Christina Marie's Travel Blog

Climbing up Mount Kota Kinabalu, a 13,435-foot (8.9 kilometer) high mountain on the Borneo side of Malaysia, was without a doubt the hardest activity I’ve ever put my body through, and it goes down as one of the most memorable accomplishments in my life.

The brochure said that people of all ages participate in climbing the mountain. What the brochure neglected to mention is that you shouldn’t try to climb the summit unless you’re in good physical shape! 

I initially thought that climbing up the mountain would be like a cute little nature hike, especially since I’ve done tons of nature hikes in New York, but I quickly learned that it’s nothing but climbing up stairs and rocks pilled up like stairs, for hours and hours on end. 

After I cursed myself for not going to the gym in years, I began to admire my surroundings, which consisted of four different terrains…

The very bottom consisted of just rocks and dirt. Can I turn your attention to the gentleman in the picture for just a moment? I was struggling an hour into the hike, and this guy, with three massive backpacks, goes zooming past me with no problem. I wonder if I could have jumped on his back without him even noticing.

When I finally reached the next terrain, which took around four hours into the hike, I felt like I stepped into a Tim Burton movie. It had lush fauna, bare trees and misty air. 

After about six hours, I completed the six kilometers for day one’s hike. This image was taken right outside our cabin’s dining hall and as you can see, we were right above the clouds.

(Tourist Tip: Our rooms were freezing, so make sure you pack extra socks, long sleeve shirts and a windbreaker jacket.) At 2AM, everyone that wanted to climb the summit needed to be up and ready to go. The beginning of the hike started off nice, just like the day before, but it turned out to be even more brutal than the day before.

It was pitch black outside and the hill was really steep. I was working leg muscles I haven’t used in a long time. At first, I needed to take a break every five minutes, then two minutes, then eventually every thirty seconds! With every step I took, I thought I would just give up and go back. I kept telling myself that it was almost over, just keep going over this hill. 

The sun finally started to rise and with that, I saw the top of the mountain in site. I felt as if I was stranded on a deserted island and was finally found by a plane - I felt nothing but pure happiness and accomplishment. 

After another kilometer, I finally made it to the very tippy top! I may be smiling in this picture, but inside I’m crying. I remember asking someone how do we get down, and silly me, it was obvious I had to walk back down the way I came up. 

RELATED ARTICLES:
Climbing Mt. Kota Kinabalu (Part 2): Pushing my body to the limits
Video: Mount Kota Kinabalu: Above the Clouds