February 1999
| Highly recommended on a trip to the area is to visit Mt. Kinabalu on Borneo. Even though it's almost 4095,2 meters high, even grandmothers are able to climb it. Believe me; I did not have any problems climbing it, and I usually get tired just off watching people walking. |
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Mt. Kinabalu - View of the mountain before setting off early in the morning from the park headquarters. | ||||
| Sunrise from the top of Mt. Kinabalu. Seeing the sun rise up through the clouds must be experienced! |
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Most climbers stay over at the Laban Rata on the way up to the top. So did I, and chose a heated room as well. It's by the way an extremely comfortable place to stay, just feel sorry for the people who have to carry up all the food. Yet it is fairly easy to get up at 3 am in the morning, this because the high altitude (3415 m) makes it difficult to sleep. | ||||
| For more information on how to do the climb, I once again recommend LonelyPlanet's guidebook for Malaysia/Brunei/Singapore. One of the good things about the mountain is that it's situated just by equator, thus the weather is about the same all year around. Bring warm clothes, but the climb is wetter than it is cold, so you will not necessarily freeze to death. |
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Top left are pictures of Jan ("me" in third person), climbing his way up to Mt. Kinabalu. In the middle is another picture of sunrise, and at the bottom two pictures of me on the top. | ||||
| The orangutans can mainly be seen when some show up to be fed. In addition to pregnant and sick apes, I guess also the lazy and the perverts show up. This guy to the right was one of them, and quickly fell in love with a fellow visitor. |
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After Mt. Kinabalu, I spent a night at Poring Hot Springs. It's highly recommended to relax in the tubs there, this to let one's legs relax a bit before moving on. From the springs I went straight to Eastern Sabah, more specifically to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. It is one of the world's only orangutan sanctuaries, and covers an area of more than 4000 hectares. The coolest of the orangutans to be seen is definitely Raja, a male, who some years ago surprised a French tourist for then to strip him naked. It seems like no one likes the French. |
