29th April 2019 – Lebung Lebung to Kinabalu National Park

We were up at 7:30 for breakfast of noodles and rice. after breakfast we went for a short walk and managed to see the top of mount Kinabalu. Our van collected at 9 a.m. and we met up with our fellow travellers.

After a short drive of about 30 minutes we stopped at a small marketplace to buy provisions for our hike. There were some also some good views of mount Kinabalu although by now it was shrouded in cloud.

We drove on and after about another 20 minutes we arrived at the entrance to mount Kinabalu national park. as it was only about 10:30 we couldn’t checking to our rooms so we left a big bags in the reception area and went for a walk. The walk that we did was a bit of a nature trail and our leader Hasif also showed us some of the local flora.

We did a short tour of the botanical gardens and then it was time for us to get some lunch. for lunch we went out of the national park and across the road to a local restaurant where most of us had some sort of Malay or Chinese dish.

After lunch we were able to check into our rooms and we found that we have been upgraded to some of the refurbished jungle lodges. They’re really quite smart with a living area and beds all of which has been recently re decorated.

Peter, Marcel, Ed and I decided it was time for a beer so we walk the shortest answer restaurant area and had a couple of beers on the balcony. The temperature at this altitude is a lot lower than we’ve been used to and it seems it’s only about 19 degrees.

We returned to our room and had a hot shower before meeting everyone else again at 6. We walked back the 10 minutes to the entrance to the park and had a safety briefing including clothing to take and the signs and symptoms of acute mountain sickness!

After our briefing it was time for dinner and we had a buffet style meal in quite a nice canteen.

We walked back to our lodges at around 8, not before picking up a beer to have on the balcony with a few others. However, by 9 we were back in our room and packing for our big trip over the next two days. Tomorrow is a 6km and 1600m upwards walk, with the second day starting around 2am, to cover the remaining 2km and 900m by sunrise! We’re meeting at 7, so we were tucked up in bed by 9.30!