Kota Kinabalu
4.4.13
We arrived in KK(how the locals refer to Kota Kinabalu) after a flight through KL (Kuala Lumpar) to arrive in Sabah for the first time. Despite having gone through customs in KL, we had to do it again when we got off our domestic flight, which was sort of bizarre.
Once we checked into the Promenade Service Apartments, we took a stroll through the KK city center. The city itself is surprisingly small - we were able to walk from one side to the other in under 20 minutes. It seem like the city is largely composed of shopping malls, restaurants and hotels, with most residential areas lying in the suburbs. After scouring out the dive shop we were to go to the following day, we sat down for a dinner of KK's specialty - fish. The grouper we ate was not only incredibly fresh and sweet, but also incredibly cheap, only 40 ringgits/kilo! With it, we also tried a local vegetable, a sort of fern, which was also scrumptious, as well as some kueh - I love Malaysian food :D
KK
5.4.13
After a breakfast of roti canai and curry, we headed down to the diveshop to take the boat to Pulau Sapi, part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. As we were the only people to book diving that day, we had the boat and dive masters all to ourselves, just like a private tour! The beaches there were beautiful pristine white while the sea was a beautiful aquamarine colour. The diving was pretty good with a variety of both hard and soft corals. We saw a giant school of barracuda like that in Finding Nemo as well as the typical sea creatures, such as parrot fish, angel fish, prawns, box fish, stingrays and clown fish. While diving, I couldn't help thinking that I may be eating one of the fish for dinner that night!
That night, we did eat fish for dinner again, but thankfully it didn't look like one of the ones I had seen on the dive (although they were selling parrot fish in the wet market). While mom conversed with one of the restaurant owners in Hakka - Sabah has a surprisingly large Hakkanese population - we also tried some delicious coconut based Tom Yum. Yum.
KK
6.4.13
Not having too much planned for the day, we rented a car with the intent of i) seeing the proboscis monkeys, ii) getting out of the city, and iii) getting some driving practise. Once we got into our tiny manual 660cc Kancil, we headed out to the Low Kawi Wildlife Park to find ourselves some monkeys. Contained in large cages, the proboscis monkeys weren't too hard to find. I was surprise by their minute size. Despite their large dominating photos on tourist brochures, the monkeys themselves are tiny. Their noses do not have any specific function other than for the production of mating sounds. I have to say, they're really funny looking.
Next to the proboscis monkeys in the zoo were the squirrel monkeys. Full of energy, they ran around their cage as fast and as indecisively as a squirrel. They were literally hyperactive, jumping all over the cage - I can only wonder what they'd be like on red bull!
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| proboscis monkey |
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| squirrel monkeys |
After the Wildlife Park, we made our way towards the tip of Borneo to the Usukan Cover area by Kota Belud. After a long, scenic drive, we finally arrived at this beautiful area yet to be touched by tourism. There we saw the traditional stilt houses, watched the cows wander onto the roads, and swam on a completely deserted beach - it was perfect.
On the way back, Mark drove. It was a pretty pleasant drive, except there will be one cow who's eyes I'm unlikely to ever forget. That night, after another scrumptious seafood dinner (with halibut fried with sambal and then steamed on banana leaf), I learnt how to drive a manual car forwards! I only stalled once!
Mt Kinabalu
7.4.13
We're off to hike Mt Kinabalu!
After being picked up from our hotel at 7am in the morning for a two or so hour trip to Mt Kinabalu Park, we started our hike up the highest peak in Borneo at 10am in the morning. We only had to cover 6km up to the accommodation at Laban Rata.
Even so, carrying all our luggage, it wasn't easy. We had over estimated how much water to bring and ended up carrying about 7L of it up the mountain, definitely adding to our load. To make things slightly worse, there was a persistent drizzle all throughout our hike up to the 6km mark. However, the hike was very pretty with amazing flora and fauna. It was easy to see the distinction between the various environments we passed through as we hiked along the steep path.
When we arrived at the guest house, it was around 3pm, and boy, we were tired. We were staying not at the main accommodation at Laban Rata, but a smaller hut called the Waras Hut, about 5 minutes further down the mountain. Despite the lack of central heating, the lack of warm water and the outdoor toilets, the room was clean and simple. While we ate dinner at 4:30 in Laban Rata, I couldn't believe who I saw! There was a group of grade 9s from UWCSEA with the two of the teachers that had accompanied me on the Ladakh trip. Supposedly I wasn't the first other UWCSEA student they had seen on the mountain - they'd seen another on their way up. At mom's asking, they repaired the sole of her hiking boot that had broke on the way up - it was lucky that I had spotted them!
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| start of the hike |
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| laban rata |
Mt Kinabalu
8.4.13
In order to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain, we woke up at 2am after a restless night to leave camp at 3am. Initially, the trail was rather crowded on the way up as everyone had left at a similar time, but as we got further up, the crowd began to spread out. The walk up to the peak was difficult. Not only was it incredibly steep and slippery in some sections, there was also the danger of falling if you let go of the climbing ropes. That coupled with the altitude and lack of visibility made the climb ever more challenging. In the last kilometre, we had to take breaks every 50/100m to catch our breath. When we reached the summit of Low's Peak at 4095m at 5:30am, we sat down to wait for the sunrise. Although the temperature was fine when we were walking, it was freezing cold when we were waiting so much so that the cold could be felt through a thinsulate, fleece top and gortex jacket! Unfortunately for us, we didn't get much of a sunrise, with the thick white clouds rolling over the mountains obstructing the view. On descent however, once the sun had risen, we got amazing views of the country below us - we could even see KK from the top! The descent back to Laban Rata was easier than the climb up - partially because we weren't as breathless. On the way down, the steep rope sections were even harder. I was constantly slipping and grasping onto the rope for my dear life. I got lots of bruises as souvenirs after my falls.
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| cloudy sunrise |
We reached Laban Rata at 8am for a second breakfast before we descended all the way back down to the bottom. We had amazing french toast as we sat outside on the patio, admiring the view :) . Around 9:30, we began our final descent, reaching the bottom around 1:30. The descent wasn't too difficult, but the gradient was constantly steep, lacking many flat sections. This made for very sore legs and knees by the time we finally arrived at the bottom.
After another 2h drive back to the hotel, mom and I went for massages - my first. It was so painful. I can't actually believe people find it relaxing! By the end of it, I don't know if my legs actually hurt more!
KK
9.4.13
On the last day of our holiday, we awoke with incredibly sore legs. It was painful to walk (and I'm not exaggerating). After our last roti canai breakfast and some last minute shopping, we caught our flight back to Singapore.
