"My Wandering Feet" - An Adventure to the "Land Below The Wind"

CLICK ME for an INTRODUCTION to this BLOG Series.

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Mount Kinabalu
"The Highest Mountain in Southeast Asia"

Sabah, located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo is the easternmost state of Malaysia. It is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo and known as the second largest state in the country. Sabah is often referred to as the "Land Below The Wind", a phrase used by seafarers in the past to describe lands south of the typhoon belt. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, which is the gateway of our journey.

The gateway of our climb to Mount Kinabalu was the Kinabalu Park.  Declared as World Heritage Site, we enjoyed the weather and the amazing views of mountains as well as the diverse species of plants and birds.  Some of these species can only be found at the Park according to our guide.

Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia and is one of the most popular mountain to conquer by mountain climbers.  The views are picture perfect; it's easy to be mesmerized by the ecological richness around you. The memories of the trek will certainly last a lifetime.

But don't be deceive by the advertisements that it is supposed to be an easy trek.  As far as I am concerned, the trail is one of the toughest trek I've ever encountered.  It is rugged, but with a well defined trail with countless wooden stairs, bridges and rocks.  There are several trails to reach the summit.  We went through the Timpohon Trail which has been estimated to be completed within 6 to 8 hours depending on the fitness of the trekkers.  It took us almost nine hours to finish!  Fortunately, we still have food at Laban Rata.  Reaching Laban Rata, I was so tired... all I wanted is to dig in to our room and sleep.  I also felt lightedness in my head and a little dizzy.  

Anyway, we were scheduled to start our ascend to the summit at 2:30 am (after a few hours of sleep; if you can sleep at all!!!).  We took our a snacks (they call it supper!) and started the ascend.  Within 15 minutes to our ascend, I felt again the lightedness (like walking in the cloud), dizziness and I felt my head was like exploding.  I decided not to pursue the ascend because of the risk to my health (I am by the way, asthmatic and suffering from vertigo!).

Reaching "Laban Rata" is already an achievement and I have to give myself a hard-earned pat on the back.  It even higher compared to the highest mountain in the Philippines.  I've heard from the Guides as well as read in the Internet that some trekkers could not even reach Laban Rata.

While descending, I was asking myself and my fellow trekkers, how I was able to survived the trek going up..... It was so tricky!  Within 3 days after the trek, I can't imagine the soreness of my body... I can't even walked straight! With every movement I made, I almost cried :(

With every mountain I climbed and the soreness of my body that I felt afterwards, I always tell myself not to climb another mountain again.  Will I be back again to Mount Kinabalu to conquer the summit or climb another mountain in the near future?  Well.... the answer lies beyond!

pictures.....  pictures.....   pictures.....  pictures.....  pictures.....

Hello, Mount Kinabalu!  Be kind to me :) 

The Map

Some Views of the Trail

The Summit from Laban Rata

#wandermoretheworld