My Asia Adventure

So here's a recap of my vacation in Singapore & Malaysia:

Mike & I left on December 20th and arrived in Singapore on Dec. 22 at 1am. We spent the first few days hanging out with my family. As usual it was a full house with my mom's aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins visiting as well. But for the first time in a while, I actually got to sleep in my own bed! We mostly spent the time adjusting to the time change and, of course, eating!

On Christmas Day, Mike & I took a bus from Singapore to the airport in Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia. Singapore is connected to Malaysia by a bridge and the ride to JB took less than an hour. We then took a 2 hour flight from JB to Kota Kinabalu (KK). Here is your quick geography lesson: KK is on the island of Borneo. Borneo is actually occupied by three countries: Indonesia in the south, Malaysia in the north, and Brunei which has a tiny part of land in the north as well. KK is part of Malaysia and is located in the northeast portion of Borneo.

We were met at the airport by a Borneo Eco-tours (who we booked the trip through) representative who was holding a sign that said "Michael David Meloney and Partner." We both thought it was amusing that my name was totally omitted and that I had been reduced to being Mike's "partner." What's up with that? :)

After checking into our hotel, we took a walk around the town. It's small and right on the coast. There are a lot of outdoor markets with people selling everything from cheap batteries & souvenirs to fresh fish & spices. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant along the boardwalk next to the ocean. After stopping by 7-11 for a few supplies, we went to bed early since we had an early wake-up call the next day.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel because we were going to be gone for the next two days. We were picked up at 7am and we made the 2 hour drive to Mt. Kinabalu. Mt. Kinabalu is the highest point in Southeast Asia at 13,500ft. And yes, we were driving to it so that we could climb it. And yes, of course it was Mike's idea (and a good one at that). After arriving at the park ranger station and registering, we were given our guide. His name was Richard and he had just come down from climbing the mountain the day before. He guides people up the mountain about 3 times a week and has been doing it for 5 years (he thinks he's climbed the mountain close to 1000 times). A race is held on the mountain every year and Richard has gone all the way up and and back in 3.5 hours (the record is 2.5 hours). And as if those credentials weren't enough, he wore flip flops to hike the trail (you should have seen the look on my & Mike's faces). I felt a little wimpy compared to him in my hiking boots and Gortex pants.

At about 10am we started our hike. Mike carried a pack with most of our stuff that we would be needing over the next couple days while I carried a smaller backpack with our jackets. The trail has an infinite number of wood stairs that have been put into the ground. Since we were in the rainforest, it was only appropriate that it rain...the whole time while we were hiking. There were little rest huts every kilometer or so where we could sit and be dry for a few minutes. Richard the guide stayed behind us and let us go at our own pace. We were given a pack lunch to eat along the way that consisted of a hard boiled egg, cheese sandwich, a fried chicken wing, a banana, and water. We also snacked on a couple of Cliff bars as well. Since there were no switchbacks, the trail was incredibly steep. There was rarely a flat portion where you could take nice easy strides. It was just stair after stair.

Finally, after 4 hours we had completed the 6km hike from 8000 to 11,000ft and arrived at the rest house Laban Rata.
At this point we were both soaked, tired, cold, and miserable. Next time we do this we're definitely bringing less stuff. Although were were offered a porter to hire to carry our stuff, Mike declined it and carried all of it (bless his heart). He was definitely feeling the weight of his decision!! We asked Richard how long it took his slowest client took to reach the rest house and he told us that it once took him 16 hours!!

Inside the rest house, to our surprise, they had a drying service. For a fee, you could give them your clothes and shoes to dry. We did just that & for about $20 we got all of our stuff nice and dry for the next day. While we were waiting for that to finish, we took the opportunity to sit and rest indoors. We wrote a few postcards, had some hot tea, and ate dinner.

The rest house had a patio that stood over a cliff. You could see the clouds go in and out within the blink of an eye. At one point it would be beautiful & sunny, and in the next second it would go back to being dark & cloudy. When the clouds did clear out it was nice to go out there and look over the ledge at the mountain and clouds below.

After getting our clothes and shoes back, we packed up to walk to our own rest house about 5 minutes away. The rooms were dorm style, each containing 2 bunk beds. We shared our room with 2 Malaysian school boys. They looked like they were in middle school. They had come to the mountain as part of a school trip. Mike & I went to bed around 8pm since we had to get up the next morning at 2:30am so that we could make the summit by sunrise.

It was still pitch black outside when got up the next day. It was also freezing! I put on 2 pairs of pants, a t-shirt, fleece, and rain jacket. We met Richard at 3am and started our hike to the summit. We left most of our stuff in our bunk and only took the small backpack with us. Using headlamps, we were able to navigate the trail. Above the treeline, the trail just becomes almost vertical rock and a rope is put in place to help you climb it. I was lucky that it was dark out otherwise I would have been scared of the height!

About 2.5 hours later we reached the summit. It was 2.7 km from our rest house to the summit. It was so cold up there!!About 20 minutes later, the sun started to peak from above the clouds.

Although we were cursing the rain the day before, were both so glad that it had rained then instead of right now. The sky was pretty clear and there was no rain in sight. The sunrise was gorgeous to watch and made the trip most definitely worth it. Richard told us that if there were no clouds at all, that we would be able to see the sunrise over the ocean and that you could often see all the way to the Philippines. Although there were no clouds above us, there were clouds below us which blocked that view. Nevertheless, it was still a beautiful sight to see.

There was a fair number of people up there who also shared the experience with us. Although Mike & I were the only people in our little group, groups can be as big as you want to book them. The only stipulation is that there must be one guide for every 8 people. The rest houses can house up to about 200 people and I think that they were fully booked while we were there.

We spent a few more minutes looking at the landscape below and taking a fair amount of pictures. Our Malaysian schoolboy roomies even asked to take a picture with Mike. Earlier that morning before we left he gave them one of our Cliff bars. He always makes friends everywhere we go.

With the sun out now, it definitely got warmer and we shed some of our layers as we made our way down. And now I could see how steep the rocks really were and how treacherous those cliffs really were. Needless to say, getting off the summit wasn't exactly fun for me. We arrived at the rest house to pick up the rest of our stuff and to eat breakfast. We were both starving (what else is new). At about 10am we started the hike back down the mountain.

A look back at the peak

Going down was just as bad as going up. The constant pounding on my feet was pretty harsh and the ground was slippery from all of the rain. Mike & I both had our close calls with injuries. Luckily I don't really have problems with my knees, so those were not a problem. But my calves and quads were definitely feeling the pain. The previous day Mike had expressed an interest in seeing a carnivorous pitcher plant, and Richard took us a little of the trail to show us pretty big one.

Although we thought we made pretty good time going down the mountain because we only stopped once to rest, it still took us about 3.5 hours to get down. It didn't rain for most of the hike except for the last hour or so. And the biggest kick in the pants is that the last 500 meters is uphill! That was so the last thing I wanted.

At the bottom we were picked up by a mini-bus and transported to a restaurant to pick up lunch. We thanked Richard and said good bye to him. He was an awesome guide. He really took care of us and answered all of our questions.

After getting our lunch to go, we were transported to the Poring Hot Springs. The rest of the group we were with had planned on going on a guided tour of the rainforest park. But seeing as how Mike & I had just spent 2 days in the rainforest, we weren't all that interested and were in no mood to go for a walk. So we rented a hot tub for an hour to soak our aching muscles and to clean up.

Afterwards, we met back up with our group and set off in the mini-bus to go back to our hotel. We both passed out for the 2 hour ride back to KK. We were so exhausted from the previous 2 days that we couldn't even muster up enough energy go out to eat. Instead (and I can't believe I'm admitting this) we ordered room service. Sad but true. For our last night in KK I had fish & chips and Mike had buffalo wings. Both were mediocre, but I don't think either one of us cared. After barely staying awake through dinner, we went straight to bed. It was such sweet relief.

To be continued...