On the summit of Mount Kinabalu

On the summit of Mount Kinabalu

According to some sources, Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak of southeast Asia. Actually, it isn’t. The highest peak of southeast Asia is the 5881 m high Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar, but because it’s part of the Himalayas, some don’t count it as southeast Asian. There are also a few Indonesian peaks that are higher than Mount Kinabalu. Whatever. I didn’t climb Mount Kinabalu because it’s the highest peak of anything (although it is both the highest peak in Malaysia and the highest peak on Borneo). I did it for the same reason I climb any other mountain: because it’s there.

Our team, ready to start the climb

The number of climbers that can access Mount Kinabalu per day is strictly limited and enforced through many permit checks. It's mandatory to pay all sorts of fees and to hire a guide as well as to have a reservation to spend the night at the Laban Rata mountain hut in order to be issued a permit. The permit is printed on plastic with the climber’s name and the date and must be worn at all times. Guidebooks warn that reservations should be made months in advance so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get a permit on short notice. But it turns out that due to the high cost of the climb it isn’t completely sold out every day. I was thrilled that I was able to get a permit and do the climb!

Porters carry goods to the Laban Rata mountain hut

A guide is assigned for every four climbers at the start of the climb at Kinabalu National Park. The track is well maintained and signposted and there are many rest stops with flushing toilets along the way. We frequently passed porters who carry stuff to and from the Laban Rata mountain hut. Surprisingly, women serve as porters as well as men. We were told that it is a matter of pride to be a porter on Mount Kinabalu and that is why they haven’t arranged other means of transporting goods.

The trail on Mount Kinabalu

Before the climb we were also instructed that guides are provided for our safety only but they do not speak English and do not have to give information about the many interesting species of plants and animals, especially squirrels and birds. Our guide did speak a few words of English and he did answer questions about plants, such as:

“What plant is this?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a raspberry?”

“Yes.”

“Can we eat it?”

“Yes.”

“Is it poisonous?”

“Yes.”

We should have obeyed instructions not to ask. (I later Googled that it was indeed a raspberry plant that we saw and that it is edible.)

Higher up on the mountain

We spent the night at the Laban Rata mountain hut and continued again at 2:30 in the morning in order to reach the summit at sunrise. They certainly take their permit checks seriously as there was a checkpoint hut about one hour up and someone was there in the middle of the night to check each and every climber and record their permit number.

Fog below the summit of Mount Kinabalu

The air was thin as we neared 4000 m altitude but it wasn’t really cold, in fact, I went about half way in short sleeves and only put on my jackets and sweaters and gloves near the summit where the temperatures dropped and the wind started blowing. Since I walked faster than our guide anticipated, I was at the summit about half hour before sunrise when it was still dark. I squeezed into a crevice between two large rocks and waited for the sun to rise. Which never happened because it was completely foggy. While we were lucky with the weather in that it didn’t rain (they told us it could rain any day of the year, there is no dry season or wet season on Borneo), we unfortunately didn’t get to see the sunrise. It started clearing up on our way down and we were rewarded with some views after all.

Ragged peaks on Mount Kinabalu

A hint of a sunrise