Climbing Mt K – Before: The Homework

We’ve never been to East Malaysia and since the tickets were so cheap, we thought it was a great chance to go. We decided on Kota Kinabalu and thought since we’re already there we could go up Mt Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in Malaysia (not going into the Mt-K-is-NOT-the-highest-mountain-in-SEA debate, though it is very interesting). We’d only be there for four days so we made two rough plans – Plan A (budget-friendly), visiting attractions in Sabah; Plan B (more expensive), climb Mt K and if we have time, visit some places.

Before looking up info, we naively thought Mt K would not be hard, maybe an activity we can work into our schedules. So we happily chose Plan B…and then found out it takes HOURS to ascend and descend the mountain, with an overnight stay midway. *Gulp* We had underestimated the mountain and now felt intimidated by it, so much so that we considered taking the easy way out and not climb it. But a small voice inside us was not convinced, so we said oh what the heck, we've had friends who'd succeeded, why not try it ourselves?

There are lots of excellent sites on climbing Mt Kinabalu. Some of the ones I find really useful:
Wiki Travel - Mt Kinabalu
Travel Malaysia Guide - Mt Kinabalu
http://www.climbmtkinabalu.com/index.html

A map will make this much easier to understand:

The typical advice would be to secure a place at Laban Rata before booking your air ticket. We did this the other way round because we bought our tickets 9 months before the climb. We ended up going with a packaged tour because I was lazy and didn't secure beds until 2 months before our climb, and ended up costing us quite a lot.

Anyway, we started training ourselves 3 months before the climb. We ran stairs, did hikes up Penang Hill, Youth Park and Tokun Dam. I also cycled, ran treadmills and did lots of stretching and half squats.

For packing tips, we followed the suggestions listed on the websites and tried to keep our luggage light.

Mt K Climbing Packages

When Air Asia is on sale, trying to choose one destination from the many is a very difficult process. Ping2 and I finally decided on Kota Kinabalu. We bought the tickets in Aug 2010 and our travel period was in May 2011 (haha kiasu!!). After some discussion, we decided to attempt Mt K. Even though I was told I’d have to book the Laban Rata accommodation months in advance, I didn’t start looking until March 2011. Hence, when I finally contacted Sutera Sanctuary Lodge (the one who monopolizes the accm. on the mountain), there were no more beds at Laban Rata for our desired dates. My only option now was to contact the agents who had taken up beds and sell them as a package.

Below are the ones I had called and the rates they’d given me. All are for 3D2N via Timpohon, price per person for two Malaysians (different rates for Internationals and # of people) in March 2011. The prices all include a mountain guide, 7 meals, entrance fee to Kinabalu Park, climbing permit, climbing insurance, transfer to & fro Timpohon Gate, 1 night stay at Kinabalu Park (dorm), 1 night stay at Laban Rata (dorm, w/o heater) and transfer to & fro KK city/hotel to Kinabalu Park.

**Package price varies greatly among the agents and I have no idea why.

Tropical Holidays Paradise Tours & Travel Kota Kinabalu
teresa.thp@hotmail.com
Mesilau (this is the only agent I came across with the Mesilau package cheaper than the Timpohon one)
RM1085 (Malaysian), RM1355 (International)
Timpohon
RM1150 (Malaysian), RM1450 (International)

Downbelow Marine & Wildlife Adventures - Kota Kinabalu & Gaya Island
info@divedownbelow.com (very very friendly and helpful staff)
Timpohon – RM1050* (Malaysian) *promo price

SUMMER TOURS & VACATIONS SDN. BHD.
info@summertours.com.my
Timpohon – RM921 (Malaysian), RM1052 (International)
*This was the one we chose – they were the only one with the dates we wanted

Leonard Yeo
kinabaluclimbing@gmail.com
Timpohon – RM980 (Malaysian), RM1350 (International)

Mountain Trails Tours & Travel
mttrails@gmail.com
Timpohon – RM850 (Malaysian)

Skyland Adventure
info@skylandadventure.com
Timpohon – RM880 (Malaysian), RM1080 (International)

May 2011 Update: Discovered another travel agent.

W&W Adventure / Green World TT Enterprise
info@wwadventure.com

What I learnt from this:

1. If DIY-ing your climbing trip, contact SSL at least 3 months in advance of planned hiking date.
2. By DIY-ing your climbing trip (contacting SSL directly and getting a bed; and obtaining permit, insurance etc. by yourself), you can save at least RM300-400.
3. If looking for hiking packages, go on Lowyat and search for bargain deals before calling up agents. Tons of good info on there.