, the midnight hike had a list of challenges that read like a list of Biblical plagues.

Darkness - our headlamps were invaluable, as the trail was certainly no easier.

Fatigue - our legs were feeling a little stiff, but our minds were barely awake as we started the climb.

Altitude - our lungs craved oxygen, but there was little to be found.  Our breathing and pulse rates increased far beyond what they would be at sea level.

Treachery - not by harlots or even strumpets, but by treacherous precipices.  After about 45 minutes of climbing stairs, the climbers reached the end of the tree line, and began their ascent on the bare granite, using ropes to haul themselves up the hill, and around thin ledges overhanging steep cliffs.  Fortunately, being that close to danger will jolt you out of bed faster than a morning coffee, so after this started, the fatigue was less of an issue.  Nicole got her second wind, and was able to make up lots of ground, despite huffing and puffing as her body strained for air.  The hike became frustrating in the pre-dawn light as it was difficult to tell where one section of climb would end, and whether there might be any flat ground to provide some reprieve (there wasn't). 

A wise man once said "The top is better than the bottom; so, much better."  This man has obviously never scaled a mountain.

Success!  A beautiful sunrise from Low's Peak

The mountain saved the hardest for last, as the final 150 meters to the summit was a scramble up a boulder-strewn cliff to reach the tiny point of Low's Peak at an altitude of 13,435ft.  The timing could not have been better as Nicole and Jesse set foot on the summit just as the sun started to creep above the horizon.  They savoured the top while enjoying the gorgeous view of the sunrise over the thick jungle and mountains.  The clear downside to spending time at the top was the frigid cold.  Although they had been warned, it was hard to imagine intense cold while standing in a tropical rain forest.  Nevertheless, pellets of snow flecked the faces of the hikers, and their gloves, which were more for protection from the ropes than the elements, offered no help from the cold.  Although it was nice to take a load off their feet, the climbers could not stay at the summit longer than 15 minutes before they lost feeling in their fingers and toes, and had to flee to lower, more hospitable, altitudes.

Proof: We made it!!

Scrambling back down from the summit.

Fortunately, the sun quickly warmed Nicole and Jesse up, and they were able to enjoy the hike back to Laban Rata , and the gorgeous views of the summit trail looking out over the Borneo rain forest.  These views really made their efforts worthwhile, and the rush of accomplishment gave them some energy which they spent on taking some great photos of the walk back down.

Some of the amazing scenery on the summit trail

Jumping for joy!

Whereas day one was a 6km hike, day two held a total of 11.4 (2.7km uphill, plus 8.7 downhill).  While the downhill hike may have been less taxing on the lungs, it was definitely a lot harder on the legs and knees.  Hikers take the same trail up and down the mountain, and those same stairs that tormented our glutes on day one now devastated our quads on day two.  The hiking poles Nicole and Jesse carried were a wise investment (especially since they cost only CDN$3.50 in the Hong Kong night market!).  However, no hiking pole could help avoid the pain and monotony associated with a grueling 5 hour descent.  The rains on the previous day had soaked an already precarious trail, so the hikers were forced to choose their path wisely proceed with caution - this only served to prolong the climb down.

Nicole an Jo-Jo make their way down

For most of the way down, we were silently taunted by groups of porters climbing the trail carrying massive loads up to base camp.  These men and women put our puny hiking packs to shame by dashing uphill carrying food, supplies, and even propane tanks on their backs.  While this sight truly made Nicole and Jesse feel a little out of shape, even this is nothing compared to another yearly activity that takes place at Kinabalu: the mountain race.  Mountain runners gather in October to literally race up the same trail that tormented Nicole and Jesse for two days.  However, these athletes are able to do the same trail in a matter of hours, with the world record holder clocking in at 2h40m UP AND DOWN.  On one hand, this fact put our suffering in perspective, but this only increased our admiration for these athletes without taking anything away from what was really a trying couple of days.  Our fearless guide Jo-Jo himself has completed the race in 3h30m, off of the record time, but still an outrageous feat.  No wonder our pace utterly bored him.

Lyndsay shimmying down the ropes and enjoying the view

As a local resident, Jo-Jo knew where to find some of the natural wonders of the Borneo jungle, and though the rain had deterred him on the way up, on the hike back down, Jo-Jo led Nicole and Jesse down a side-trail to see some pitcher plants.  These flowers, which apparently come in a great variety of subspecies throughout Borneo, eat insects and small reptiles, which they lure with a sweet liquid they secrete.  They prey enters the flower, but gets stuck in the sticky syrup, and cannot climb the walls as they are slick.  This particular plant had about ten active flowers and a few others that had withered.

And so, just under five hours after the final departure from Laban Rata, some 6km further down the trail, Nicole and Jesse caught up to Lyndsay and Mike at the trail head gate, ending their mountain adventure.  Their legs were shaking and their knees were screaming, but their sense of relief was immense as they knew they had accomplished something together.  Despite all of the hardship, in the end, everyone was ecstatic, if a little beat up, and the bad weather on day one only made their story that much more entertaining.

Catching a taxi for a two hour ride back into Kota Kinabalu, the hikers swore to forsake their backpacker's hostel and find a proper hotel with a glorious warm shower - and that's just what they did.  But that's a story for another day.

A parting shot of the mountain, and a good look at its demonic peak

Everything looks good on the summit trail