SABOREANDO BORNEO DESDE LAS ALTURAS - A TASTE OF BORNEO FROM ABOVE

Después de vivir y viajar un país durante 3 meses, cuesta despedirse. Quién nos lo iba a decir, Filipinas nos recibió con los brazos abiertos en todos los sentidos. Pudimos explorar sus islas y rincones; encontramos poco turismo en comparación con otros países del sudeste asiático, lo que hace que todavía conserve su "autenticidad" y puedas interactuar con los locales de manera normal, sin ser perseguido por los caza turistas y sin que te hagan sentir como un dólar caminante; y además, Filipinas nos enseñó que el trueque en Asia también funciona. Crucemos los dedos y esperemos que este país no cambie como lo han hecho otros…

After living and traveling in a country for 3 months, it's hard to say goodbye. Philippines was a great country to explore, few tourists, great people and rewarding remote areas where you can really mingle and integrate with locals. Tourism in the Philippines isn't as big as it is in other south east asian countries. Thanks to this, the country still feels authentic, unspoiled and is  still a great place to discover. One thing is for sure, in three months we were never encountered by any touts, or felt like a walking dollar. Lets hope this remains this way for a long time.

Cogimos un vuelo de Cebú (Filipinas) a Kota Kinabalu ("KK", como lo conocen en Malasia Borneo). Llegamos muy tarde, sobre las 3 de la mañana, y la compañía aérea había perdido la mochila de Miguel. Durante los 4 días que tardaron en recuperarla, tuvimos tiempo de leer e informarnos sobre el país, conseguir el visado para Indonesia y degustar la comida malaya, una auténtica delicia. La mezcla cultural que hay en este país, chinos, hindús, malayos… ha contribuido a crear una gastronomía única. Si lo comparamos con Filipinas, donde el cerdo y el arroz eran el plato principal y las raciones eran bastante pequeñas, Malasia fue nuestra salvación. Laksa, distintos tipos de noodles y arroz, pescado a la parrilla, sabrosas salsas, raciones enormes y a buen precio. Malasia es uno de esos países donde volveríamos, simplemente, a comer.

Once we said goodbye, it was time to take a flight from Cebu city to Kota Kinabalu, or KK as many people know it in Malaysian Borneo. We arrived to the city way too late at night, and Miguel's luggage got lost along the way. With a lot of time to kill in the city we had time to get informed about the country, get our visa for Indonesia and sample our first plate of extremely delicious Malay food. This is the first thing we can talk about Malaysia. Comparing it to Philippines, the food here is still at a good price, and much more voluptuous, varied and "DE LI CIOUS!" Great food is available anywhere! Laksa, noodles in many different styles and colors, rice in all its variations, grilled fish, fried, steamed. The mixture of cultures makes malaysia in general an amazing culinary experience. To be honest it's one of those countries that we would just fly back for a day, in order to sample one of its fine plates.

Pero dejando la comida a un lado, Malasia está dividida geográficamente en dos partes, la península y Borneo. A su vez, Borneo se divide en otras dos partes: Sabah y Sarawak. Nosotros aterrizamos en Sabah y pronto nos dimos cuenta que esta parte del país está repleta de jungla. Allá donde vayas, aunque se trate de una ciudad, la jungla siempre está presente, bordeando el espacio que los humanos le han robado. Lo único malo de esta parte del país es que todo aquello que quieras hacer necesita ser contratado por adelantado en una agencia de turismo, y por supuesto, estos tours no son en absoluto baratos. Por ejemplo, bucear en el famoso Sipadán, una de las joyas del submarinismo descubierta por Jacques Cousteau: 200€ por persona sin tener opción de hacer un paquete más pequeño y económico; aventura en la jungla descendiendo el Río Kinabatangan: 100€/persona al día; el Monte Kinabalu, el pico más alto del Sudeste Asiático, 2 días para conquistar la cima y una noche en el refugio de la montaña, 250€ por persona. Lamentablemente, Malasia Borneo no está hecha para el mochilero de bajo presupuesto.

Investigamos diferentes opciones para intentar solucionar el problema de la mejor forma posible, y descubrimos que podíamos ascender el Monte Kinabalu por un precio módico. Eso sí, realizando la aventura en un solo día. Así que, una vez recuperamos la mochila de Miguel, nos dirigimos hacia allá. 

En las afueras del parque hay multitud de alojamientos asequibles. El que elegimos nosotros, "Mt Kinabalu Lodge", no estaba nada mal, situado en mitad de un verde valle con vistas espectaculares.

Food aside, Malaysia has two interesting parts, the peninsula and Borneo. The later is divide in two parts in itself, Sabah and Sarawak. All three differ from each other like most countries in Europe. Sabah, where we landed is beautiful. It's all covered in pristine Jungle, "the highest peak in South East Asia", amazing diving and jungle adventures. The only drawback, everything requires a package tour and let's face it, these tours are seldom cheap. One of our aims was to dive in Sipadan, one of the gems discovered by diving god Jacques Cousteau: 200€/person… "we will have to skip this one." Another option was to have a little jungle adventure down the Kinabatangan river to spot animals and do the typical jungle thing: 100€/ day… "ok, we could leave this one out too." Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in South East Asia, 2 days to make it up and down the mountain and conquer its peak over 4000m: 250€ per person… "this can't get any worst."

So what could we actually do? Well, investigating some more we found out that we could do one interesting adventure: ascend Mount Kinabalu for a lot cheaper by attempting the summit and descending the mountain in just one day. We discovered that what boosts the prices up on these tours are the first and second base camps, costing over 70€ per person, per night, with food included, not to mention the commission the agencies have to make. We decided to try and go to the base of the mountain, find a cheap place to sleep and see exactly how much cheaper this more challenging option would be. Once Miguel's bag was back in his hands, we both decided to take a public mini van to the entrance of the park and look for a place to sleep. There are plenty of economic options outside the national park, ours in particular was not bad at all. Hidden away in the middle of a valley, with no noise pollution, great views and very friendly staff the "Mt Kinabalu lodge" was a great little gem. That same afternoon we also managed to discover how to climb the mountain. For 30€ per person in a group of three, we could attempt to make the summit if weather permitted it in one day. It seemed that the next day, we were going to attempt turning into a mini version of Carlos Pauner. That night we went to bed early, we would need all the strength possible.

Al día siguiente, a las 7 de la mañana, ya estábamos en la oficina del parque cerrando todo el papeleo y conociendo a nuestro guía. Nos explicaron que deberíamos ascender 2.095m en 8,72km, lo que no iba a resultar nada sencillo, pero se olvidaron mencionar que la subida estaba repleta de escaleras. Si, así es, alguien tuvo la magnífica idea de poner, nada más y menos, que 2.500 escalones. ¡Demasiados! 

The next morning we were at the park's main office early at 7am where we were introduce to our guide. We would then take a mini van to the beginning of our route at an altitude of 1981m.a.s.l. From here we would have to ascend 2095m in 8.72kilometers. Whoever has climbed before, they will know that 2114m in 8km means its a constant, steep climb and above all, not easy. With our bags packed with warm gear, food and water we started the climb, well actually, the walk up the stair case. Yeah, that's right someone had the "great" idea of putting stairs practically all the way to the first base camp of Laban Rata, in total, we've read there are 2500 of them, but we were more inclined on making the summit, rather than counting the exact amount of stairs. One way or another there are way too many of them.

El paisaje iba cambiando según ascendíamos, comenzando por una jungla espesa con alguna que otra cascada, siguiendo por un bosque húmedo, para terminar convirtiéndose en monte rocoso, donde no crece mucho debido a la altitud. Nos llevó alrededor de tres horas y media alcanzar el campamento base de Laban Rata, donde la mayoría de la gente hace noche y descansa para alcanzar la cima al día siguiente. Nosotros, en cambio, debíamos continuar. En ese momento, el clima era penoso, totalmente cubierto de nubarrones y neblina que no dejaban ver prácticamente nada. Cruzamos los dedos y deseamos con todas nuestras fuerzas ver algún claro en el cielo, algún rayo de luz, pero todo fue en vano. Continuamos nuestra ascensión a la cima, las escaleras terminaron y nos tocó escalar. Empezaron a caer las primeras gotas de agua, y las rocas comenzaron a volverse resbaladizas, obligándonos a ir tan lentos como cuando subimos el Volcán Cotopaxi en Ecuador. Cuando solo nos faltaban 400 metros para alcanzar la parte más alta, la lluvia se convirtió en prácticamente granizo, y el viento empezó a soplar con demasiada fuerza. Seguir subiendo era una locura y, a pesar de todo el empeño y esfuerzo que habíamos puesto para llegar hasta allí, tuvimos que admitir que había llegado el momento de abandonar. Lo hablamos entre todos y acordamos que ya era suficiente. Luchar por algo no significa ser imbécil. Así que, muy a nuestro pesar, dimos media vuelta y comenzamos el descenso.

We started our climb in the jungle and slowly went higher and higher. The jungle turned into cloud forest and the temperature started descending. Every 500m there were signs informing us of our progress, this was great as you actually saw how fast or slow you where moving. We kept on climbing and the steps kept on coming, but we were determined to make the summit no matter the price. It took us a good three and a half hours (more or less) to make it to Laban Rata. At this point the vegetation had turned very scarce. Bushes and no trees, we could really see how oxygen was slowly getting thinner and thinner. Once in Laban Rata we took shelter, rested a good 30 minutes and had a bite to eat. We had ascended 1291m and only had 823m more to go. At this point the weather had started to get worse, but we only hoped by the time we left the shelter, that there would be a break in the clouds to be able to make the summit. Hopefully, with great views, sun and a bit of a higher temperature. "(with the windchill factor the temperature had dropped considerably forcing us to put most of our warm cloths on). Once we left the shelter, miraculously, there was that break in the clouds we had hoped for. This is mother nature, we thought, it does what it pleases when ever it wants. But as most mountain climbers know, this break can be quick, as the climate can change in a matter of minutes.

We attempted the final ascent with a miraculous sunshine, only to disappear in a matter of minutes. The steps finally stopped coming at us as we managed to make it to the final stage of the mountain. At this point there was no path nor stairs, but a series of ropes to help guide you up. Holding on to them firmly we proceeded up the mountain, the way got steeper and the clouds came in completely covering our path. The clouds came with a light drizzle making the temperatures descend even more thanks to the wind. We could now feel the altitude and its effect on our bodies, we grew tired and weak, but our minds were only thinking of one thing: the summit. We rested in the middle of the clouds and drizzle eating whatever we had to regain some strength. We managed to climb 400m more, and only had 400m more until the summit. it was at that point that the light drizzle turned into full out rain, the wind pounded on our faces and the temperatures got as low as the day we trekked up the Cotopaxi when it snowed. It was at this point were we grouped up with everyone just 800m distance (not altitude) from the summit. The weather was getting very aggressive and making the summit could be possible, but what started worrying us now was the way down. The slick, bare rock which was dry on the way up was completely wet now, making the surface much more slippery than usual. We looked at each other and agreed that this had been enough. One thing is to persist and another completely different thing is to be stupid. At this point we could barely feel our hands because of the cold temperatures and our cloths were starting to get wet. It was time to accept that we had been defeated by the mountain and we now had to set our minds to get down as quick as possible.

Al principio resultó sencillo, nos deslizábamos por las cuerdas teniendo cuidado de no resbalar, y después, comenzamos a bajar las escaleras. Pan comido, pensamos en aquel momento. Pero cuando creíamos que lo más duro ya había pasado, nuestras rodillas comenzaron a ceder bajo nuestro peso y la bajada se convirtió en una agonía. Demasiadas escaleras para un solo día. Nos sentíamos como personas de 90 años, sin poder creer lo imposible que nos resultaba bajar un simple escalón. Muchos de ellos nos hacían caer de culo, haciéndonos sentir cada vez más débiles. Improvisamos bastones con ramas que nos encontramos por el camino, y totalmente encorvados, continuamos el descenso. Nos llegó a costar una hora, bajar un solo kilómetro. Nos animaba saber que no éramos los únicos, y que incluso la gente que realizaba la ascensión en dos días, sufría el mismo problema a la hora de bajar. La verdad es que el descenso fue una auténtica tortura. Nos costó tres días recuperarnos, y cinco en volver a subir y bajar escaleras de manera normal. 

Afortunadamente, una cena caliente y una buena cama nos esperaban para descansar. Eso sí, ¡nuestro alojamiento lo teníamos a 2 kilómetros de la entrada del parque! Aquello, aún no había terminado…

The descend seemed very easy, with a little fall every now and then, but nothing too dangerous or serious lucky enough. Thanks to the ropes installed there was always something that avoided a worse fall. We made it to Laban Rata to get warm again and have a quick rest, eat the last of our food and continue down the mountain. With a quick pace, we made it 4km down the mountain, half way to our starting point. At this point something very strange happened. Our knees started getting wobbly and to give way. This made us go slower and slower but more insecure with every step. The more we descended the weaker we got. At one point we looked and felt like old people walking with no control of their legs or feet. "What is happening to us?" we thought. Every step became more aggravating and insecure. The signs every half kilometer, that were once there before, to show your progress, where now torture. When an hour passed you had noticed that you had only walked 1km. We felt hopeless, but again, with one goal: to get off the mountain no matter what. A this point we had to make makeshift canes to help us. Time went by fast and the distance left seemed to be the same. We discovered with this experience two things: 1 Mountain climbing is a very physical effort, but we also understood that it is psychologically demanding. 2 People always think of the ascent as the difficult part, but its the way down which is the most dangerous as you use up both psychological and physical energy to go up, but completely forget about the way down. This is where most accidents happen. 

Luckily for us nothing serious happened apart from having the worst muscle pain we have experienced in our lives. We were scared to walk up and down a step for the next 3 days. Luckily enough we made it to the bass of the mountain and straight to a local restaurant to eat a rewarding, hot meal. We had attempted something we had never done before and looking back on it we are proud of the effort we did. We spent the whole meal talking about the experience, the efforts and struggles. And as night time came upon us, we had forgotten one little detail. We were in our cool little mountain lodge secluded in the valley with a clean warm bed waiting for us, the only detail we had forgotten was that the hostel was 2 km away. It seemed to be that our little mountain adventure hadn't finished quite just yet.