It was meant to be a post PSLE hiking trip to Mt Kinabalu for the boys. But sadly due to Covid, we did staycations and mini hikes instead. So when travelling restrictions were lifted, I quickly made enquiries and booking in June for a group of 3 😆
Since we are already quite active on a regular basis, we only did a couple of short hikes locally and some stairs climbing as part of our training for the hike. On hindsight, more stairs climbing on a more regular basis would better prepare the boys on what's to come during the hike. On my own, I had accompanied 3 groups of students to KK previously. There was supposed to be a 4th in 2015 but it was cancelled at the last moment due to the tragic earthquake. (https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/sabah-quake-timeline-of-tragedy-for-singapore-students-caught-in-deadly-mount-kinabalu)
Thus with minimal preparation and memory based on experiences more than 10 years ago, we went with faith that we are going to survive 💪
Day 1
It was a late morning flight to Kota Kinabalu so the whole clan had a heavy late breakfast before the ladies bade us goodbye across the customs. We touched down at 2pm and after a smooth immigration clearance, we met our local guide/ driver who took us to a nice local 生肉面lunch (own expense).
We then went to a nearby minimart to get supply of drinking water (2 X 1.5L) and some snacks (energy bars) for the hike. This was followed by a 2hour van ride into the hills where we stopped at a photo point / toilet break for 15mins and have a sense of where we are going to be for the next 3 days.
We then proceed to Kinabalu park HQ to check in to our lodgings. For my last 3 school trips, we stayed at lodging houses just outside of the park HQ and it is bare minimal comfort (no tv, no wifi, shared toilets, etc). So I am truly surprised when we checked in to Sutera Sanctuary Lodges within the park. (https://suterasanctuarylodges.com.my/kinabalu-park/) Not exactly luxurious 5 star standard but it's a far cry from the budget lodging houses. Nice surprise for the boys too as they were expecting bare facilities (again, based on papa's past experiences).
Day 2
We had a good night's sleep and were ready to move off (pick up at 7.30am). Before that, we were given 3 ART kits and had to submit negative results before we were allowed to begin the hike.
Allizwell so here we go! 💪 We packed only whatever is necessary into an overnight bag and left our main luggage at the park HQ (RM12 per luggage). Boys carried their own bulky jacket, gloves, beanies while I carried mine, fresh change of clothes and the rations (water and snacks). After collecting our climbing passes, we met our climbing guide and proceeded to Timpohon Gate (starting point) for a quick safety briefing.
This is the freshest and cleanest we look as we began hiking at 8am. From then on, it's a trek up steps and rocks on a mountain trail. There were pit stops along the way with a longer lunch break at Layang-Layang rest point.
The constant advice from the guides and what we read online is GO SLOW. Your body needs to adjust to the altitude as you go higher and higher. We also keep reminding each other to breathe in more and get used to the air at higher altitude. You shouldn't be panting! And the higher we climb, the colder it got. That's when the jackets and beanies and gloves really come in handy.
We reached Laban Rata hut (3272.2m) at about 2.30pm. That's about the 2/3 of the hike done. We checked in and had our hot drinks, hot soup and hot food. Only thing missing is a hot bath and it's really toooooooo cooooooooold to take a normal shower so we simply cleaned ourselves up with a face towel and went to bed at 6pm.
Day 3
After multiple tossing and turnings and trips to the toilet, I thought I feel asleep at 10.30pm and then my alarm went off to which I realise it's 1.15am 🥱. Wake up, gear up, eat up and we set off again at 2am with our guide.
Headlamps is a must as its total darkness out there at this unearthly hour. You simply follow your guide and illuminate the next few steps in front of you. Step by step, crawl by crawl, you ascend towards the summit. Weather was fantastic as it was a clear night (not raining) but as you approach the summit, the occasional wind comes and that's the most scary part. The howling, bone piercing, skin-searching type of wind.
Lesson learnt: Layer up more and bring a thicker jacket good for 5 degrees temp at least. At one point, all 3 of us were shivering and our fingers&thumbs were totally freezing numb.
We reached the summit (4095.2m) at about 5am just in time to see rays of sunrise coming up. And IT IS WORTH IT 👍
And my favourite photo at the top...
Boys being boys, they just want to start their descent instead of taking more photos at the summit 🙄 With sunlight, we began to warm up and the adrenaline rush / sense of accomplishment helped to expedite our descent back to Laban Rata guest house. Also with sunlight, we now have a perfect view of what we just crawled up in the darkness. "How did we just came up from this????" 😱😱😱
We reached the guest house at 8am for hot water, hot soup and hot food again and after a quick packing up, we began our final descent at 9am. 上山容易下山难. We started slow but we began to gain momentum as it was less tiring to descend. We started chatting about random topics and it was good to hear the 2 boys talk rubbish stuffs to one another for once. We also started seeing new arrivals doing their ascent and cheered for one another.
We pushed each other on and by 2pm, we reached Timpohon Gate (again).
成功! Our van was waiting for us and brought us back to Sanctuary Lodges for lunch, collect our main luggage and climbing certificates, then proceed to KK city for our one night hotel stay.
That was a 2hour ride and we sort of zonked out in the van as we slipped back to civilisation. We checked into Gaya Centre Hotel (honestly not up to our expectations) and took our long long showers. The only silver lining about the hotel is that it is located opposite a large shopping mall (Suria Sabah Shopping Mall) that has a cinema.
R&R = hotel wifi + Wakanda Forever + popcorn + Chinese lunch + shopping at 7-11 + limping back to hotel for a gooooooood night's sleep 😴
Day 4
Van came to pick us up at 6am and it was merely a 10 min ride to the airport for our 8.35am flight. There's nothing much to do/shop/eat so we just...
Free airport wifi + teens = happiness 😊
There are actually many activities available in KK such as island hopping, snorkeling, cultural visits etc. Would love to stay one more night to get to know the place better but we miss home too much.
As we recount our experiences, the boys achieved many Firsts on this trip:
First time to KK
First real hiking experience
First sight of a real waterfall
First time sleeping without showering
First time sharing room with a stranger (an Aussie shared the twin bunk bed with us)
First time waking up at 1am for a hike
First time not brushing teeth for 2 days
First sight of a real sunrise
First time walking above the clouds
First sense of achievement in conquering Mt K
If you are keen to create your own experiences of Firsts with your kids, can check out X-Trekkers (https://www.x-trekkers.com/04-days-mt-kinabalu/) who arranged for everything (air tics, lodging, climbing permits, etc). Costs about $1k per pax.