We climbed the biggest mountain in SE Asia!

IF somebody asked me if I would fancy lunging 8km straight up a mountainside, I'm not sure I'd say yes.

So how lucky it was that I didn't know just how gruelling Mt Kinabalu was going to be, because perhaps I would have missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime view (a phrase we later decided was coined because there was no way in hell you'd do it again, hence the once-in-a-lifetime!) and the sheer exhilaration of conquering such a mountain.

At 4095m above sea level, Mt Kinabalu is the highest mountain in SE Asia and about half the size of Mt Everest. It's usually climbed over two days, with one night spent at the base of the peak so climbers can acclimatize and begin climbing at 2.30am the following day to catch sunrise at the top. But every year a gaggle of crazed fitness freaks (I think!) gather to race up the mountain, with some going up and down in less than three hours.

Ouch.

We started the walk feeling spritely but nervous, as most people we passed coming down from the mountain were literally limping, some doing sidestep down the stairs, and a couple even requiring help from their guides to walk.

"Oh shucks," I thought. "This is not good".

And how right I was.

We set off with our guide (mandatory for climbing) mid-morning, our day packs as light as possible, and within only 50m the track starts going up. And up. And up.

Now I thought most mountain climbs were more winding as they went up. Perhaps this should be a rule. But not this one. I kid you not when I say that the track goes straight up the side of the mountain with no respite at all. It was incredibly tough, and as the air became thinner and thinner the higher we went, it took all of our energy - and a block of Cadbury chocolate - to keep going.

The track is made mostly of steep wide steps, so it is very similar to doing a deep lunge, putting all of your weight on one poor bent leg to hoist yourself up to the next step.

Incredibly, the locals pop up and down the mountain carrying enormous gas cans, barrels of petrol and supplies on their backs, hanging from their heads, for the dormitories and cafeteria located at the peak's base.

One fellow we passed said his load was 32kg and he was barely sweating! Our guide climbs the mountain twice a week and has done it more than 600 times. I was in awe watching him and the many porters trotting along like it was a walk in the park. Sometimes he had his hands in his pockets or his arms folded. It was amazing. And also sickening!

Back to the poor sods.

Wes, me, Rod and Fleur set off for the peak at 2.30am.

The view on night one, at Laban Rata guesthouse at the base of the peak.

Funnily enough we stayed with another Aussie couple, Fleur and Rod, on the mountain in the dorm room, and rose at 2am the next day to begin scaling the peak together.

With tiny flashlights and the temperature just above zero, it was very surreal tramping up rocks in the dark with - luckily for us - a perfect clear night sky overhead, and millions of twinkling stars seemingly within touching distance.

About an hour into the walk we stopped ascending stairs and boulders, and began pulling ourselves up a sheer rockface by rope. Parts of it were truly a scramble, using all-fours for balance, and all the while being silently thankful that we couldn't see how steep it was.

It was like the never-ending climb to the top, plodding along in tiny steps to keep going, puffing like our chests would explode and feeling a little woozy and nauseous from lack of oxygen.

With a final burst of energy (ok wrong description, that makes it sound like we started jogging!) we made it to the top at 5.30am, just as light was beginning to seep across the sky before sunrise.

The view was unbelievable. Every kind of cloud floated beneath us - puffy balls of cotton wool padded the sky's floor and wispy tunnels moved in front of us like a highway of cloud, arcing across the sun.

We had made it! It was true! Some people turn around because it's so difficult, but we made it!

I will finish this post on that note. On a note of ecstasy. (More photos to follow, in a separate blog post due to Blogger's strange pecadillos.)

I will not tell you about the excrutiating pain of descending - that our legs wobbled so much that we were in danger of falling down the mountain rather than walking....

Or that our muscles were/are so sore that when the hostel yesterday gave us a room on the fourth floor, we almost turned it down....(!)

Or that today the rule is to move as little as possible...aah, the pain.

But still, we did climb the biggest mountain in SE Asia. And you've got to admit, that's pretty cool.