Sabah Trip - Day 1 (1 May 2014)

Sabah trip - Kota Kinabalu 

Sabah is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo and known as the second largest state in the country after Sarawak which it borders on its southwest.

Day 1 - 1 May 2014

It's labour day and also my getaway to start my amazing and challenging trip.

Reached Sabah at 1310 and we had KFC as our quick lunch near our hotel.

          City view from our Hotel

                The Roundabout :)

The centre is walkable and there a some shopping complexes such as Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, Centre Point Sabah, Warisan Square and etc.

We decided back to our hotel for a rest after the 2hrs+ exploration because we do not want to tired ourself as we need to save the energy for the hike of Mt. Kota Kinabalu on the 3rd day - 3 May 2014 which I have posted previously about my experience on hiking Mt. KK.

We had our dinner at Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh (佑记肉骨茶) which is the most crowded restaurant in Gaya Street of Kota Kinabalu city after office hours, and throngs of local and tourists come to try their famous Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶 in Chinese), which is pork and organs simmered for hours in soup of herbs and spices (such as star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui and garlic).

           Our Dinner - "Bah Kut Teh" 

Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶) literally means “meat bone tea” in Hokkien. It is introduced to Malaysia by Chinese labors and coolies of Hokkien origin in 19th century. As they are too poor to afford expensive herb such as ginseng, they cook the pork with herb and eat it as a supplement to boost their vitality.

We discovered "Ham Jin Piang" and Teddy Bear bread in one of the bakery near Gaya Street.

We ended our Day 1 Sabah Trip after our "Bah Kut Teh" and some discovery in bakery shop. ^.*

You may refer to my previous post on the    experience of hiking Mt. Kota Kinabalu in Day 3 (3 May 2014) until Day 4 (4 May 2015).

Experience on Climbing Mt. Kinabalu

Just a throwback for my experience of climbing Mt Kinabalu.Mt Kinabalu is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia and it is located in the East Malaysia state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site. The best time for climbing is during the dry season which is February-April.I went on 2 May 2014 due to all lodging on Mt. Kinabalu fully booked as they limit the quota of climbers overnight on Mt. Kinabalu.

Climbing Mt. Kinabalu was challenging for me.It took about 2days from climbing up to Laban Rata and to the Low's Peak and then descending to the bottom.It was a physically and mentally test to me.

There are 2 trails to reach Laban Rata which is Timpohon Trail and Mesilau Trail. We (me & friends) used the Mesilau Trail which is 2km more than Timpohon Trail.Mesilau Trail is more scenic than Timpohon Trail with more variations in terms of scenery as per below photos.

     

Journey begin 

(2 May 2014 - 4 May 2014)

Group photo @ Kinabalu Park before heading to Mesilau Nature Resort 

Spent a night here before our hike start...

             Dinner @ Sutera Harbour 

 

Hiking start

3 May 2014

Briefing and Registration (It is advisable to bring along hiking pole as it will help to bear your weight while going up and down the mountain. The hiking pole helped me to take pressure off my knees especially descending the mountain.)

                  My tag for the hike 

We started our hike at about 9am by using the Mesilau Trail

Thre were hunts along the way where we stopped to rest, drink water and have our lunch. Actually these hunts become my short term goal as I'll keep moving until I see the next hunt.

"Nature always wear the colour of the spirit"

They did provide the service to carry a person down. They told us that the rate for carrying a person down is :-

Less than 50kg - RM 300/km

More than 50kg - No idea 

Finally reached Laban Rata after the 7hrs hike

        Need to pay RM50 for deposit

           Chilling above the clouds

Buffet dinner is provided as part of our package.We did not shower as the weather so cold and they don't provide heater. We slept at 8pm as we need to wake up again at 1am to continue our hike to the Low's Peak.Supper was served at 130am and we have to set off to the Summit at 230am.

It was really cold when we started our hike to the Summit. It was 3 Degree celcius. We were decked up with winter wear at the start but we start to remove layers by layers as we climb😊

(Note: Windbreaker and waterproof gloves with good grip is a must for the climb to Summit)

4 May 2014

This is my first time seeing tge sky covered by so many stars. It was amazing.

Finally we did it after our 4hrs hike from Laban Rata (Group photo with our Mountain Guide)

We were blessed with good weather and it didn't rain when we are climbing 

           Chilling at the Low's Peak

We try to take photo using RM1 note at the South Peak but failed 😭. Luckily our mountain guide helped us. Photos above took by him 😉

Finally we reached the bottom around 6pm. We didn't take much photo of our descend as we were too focused to getting down as fast as possible and done with the climb. We were extremely tired and our legs felt like gonna break.

                     My certificates 

Hiking Mt Kinabalu make me feel that it was a moment between us and the nature and it was the moment that I will always remember as long as I live. It was amazing and challenging experience for me.