Sabah (Borneo) - Mount Kinabalu and much more

Well it has been quite some time since I had the opportunity of adding something to my blog, but the last 10 days without any internet connection made it impossible to write about my travel experiences.

Right now I am almost at the end of my Borneo experience, 4 more days left until I return to the Malaysian peninsula. So what has happened the last 10 days: after arriving in Kota Kinabalu (we left our group in Sarawak and joined another group of 10 people for our Sabah trip) and an amazing malaysian-indian dinner our first destination was a homestay with the Dusun people, who are nowadays mountainguides or porters apart from being farmers. They work for the National Park, as for tourists guides are required and porters are sometimes necessary for climbing the highest mountain in Sout-East-Asia, Mount Kinabalu (4095 meters).

What we were to climb the next 2 days

The second night in Sabah we spent at a Dusun Village, where we had another encounter with the famous local rice wine (this time I had a little bit too much, resulting in a headache the next morning). Luckily we did not have to climb the mountain the next day.
After our stay with the Dusun people we drove to Mt. Kinabalu National Park Head Quarters, where we had the rest of the day off, getting ready for our climb the following day. My dad and I took the opportunity of visiting a botanical garden, where you could see different pitcher plants and orchids that grow only around Mt. Kinabalu.
So the next morning our 2 day hike up to the top of Mt. Kinabalu began. We had the choice of taking a more scening but longer route or taking the straight way up. My dad and I chose the longer version, called Mesilau trail, which started at 2000 meters and took us over almost 8 km up to our first stop at Laban Rata (around 3300 meters). There we spend the first night (not really the entire night), and we got up at 2.30 am to climb the remaining 800 altitude meters and 2,7 km up to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu to watch the sunrise. This experience was truly breathtaking, not only because of the altitude but also because of different colours appearing in the sky.

Scenery while ascending Mt. Kinabalu

Just before sunset

We finally made it!!!!

Cloud formation at Mt. Kinabalu

Reflection of Mt. Kinabalu

After the sunrise we descended to Laban Rata for an early breakfast and then it was another 6 km down the main trail back to the entrance of the park. Concering the weather we were very lucky as we had absolutely no rain the entire 2 days of hiking (in total we hiked almost 20 km and 5200 m in altitude difference)
After that we drove to Poring Springs, where we had the opportunity of spending more than 1 day relaxing and soothing our sore legs in hot springs. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side as it was pooring cats and dogs and the facilities of these hot springs were not as inviting as I first expected them to be. It took those bathtubs almost 1 hour to fill up by 1 centimeter. So instead of resting our entire body it was only the feet that were sort of refreshed.

Rafflesia (Not very pretty to be honest)

After our adventure at Poring Springs, where we spotted the largest flower in the world (Rafflesia), we went into the jungle of Sabah. Actually you would not say jungle, as it is only secondary forest (only 30 years old), but then again I spotted more animals within this area as anywhere else so far. We saw different primates including the endangered proboscis monkey and long-tail macaques and several different species of hornbills (very rare and endangered birds) and many other birds. We stayed one night in hammocks (unfortunately the sound of the very close highway was louder than the jungle noises) and had a guided night-jungle walk.

The base of the jungle camp

Our 5 star hotel

The next day we had the opportunity of cooking our own lunch with the help of Malay volunteers from Mescot (http://www.mescot.org/), an organisation that coordinated the jungle experience and the following homestay. After our lunch we watched and were invited in a typical cultural performance with traditional music, and after that we enjoyed a volleyball game with the local people of this village.
The last night we spent at a homestay coordinated and organized by Mescot. Out of pure luck we stayed at a local family, where we were invited to a muslim wedding party, as friends of them were getting married. This was quite an experience, with a local band playing and a huge buffet with very delicious food to choose from.

Muslim wedding

Right now I am in Sandakan, and the next days we will visit Turtle Island, which is just off of Sandakan, and the Orang-Utan Sepilok Sanctuary. So I will be able to add more to this blog probably in 2-3 days from now.