Climbing the Mighty Mountain

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We arrived in Kota Kinabalu thinking we weren't going to be able to do the climb at all. We had called the previous day and it was all booked up. Luckily the lady in our hostel rang an agency and they had room for us. Apparently all the big agencies book up the beds early and it doesn't necessarily mean that they are all taken. We ended up paying more than we would have if we had been able to arrange it ourselves but hey, we did leave it to the day before!

So, we went out for rice the night before to stock up on energy for the climb then had an early night.

The surrounding mountains were being lit up by the rising sun and the mushroom clouds turned orange

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We were picked up from our hostel early. The sun was shining but as we got close to the mountain, in came the clouds! We met our guide, Edwin, a really nice local chap and then began the ascent. To be honest the first day really wasn't that bad. It took us a little over 4 hours to climb to the lodge where we were staying for the night.  However with the rain starting to teem down after just half an hour we got totally soaked on the way. My bag somehow came open so everything go drenched in there too. No dry clothes at all! There weren't really any views to be seen on the way up either as it was so cloudy!

Its cold at the top!
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We were staying in the budget hut a little further up the mountain than Lanrata Lodge where most people stay. Our was very basic, just bunk beds in an unheated room. We did have a couple of blankets each but it was still freezing, probably because we were so wet. My toes were like icicles. After dinner down at the lodge we headed up to bed early.

Our guide came to meet us at 3am to start the ascent to the summit. With torches in hand we set off. The first part was mainly steps but it got more rocky the further we went up. Quite a bit of it involved pulling ourselves up with the ropes which was tricky in some places as it was pretty slippery. We really enjoyed this part of the climb. It was a beautiful starry sky. Despite the cold at the beginning once we got going we soon warmed up and had to start stripping off the layers. It was funny looking down the mountain and seeing the trail of spotlights twinking in a row behind us. We noticed the altitude in that we were puffing more than we would normally but luckily it didn't really hinder us at all.

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We made it to the summit (around 4100m) about half an hour before sunrise. Wow, what a sight. There was an amazing view in all directions. The surrounding mountains were being lit up by the rising sun and the mushroom clouds turned orange. In the other direction, Kota Kinabalu lights were twinkling. We were nearly the first up there so managed to get a good spot on the rocks to sit and watch. Ben took most of the pictures as my fingers froze! The effort to get up there was more than worth it!

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After an hour or so at the summit we started making our way down. I Thought the descent down the rocks was going to be a bit scary but climbing in the dark must have made them seem worse than they were as going down was fine. And the views definitely made up for the rain we had had yesterday.

We stopped at the lodge for breakfast where we sat out on the balcony to eat, before heading down. The steps near the bottom were quite tricky as by this time our knees were definitely suffering. It was pretty muddy too. We stopped to look at lots of different pitcher plants and animals that we missed on the way up.

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After lunch with some locals at a little restaurant just outside the park we headed back to Kota kinabalu, feeling pretty exhausted.

That evening we decided to treat ourselves to the all you can eat buffet at the Hyatt Hotel. It was Malaysian night so we were able to try lots of different dishes, typical to the area. Fantastic food and not really that expensive - about 7 quid each I think although we did have a cocktail each too! We sat outside a bar in the plaza for a few drinks before bed.

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We woke the next day and could hardly walk even our arms were aching from pulling ourselves up with the ropes!