Mount Kinabalu

So our Mount Kinabalu trip turned out to be a big letdown. Everything started out all right. We arrived a day early to ensure we did not miss our climb window and had the afternoon to check-in and relax at our lodge. Rain hampered us from doing anything so we watched a couple movies. On climb day we were up at 6am to pack and have breakfast before we headed to pick up our permits and mountain guide. This whole endeavour was pretty pricey for a 2 day 1 night climb at around $700 combined. We saved a bit of money by splitting our guide with a German couple who had also stayed at our lodge. Ready to go, we picked up our bagged lunches, met our guide and caught a short shuttle bus to the start of the climb. Quickly we learned our guide’s English was nonexistent but everything else was going great. Our legs were feeling fresh and rested and we were slowly passing people on the way up…than mother nature decided to have her say. After about an hour of hiking we rounded a corner and could hear a distant thundering noise that was quickly joined by the shaking of trees. EARTHQUAKE! A 4.0 magnitude earthquake lasting about 3 seconds hit the Mount Kinabalu area. Our guide was visibly terrified. A little over a year ago they had a big earthquake on the mountain and 20 people died so we weren’t actually sure what to do next and if we should be worried. We looked to our guide who was absolutely useless. He wasn’t able to communicate any information on what to do. Not sure what to do, we slowly continued on to see if we might run into other guided groups with more information. A short way up the track we congregated with a bigger group and stood around waiting for more instructions from the guides. The guides wouldn’t make a decision which was infuriating because that’s what I thought we were paying them for. The guides were forcing us to make a decision about going up or down. It was a poorly run operation and after a short while the majority of the group in our vicinity decided to head down as a result of lack of information. Ultimately, the earthquake was small and 80% of climbers actually continued and summited and there was no injuries or damage caused. We opted for the safer route, which based on our nonexistent earthquake knowledge was the right decision but we really wish we had a better guide so we could have made an informed decision. Unfortunately with this type of activity you don’t get much of a refund, if any. All we got was accommodations for the night, a couple meals and a small refund after complaining about our guide. The whole thing was a very frustrating experience when you take into account the time, money and effort to get there. Hopefully, our next guide will be better.

It rained all afternoon so we shared a cab to Pouring Springs Hot Baths with the German couple which was rather disappointing and finished the day with a buffet dinner.Læs mere