Hi! I know, it's been a while right? Well. As some of you know that I'm officially married and have start my new life as a Wife. I know apologize will not satisfied you but I will try to update this blog as much as I could this year. Last year, I have booked my name to climb the Mount Kinabalu on 11th April this year. Due to my career commitment and I have a serious audit going on that week, I have to let go and hand over to my cousin. Obviously, this post I made is special for her and a part of good luck to her as well. Mae, be ready!
Mount Kinabalu is one of the world heritage and one of our proud treasure of Sabah. Every year local and foreign people climb this mount, you need to book early for this trip unless you are trying to get into the Climbathon which held once in a year. This trip is not a cheap, and is not like a normal hiking as you thought. You have to mentally and physically fit for it or you may get injured and worst case, Death.
For first time climber, you can always refer to my previous post - Always Trust Yourself - Climbing The Mount of Kinabalu. There are 2 route of going up, the Timpohon Gate, Kinabalu Park and the Mesilau Nature Resort. If you go from Timpohon gate, you will be pass through a lot of going up steps where I could say, higher but shorter route, while Mesilau route is 2km further and the scenery are better than the Timpohon route. My suggestion would be, going up through Mesilau and going back to Timpohon. This expedition will take 2 days to complete includes eat and sleep.
Before the trip:
1) Get your physical ready. Do regular exercise like jogging, cycling or swimming in order to get your breathing technique right. Remember, you will face a climate change during the climb, prepare yourself about a month.
2) Planning your trip like transportation from home up to the starting point. Mostly, the trip is in group of people, check with them and get confirmation.
3) Now you might think, what should I bring? Do I need to bring more clothes?
In my case, I would try to bring as light as I could, because, the higher you go up the heavier your stuff will be. By this time, if you are not fit enough, you will thought of throwing your bag on your way up or never go up at all. What did I brought last time? Check your list and you may highlight to me if you think I missed something that really important.
What I wear during day 1 (from Mesilau to Laban Rata) - This will take about 5-7 hours walk. Start from 8am, and depends on you to reach early or late, but please do not reach Laban rata at 6pm, else you will missed your dinner and you might turn into a hungry dragon at night.
Clothing
1) Non slippery shoes - light weight recommended
2) Socks
3) Cap/snow cap
4) Sun glasses
5) Underwear/bra
6) Short pants/light weight pants
Inside the bag (where I put inside a plastic bag although my bag is waterproof)
1) 1 jacket - windproof or something that will not get heavy when you caught rain
2) Torchlight - rechargeable. - Additional headlight is recommended.
3) Soap & facial foam
4) Sunblock with high SPF - Don't assume that the weather is cold and we don't need that, remember we are climbing near to the sun
5) Gloves
6) Plastic rain coat - you can get this from the 7eleven store - think budget
7) Jumper or trouser (last time, I wear a legging so that if I got wet, it will dry easily)
8) Scarf is optional
9) Sarung/Towel - I would recommend a Sarung because it's not bulky stuff and easy to dry)
10) Underwear/bra
11) Non slip sandal - u will need this if your foot has blister while going down from the mountain.
12) Camera
13) Extra Battery
14) Mineral water - 1liter
15) Chocolate/Energy bar
16) Apple/Eggs
17) Active Fast Panadol/Aspirin
18) Safety Pins
19) Cotton Buds
20) Handyplast
21) Extra plastic bag
That's all as I remember, so, to Maglynna @ Mae, don't forget to pray for the good weather on that day! Have fun and please bring more photos please. Hold on, I found a good website on the guidelines to climb the mountain also. Check this out! ClimbMountKinabalu
