Mount Kinabalu beat us down

At 4096m Mount Kinabalu is considered to be the highest mountain in Southeast Asia (although there are higher mountains in Indonesia), and taking only 2 days to summit, is supposed to be a very do-able feat for the "average person".

First off I have to say that I'm glad we did the climb (Shameiz on the other hand won't let me say the "H" word -hiking). It was very challenging and the view from the top was blocked by clouds at sunrise, but the scenery was beautiful, and we really did have good luck with weather considering the time of year (it only poured like a biotch on the way down). We however are still confused at how we could have been so slow relative to all the average times given by our guide (who by the way was smoking like a chimney the entire way up), and being constantly by-passed by young-ins and hard-core older people. I guess we are just too out of shape. It took us 3 days for our leg muscles to heal enough to be able to not walk like retards and another few days to be able to walk up and down stairs without having to turn sideways .. although my right knee does still hurt (I know, I know, Jill, Julie and D.. wah wah wah my knee hurts).

Before the pics I'd just like to mention one more thing. It took us 5.5 hours on the first day to reach Laban Rata, 3.5 hours to summit and 7.5 hours (yes I said 7.5) to get all the way back down and with the help of a walking stick. The International Mount Kinabalu Climbathon in 2006 clocked the fastest male and female at 2 h 41 m and 3 h 14 m respectively to get all the way up AND down. Plus they started further down the mountain then we did! Amazing is all I can say.

Here's a pic of the mountain from the base:


Views on the trail:


Summit:



On the way down: