Sabah -kota kinabalu trip day 1-3

1st DAY:

The day came when all of us( me + 4 gals, all coursemates- jh,kp,wx n sz) gathered to get to LCCT.........so off we took off from LCCT to KKIA on 9th MAY 10.20AM..........for kp and sz , it was there 1st time to fly............it took 2h 40mins to KKIA..........(KKIA was built along the seaside, kind of cool when u looked out from the airplane when reaching KK, u can KK along the seaside).

Upon reaching KKIA, we were welcomed by doh, who brought us to KK industrial park to eat..........as we wanted a cheap meal(we had famous Sarawak laksa.

KK industrial park is cheap for it s food because it's all workers overthere, not tourists..........n some distance from KK city.......for ur information,..........eating inside KK city is like eating in KL..........nothing is cheap der......the living standard n KK city is quite high compared to many other places like Kuching.......each meal can cost around RM6-10. THe food in KK........is pretty much influenced by west malaysia and sarawak...........as many food stalls are opened by those ppl........u can get more or less similiar famous Sawarwak laksa and kolo mee der..........however, the both are the best in kuching.......haha, the kolo mee der.......is much different. u can get pan mee, yong tau fu......etc der lo.........even klang bak kut teh

So 1st day was a more relaxing day.........had our lunch, intro ourselves.......chating.......listening to our tour guide introduction to KK........as we reached KK around 1pm, we din have sufficient time to many places........we wanted to go poring hotspring, but unfortunately it was raining, the rain just wont stop and got bigger..........so we have no choice but to just travel to kundasang, i was a little bit sad due to the rain, it was very cloudy........n we couldn't stopped by the viewpoints along the road in kundasang to c the mt.kinabalu. We stopped by a handicraft centre, bought some souvenirs......then stopped by a small restaurant......managed by locals........to taste local food..:) forgot the names.

but the local kadazan food was quite nice.

After the short tea, i went outside in d drizzling rain to wait for the clouds hiding the mt. kinabalu to go off........took a few shots.......

Then off to buy chicken wings......it's real cheap, 1 chicken wing only cost RM1.....then buy some local dried food.........kuih lidah, kuih daun, ..................

This place was famous for the cheap vegetables like cameron

It was already dark by 6sthg pm.......faster than Kuching......my frens from west malaysia were not used to it, it was pitch dark by 7pm........haha
then off we went to Ranau.......bought sthg...then went uphill to mt.mahmud to stay on the hill.........did some chating........then we called it a day........

2nd DAY:

Got up early in d morning, took the cam to catch the sunrise......everywhere i looked down were quite misty.....as Ranau is in the mountainous area.....
ate our breakfast, and off we went to mesilau national park......on the way....we stopped the kundasang dairy cow farm......do u noe that this is the site where fernleaf made their advertisement?? wat fresh air.......fresh milk.....etc........truely this is a beautiful place with fresh air and green grass, u c mount kinabalu up right in front. this is a vy gud spot for phototaking!!! normally one hv to pay to enter this farm.......

Then we stopped by the malaysia's golf club.......to take some pics......then we reached mesilau park around 7 sthg almost 8am.....we waited for while for our abang Raplin Wido, our mountain guide.......a dusun, v 6 anak dy.......wow.......we were briefed about the climb, d distance.....etc.........next time some1 goin to climb, shud buy a stick cut properly and fit for helping u to climb........it's not expensive.....believe it, it helps alot to reduce ur knee cap pain.....though we were all too yakin tat we dun need it.......haha, we regret it in d end. I managed to make a fren v a park ranger named Roslizan..........chat a while.......at the same time, Malaysia SMART team are goin up too.......to perform a training to rescue some1 at the south's peak

We bid gudbye to doh, then folo abang rap up the trail to mesilau trail...for ur information, there are 2 trails leading to the summit, one is the timpohon trail which is located in the KK kinabalu park headquarter which is much shorter(5.5 Km to laban rata) but steeper trail, alots of staircase which keep on going up and up..........while the other trail is the one we climbed.......the mesilau track.....it's much longer (7.5Km to laban rata) but it more relaxing as the track goes uphill and downhillplus the reward of this track is there are more different vegetation and beautiful scenery to c....., it's more for the nature -lover ppl......haha, u'll cross more hig spot.....which made up of bonsai plants( vy beautiful, as if u enter another realm, or an angel's place)....pass thru a waterfall too and a bridge.......

At the 1st 500meter, my fren- wx sort of suffer some stress sympton, wanted to vomit .........i was so worried that she wanted to quit......fortunately, she was determined to continue......helped her to carry sthg to lighten her backpack.......after a while, she felt better......
along the way thru the mesilau track, we pass thru many pondoks.......we took a pic at each pondok.........

Then met many foreigners goin up......, there were quite some from west malaysia too.......and the blessed part was, we make frens with a few of them, named sam, desmond...both from negeri sembilan......, we chat alot, took pics together, then encourage each other to push the limits......

Haha, ate lots of chocs.......and drank 100plus and livita to boost our energy.......believe me, those foods i mentioned helped.......
The trail is a long 1, each time we saw a signpost km3 for e.g, we were like, yes.....still got somemore to go......the legs were in great pain dy......

However each time we reached a high spot or beautiful place , we forgot our legs.....haha........all we tot of was taking photos oh ya, 1 gentle reminder, dun bring too heavy backpack if u noe u cant manage it, 5-7kgs is ok.......the bag will get heavier with every step u took further.......n if u really cant take it anymore in the end, pay the mountain guide to take for u.........by doin so, u'll relax and enjoy the trail more........


Wild orchid plants were everywhere but unfortunately this is not the flowering season(october), however there were still some which blossom............we saw 2 types of nepenthes but no nepenthes rajah when near the T-junction......

After a long half day walk, we reach the T-junction where timpohon and mesilau track meet to go up to laban rata......, there was another 1.5-2km to reach laban rata, the weather was getting darker. Somewhere along the way, abang Rap became sz,wx n jh's hero carrying theirs bags.....We were worried that rain might come earlier, we tried to fasten our pace.......but from here on, the trail was more uphill rather than flat or down......as a result this last 1.5-2km was a hard 1 ........along the trail there are few bonsai areas.....but there dun look as beautiful as the 1 we saw back on the mesilau track. I moved faster worried the rain will come, along the way, drizzling rain was already dropping as we near laban rata........i was quite wet when i arrived at laban rata as the rain got bigger and bigger......chew.......FINALLY i reached laban rata...it was damn cold...the temperature up der was 11.5 degree celcius when i reached....There were many ppl who have already arrived in laban rata all siting down for hot drink and dinner.......
i got in Laban rata to dry myself up.......while waiting for others to reach......then went outside to take some pics of the electronic temperature indicator....the rain was like cats and dogs by that time.......then one by one my frens reached......yeah.......we made it to half summit......u'll get a grey certificate for doing so , u noe?? even if u din manage to climb to the summit......it's consider quite a remarkable climb dy.....among the 4 gals kp was the best.....haha, due to her history. She was an athlete before, she compete for 10Km running race, represented daerah.......she had no problem going uphill......Wx was half dead when she reached laban rata......haha, vy pale......no energy to climb lagi......

WE all needed hot drink.....we ordered hot water RM0.60 per cup........to heat ourselves up................the dinner up der was expensive.....buffet rm33sthg, fried rice(big but little ingredients) rm15........, maggi mee(rm8.50).....if wana eat fried rice, order malay fried rice better....., we rested a while.........b4 goin to our room......for ur information out of the four hostel for stay(waras hut, laban rata, panar laban, and gunting lagadan hut), only laban rata got heater in the room which makes it cost most expensive per nite stay....rm50 if i'm not mistaken....there are hot bath in every hostel, but the bath will have to wait if if the hot water was finished and need to be resplenished and heated. I rented myself the thickest jacket as i dun have a gud 1......for rm10......all cost rm10 even wind breaker....etc.......at 1st, everywhere was cold.........but after u get use to it,it gets better :)

We quickly had our bath, then wrapped ourself in thick jackets.....haha, gosh the cold water there was icy cold...then the next thing we did was sapu ourself with musle counterpain. we dun have 1, but we borrowed from our new fren...haha(forgot the name dy). We chat a while, then around 8pm we retired dy. However........most of us except jh.....managed to get some nap.....we all couldn't especially me.......not a single time i fall asleep at all.......TERRIBLE......images of the climb and the nite climb were all over my head......at 10pm we all woke up to chat a while again.....to find tat actually every1 was feeling hot and couldn't sleep.......we found out tat the heater we switched on at nite by 8pm was actually functioning(the heater can only be switched on by 8pm,.....n PLS dun dried anything on it). we try to go to bed again by closing our eyes and rest......still no sleep ........we woke and prepared ourself at 1sthg PM.........went down to have our 2AM breakfast......haha.....we boiled our instant noodle.....haha....

We only managed to start our nite climb by 2.40pm......which was consider 40minutes late...still we were quite early compared to many....the 1st 300 meter was quite dangerous due to the slippery rock surface especially after a big pour.....we moved up......all the way up........rocks, staircases....many puddle of mud and water......wx and sz were slower due to the tiredness and altitude......but still they made it step by step towards to trail to summit.....the way was dark without torchlight........real dark.......better use head light here.......as we got higher.........we could see the some shadows of the foothill.......and a tail of lights going up the summit trail......really nice. after all the rocks and staircases.....comes the ascend on some 60-70 degree rocks......using rope....hehe, really dangerous here......must pay xtra attention.....n u need gloves here to avoid hand scratches.........then climb along the rockside holding to the rope......surprisingly, the mountain guide especially abang rap he can climb the rocks without any problems........worse still........his shoes was totally out of bunga dy.......amazing rite???wat to do, they climb the mountain 200sthg times per year if work full time........

After the steep ascend.......it was better......another sumore climb of rocks and staircases.....n YEAH..........we reached sayat sayat hut...tat is around 7km dy......the whole trail to low's peak is 8.5sthg km..........every1 have to register their pass at the sayat sayat counter.......after sayat sayat hut, the path to the low's peak was all rocky surface.........and all the way up...........little flat surface......we followed the white rope up......to me this trails was the hardest of all.......though the trail might seem short but believe me, it's harder than u can imagine.......oh ya, dun forget to look back........at this point, one can c the whole kundasang area below with some tiny lights.......n Up too...haha, the stars and the moon.......such a quiet nite with stars and the moon accompanying every1..........basically, u dun need torchlight everywhere here if the moon is up......it's bright enuf to see ahead.........

Me and jh walk ahead.....faster and non-stop.......up n up..........everytime 10-20 steps , we took a rest a while.....grasping.......we cannot move fast as the air on top is thinner,........if we do so, we might not get enuf oxygen........we went ahead of abang rap(taking care of sz and wx), wx,sz, and kp(accompaying sz, wx) that we dun recognise which was them when we looked back.....still we push the limits here........surpriseingly u'll find tat the peaks appeared not far, yet there were a huge distance apart.......i was always cheated by the peaks thinking that it's not so far to low's peak.......and another surprise u'll find are the mountain guides.......they dun seem to suffer any tiredness, they were so steady and stable with each small steps.....walking zig-zag......of coz the roads sometimes turn and we had to climb some rocks.......

When i saw the south's peak.......i was really happy......my head was thinking, not very far away from low's peak........the south peak is one of the peak which always appeared in the postcard.......it is one of the most beautiful peak der.......i was so happy tat i asked the mountain guide nearby me.......where's the low's peak.......:( he answered me: " u cant c it from here, it's over the top there, and it's still another 1 hour to reach , or if u r fast.......then 45minutes........." i was like, OMG........i thought i was so near yet i was still very far ........!!!
As i approach the top( not the low's peak) , i saw clearly donkey's peak.., tunku adul rahman 's peak, the ugly sister's peak....but the only thing i'm worried was time was running out......it almost 5AM.......sunrise is at 5.30AM, still i cant see low's peak....i looked up......wow, magnificient view of the sky.....the stars were so close that i wanted to grab it, and i wished i have more time to stare at the skys....ahead of me was a trails of lights going up n up......

At 5sthg AM before 5.30AM, the sky was brightening up.......from blue to purple, to yellow......i knew in this pace i will definitely miss the sunrise........but WAT to do.......i also was zero energy dy.......resting more and more with every 10 steps.......mayb due to my thalassemia minor symptoms......at last around 5.30AM.......i'm looking at the low's peak from below the foot of it.......many ppl were already up there waiting for sunrise
i was exhausted.....though i still do not feel cold at all.......but really............the low's peak was another steep climb again......and alot of big rock and hard climb......i was wondering another steep climb lagi???!!!, y so high.........i hoped so much i was already on the summit dy......

I asked the digital camera from jh, with a camera in hand, i more energetic to go up take pics.........i rest for a while, and with all the energy i have left with me, i push the limit of limits.......up ................was all i'm thinking........i must go up fast fast fast........but still the climb was hard.........we needed some rest.......towards the summit, i pushed myself again.......i became the 1st 1 of my group to reach the summit......
chew...........FINALLY i'm at the top.........the moment i dream all the time......standing at the higest peak n southeast asia looking down and around........it's true like watevery1 said, i forgot all the pain and the exhaustion.........looking at the sunrise.......though it was up....but it was not so high yet.........but the sun light had brighten every part of the mountain.......the view on top was marvellous.......

But i must admit, the wind was so cold that i started felt very cold , my hands and my face were frozen, i weared 2 layer of gloves ( coz i bought the gardener's gloves, try get urself a gud pair of waterproof and windproof glove), really cant tahan the icy cold wind.......trying to take pics quickly, but there were many ppl there.........all either staring at the view, taking pics.......relaxzxing.....and the peak was just a small place......u have to excuse or wait to snap a gud pic........every1 who went up there wud take 1 similiar pics........that's standing with at the signpost stating u r at the low's peak (4095meter above sea level) including me too...hahahha, took quite some pics........

On top, u'll find ppl take different kinds of pics...haha, couples kising at the signpost........, ppl take off their t shirt to take pics......haha
then the bad thing happened, i ate the choc jh offered me, and immediately the feeling of vomit was all over me........duno y.......but i was feeling terrible after that......thati hide behind the rocks from the wind........OMG, y this happen.........i waited for my group partners, wx,sz, kp and abang rap to reach the summit......with uneasiness.......i was feeling terrible while waiting......., i duno how long i waited, but at last they arrived......i took a few pics with them,.........

Then off i went down.,.......cant tahan dy.......ppl said i suffered altitude sickness.......but i wondered y only at the moment i ate that piece of choc only it happened.......bcoz i dun felt anything at all b4 tis on the summit......WAT TO DO.......

I was the 1st to go up as well as down........cant stand the wind........believe me, going down was as hard as going up.......ur knee cap and feet suffered the most.....i went down very slowly due to the vomit sympton........wat a terrible thing to happen

On the way down, i was a bit sad......bcoz i dun have a camera v me, which i wanted to take many pics.......which u dun notice on the nite ascend........, i can only remembered them in m heart.........the scene below was also very beautiful........south peak, the donkey 's peak......the stone, the vast rocky surface........on top u'll find strange stack of rocks everywhere..........i read in a book that it was a symbolism sort of religious thing to honour the god of mountain.......b4 this many years ago, there used to have an old man who practice the old custom to climb to the top to sacrifice some food and chicken to honour the god of mountain, however this custom is no more practice, because the old man was too old to climb dy........tat was according to abang Rap.........

Slowly i went down, resting because the vomiting symptom was all over me, i vomitted once on top.....tat make me felt better, upon reaching the lower parts, the kundasang area was clearly insight........again too bad no camera.......

I reached sayat sayat around 8sthg to 9AM....u have to register again at the counter to show them u really climb to the top.......again i vomitted in the toilet nearby.......really terrible.............i waited for the others at sayat sayat.......there reached around 9sthg.....with sam
then we continue the descend down to laban rata.......it was a fast descend............tired........i could barely speak.......which was different from the ascend where i talked and laughed alot..........THANX SO MUCH for the small piece of choc

Upon reaching laban rata, i was totally exhausted........the vomit effect took a whole lot out of me......i went to bed to rest.....luckily my 'zi mui' were caring enuf.....they bought me a cup of hot water, then i felt better.......we have to checked out at 10.30am....we had maggi mee........the most mahal maggi mee RM8.50.........gosh.......i ate 2 panadol....returned back the thich jacket.......then took a few pics with frens met them ( among them were 2 USM accounting students from sibu s'wak, they were vy 'geng' le,.........very impressive for a gal), then off we went down around 11AM......all the way down......looking back a few times.....it was really very fast.......the rain din at all slowed us down......every1 felt ok including wx....who also suffered the vomit sympton all the way up and down the summit. but believe me, rain while descending was ok , but not while ascending.... We went down the timpohon gate which was all staircase trail........thanx god we din took this trail up.......if not, we wud not have a gud time enjoying the trail at all.........we pass by a beautiful waterfall somewhere around 1-1.5km..........then yeah , we reach the timpohon gate starting point , haha...........the rain also got much bigger..........just in time, we were welcome by doh who was already waiting der for us..........

We rested a while, then hopped on to the van n went to take our mt.kinabalu climb certificate.......each person received 2 certificate, 1 from mesilau park, the other 1 is the climb to the summit.........

We bid farewell to Abang Rap............and left for poring hotspring in Ranau.........
Soaked our exhausted leg in the hot hot water......., then play some water........due to not enuf time, so we ccould not bath in hot water.....
we went backed to KK to our Xplorer's backpacker's lodge, my 1st time to KK city.....however, we were all dead fishes.......reached the lodge around 10sthg pm dy.....then blah blah to sleep........Zzzzzz........