Early in the morning next day (at 0545), the three of us woke up and headed down to our hostel lounge to have breakfast. Though it was still not yet six, the sun was already up! We had to get up so early because we needed to head to Kinabalu Park as early as possible. Taking a bus would have been a cheaper option but the first bus would go only at 8am.

And finally, we’re off to Mount Kinabalu! The journey to Mt K from our hostel was about 2 hrs, but we could already see the mountain peak after we set of shortly. This is one of the shots taken along the way.

After travelling up the winding road for 2 hrs, we finally reach the park HQ. Registration and hiring of guide were done in this building.

This is another view of Mt K from the park HQ. (I would be on one of the peaks there in the next day!)

And so, we started climbing the mountain (walking, actually) at around 9am (?). I didn’t really keep track of the time.

Okay, so it seemed like everything was settled, but I had actually made a mistake by not hiring a porter to carry our stuff when we climbed the mountain! Although my guide kept urging us to get a porter, we thought we could manage and declined his request. Turned out that he was just being concerned that we would get tired out easily by our load.

This waterfall was taken near the start of the summit trail. Initially having my camera and tripod hanging from my shoulder, I thought that it would be convenient for me to snap photos whenever I felt like it. Turned out that the load was so heavy that I packed all my camera stuff into my backpack and it was never taken out again before we reached the halfway mark.

Another mistake was made when we had some mis-communication with our guide. As the trip up was going to be very strenous, we were prepared to buy lots of chocolate and other sweet stuff to keep our bodies energized. However, not knowing where the shop is located, we asked our guide to bring us there. And I believe our guide assumed that we’ve already gotten what we wanted in our "extremely huge" backpacks, and so he didn’t remind us when we walked past the shop! Groanz.. Fortunately, our guide was generous to offer us a packet of banana chips (which was good to replenish lost energy). Also, 2 elderly trekkers that we kept meeting on our way offered us some peanut butter biscuits and dark chocolate kitkats. They’re so kind!

And so, after 5 to 6 hrs of what was equivalent to "stairs-climbing", we reached the Laban Rata Resthouse at 3272.7 metres above sea levels. At this resthouse, we could buy our necessities (food, gloves, etc) but at a much higher price. Since it was already almost 4pm, I settled for my lunch-cum-dinner while my two buddies waited for the dinner buffet (which is at 30rm per pax).

This is my dinner.. Chicken burger, fries and coleslaw! Looks good? Well.. after such a tiring walk, anything would have tasted good!

The weather was good when the sun was still up, so I got to the balcony and took lots of pictures. Here are some of them, hope you enjoy viewing.  

Can you see the rainbow on the pic above??? heh

And the sun sets… 

Temperature soon reached near zero degrees when I was taking the last few pictures. (In fact, my whole body was shivering uncontrollably when I was doing the last shot!) It was now about 7pm, and we were ready to head to where we were going to stay for the night, Gunting Lagadan Hut.

More updates soon!