110
{
}
B O R N E O ’ S U P H I L L B A T T L E
PHOTO
JOSHUA MCCULLOUGH (LACE THORNBERG)
AS FAR AS
mountains go, Mt Kinabalu
is a surprisingly easy sell. When my
friend Jun asked if I would like to join
him and climb the highest peak in
South-East Asia, he knew I wouldn’t
say no. Just as I knew my friend Josh
would have to say yes if I asked: Would
you like to see the
nepenthes rajah,
the world’s largest carnivorous plant? I
love all kinds of wild flora, but it’s Josh
who is the true plant geek. His reply
was: It was the magnolias that first
brought my attention to Kinabalu but
with the nepenthes rafflesiana, who
could resist?
For plant lovers, Kinabalu’s lure is
especially strong. It has abundance,
variety, a few “world’s largests” and,
most exciting, a high number of
For plant lovers, Kinabalu , s lure is
especially strong. It has abundance,
variety, a few “world , s largests” and
a high number of endemic species
Lace proudly rests
her bum after
completing the climb
endemic species — including 800
orchids, 50 ferns and five pitcher plants
—
that can be found nowhere else on
Earth besides this swath of Sabah,
Malaysia, somewhere outside the
boundaries of Kinabalu National Park.
All this biological richness led UNESCO
to include the park to its list of world
heritage sites in 2000.
Only after booking our plane tickets
did we learn of the monopoly existing
on the mountain. You must book your
trip through the Sutera Sanctuary
Lodges (
,
must dine in their restaurants and sleep
in their lodges. No tenting is allowed.
Surprised by the lack of options, we
scoured online forums in search of a
way around paying their hefty price.
Conquering the entire climb in one day
was discouraged, but seemed possible
if you could hustle. In the end, we
decided a one-day approach wouldn’t
leave enough time for photography or
enjoyment, shelled out the PHP7,525
per person and went on to eat
pancit
canton
for the next two months.
Grasslands, shrublands,
alpine meadows
“
Your guide’s name is Sofrey. He’s our
fastest guide. In fact, he’s the fastest
Trail of superlatives
Any way you measure it, Mt Kinabalu is tall. Low’s
Peak is 13,435ft above sea level. It is simultaneously
Malaysia’s high point, Borneo’s tallest mountain and the
highest mountain in South-East Asia. It is the world’s
21
st most prominent mountain. It’s also one of the most
important biological sites in the world. Scientists have
identified more than 5,000 plant species, 325 species
of birds, and 100 mammalian species, including the
orangutan, on the mountain and its surroundings.
When you start the climb at dawn,
you could see a string of lights
winding its way up
