Trip to Mount Kinabalu (Part I)

Many say humans are the craziest creatures in the world. That may not be too far from the fact. We like to challenge ourselves just for fun, doing insane things at insane times. Most of these things, I cannot comprehend until I myself was involve in one of it. Out of the blue, Hokkien people say “chiak bao siao eng” we decided to challenge Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in our country and ranked 3rd in South East Asia smacked right at the monsoon season. See the connection? Insane things: Climbing up a high mountain, Insane time: It’s the monsoon for crying out loud. So, armed with totally no information except that Mount Kinabalu is a mountain in Sabah, we set out to plan for our trip.

First thing first was booking the trip. Although I’m not practically involved in this, I know that we need to book way in advance, some sort like five to six months ahead. Booking on your own without going through a tour agent will be much harder, as all the place will be “sapu-ed” up by the tour agents. This, we learn was another fact. We ended up booking through a tour agent (which by experience later, I will say it’s not too bad. If you want the contacts, feel free to contact one of the members here) which cost us around Rm 600 per person. We did this booking sometime in April if I’m not mistaken. I’m not going to explain in details what the package includes as I will leave it to my friend who actually did the booking to tell you more.

After booking the trip, so was our fate sealed. No more turning back, now comes the real preparation. We need to train for the trip. Well, considering we are all lazy bums without much exercise, this is quite an insane thing to do by itself, but no matter, we will “Just-do-it”. Sooooo, we started out our “inten-sive” training by trying out Bukit Jambu Hill. The first time after so many months of negligence is taking its toll. It took me around 45 minutes just to reach the peak and I’m like a fish out of water when I finally reach there. This is where it dawns to me that we are doomed if we are to go challenge mount Kinabalu in this condition. So, to step up the effort, we decided that we will train at least once every week at Bukit Jambu Hill which we hold true for a few weeks at least. Then the lazy genes in us set in and somehow or other in the end, the people who followed this schedule became less and less until sometimes I’m the only one going to the hike. To put things in simpler terms, our ideal training schedule is turned into a “once in a blue moon thing.” We ended up training a lot less then we expected before the trip.

Fast forward to August and its time to buy and prepare the stuff needed for our trip. After reading various forums and various articles and listened to various different advice from friends of friends who had went there before, our purchasing list can reach one end of the road from the other end of the same road. So, what are we suppose to buy and prepare? Actually this depends very much on your personal choice and you’ll only know what you need once you go experience the climb for yourself. To cut the crap short, I’ll list down a few items that’s a must bring for the climb. (As least according to my own personal experience.)

1.) A backpack (This one is pretty obvious. Without a backpack, you’ll have to hand carry your stuff up the mountain and if you make it, let me know :D My advice here will be to find a backpack with straps on your chest and waist and make sure to test the burden on your shoulder before you buy. A good backpack should distribute the weight behind your waist more than your shoulder. As for the size of the backpack, for me, a 45 liters backpack should be enough for the trip but if you’re looking for long term use, you can buy a bigger one).

2.) A pair of shoes (Forget what all the people says about what shoes to buy. As long as you can be comfortable in the shoes and you can find a good grip with it, you can wear it for the climb. This is one lesson we learned by experience. Many people and forum says wearing the so called rubber “Adidas Kampung” was the best shoe to go up. So, like loyal followers, all of us went to buy the “Adidas Kampung” when we reach Kota Kinabalu which cost us Rm4.50. We test wear it for the night before the climb and then all of us send our “Adidas Kampung” back to our kampung permanently.)

3.) Raincoat. (You can either bring a disposable type or a reusable type. The pros and cons? With disposable ones, your carry weight will be lighter but strong wind can easily tear it into pieces so you’ll probably need two to three of these. With the reusable ones, it will be more resistance to the wind but then it will be heavier to carry.)

4.) Gloves (Unless you are insane like me and some of my friend, please bring a pair of waterproof gloves when you’re going. The temperature there can reach 6-7 degrees Celsius and you won’t want to expose your hand to the chilling wind and numbing coldness when you’re climbing up the mountain.)

5.) Hat/Mask (A ski mask will be perfect. You just need something that can protect your face from the cold but please don’t go and get a gas mask, :P )

6.) Medicine (This is just for emergency use but you’ll need it just to be safe. All you need is a few plasters, some antiseptic lotion/cream, 1 strips of panadol, some pills for vomiting and nausea and some pills for diarrhea and stomachache.)

7.) Food for energy (You’ll need a lot of energy for the climb and that’s why you will need to prepare some food to bring along. Best is to get some power/energy bars or some raisins and nuts bar.)

8.) A warm jacket (This item is needed when you reach Laban Rata for your overnight stay as the temperature there can reach as low as six to seven degrees and you’ll start to freeze if you just have your t-shirt with you. I would recommend that you bring a sleeping bag with you if you’re staying at the lodge without heaters.)

Well, that’s almost all the items we need and all our preparations are done. So we’re all set for our big adventure right? That’s what we think also but preparing and experiencing the thing is really different. I will talk about the experience there in my next posting. To Be Continued……