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Even the most daring of all travelers have their bad days. Journey up to the summit...err almost to the top of Mt. Kinabalu.
 Considering I have completed four marathons, fallen from a cliff head first while lead climbing only to be snagged and saved by the quick draw that grabbed onto my shoelaces, and jumped from a plane attached to a man in a suit decorated by skulls, I thought that climbing Mt. Kinabalu in Borneo would be a walk in the park. Mt. Kinabalu is 4095.2 meters above sea level and is one of the highest mountains in South East Asia. As I think back to that day in April, I question my sanity at making such an impromptu decision. Regardless of any athletic accomplishments I may have had in the past, I am really not what you would call a natural outdoors type of gal. I began rock climbing in my 30’s and had to overcome immense fear anytime the approach involved a steep ascent or descent. Simply walking down scree made me cry and thankfully my friends were there to get me through and had a steady stream of tissues available. So the fact that I was thinking about climbing and then descending a mountain in a foreign country without the support of friends, was something to consider a psychiatric evaluation over. So what led to this ridiculous decision? Basically I found myself in Kota Kinabalu with 2 extra days at my disposal. Many of the websites/blogs that I looked at regarding climbing the mountain had conflicting reports. Some said, training was essential- others said it was a walk in a park. It was in fact a park, but I would hardly say it was just a walk.
After spending 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur I flew into Kota Kinabalu, a small and quiet seaside port. I stayed at the lovely Le Meridian hotel across the street from the colorful and bustling market, marked by the many umbrellas vainly attempting to block out the 40 degree Celsius sun.
I took a walk along the sea down toward Sutera Sanctuary Lodges the company in charge of rest house accommodations in the national park where Mt. Kinabalu is located. They had one room left for Monday, April 16th at Gunting Laban Hut, a non-heated dormitory. I decided, why not! So after a couple of relaxing days in Kota Kinabalu including some delicious Indian food and buying warm pants, shirt, and a backpack, I walked to meet the shuttle on Monday morning at 7AM and off I went.
I arrived at the park headquarters around 9:30 and after paying my fees I was introduced to my guide Victoria- a wonderful 36-year old mom of 3 sets of twins (I think that may be some kind of record). When Victoria is not guiding she works in the rice fields with her mother.
 After the first 2kms, Victoria graciously took my pack and wore it along with hers. The walking was steep- very steep. It made hiking up Half Dome seem like a breeze and my legs and feet were sore for days after that! It took about 6 hours for us to walk 6 kilometers up to the Laban Rata rest house/restaurant. There I enjoyed a hearty bowl of soup. After wards, I checked into my dorm and being last to arrive was stuck with the top bunk. I became more graceful each time I climbed up to the bed on the ladder. Normal little chit-chat with other guests, although I have to say, I wasn't feeling very social- mostly anxious and questioning why I keep putting myself in these extreme situations. Saw a stunning display of clouds and took some pictures of that as the sun was setting and then went to bed at around 7:30PM. It was about 7-8 Celsius- basically COLD. I had a little bit of altitude sickness evident in a slight headache and some nausea but it maintained and didn't seem to get worse and when I awoke at 2:15AM it was gone. A bit of hot tea and off Victoria and I went, up, up, up.
It was dark, it was steep, and it was cold and to top it off this is when I discovered that my camera was not working. So I got one shot of a sign on my way up (by the way all the times on my pictures are off by one hour--so if it is 2:15, it is really 3:15AM). The pictures of snake like lights making there way up the mountain, and the bright starry night will have to remain in my memory- the rising sunset and the silhouette of people zigzagging up the face of the mountain will forever remain.
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