[Mabul, Malaysian Borneo] Our first dives here are tomorrow so today was a chance to relax and enjoy the place. It’s been a ridiculously chilled out day.

V has been reading for most of it either in the hammock or in bed and I’ve been writing posts or fidgeting with our stuff and doing chores (apparently I can’t sit still for more than 5 minutes). We managed to haul ourselves to the food tables for meals but other than that didn’t do anything until late this afternoon.

We decided to go for a walk around the island. It’s probably smaller than one square kilometer with resorts all the way around it. On the far side are some fancier resorts (very fancy in fact) but what stands out most is the converted oil rig that has been plonked just offshore as a make-shift dive resort. We wandered around the ‘coastline’ as much as possible but there are a lot of fences and ‘private’ areas. Our side of island is definitely the poor cousin but we like it. Some of the resorts are huge – I can’t imagine having to fight over 50 people for dinner.

The inner part of the island was a bit of a shock. It’s a maze where the locals live and the first thing you notice is that there are way too many people in such a small space. The vast majority seem to be kids. It’s really nothing more than a shanty town but walking through everyone is friendly and most didn’t give us a second look. One of the missions of the day was to find a WiFi access point but we had no luck (that’s why nothing has been posted for ages).

After dinner V was watching the water from our deck and spotted amongst the hoards of fish and star fish, lots of pipe fish, a cuttlefish and a huge turtle. What a place. We can’t wait to get In the water tomorrow.

[Pictures: V multi-tasking, chilling and reading at the same time. The oil rig resort – got to stay there one day]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Mabul, Malaysian Borneo] A short walk from Uncle Tan’s to the main road got us on the next passing bus headed for Semporna. The hostel had booked seats on a bus but it wasn’t necessary. A mind numbing action movie got us through the first couple of hours of the 5 hour trip. At least they supplied water and a nibble on the way – it was an easy and relatively comfortable trip.

We arrived in Semporna around 1 and after spending a minute dismissing scuba centre touts V led us off to find ‘Uncle Chang’s dive centre’ (yip, Malaysia is full of uncles). Semporna is tiny, more of a village than a town, and the Google map pin wasn’t very precise but thankfully the people in Malaysia are friendly and kind. A security guy at a store left post and walked (without asking for or expecting money) us the 800m through town and across some piers to Uncle Chang’s. How decent is that? The staff at the UC office, a small spot compared to the flash looking Scuba Junkie outfit, were brilliant. Sing Sing (the lady we booked through) arrived just after us. She had been at the bus station looking for us but we just missed her. We had to go back into town to get cash and supplies so Sing Sing offered us a lift. Once again the jewels of Malaysia are it’s people.

We loaded up with an obscene amount of munchies and supplies having been warned that the inclusive food would be bland. The transfer to Mabul in the small dive boat took around an hour. A little longer than usual due to the low tide making it tricky to get through the sand banks. Once past the obstacles the driver floored it on the choppy seas giving the 6 of us in the back quite a ride. We were pleasantly surprised with Uncle Chang’s when we arrived. A long-house built on stilts out in the crystal clear water. We were expecting a grotty mattress on the floor and a shared bathroom but got a double room with bathroom, actual furnishings and beautiful views. More than acceptable for us even if there is a nasty smell at peak loo times.

Eight full days here in this paradise should be great. Just look at the Google images of Mabul or Sipadan and you’ll see what I mean. We’ve booked diving around Mabul on 24th and 28th and Sipadan for Newton-mas and again on the 27th with the possibility of a night dive (cash permitting). I suspect we are not going to want to leave.

[Pictures: Uncle Chang’s Long House and deck on Mabul]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Sepilok, Malaysian Borneo] Here it is in writing – V has promised that we never have to go to another rain forest again… EVER! Unless of course it’s a 5 star lodge with air-conditioned trails and our own personal assistant to follow us around swatting mozzies. In fairness, this has been by far the best jungle experience we have ever had and can highly recommend Uncle Tan’s. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable (this makes the biggest difference compared to Mulu), accommodation basic but good and the food more varied than expected. River safaris are also, in our opinion, the only way to see a rain forest (okay… zip-lines are cool too… combining them would be awesome).

This mornings 6am River safari was good too. V spotted an Orang swinging majestically along before disappearing in the leaves and we got to watch some Silver Leaf (with wicked hairstyles) and Red Leaf monkeys launching from tree to tree. Also got up close to a 3m croc on the way back to the jetty – swimming here would be a bad idea!

After the transfer back to civilization V and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the ops base camp soaking up the Internet and abusing the shower. It still seems nuts to us that our room here has aircon but the showers are cold water only. Oh well. When in Sepilok…

[Pictures: The PC’s at ops base are locked up tight. Won’t even let you connect a USB stick – so no pics yet]

UPDATE
Sylvie was kind enough to upload and provide a link to the photos they took at Uncle Tans. You can view them by clicking here

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Kinabatagan, Malaysian Borneo] 6am is not a good time of the day for us but V was up in a beat and off to the ablutions (no showers btw) some 400m away – not fun in the middle of the night I can assure you. A quick cup of tea and we hit the river. These river safaris are the best and most comfortable way to see the jungle in our opinion.

As we headed down stream the sun started to chase the clouds away. We didn’t see much for some time – mostly birds (Kingfisher and Fish Eagle) and more macaques. The jungle here is not primary rain forest and is dotted with the evil palm oil plantations (but we like marge a lot) but most leave corridors connecting the pockets of jungle – I assume they supply the animals with maps. Sightings improved dramatically: a troupe of Gibbons, some Proboscis monkeys and three Orang Utangs. The gibbons are the coolest of the lot in our opinion. Such amazingly long arms and impeccable skills. One was showing off swinging around the trees with one arm. The Orangs were off in the distance perched on their nest high in a leafy tree. We were lucky to see them – a youngster, a mother and her baby (that was only visible after zooming in on the photos). The Proboscis sighting wasn’t too good. Hope we get a closer look at the ‘Dutchmen’ later on.

Back at camp we munched a large breakfast around the swam of bees that were desperately trying to reclaim the honey on our pancakes. Our little group is pleasant and chilled. A Frenchman and a French-Dutch couple. Joep (the Dutchman) used the ‘off’ time to school everyone, including the staff, in table tennis. The guy is a master. Our next activity was a jungle walk. Knowing what to expect we were not looking forward to it. Jungle walks mean muddy shoes, mozzies, sweat and sightings of plants and insects. The walk lived up to expectations but the guide was knowledgeable and interesting – we even learnt a few things in between swatting mozzies (the mozzies here are so viscous that they even go for V).

An afternoon snooze with a table tennis ‘World Jungle Championship’ going on in the background and we were keen on getting going on the evening boat safari. We did get to see the Proboscis Monkeys up a little closer but not much else and in the fading light photography was useless. The flying foxes however, were impressive. Thousands of them heading off overhead to feed. With a wingspan of up to a meter they are the largest flying mammal. The ride back to camp was interesting – speeding along the river in the dark – lucky the moon was out!

After dinner we were scheduled to go on a night jungle walk around 9. With the rain setting in and weighing the chances of seeing something interesting with the discomfort level, V and I decided to opt out and headed to bed early. Good call I think. The others came back drenched after spotting one frog and a bird sleeping with it’s head under it’s wing 🙂

[Pictures: Will Upload]

Some Flying Foxes and a lot of boring clips from the river safaris

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

This morning we joined the other guests (a couple of very young and very Australian girls and a French chap) for the outing to the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary a couple of kilometers down the road. We love the idea behind the place. They rehabilitate and care for Orangs in need and then re-introduce them to the wild. Going as far as teaching the babies to climb and tempting them further and further into the jungle with feeding platforms. They don’t want them returning to the sanctuary and it appears to be a truly noble endeavor.

The morning was overcast and muggy as we sat waiting on the causeway near to one of the feeding platforms with at least 50 other tourists. Various types and sizes of macaque (the equivalent of vervet monkeys) started arriving stirring up a bit of noise and mischief. Precisely on time two men climbed onto the feeding platform with two large buckets of bananas. The macaques were frantic but the guys were having none of it, continuously chasing them away. It didn’t take long for an Orang to come cruising in along the cables. A mom with her baby buried in hair under her arm. They are amazingly cool animals with those big arms. Beautiful to watch swinging along. Mom politely took 3 bunches of bananas (one in each foot and one in her mouth) and headed off to a nearby platform to enjoy breakfast. A cheeky macaque managed to steal a few bananas from her but she seemed content. She ate and then just as gracefully swung onto another cable back into the jungle. Unfortunately that was that. No more Orangs arrived so I guess the sanctuary is doing it’s job very well.

After lunch and a chance to hammock out for an hour or so before we bundled into a minivan with three others for the transfer to the jungle camp. An hour and a half in the van and another chilly hour on an open boat heading upriver and we arrived at Tan’s camp. Not bad at all. Not as snazzy as Mulu National Park but the staff seem more jacked (and their website is cool too www.uncletan.com) Guess that’s the difference between government and private. The overcast weather that had been threatening all day thankfully didn’t amount to much – just a few drops as we headed out after dinner for our night river safari. We didn’t spot much. Typical… Some baby crocs thinking about having a go at a large Night Heron, some owls and a lot of sleeping Macques. Something we didn’t know – monkeys can sleep on branches because of their tails but apes (like the Orangs) have to build a nest. Anyway we got back to our hut around 11 – it was a long, hot and humid day. Tomorrow we have a morning safari, so up at 6am. Yay.

[Pictures: Huts + water = mozzies… Yikes! We’ll upload more pics as soon as we can]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

Six hours of bus travel for us today to get to Uncle Tan’s operations base camp near Sepilok. We grabbed a taxi to the long distance bus station outside KK with the intention of getting a bus around 10am. Before we could get out of the cab touts had seized our luggage and were arranging our seats on the next bus. Normally that would have annoyed us but in a Malaysia it’s not an issue.

Having slept less than 3 hours last night most of the bus journey was a slumbering blur to me. I did wake long enough realize that the road was very windy as we passed Mount Kinabalu. The views of Kinabalu were spectacular. Perfect weather exposing the black peaks. We were really unlucky with our ascent.

Six hours later we were deposited at an intersection on the main road from KK to Semporna. A short (sign says 150m, but Malaysian distances are always optimistic) walk down the road got us to Uncle Tan’s. The place was pretty deserted and of a reasonable standard (WiFi, Aircon but not hot shower – go figure!). It’s our first experience with ‘all meals included’ accommodation in Malaysia so we were not sure what to expect. Dinner was good and basic. Tomorrow we go back into the jungle.

[Pictures: No pc to upload. Will add later]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

Our flight was only at 15:30 so we had most of the day to kill before leaving the park. We spent it lounging around in the cafeteria. A very old local tribesman arrived to collect supplies from the kitchen stores. Traditionally and practically dressed he also carried a serious looking machete. He shouldered a massive load in a hand-woven reed pack and headed off into the jungle – tough looking guy!

We eventually decided to walk to the airport. Only about 1.5km – still enough to break a sweat in these hot and humid conditions. There really is nothing here besides the national park. It’s a chilled out spot where the control tower guys hang their washing out the windows and the x-ray and metal detectors aren’t even manned. We had another few hours to wait at the airport – it was painfully boring. The plane ride was uneventful (always a good thing) and we were once again thankful for the Milo and muffins.

We are back at Kinabalu backpackers for two nights. If they had a membership programme we would be at ‘gold’ level already. After a full day here in civilization we’re heading back into the jungle!

[Pictures: Hefty load there old dude]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Mulu, Malaysian Borneo] We have been prisoners in the jungle for what feels like weeks. Extraction is set for 15:20 (Zulu) tomorrow but in the mean while we are just trying to stay alive. I almost lost V to boredom yesterday – it’s the most vicious killer here.

Seriously. This is the first time on our journey that we have been stuck. Unable to move on. Restricted by a plane ticket. It’s not a great feeling and we could not have chosen a worse spot to end up marooned. We watched ‘Groundhog Day’ last night. Being here is something like that!

Yesterday it poured almost all day and with no adventure cave options we just lounged around in the dorm exhausting our podcasts, movies and books. In the afternoon a very friendly and pleasant English guy arrived. On checking in he had asked to do some adventure caving and had been put on a tour for the next day. Apparently there were still two spaces free – we went to sleep hopeful that we would get on the excursion in the morning. No such luck. We were told again that it was full and settled reluctantly for a canopy tour. The story with the adventure caves has ruined our time here and it’s all down to the staff’s complete disorganization and lack of interest.

What can we say about the canopy tour? Well it cost 4 slices of chocolate cake and ice-cream each and we spotted more ‘wildlife’ sitting on the hostel porch for 30 minutes than on the tour. Our guide did point out a few trees, not the names or any other information, just the fact that they were trees. Similarly a flower (singular), some birds and the odd skink. Mulu National Park is not impressing us – we would have been far happier with the cake.

James (our entertaining and talented English roommate) showed us some photos and told some stories about the diving in Sipidan. It looks unbelievable and we are really excited about getting there. We just need to go past the orange atangs and spend a few more days in the jungle (oh boy).

So our recommendations for anyone coming to Mulu National Park:
– Book tours and accommodation VERY early and keep checking in with them. Every afternoon the staff were in the hostel trying to fathom why there were not as many beds available as there should have been. The facilities are great (a lot has been spent) but the organization is a total disaster.
– Do the Pinnacles hike. At least it will get you away from the HQ for 3 days. It was unfortunately too expensive for us.
– Do the adventure caves and Deer cave. The rest is pretty dull.
– 3 nights is more than enough.

Malaysia… Truly disappointing (so far…)

[Pictures: oooo. Canopy ‘tour’. Ziplines are much better]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Mulu, Malaysian Borneo] What a fantastic nights sleep. Now we’re ready to take on some serious caves. Today’s mission was the well trodden show caves in the area. After breakfast we headed out by boat to the ‘Wind’ and ‘Clearwater’ caves about 30 minutes north east of HQ. The sun was out but it was pleasantly cool on the river.

First up was the Wind cave. The trails are an impressive mixture of wood and steel walkways leading up the side of a mountain to the cave entrance. The caves are also very well arranged. Lighting controlled by motion sensors, well built walkways and perspex protection for some of the more delicate formations. Despite all that the cave was not very impressive. Very small a little variety of formations left us hoping for better at Clearwater cave.

After a brief rest we climbed the 200 steps up to the Clearwater cave entrance (a nice reminder that our legs are still sore from Kinabalu). Our guide pointed out some interesting rocks near the entrance that have ‘grown’ towards the sunlight (well the bacteria grows toward the light eventually leaving rock behind). The cave was smaller than expected but had some beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and columns. The endless and sometimes stretched paradolia got a little tiresome. Our guide indicated where the ‘adventure caving’ sections split off the marked trails and head along underground rivers for 6+ hours. Now that looks like fun!

Back at camp we had lunch and I promptly nodded off into a deep sleep. We are sleeping incredibly well here – the humidity and heat is something like ‘Durban fever’ I guess. V got us up and going in time for the afternoon expedition to the ‘Deer’ and ‘Langs’ caves. An hour long walk through the jungle (albeit on immaculate pressure cleaned raised walkways) got us to Langs cave. Our group consisted of a loud (that’s redundant) American couple and a local Malay couple. The Malay guy was interesting – seems he was on the crew of the first ‘Survivor’ and has worked with Nat Geo, Animal Planet etc. V and I just listened as we strolled along. A tree along the path provided some entertainment rattling when the leaves were tugged (well the excited ants and not witchcraft was resposible).

Near the entrance to Langs cave we came across some tiny worms that generate threads like spider webs to catch prey (straight out of Planet Earth) but otherwise it was another typical Mulu cave. Deer cave is well known in the area. It is more of a massive tunnel than a cave. Up to 200m wide and 150m high it’s home to an estimated 3 million bats plus an awful lot of guano. Our camera battery died as we entered the cave and I’ll blame the incredibly strong ammonia smell for letting me forget that the spare was in the daypack! We took a 1 km walk around the cavern. It was impressively vast. The bat colonies appear as massive black patches high up on the cave roof – just don’t look up with your mouth open. Back outside the cave we joined some more tourists at a viewing platform to wait for the bats’ daily exodus. Unfortunately the rain started and we only saw a few streams leave the cave. Apparently when they exit en mass it is a sight to see – maybe tomorrow.

We have to admit that the caves here aren’t what we expected. They may claim to be ‘the largest cave system in the world by volume’ and have ‘the largest chamber’ but they pale in comparison to the beauty of the caves outside Anshun, China. Malaysia has been pretty disappointing (and expensive) so far – we have struggled to get excited about the places. It could be that we are just tired but I suspect that we have become accustomed to having something amazing to do every day. It’s just not the case here. So we are actually getting bored and frustrated – having a fixed exit date is also not helping. The plan for tomorrow was to hit the adventure caves for some real hard-core fun and excitement but turns out they need to be booked weeks (or months) in advance and the next scheduled departure is after we leave. Seems crazy to have all these activities listed for the park but all the adventure caves are not available (not because they are popular, but due to shortage of guides) and the ‘Canopy Walk’ is being repaired. What a waste of time and money! Good thing we have some movies to watch for the next couple of days. Our hopes for Malaysia now rest solely on the diving at Sipidan. Roll on New Zealand and the freedom of the open road!

[Pictures: Some cool stalacmites in Wind Cave. Cool tree. Sim at the entrance to Deer cave just as the batteries went flat – Will upload V’s iPhone shots to the gallery soon]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Mulu, Malaysian Borneo] Another flight today… We miss going overland, flying just feels like cheating. This time our destination is the National Park at Mulu which is deep in the jungle. Kota Kinabalu airport, besides being architecturally cool, must rank highly on ‘sleepinginairports.com’ – padded chairs without armrests, aircon not too cold, 24hr Mikkie D’s, the most awesome salt water aquarium at the fishmonger !?, immaculate loos and free WiFi. Pity we only got to spend an hour there. Our flight was with MasWings (another branch of Air Malaysia) on board a fair sized turbo-prop with a 20 minute stop at Miri. At every airport we had to go through immigration and collect more stamps even though we were just changing provinces.

From the air the runway at Mulu looks like a bald patch ripped from the jungle and nestled between gigantic limestone karsts. Somewhat like landing in the Amazon but at least the runway was tarred. After collecting our packs from the lone baggage handler we grabbed a shuttle to the park entrance and checked in. The place is very well presented (most looks brand new) and seems well run with a large variety of guided activities. We booked tours of the showcaves for tomorrow and headed to the hostel. Spacious with 17 odd beds scattered around the hall, it was full with travelers. We pushed two beds together – not PC in a dorm I’m sure, but we are the ranking ballies. The doors are open with no locks and the place is clean, but still expensive for what it is. We have got three full days here. Time to go sweat in the jungle again and see lots of bugs and trees.

[Pictures: Mulu Airport – pretty cool]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[KK, Malaysian Borneo] Kinabalu mountain lodge was a little warmer last night but to be honest we were so tired it really did not matter. After a quick breakfast we packed up and headed out with very sore legs and packs loaded with dirty, damp washing (probably heavier with all that water too).

The two friendly pooches from the hostel accompanied us along the road as far as their territory allowed before bolting for home. We only had to wait a few minutes before a ‘private taxi’ (fancy people carrier) pulled up to offer us a lift. He was asking RM20pp (£4) but we knew the minibuses were RM15 so we waved him on. He stopped just ahead of us, jumped out and renegotiated to our price – as long as we didn’t mention the price to the other passengers on board – excellent. The ride back to KK was quick and uneventful with a police checkpoint being the only excitement.

Back in KK the weather was great. Positively hot. I hung our soaking shoes out of the hostel window on some cord to dry and we headed out in search of a laundromat. Finding one was a little frustrating – as you would expect in a first world city not geared for backpackers. We found one that wanted 3 days to do washing! Fortunately there was another one round the corner that would have it ready by tomorrow. Anyway, with the chores and lunch (good and reasonable at a ‘Thai’ restaurant) out of the way we headed back to the hostel to plug into the net and let the pain drain from our legs. Watching V going up and down the stairs at the hostel would be more funny if I wasn’t also in agony 🙂

The hostel has reasonably speedy Internet access and I have figured out how to download torrents to my iPhone – so we’ll have plenty of entertainment while we are recovering. We don’t expect to leave the 2nd floor of the hostel tomorrow unless hunger pains outweigh the agony of descending the stairs.

[Pictures: Our escorts and back in the city – love this building]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Kinabalu Park, Malaysian Borneo] Even with being exhausted we didn’t get much sleep – apparently some hikers only arrived at 10pm and people were up making a racket and getting ready from 1am. We joined the ‘supper’ queue at 2am and gobbled down some chow (the French toast was gone by the time we got there but I survived) in anticipation of the energy requirement for the morning (or whatever 2am is).

Freezing cold water on our faces, a red bull and a purple pill got us out the door before anyone else at 2:30. Our ‘guide’ continued his useless streak. He did not have a headlamp and did not contribute to the hike at all. In contrast, our Auzzie companion from last night had his guide pointing out flora and fauna all day.

The trail was pitch black. No moon or stars meant the first 700m of rocky steps was tricky to negotiate by the dim light of our little headlamps. We started out with full cold weather gear but within 15 minutes had stripped down, the stars came out for a bit and we were confident it was going to be an awesome morning. With 2km to go the trail starts to head up rock faces and you have to haul yourself up on the fixed ropes. Our improvised sock-gloves were soaking within seconds but the we were still feeling strong. It is an odd feeling climbing by headlamp. You have no idea if there is a huge drop just a few meters or a small slip away – thankfully it is easy to follow the fixed ropes – even on the flatter sections.

After flashing our passes at the last checkpoint we started the last leg up steep and smooth undulating rock faces. We kept a slow steady pace and were doing well until we came around the summit ridge and were pelted with rain and icy winds. The last half hour to the summit was horrid. Stumbling around in the dark on uneven ground obscured by raindrops racing across our headlamp beams. Our ‘guide’ hid in a gully while V and I scrambled for the summit (4:50am, 4095.2m, :gps:GPS::6.083333::116.55:gps:). We were ellated to have made it and impressed that we had met the challenge. But we were also a little disappointed. There were no views in the pitch dark and driving rain. Freezing conditions (and blue fingers) meant we could only snap a couple of shots before bolting back down. If we had tried to huddle in a gully and wait till sunrise, we would have been hypothermic.

Down was more difficult – slipping and stumbling occasionally on wet rock. Behind the summit ridge the conditions improved as we passed other groups heading up. By the time we got back down to the checkpoint we were able to make out some of the formations in the changing light. I was feeling annoyed at our guide – he knew our pace and could have recommended that we leave LR at 3:30 putting us on the summit at dawn (we still would not have seen a sunrise due to the cloud cover but at least we would have seen the summit).

By the time we got back to LR at 7am we had defrosted, dried out and were well aware that going down all those steps was going to hurt – A LOT! Breakfast was excellent and since we were one of the first groups back I got my French toast. We reckon that at least half of the people who hiked up yesterday chickened out of going all the way up – the weather didn’t help.

The Summit is only half way

After giving our legs a little rest we hit the trail around 9 aiming to be back at the gate by 13h00. Going down was less aerobic (obviously) but required far more concentration to prevent a tumble. It wasn’t long before it felt like our knees were turning to jelly. The weather held out until the last km when it started to drizzle and when we finally reached the gate it started to bucket down. The round trip took a total of 12.5 hours of walking. Quite an epic that was almost over.

After a bland lunch at the restaurant near park HQ we had the task of the 2km+ walk back to the hostel. It wasn’t going to be fun with the rain which was now torrential. We tried a taxi, but the price was ridiculous so we sucked it up and started off with aching legs. By the time we reached the hostel we were soaked through – good thing we have two days in KK to dry out and let our jelly legs set.

Overall it was great experience and I’m sure when we look back at it we will forget the dissapointmet at the summit and the pain of the descent remebering only the thrill of having made it.

[Pictures: Breakfast at 2am WT??’Glorious’ summit photo LOL. Down and Dead!]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Kinabalu Park, Malaysian Borneo] Eish, the hostel was a bit of a disaster last night. We froze with the beach-towel blankets and didn’t get much sleep. After a hot shower and big breakfast we headed out to Kinabalu park. A brisk 2km+ walk got us to the gate where, after the peace and quiet of the past 12 hours, we were confronted by hoards of hikers from Auzzie school girls to locals of all ages. The weather was looking great – blue skies and the mountain peeped out from behind the clouds for a few minutes. We registered quickly and got cool personalized ID tags to identify our bodies if required, arranged a guide (mandatory) and grabbed a ride to Timpohon gate where the trail starts at 1866m.

After signing in we paused at the race results board inside the gate. There is an annual race from the gate to the summit and back. Last years winning time was 2:40:41 – it was going to take us two days! We set of with our ‘guide’ following. To be honest we barely saw him. Seems guides on Kinabalu are hit or miss. Ours was a miss. We did well at the beginning covering the first km in 20 minutes, the second in 30 minutes and the third (half way) in 35 minutes. The trail is excellent. A well built track with an insane number of stairs (cut into the rock, set in concrete or constructed with wood) winds it’s way up past civilized shelters and toilets at every km. There were a lot of people heading up for the day and we were near the front of the hoard as we negotiated the increasingly steep section up to the Layang-Layang shelter (2072m).

At Layang (just short of 4km) we stopped for our packed lunch which was provided as part of the fee. It was brilliant and well thought out – just what we needed and the cheeky squirrels around the shelter obviously agree. Up to the shelter the views had been mostly of dense rain forest. We had kept our heads down and plodded on up through the moss covered trees. Beyond Layang the path turned to a hard sand and large rocks and the trees shrank to shrubs and grasses somewhat reminiscent of the berg. The trail became incredibly steep with endless huge steps.

We were both feeling exhausted and watching the porters carrying huge loads of supplies past us wasn’t helping. The last 500m was crazy. It is so frustrating since you know that 500m on flat ground will take at the very most 7 minutes to walk but up here it takes 30! V is amazing (aka stubborn) in these situations. She starts counting steps. Usually 150 but down to 50 between rests when the going gets tough. She sticks to it with grim determination and will stop at 150 steps even if there is shade or a rest bench at 155 steps – got to love her for that.

After 4.5 hours (precisely the estimated average time for the hike) we hobbled into Laban Rata rest house (3273m) and checked in to our dorm room. We were one of the first groups to arrive. Quite chuffed at our performance – not too bad for us. Before having a chance to cool down we decided to hit the showers. We knew that there was a problem at LR and that there was no hot water or heating. It was insanely cold as the screams from the shower stalls indicated. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking photos, waiting for dinner and hanging around in the dining area. The rain started up but seemed to come in waves as hikers arrived at the door saturated to varying degrees.

Trying to stay awake we chatted to a pleasant Auzzie chap until at long last dinner was ready (around 17h00). It was excellent. Simple, good comfort food. We ate our fill and polished off mugs of tea before heading to bed around 19h00. Tomorrow we make our push for the summit – hey, it’s hard core for us 🙂

[Pictures: Stairs and more stairs. Laban Rata, the promised land]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Kinabalu Park, Malaysian Borneo] So the start of our Mount Kinabalu epic today began with a long wait at the bus depot just down the street from the hostel. Same story as usual, our minibus driver was waiting for more passengers but he gave up after an hour – I don’t think the pouring rain was helping. As we set off I noticed the first ‘There, I fixed it’ (thereifixedit.failblog.org) moment of the day. The aging driver had ingeniously rigged a set of rods and axles from his seat through the van to the sliding door so that he could manually open and close it – very cool.

We headed out of town and up into the jungle. Not much to see through the heavy rain but the roads were good and the traffic light. Not long out of town we spotted another, but possibly not so brilliant, fix. Some workmen were on top of a building but their ladder was not long enough to reach from the ground. They had placed the ladder on top of a fully extended forklift to reach the roof. My but we are smart animals 🙂

Around 2 hours later V spotted the sign for our hostel on the side of the main road and the driver kindly deposited us at the intersection in the rain. We knew we would need to walk a bit to the hostel (Kinabalu Mountain Lodge) but it was longer than we had expected and definitely more than the 1km advertised.

The place looked tranquil and surrounded by pretty gardens. We were greeted by two labradorish puppies and a sign stating ‘Please remove and bring your shoes inside or our puppies will chew and hide them’ – we complied. The place was dead quiet. No one else there besides the three friendly staff members + two dogs and two cats. Nothing to do, no restaurants or shops nearby and the rain was making the place very chilly (no help being up at 1500m either). We had to dig into our hiking snack supplies while waiting for dinner and found entertainment in a leech that V had attracted. Instead of pulling it off she decided to see how big it would get if we just left it alone. We got bored after 10 minutes and scraped the little sucker off. Full and obviously satisfied (possibly drunk) it just lay there on the floor so V relocated it to the garden. Maybe we should get a pet leech one day.

We have stripped our gear to a minimum for the hike up to the hostel at Laban Rata tomorrow. Just our cold/wet weather gear and a change of undies. The next two days should be fun and challenging… if it stops raining!

[Pictures: Kinabalu Mountain lodge – hmm… Maybe this was a mistake]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo] The name ‘Kota Kinabalu’ conjures up images of an amazingly picturesque Bornian city surrounded by mountains, jungles and blue seas. Well it isn’t. The city is dull. We decided to have a look around the city and take in the provincial museum, waterfront and local market with a stop at one of the many malls to get supplies for mount Kinabalu. It was thankfully overcast but still very humid as we set out on our walk. The 3km+ walk out to the museum was along very busy roads – I have no idea what all these people do for work in this little city but they seem to spend a lot of time driving.

The museum looks like it was built in the 80’s with the architecture inspired by the Atari logo. It is currently being renovated so a large portion was closed off. In our opinion even the reduced entry fee (RM 8) is too expensive for what you get. After that disappointment we took a few snaps of the funky looking mosque across the road and headed back towards the waterfront. More of a concrete fishing harbor than a waterfront we walked along it passing the local markets as it started to drizzle. There was a row of old pedal driven Singer sewing machines towards the end of the market manned by tailors hard at work.

We found an excellent little ‘Italian’ spot for lunch – carbing up for Kinabalu on pasta. We obligingly commented in their guest book. Nandos in KL did the same thing the other day and for our ‘address’ I put the blog address. How cool is Nandos Malaysia – they took the time to find the relevant post on our blog and leave a comment.

I reckon we walked around 10km. I don’t think it really counts as ‘training’ for the mountain. 10km on streets at sea level doesn’t compare to 18km round trip from 1500m to 4095m. Tomorrow we head up into the mountains. I only hope it stops raining.

[Pictures: The funky mosque]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi