Kota Kinabalu (Sept. 25th to Oct. 2nd)

I made it to Kota Kinabalu (KK) with no problem after a 5 hour layover in Jakarta. I met a Malay girl on the plane and we decided to go to the same hostel and split the cab ride. She took me out for a "local" dinner, which was actually pretty good! I don't know that I would have eaten whatever it was that we ate on my own...so I am glad she knew what it was! (soup, some sort of pork with a bread-like fried soy bean thing, and some type of flour pastry - fried of course). Welcome to KK. :)
The next day, I walk the city a bit and figure out how to make my way to Mt. Kinabalu - the highest point in SE Asia standing at 4095 meters. I jump in a small van that leaves when it is full to head to the base of the mountain. After a crazy, squeaky (the van made noises like it was about to break down), curvy, fast drive, I was happy to get out of the van at the park headquarters. (what is with crazy drivers in SE Asia?!)
Of course there is some sort of group in house, and they are sold out of rooms. Not to worry, I walk about a kilometer down the road to some other (dive) place and get a dorm room to myself. Now it's dark and about 8pm and NOTHING is around except stray dogs that bark and try to follow you, so I settle in for an early night...its going to be a big day tomorrow.
I get up early to grab some breakfast and hang out at the headquarters to try and join a small group so I don't have to pay the guide fee myself. It's not long before I meet a Slovenian couple that doesn't mind at all if I join them. We are on the trail around 9am, and begin our 2500 meter, 6K climb. We establish in the beginning to go our own pace, so after the first K, I don't see them again until the top. It's a cloudy day so you can't see much on the way up, but I was so focused on the trail that I might not have enjoyed it anyway! It was a steep climb, with huge steps and a bit of scrambling. I make it to the rest house (where we sleep) in just under 3 hours, and then realized why people start hiking around 11 or 12... There is nothing to do up there...especially since it had just started to rain as I was 1 K from the top, and then down poured once I was inside. Oh yeah, and they don't turn the heat on until 8pm to save power, and they don't run the hot water until 3pm). It wasn't the warmest inside. I am sure that lodge makes a killing off of warm drinks. It was also super windy, which was actually a good thing - it blew the clouds away by 5ish so we could see a beautiful sunset (although it was still way too cold to go outside). Dinner was served at 5, and by 8 they were starting to save power again (because they were finally going to turn on the heat) which pretty much sent everyone to bed - it was going to be an early morning anyway to make it to the summit for sunrise.
Most people left between 2:30-3 to make it the last 2 K to the top... my group and a few others left around 4 so we wouldn't be early. You could hear the wind howling outside, and it just got worse the higher you got - so to be early is to freeze! I thought the hike up was actually pretty fun...the first part had some super steep stairs (just like climbing a ladder), then once we hit the rock face, there were ropes guiding us the rest of the way. It was more of a scramble in some places, which is an adventure with a head lamp! Don't worry, there's no way to get lost as long as you kept the rope in sight. I took shelter behind a huge rock just before the top to wait for the sunrise, then ducked to the other side of the ridge to be protected from the wind to watch the sun come up. The wind is so strong - the clouds are ripping up and over the ridge line hiding the sunrise for a few seconds, then blowing through so we could see it again - it keeps going like this the whole time we are up there. After 15 minutes or so, we decide it is to freezing to stay up there, so now that it is light we start to hurry down. Once my fingers thaw, I slow down to take a few more pictures, then head in for breakfast (Sorry no pics yet, haven't found a fast enough computer! I will post them once I get home). By 8:30am we start to head down (I am now with a new group since the Slovenian couple wasn't having very much fun and left early).
The people in this group decide it is a great idea to go to the hot springs about 45 min away - which is perfect! I was thinking about spending a night in Pouring (where the hot springs were) but it turns out an hour there is enough! We make it back to KK by dinnertime.

Tomorrow I am headed off to explore 3 of the 5 islands in the South China Sea, and hopefully see some turtles!