by John Oates
I wouldn’t begin to deny that the view from the top of Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu at sunrise is impressive. What I would say is that scrabbling up there in the cold and wet pre-dawn darkness is not my idea of fun.
Mount Kinabalu is among the best known tourist attractions in Borneo. Reaching 4,095 meters above sea level, it is one of the tallest mountains in Southeast Asia, and is popular partly for the speed with which the summit can be reached. Walkers set off in the morning from the park headquarters at 1,563m, spend the night at a guest house at 3,300m, then get up very early to reach the summit by dawn. Reasonably fit walkers can make it back down for lunch.
The first day had me questioning whether I could be considered “reasonably fit.” It proved to be a rainy and rather relentless five hour grind uphill, mostly through jungle with little in the way of views and often on steps made from wood or carved into the rock or earth. Thankfully there was a series of shelters along the well-marked trail for those who needed a rest every now and then.
