more animals and hiking mt. kinabalu

i saw a surprising number of animals on my adventures in malaysia.  next stop was sandarkan to see the orangutans, the sunbears and more proboscis monkeys!  it was a full-on animal adventure and i enjoyed seeing the orangutans up close in the sanctuary as they were pretty hard to spot on the safari in the wild. the young ones were adorably cute to watch as they were sent out daily to "exercise" in the jungle gym, built specifically for them.

after a relaxing couple of days, i headed over to mount kinabalu to hike to the peak at sunrise!  i was a bit nervous about the hike as an aussie i'd met said it was the hardest thing she'd ever done...  i can assure you - it wasn't an easy hike up the hill!  i started at timphon gate at 1860m above sea level and when i arrived at the guesthouse, about 4 hours later, i'd climbed 6km and about 1400 vertical meters. there were plenty of rest stops and toilets along the way which made it a somewhat pleasant experience.

i showered, wandered around the guesthouse and then ate a huge dinner!  unsurprisingly, there was little to do and we were do to get up the next morning at 2:00am so most people were in bed around 8-9pm.  i can't say i slept much, if at all as the wind was blowing a gale, i was cold and worried about sleeping through the alarm and freezing on the summit.  

my muscles felt surprisingly good when i got out of bed in the morning - i was very pleased!  fearing the cold all night, i promptly went downstairs to inquire about a coat to rent - it cost me 25RMs or about $8 - it was going to be a worthwhile investment considering the temperature and wind outside!  we had "supper" and then headed out around 3am to reach the peak at sunrise. it was a tough hike up in the dark with lots of ropes to help you up the more difficult parts.  i hiked 2.7km and 823 vertical meters to the peak :)

arriving at the top was gratifying and exhausting!  we were supposed to sit for 1.5 hours and wait for the sunrise but given the cloud cover, i wasn't in the mood to sit there for a crap sunrise so i started back down again after a brief rest. at the guesthouse, i packed up, had breakfast and continued my descent.  my knees started hurting around 1.5km from the guesthouse and it was fairly painful and slow for the remaining 4.5km down.  i do question my sanity for paying as much as i did to inflict so much pain on myself!

i arrived back in kota kinabalu to recover and spent my last day in malaysia getting a massage, stretching/walking around so i didn't ease up and doing very little else!  i don't think i'll climb another mountain - me and my knees are getting older :)

malaysia was wonderful and i'm keen to go back for a more relaxing holiday and to see the mainland as i heard many great things about it while i was touring around!

hugs,
s

Orangutan

three musketeers + a baby

Mt. Kinabalu

Kilometer 8 - descent