mt. kinabalu

view from the bottom

woke up this morning in kota kinabalu. my legs are quite sore as i roll out of bed and i remember, oh yeah, i spent the last two days climbing a mountain. and the views from the top are only a nice reminder of the journey involved. 

we spent the night before the climb at kinabalu park so we could get acclimated to the elevation and take our time in the morning. the day before we caught a micro bus from kota kinabalu that we shared with two smelly hippy types from who knows where. they seemed a bit too old to be hippies, one was round with grayish short hair, the other skinny and bearded with his long hair pulled into a stubby pony tail on the top of his skull. the latter wore those pants you often see travelers' wearing, the local type of pant presumably, that is usually red, cottony, and fastens without a fixed waistline so the crotch hangs down way past the knees. the ride took three hours because the driver decided to stop at two junkyards for over an hour. not sure what type of maintenance the bus needed. but we went up and around twisty, squiggly roads up up up to the park and I closed the window as the air became cool and I began to slide back and forth on what was, in kota kinabalu a hot, sticky seat.

porters putting me to shame

we started the hike up the mountain around 9:30 in the morning. the first day would take us six kilometers to a lodge where we would spend the night.  we would go from about 1,500 meters up to over 3,000 in a matter of hours. in my bag i carried some warmer clothing, water, some snacks, and a bulky, humorous, and difficult to fit in my bag box lunch that was included in the cost of our hostel. in a three compartment plastic case, the lunch contained the following: three complete crustless white bread sandwiches, two sandwiches of one slice of cheese, one with a slice of meat, ham, turkey possibly... the other compartments contained, respectively, two hard boiled eggs, and a piece of fried chicken. to wash it all down was a can of 100 plus, an isotonic vitamin enhanced beverage that is all over the place in malaysia. one of the guys we climbed with aptly described it as glorified sprite.  and i suppose i should mention, that along with myself and ang were two british guys, dave and tom, that we met and shared a guide with. our compulsory guide was an awesome lady named lula.

better to imagine this going up, in the dark

so climbing climbing climbing, upward and upward. the first few kilometers go by ok. through some green forests, over rocky pathways, up rocky steps. the gray rocks and green and brown of the trees give way to tan, muddy rocks, and the clear air to hazy clouds. but i'm still feeling pretty good. i'm taking my time, step at a time. here and there i'd trek quickly up a few stairs only to feel the thin air stifle me, sending a sharp pain to my temples--slower, slowly, deep breath in, ok, the headache fades, only the burn in the quads remains, but that's no big deal. 

every km or so there's a shelter and a place to sit down to eat hardboiled eggs, crustless sandwiches, fried chicken, etc. 

then you hike up and up and marvel at the porters who are going much faster than you and carrying boxes and bags that look very heavy on their heads and shoulders. by the way, this trek, which takes us (and most humans) two days, bottom to top to bottom, is scaled in its entirety by racers in under three hours. 

so after about four and half hours, through green forest, cloud forest, muddy rocky slippery stones and steps we made it to laban rata, the lodging halfway up. we are greeted inside by warmth and complimentary  coffee, tea, and biscuits.  weary climbers are sitting here and there, feeling good, sipping tea, eating biscuits--a perfect little attractive american family, all smiling, is playing a game of monopoly and all is well in the world.  but more about that family later) and our guide, lula, sets down a couple of plump white softy heavenly towels--oh so heavenly, with a delicate and beauitful tiny bar of soap on top, and instantly one can't help but to think of a nice warm shower and some clean clothes. oh we've made it! it was a long hike and now we can have a nice hot shower... but no, lula's towels were not for us, but rather for dave and tom. we got only a key. our dorm was still a few hundred meters up.

so after a few cups of complimentary coffee and tea ang and i, still sweaty and soiled and ready to sit down head up to our cabin. and it is not a few more steps up, it is many more steps up, and over rocks and streams and up more rock. this isn't too bad of a walk normally, but having glimpsed the heavenly white of that towel and then finding it, and the warm shower you're ready for isn't for you, as well as the fact that you have to climb back down for dinner and then back up to go to sleep, well i wanted to punch all of humanity in the face. 

we made it to our dorm. and it wasn't the heated, soft white towel land we had hoped for. no, it is not bad at all, it is a quaint wood and tin dorm room with four beds. but by this time, high up on the mountain, it is getting windy with rain falling sideways sporadically, and the toilet and shower are outside, and they look very very cold. but i hate to be sweaty and sit around in my own dirty greasy sweatiness (see previous blog about greasy bus ride) so i resolved myself to shower regardless of the facilites. i girded up my loins ( i have no idea what that means but that's what i did) and headed to the shower, without a towel mind you, i didn't bring one. i didn't want to carry it. but the sun came out, i took it as a sign and i headed in, and staring down at me is a lonely, solitary metal pipe. i turn the knob--ice. i inadvertantly say 'mama cita,' because that is what you say when you head into an icy abyss, loins girded, desperately, oh so desperatley wanting to bathe. i bathed, and unfortunately for my story of loin girded manhood, the water actually warmed up a bit. i shivered tremendously when i got out still wet, but i was clean.

me pretty much owning the mountain/world

after a buffet dinner of noodles, rice, and miniature hot dogs, the staples of buffets in kinabalu whether they be lunch, breakfast, or dinner, we went to bed around seven p.m., setting the alarm for 2:30 a.m. we slept relatively well in our tin shack halfway up the mountain, even if it was unheated and sans soft white towel hot showers.

lying in bed, just lying because i was too tired to hold a book in front of my face, there was a bit of trepidation about the early morning hike. it was quiet, oh so quiet inside our tin cabin halfway up the mountain, the only noise being the creaking of the wooden bunks we were sleeping on. but outside, the wind roared mightily and the rain fell sideways and quickly, and with a purpose, but our tin cabin stood stalwart, deflecting the thunderous rain pellets and accepting the wind, amplifying its roar with it's thin metallic skin. under its protection I waited for sleep, worrying if I brought enough warm clothing for the rapidly approaching early early morning hike, because outside of my blanketed wooden bunk in tin cabin cocoon, it sounded cold. it sounded cold the way early morning darkness feels lonely

the warm place we didn't stay at

but we were up at 2:30, bundled up as much as possible. but getting outside it wasn't too bad. we start our upward trek in the blackness, our headlamps our only light. at first its stairs, then some rocks, then up a steep grade holding onto a rope. the air is getting thinner and thinner, the slope steeper. a queue forms from all the climbers at the steeper points. we get to a point where you can't see anything around you save for the rock face in front you. here we held on to a rope and scurried sideways around a ledge. i was glad the darkness didn't allow me to see what was below (although in daylight on the way back it wasn't too bad).  so up up up. then more up. after a point the rope is just a guide, and there is no need to hold on. it is incredibly steep and still dark, just one step  at a time, step, step, step. at this point you can't see much but you can sense your height and the surround black sky and ominous rock formations. up ahead and behind are trails of headlamps, slowly moving up and up.

nearing six a.m. and the sun starts to peak out bright red from behind the mountain. the summit is now in sight and it is cold. windy and cold. my nylon pants flap like a flag in in the wind. it is cold and the goings is slow. just step, step, step.

by six we were at the top, after a short scurry we were freezing and taking pictures with all the other successful climbers. and then we went back down.

down down down, down stairs and rocks and sheer mountain backside. my legs were jelly like. 

now, a few days later my legs seem even more sore.