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What a View to
Wake up to!
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Mount Kinabalu
The view at 7:40am from our Cabin
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We woke up about 7:30 am to magnificent cloudless views
of Mount Kinabalu. Wow, that's where we are going. We could see
the different features on the top very clearly and also the Laban Rata
Resthouse where we would be staying on Tuesday night. Rebecca looked
at it and said, "that's not far!"
The view was some compensation for the night. The
beds in our cabin only had one thin blanket each, so we all froze during
the night (that is, everyone except for Michael) and consequently didn't
sleep very well. The mattresses had also seen better nights;
Rebecca's was particularly bad with a spring sticking into her back.
We walked to reception for breakfast at the Kinabalu
Balsam Restaurant (cost RM 30).
Registering for Tomorrow's Climb
After breakfast, at about 9am, we sorted out our
climbing permit for the next day. There are a number of different
charges:
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Climbing Permit RM 100/adult RM40/under-18
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Insurance RM 3.50/each
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Certificate RM 10/each
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Guide RM 74
It added up to RM 411.50 for us, but now we were ready
and we had our climbing permits to prove it: plastic tags printed with our
names and hung round our necks on bright yellow cords.
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Fungi along the trail
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Kiau View Trail
Then we set off to do the Kiau View Trail (length
2,544m). By now, it was clouding over, so we weren't able to see very
much from the occasional viewpoints on the trail. However, there were
some interesting plants and occasional glimpses through the cloud.
The end of the Kiau View Trail is on the road leading
towards the start of the climb to Kinabalu. Rather than walk back
along the trail, we crossed the road and took the Silau-Silau Trail (length
3, 057m) along the stream back towards the park center.
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Bukit Tupai Shelter
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More Trails!
This would have been a fairly flat walk, but we took a
diversion up to Bukit Tupai Shelter. However, when we got there, we
found that the shelter had completely collapsed and was just a pile of wood
(perhaps "dismantled" might be more accurate!)
From there we went to Bukit Burung Shelter -- which was
still standing, had a rest, and then descended to the stream. From
the stream, we climbed up to the road and then walked up the road to the
Park Reception. All-in-all, we ended up walking for about three-and-a-half
hours and covering about 6-7km. Good preparation for the ascent
tomorrow!
As soon as we got to the reception area, we headed
straight to the Kinabalu Balsam Restaurant for lunch (cost RM 59).
Sorting out our Cabin
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Our cabin
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After lunch, we went back to our cabin. We were
there when the chambermaids came to change our sheets and blankets, so we
persuaded them to just change the sheets and leave the new set of blankets
that they had brought. We now had hope of a warm night! (We had
tried asking for extra blankets at Reception, but we were obviously talking
to the wrong people: at one point they offered to rent us a complete set of
mattress, blankets, and linen, just so that we could get an extra
blanket!).
The Missable Mountain Garden
About 2:45 pm that afternoon, we drove up to the visitor
centre where Mum, Peter and Michael went round the Mountain garden.
They said afterwards that they didn't see anything that we hadn't already
seen on the trails that morning, so it really wasn't worth the RM 5 it cost
to get in. [Tip: unless you can't manage the trails, give this a
miss].
A Quick Recce
While they were visiting the garden, Rebecca and I drove
up to Timpohon Gate (where the walk up Mount Kinabalu starts). We
wanted to check whether it was realistic to drive up in the morning and
leave the car while we climbed Kinabalu. We discovered that there
wasn't really anywhere to leave the car, so we'd use the park transport to
get up there in the morning.
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Reviewing the Day's Work
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A Quiet Evening
That evening, we ate at the nicer Liwaga Restaurant at the
visitor centre (cost RM 75). We also bought a balaclava helmet for
Rebecca on the basis that she was now nearly definitely planning to
go to the top of Mount Kinabalu. I also got some supplies of
chocolate to give us the energy to get us there.
After eating, we lit a fire and sorted our stuff ready
for our ascent of the mountain next morning. Peter, Michael and
Rebecca reviewed the video footage of the day -- Michael having been
appointed as chief cinematographer for the trip! We also played Cluedo
(the card game, not the board game).
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