Sabah Trip Day 4: 6 December 2007, Thursday.

We woke up at 2am, set off at 3am, to continue upwards. We still had a remaining 1000metres of vertical height to conquer, to reach the summit before sunrise.

Which means to say, this part of the climb was done in pitch darkness, aided only by our own torchlights. I panted very heavily at first, and slowly my body got used to both the activity and the thinner air at this altitude.

After quite a long while, we reached the edge of vegetation. Which means to say, beyond this height, the mountain is void of all plant life. This part of the climb was most challenging, as we were climbing on rock surface, which could be rough when dry, and slippery when wet.

Finally, at 5:30am, we reached the peak. 4095.2 metres! It was sunrise and we could see how great the view was. Clouds were far, far below, and I felt as if I was on the top of the world.

Here we are, at the peak with our guide. At 4095 metres!

It was also until the sun came out when we realised how treacherous the climb up was!! Spot the rope in the picture below. This rope was the lifeline for all the climbers.

After some photo taking, we started to make our descent. Oh my, descending is much worse than climbing up! First, you have to withstand the immense strains on the knees when you make each daunting step downwards. Next, you also have to overcome the fear of looking down!

My legs were shaking when going down the steep rocks, holding on to just the rope.

Back to the bottom, it was such a relief! We had endured more than 3 hours of knee pain. I wonder how much damage had been done huh.

We left this World Heritage Site and back to Kota Kinabalu City, to the inn we stayed in Day 1. Here, we caught 'The Golden Compass' at just RM 7!