MysTerry Travels

The Climb that Broke My Knee (Kota Kinabalu – A Reminisce)

A picture, a piso fare and a goal to have at least one out of the country trip a year made me book the flight to Kota Kinabalu with two other Mountaineer friends last November 2012.

We booked the reservation for the climb online via Sutera Sanctuary Lodges - this and Mountain Torq (who owns the via ferrata - but you can still avail of this even if you book via Sutera Lodges) are the ones officially managing and taking care of Mt. Kota Kinabalu so there are not much variations in the prices, the only caveat is to book your reservation in advance because they have a maximum number of people allowed to climb daily and chances are the date maybe full if you book your climb near your climb date.

In Sabah, you will meet a lot of Filipinos as this place is just 560 miles away from Sulu and some people have come here through boats (which is illegal) so they are mostly from Mindanao. I think it is not easy to do this illegal migration now though as I believe they have tightened their boundary securities already. They speak Tagalog but their dialect are the ones spoken in Mindanao - ie. Tausug.

Seafood – they have lots of this, so if you are into seafood, ( not seefood - the diet where when you see food you eat it? :P) you will love Kota. They are affordable too; I remember the food ranging from 5-10 RM. They are very much into spices as well, but unfortunately I am not – so I made sure I know what’s in the food first before I order.

So here’s the deal, you will be accommodated at Sutera Lodges at noon of your first day – but this not the day you will climb so you don’t have to book for another hotel before going there for rest, if you booked your flights to arrive early in the morning you can go straight from the Airport to Kota Kinabalu’s Park Headquarters. Inclusive in the booking for climbing Kota are accommodation for two nights, dinner on the first day, Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner on the second day, (very early) Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on the third day but you have to make it on or before 18:00 back on the Park Headquarters for you to be able to catch the buffet for your last dinner at Sutera.

The climb starts on the second day as early as 7:00 but maybe late depending on how early you are and your guides – the earlier the better. In our case we were the ones waiting for the car to take us to the jump off. It’s a long climb, and I mean really long specially on your third day and they have lots of stairs. On the second day we started the hike at around 9:00, had our lunch at around 13:00 and we were at KM 3.0 by this time if I’m right. We arrived at the next shelter (Laban Rata) before the summit at around 15:00.

Upon arrival at Laban Rata we inquired about how we can register/pay for us to take the via ferrata on our way down from the summit because when we inquired for it at the Park HQ they were not able to process a credit card payment for some reasons and told us to do it Laban Rata. We were waiting for almost forever before the payment went through and we actually almost gave up as they said it was because of the weather when finally the payment went through and we were able to book it. But then again the via ferrata route will depend on whether the next day the sun will show up or not.

You have to rest early at Laban Rata as you need to wake up at around 01:00 for you need have an ealry breakfast before the hike for the summit which commence at 2:00 for you to be able to reach the summit before sunrise. At around 5:00 we arrived at the summit, took pictures and headed to the meet up point for the via Ferrata (you will be briefed on your second day as to where you will meet and the time you need to catch for the decent) start point for our way down back to Laban Rata.

We arrived at around 10:00 at Laban Rata, took the early lunch, rested and at around 12:00 we started the descent as we need to reach the Park HQ before 6:00 so we can still avail of the dinner buffet and this non-stop hike broke my knees. We were at KM 3.0 before the Park HQ when my knees just gave up, we were on the stairs and I almost slipped as it just wouldn’t hold my legs anymore and so we have to rest for me to regain some strength.

I actually kind of carried myself through my hands on our way down using two poles but I thank God I made it without having someone to carry me. And that my friend is how I injured my knees, honestly - not really it wasn’t the long hike; it was the lack of preparation before the climb. So take it from me and prepare, prepare and prepare before a major climb. The good news is I am now on the road to complete healing, yes I believe I can heal completely, nothing is impossible with God. :D

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