We didn't hear from Robert last night or this morning, so we decided to take a minibus to the base of Mount Kinabalu. It's the second highest mountain in Malaysia, and a major attraction in the Kota Kinabalu area. Robert is our favourite driver. He took us to the Upside Down House, and acted as our photographer. He had a great car, and an even greater sense of humour.
Most people interested in Mount Kinabalu climb it. It's a two-day one-night excursion. We were interested in the trails in the vicinity. There's a whole network, and we chose one that followed a stream (Silau-Silau), followed by the Kiau View Trail. The predicted time was just over three hours for under four kilometers.
The trail descriptions show how people use language differently. Here's how our trails were described.
Silau-Silau Trail: (3057 meters. 60 to 80 minutes) this trail is one of the easier trails in the park and it also one of the most frequented by visitors. There are several entrances/exits to the trail, which gives hikers flexibility in choosing trail length and the time spent hiking. The trail follows a stream running through the park and the moist and protected environment along the trail encourages the luxuriant growth of mosses, ferns and orchids. By starting at the trailhead at the lower road, hikers have the option of joining the Kiau View Trail trailhead (1.5KM mark on Power Station Road) to complete a small circuit.
Kiau View Trail: (2544 meters, 60-80 minutes) this trail is of moderate length and with the exception of the entrances, the route is fairly level. Several viewpoints along the trail provide vistas of the hilly range and nearby Kadazan Dusun village of Kiau. The original trail to the summit, used by last century is climbers, began in Kiau.
Okay, those were almost normal descriptions. Here's the Bukit Ular Trail description:
This trail is seldom used either safe to walk. Hikers will start from the end of the Power Station Road. Walk along the house fence to get into the forest. Hikers can break the journey by joining the power station road down below about kilometer before the power station as it exits near the Kiau Gap shelter or extend it by joining Mempening Trail to reach park headquarters. This trail is a good point to see some secretive and rare birds such as Everett's Thrush and Blue Banded Pitta, both are endemic to Borneo.
The landscape on the first trail was gorgeous. The stream gurgled and flowed; the path climbed alongside ferns, mosses and tree roots. It looked remarkably like any number of trails in Lynn Canyon Park, Goldstream Park or Canada's south west coast in general. There were even trees with the same smooth reddish bark as we see on Arbutus trees.
On the second trail, we walked into fog. The view was hidden from us, but we still enjoyed the walk. It climbed; it dipped. We followed paths that would have been creek beds, had it been raining. We were grateful that it was not.
The real drama came on the ride home. The skies opened, and opened hard. There were spots where a lesser driver would have hydroplaned. Water splashed up so that if pedestrians had been in the vicinity, they would have been soaked in the face. I was more than grateful that we were not on a motorcycle.
Thankfully, we were in a car. When we went to the minibus stop in the morning, the next bus was likely in an hour. We didn't want to wait. A driver asked if we wanted to go in a car. Maybe, how much? 150 Ringet. Sure. He was surprised by the answer. I asked if I should have bargained for 140? He laughed and led us to his car.
Of all the cars we've been in, his was the plainest. 12 years old, paint job looking tired. Seats looking equally tired. It ran well enough, and was comfortable. It was all we needed.
As we were driving to the park, I did the math. If we had taken a bus, it would have been 30 Ringets each way, for each of us. That's 120 Ringets, and slaves to a bus schedule. This way, we were comfortable, had a driver willing to wait or make side trips, and only a tad more expensive. I thought it was a good deal.
As we were driving down the mountain in the pouring rain, I was even more grateful. It started to spit as soon as we left the park. Imagine if we had to wait in a shelter, with wind, waiting for a minibus that may or may not have already been full. They don't usually leave the next town unless every seat is full. I'm not sure where hikers are supposed to fit in.
On top of that, we got to stop at the giant pineapple. In most roundabouts, there is a sculpture that represents the surrounding community. There was a giant pineapple at the bottom of the hill, and another one part way up. We stopped at the higher one.
There were also some large ones at a nearby fruit stand.
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