On October 5 we left Sepilok, a beautiful natural experience in Borneo. We really enjoyed the different parks we visited.
We took a bus from Sepilok to Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. It took us just over 3 hours to reach D’Villa Rina Ria Lodge, the place where we will be spending the next few nights. Here we met Jan from Check Republic, who will be competing in the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon. This is one of the toughest climb races in the world. It is a 26Km race from Mount Kinabalu park headquarters at around 1,600m above sea level to the peak at 4,095m and back; the winner last year completed it on 2hours and 21minutes… what a monster! We are already cheering for our new friend Jan.
On October 6 we went to the Kinabalu Park, this UNESCO World Heritage Site offers lots of nature walks as well as the possibility to climb to the top of Mount Kinabalu at 4,095m above sea level. The cost of climbing the mount is very high so we will not do it, however we want to do some walks around the area.
It is 9:30am and the clouds are already covering the mountain so we are not being able to see the top. We spent the morning in a guided walk on one of the trails learning about the plants and trees endemic from Borneo. We then headed to the Botanical Garden where we learned about the different types of orchids endemic from Borneo. Unfortunately it is not blooming season so we could not see much flowers.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along trails and looking for birds.
On October 7 we woke up really early with the determination to see the top of Mount Kinabalu. We needed to walk fast to make it before 8:00am to see the mountain, it is a very short window before the clouds roll in and cover it. The early start paid off, we reached one of the view points early enough to get a clear view of the whole mountain. We kept walking towards Timpohon Gate and made it on time to the second viewpoint to get another glance of the mountain. Once we were there the clouds rolled in and Mount Kinabalu will disappear until tomorrow morning. We made it to Timpohon Gate, which is the beginning of the climb; from this point onwards only people with certified guide, permit and hotel reservation are allowed to continue.
In the afternoon we went for more walks along the trails, however we encountered a major roadblock… a landslide had taken down a big tree. Fortunate enough we scrambled though the mud and were able to go over the tree in order to complete the trail. A few hundred meters before reaching the park headquarters heavy rain came down and we got completely wet. We got to the hotel, got changed and had a hot tea. After so much heat over the past few weeks, it felt nice to feel a bit of cold.
