Land above the clouds

I promised that I would write again soon and I have fulfilled that promise - however, the hot weather and the promise of an air-conditioned internet cafe was more of a motivating factor than any other.

My trip up to the top of SE Asia should first be recounted in short simple sentences (as I feel that adds to the significance of this event). I climbed Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the tallest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea making it the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia. It stands at m 4,095 m ( or 13,435 ft). In 24 hours I hiked 18 km with an elevation gain of just over 2000 m (and elevation loss of 2000 m on the way back down). I feel that suffices.

My journey began in the morning as I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. I left my larger pack at the guest house and without it weighing me down I bounded across town. I reached the bus stop and boarded a bus grabbing a window seat and settled in for the 2 hour trip up into the mountains. I feel it's appropriate to mention that at this point my altitude is roughly 0 m above sea level. Of we go and the first part of the journey passes without anything of interest. I'm drifting in and out of sleep when I open my eyes and catch a glimpse of something which appears out of the ordinary. I sit up and peer out the window for a better look and as we come around another corner this huge mass rises up in front of me apparently out of nowhere. I follow this mass skyward and see it disappear into the clouds. I continue to arch my head backwards and shortly I see this massive object reappear above the clouds. Finally, I saw the top. I was a bit conscious of my lack of exercise the past several month and while I didn't doubt that I would make it to the top, I wondered in what state I would be in when I did. This image of a mountain piercing the clouds did nothing to boost my confidence. We stopped at a small little rest area complete with food stalls and a view of the mountain where I purchased my lunch and took in this impressive giant. Arriving at the national park headquarters at the foot of the mountain, I jumped out and began jumping through hoops. There was a substantial list of things that one must do before climbing the mountain: purchase a entrance ticket to the national park, make a reservation for lodging on the mountain, pay for insurance, pay for a climbing permit, find a guide etc. All in all, it took about 30 minutes and 232 ringgit to jump correctly through all the hoops. I had found my guide (and two other people with which to share him) and we were off. My group consisted of myself, Victor (the guide), Kim (a girl from S. Korea) and Simon (a guy from London). I had my guide, my insurance papers and my bag of M&M's so I was set and we headed off. The national park headquarters is at about 2000 m above sea level and so it was 95% uphill. I had a spring in my step (and surprisingly that lasted until the last 2 km) and bounded up the trail and before I knew it we were halfway to the lodge. The atmosphere on the trail had to add to my enthusiasm as there was the overwhelming sense of camaraderie. People going up would encourage those they met and people on their way down would provide bits of encouragement and insight into the climb as well as relate how beautiful the sunrise on the summit was. Hiking filled the day and what a wonderful day it was. As we climbed up into the mountains and gained elevation, the vegetation changed and it got significantly cooler. I had anticipated a very sweaty climb and had bought several kg of water and was pleasantly surprised to find that while I worked hard climbing, it was cool enough to keep my body temperature at the perfect level (i.e. no sweat). Along the way we even saw the famous pitcher plant (think a flower shaped like a pitcher which catches bugs and insects in that pitcher) and as we climbed high enough we mingled with the clouds and were refreshed by their cooling mist. Climbing on we reached 3600 m and the lodges. I stumbled into the lodge at about 3:30 and checked in. As I was on my way to the room I spotted some familiar faces. I had run into these Americans from Alaska when I was in Brunei. We had traveled out to this mosque separately and where stuck out there waiting for a bus. We ended up getting a ride back to the city from a nice man passing by and went out separate ways. But our paths crossed again at 3,600 m up in the mountains of Malaysia. Matt and Cori where there names and once Simon arrive the four of us along with a scattering of other folks spent the afternoon and evening shooting the breeze in this lodge which was very reminiscent of a ski lodge.

I'd love to continue, but I've hit my hour mark and feel I should leave. It's also much cooler outside now and the streets of Chinatown are beckoning. I feel bad leaving you in the middle of the story especially with so much more to tell, but that's what I'm going to do.

Until next time,

Ryan