• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Live Limitless

Adventure, Business, Travel

  • About Matt
  • Start Here
  • Travel Hacking
  • Blog
  • The List
  • Contact

sabah tourism

Climbing to the Summit of SE Asia

by Matt 4 Comments

Mount Kinabalu

Climbing 4100m Mt.Kinabalu is one thing; Climbing it with no sleep, a migraine, and minor food poisoning is another.

We had just arrived near the base of of Mt.Kinabalu after 3 amazing nights on the Kinabatangan river. I was excited to climb this great mountain but had unfortunately developed some food poisoning during the last night on the river. My sleeping is generally poor so when combined with mild fevers, strong migraines, and an upset stomach – my sleep was shit.

Mt.Kinabalu

climbing mt.kinabalu

Either way, we were determined to go, especially since we had already paid for the extremely expensive accommodation at the top. When the morning hit, we dragged our asses out of bed, made way to the registration office, and grabbed the mandatory guide to begin our trek to the summit.

Arranging a climb up Asia’s famous mountain is an expensive and somewhat daunting task. The first step is booking the climb well in advance. Space in the mandatory accommodation fills up months in advance and although you can show up and possibly grab the spot of a cancellation, most want to ensure they can make the climb if they come all this way. We didn’t plan on climbing Mt.Kinabalu until just one week prior which meant it was sold out. However, we sent an email to Mountain Trails Tours & Travel who was surprisingly able to arrange the accommodation for us. If everything is full or your on short notice, give Abdul (from Mountain Trails) a call and I’m sure he or someone else can help. Anyways, since all the fees include food, we grabbed our pre-made lunch of white bread with a slice of processed cheese, a banana, and a miniature apple all packed into a tote bag and carried it awkwardly up the mountain. Interesting way to start a mountain climb.

mt.kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu is an impressive site. The three-hour climb to the top takes you up steep and high stairs, passing by different stages of vegetation and pit stops where one can use the bathroom and admire some of the views. Actually, in terms of vegetation, the mountain has more plant species than all of North America (excluding Mexico) and Europe combined. My favourite plant is the unique Nepenthes Rajah which traps and digests insects and small mammals in it’s digestive fluid-holding pitcher of a body.

Nepenthes Rajah
One of my favourite plants

The trek is a hard climb on the legs but an easy one since the trail is completely groomed. Once at the lodge of Laban Rata (3270m), we grabbed our part of the bunk bed, looked outside for some great views (when not covered in cloud), and waited for the buffet dinner at the main lodge. We made sure to at least try going to bed somewhat early since the stars were not visible and because we would be woken up around 2AM.

Laban Rata Kinabalu
Our accomodation for the night

climbing mount kinabalu

When the clock was almost on that second digit, we were woken up by our guide. The weather was awful with rain and wind pelting the peak. The hike was temporarily halted. Disappointed, we woke anyways to eat a light breakfast and hope for better news. Luckily, that news came, and an hour later, we joined our guide to the summit. As we climbed higher and higher in the darkness, we passed by many people who were calling it quits due to the slippery conditions. Actually, we felt it was quite easy and definitely not as hard as the first day. It wasnt quite as steep as day one and it wasn’t hot climbing at night (like it was during the day). As we got closer to the top, we used a rope to scale part of the mountain as we looked down on the small town lights that were 3900m below us. It was beautiful.

mt.kinabalu trek
Doesn’t it look amazing
top of mt.kinabalu
Imagine a zip-line from here to the town

As the darkness fell and the light came out, we approached the summit which is 4100m above sea level. Unfortunately, thanks to the crap weather, we didn’t get a glimpse at the famous sunrise and didn’t have much view of the valleys below. The mountain however was a view in itself with sharp granite peaks poking out and slanted towards the sky. As you stand on the slanted part of the mountain, you can see everyone coming up and the views below. It’s a breathtaking picture.

mt.kinabalu

mt.kinabalu summit
4095m high and no altitude sickness

After the required picture at the peak, we made our way back down for our final breakfast before making the difficult three-hour trek back down the mountain. This was the toughest part as my weak legs (due to lack of sleep, a 15 kg backpack, and the previous day) began to shake. Thankfully, we hit the bottom (not literally) and happy as could be, gave each other a high-five as we made our way back to our guesthouse, where we got ready for our next adventure.

climb mt.kinabalu
Nothing like a big thumbs up to inspire you to keep climbing
climbing mt.kinabalu
Tired but finished

Want to climb SE Asia’s highest peak?

Due to popularity, Mt.kinabalu is usually booked 6 months in advance. With luck, you can sometimes take the spot of a cancellation on arrival but it’s never guaranteed, especially if your with friends. The minimum price to do the climb is around $250/person. If you can’t book it yourself but want to guarantee yourself a spot, do what we did and contact Mountain Trails Tours & Travel. We emailed them just six days before the climb and they managed to get both of us accommodation on the mountain quick and easy. Though, if you can, give them more notice then that.

Pack some warm clothes as it can get chilly at higher elevations depending on the time of the year. I also recommend a head lamp, some gloves, and a nice camera for those picturesque moments. If you don’t have warm clothes like a jacket, you can actually rent them at the base and at the laban rata lodge for a mere $5 or so. We didn’t know this and unfortunately bought some extra sweater which were much more expensive and took up much needed backpack room for the rest of the trip.

Have you climbed Mt.Kinabalu before? or do you want to?

A Night in Abai

by Matt Leave a Comment

Abai Jungle Lodge sunset

It was 7 AM, and although I was exhausted from our elephant encounter the night before, I found myself on a big boat headed down the river for Abai Jungle Resort. The cool thing about the Abai Jungle Resort is that its accessed only by river, giving it a much more secluded and peaceful feel. It’s also the only lodge in the area so there’s no need to share animal sightings with many other boats.

kinabatangan river

Before we even arrived at the lodge via river boat, we had a big surprise. We were greeted by a male and female orangutan sitting on some branches in a nearby tree. I had never seen a male orangutan before so this was really incredible. Using the guides binoculars, I was able to see its massive body, huge head, and human-like goatee. This big creature is 4x stronger than a human and can rip one of us in half. This is when it’s nice to be in a boat. The female was in the next tree watching us stare at her man. You really never know what you’ll see on the Kinabantangan river.

abai jungle resort

As we arrived to the Abai Jungle Lodge, I was greeted by our new guide and shown to our chalet. Owned by the same company as Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge, it too had a beautiful raised walkway going throughout the swampy jungle connecting it to various viewing platforms and sundecks.  It also had a walk-way of beautiful flowers for couples to stroll through.

trip to borneo

After breakfast, we went to the other side of the river for a tour of the local village. Our guide explained to us about some of the local fauna and flora, and how the past generations used them for many things such as natural hair dye and cloth coloring. After seeing the big school and some local houses, we got to plant a tree. Although this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it’s nice to see the government working with the locals to replant what has been torn down. We also had the rare chance of witnessing the unique water-propelled mini-speed boats that just so happened to be getting raced that day. Right before our delicious lunch, we watched these mini-speed boats race up and down the river with one guy availing as the victor every time.

abai jungle resort abai village

Our afternoon cruise proved very good as well. Different than the other river cruises we had previously taken, this one started later so that it ends after sunset, giving you the chance to experience nightfall on the boat. We saw plenty more macaques, probiscus monkeys, tropical birds, and even a huge crocodile, with his dinosaur- like tail lurking out of the water.

As the sun went down, we had a bright full moon luminate the river. We turned off the engine and had some tea and biscuits. Coasting with the current under a full moon while listening to the sounds of the jungle was very soothing to the soul. After finishing our tea, we made way to check out the local firefly trees that are covered in what looks like twinkling Christmas lights. We also dropped in on some sleeping birds and another crocodile before going back to the lodge for another big meal.

abai jungle resort

But even though it was 8 PM, the adventure wasn’t over yet. It was time for our guided night walk that took place over the raised wooden pathway, stilted over a swampy jungle. We saw beautiful lantern bugs (yes, I said beautiful), stick bugs, massive crickets, scorpions, spiders almost the size of my hand, owls, and little sleeping angry birds nestled on branches underneath single leaves to protect them from the rain. When we got back to the room, there was a huge wild pig outside. We watched him from the raised walkway as the staff fed him lots of food. I’m pretty sure this is his home now.

abai jungle resort

All in all, the Abai Jungle Resort was an amazing experience. Situated right in the jungle, we saw wild orangutans and Proboscis monkeys right from our room. No boat necessary. There was also a snake on the ceiling of the living room one of the nights and an owl crying out from a nieghboring tree. We got to see beautiful fireflies and a wide range of insects (my favorite being the lantern bug). The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and the lodge even had Wifi for those who really need to “connect”.

Ahh, Now I’m starting to wonder why I left…

***

Want to spend a night in Abai?

It’s easily accessible by Sandakan (Sabah, Borneo) on a 1.5 hour boat ride. Alternatively, you can combine your trip with a night at their Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge in Sukao, allowing you to see two beautiful places and giving you more time for wildlife spottings. Definitely a highlight of Sabah tourism and our trip to Borneo.

Simply contact S.I.TOURS to find out information and book the trip. If your interested in anything about this trip, please contact them.

Bring binoculars if you can but some guides have some to lend you when animals pop up.

 

 

Footer

About

  • About Matt
  • Contact

Travel Tips

  • Start Here
  • Limitless Travel
  • Travel Hacking

Inspiration

  • Limitless List
  • The Podcast

Courses

  • Your Complete Guide to Canada
  • Canadian Travel Hacking
  • Limitless Travel
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025