Malaysia Part I: Kota Kinabalu etc.

Every December, I take a trip to somewhere in Southeast Asia. This year I decided to visit Malaysia with my old friend Kathlyn and her boyfriend Dan. Our initial plan was to sport climb the numerous limestone crags on Peninsular Malay, but we then discovered Mt. Kinabalu in the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah. Standing at 13, 435 feet, Kinabalu, which is actually the collective name of a number of 12,000 plus foot peaks, is the highest point in SE Asia. This spectacular draw was complimented by the surrounding countryside and islands which offered decent snorkeling, picturesque beaches, white water rafting, and road tripping activities. For purposes of clarity, I'm dividing this trip report into two separate posts, off-mountain and on-mountain.

Off Mountain

I arrived at the Borneo Backpackers Lodge at 2am on December 28 and met Kathlyn who had been waiting a number of hours for my delayed flight. After a quick meal we hit the sack.

The next day we arranged travel to Mamutik and Manukan, two of the five islands that make up Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Though initially disappointed with the former, we soon found a small coral garden just off the sometimes littered beach. Though not especially colorful, the coral did yield a surprising variety of sea life. We would return to snorkel here two more times, each time discovering creatures we had missed on our previous visit. Yes, we did find Nemo, about a million times in fact, though he was a bit camera shy. Here are some of his friends.

A more interesting discovery was the moray eel curled up inside a piece of coral that our friend Todd spotted.














I also saw a four foot long poisonous sea snake but didn't have the camera with me. I was scared of the thing anyway.

On the third day of our trip we rented a small car and drove to the northernmost point of Borneo. Aptly named "The Tip of Borneo", this small peninsula is the dividing point between the Suluman and South China Seas. Though we weren't there to witness it, supposedly the differences in the two seas is visible at low tide, making it obvious that they are indeed separate bodies of water despite the lack of anything to physically bisect them. Wild.

The white sand beaches leading up to the Tip(visible behind Kathlyn) were serene, hearkening back to a time before tourism reached the majority of SE Asia.

Though Malaysia is a surprisingly tolerant melting pot of cultures and faiths (making it an anomaly in this part of the world), Muslims are the single largest religious group. Our mini-road trip took us past one of many stunning mosques.

We brought in the New Year in a club catering to upper class college kids, mostly of Chinese descent. Morning brought a predictable hangover which would accompany us throughout the day. Unfortunately, this was also the day that we set out for Mt. Kinabalu, a three hour ride up windy mountain roads in a mini-bus with less than adequate shocks. We arrived at the lodge around sunset and spent the rest of the evening preparing our gear for the next day's hike up the mountain.