Three Quarters- Almost There But Not Quite..

July 3rd: Adrian and I set off at 9 am, after getting organized with the Park and our guide, Mahali. We set off on the Timpohon trail. Total distance today, approximately 6 km. Destination was to the Laban Rata rest house which was at 3,270 m (10,728 ft). The easy bit. The trail has been described by a friend to be "easy like a highway". The walk was tiring but not hard. We met this other couple, Alun and Rebecca, English teachers currently based in Vietnam and started hiking with them. Along the way, porters carrying crazy cargo passed us by: gas tanks, table tops, supplies..easily weighing 30kg? And some of them even hiked in Crocs sandals. Those crazy porters.. Once we get to higher grounds, the scenery was just beautiful. Especially when we got above the clouds. We were literally surrounded by white clouds. The only disappointing aspect was the lack of wildlife. We saw an occasional squirrel on the way up and the infamous pitcher plant. Would be nice if there had been mor

Mount Kinabalu was beautiful. On the first day at the National Park, we stayed at a hostel 500 m away. Once we dropped our bags and organized ourselves (or rather Jamil organized us) at the Park, we set out for hikes at the base of the Park. There were a few trails that ranged from a few hundred meters to approximately 2 km. It was quite amazing at how quiet it was- as in, we hiked for close to 4 hours and did not meet a single soul along the way. My favourite trail was the Bundu Tuhan trail. Not very long and a fairly steep hike, we reached the lookout and was rewarded with a beautiful view of the Kinabalu ranges. Although the view may not have been the best that we had during this trip, but because the spot was so isolated and quiet, I felt as if it's my own little patch on a hill. After spending some time admiring the view and contemplating life as one does when on a hill, we made our way down and back to the hostel, right before the heavens decided to pour down on us. View from