10 years after my first ascent, I manage to conquer the mountain again in 2001.  I was part of a group of colleagues.  After a decade and certainly no younger, it was a difficult feat considering that I only had two weeks worth of physical training to build up my stamina.  For this trip I had carried  10kg of stuff by myself, which I regretted later.  Learning from that experience, during my 3rd and 4th ascent I hired a porter to carry my belongings.  I’m not sure why I needed so much baggage that time, perhaps I’m used to overpack for the trip.

Anyways, as always I had brought with me a camera.  This this 2nd ascent, I had my Nikon F70 SLR.  I used a Fuji slide negatives.

Low’s Peak. The Summit of Mt Kinabalu

St. John’s Peak

South Peak from the Kinabalu Plateau

It’s been a long time since I last updated this blog. Surely it’s not a good way to start off a new blog.  Anyways true to what this blog envisions to be, that is to portray a 360° view of our best loved world heritage mountain.  The series of pictures in this entry were taken from the beaches of Kinarut.  It was early in the morning when I ventured far out into the bay as  it was low tide.  The sky was clear that morning and I managed to take some nice shot of the mountain.  Clearly you can see it’s familiar outline.  I’m sure when the sea travellers of old saw this magnificent mountain with a sense of awe.  For the medieval Chinese travellers, they might have thought it was the back spine of a great dragon.  Perhaps that was the origin of the legendary mountain dragon and the great pearl it guarded.

During the morning and evening low tides, you may be able to see the locals venturing out into the sandy beach to find for edible shelled creatures.  It’s surely a sight to behold when you get to see a towering mountain every morning.

To the uninitiated visitor, it’s good to take note of the locals as once they start walking back, that’s when you should too.  You wouldn’t want yourself to be caught in the middle of the bay area when the tide comes in.  On the way back to the sandy beach, I managed to take one last shot of the mountain.

I got this entry from Ben’s post.  The still shot from DVD clearly outlines the distinctive features of the mountain.  And clearly when compared to shots taken by, it’s definitely Mt. Kinabalu.  I’m not sure whether the producers gave due credit for using our mountain in their movie.  But for once it’s good to know it’s been significant for the producers to include the shot eventhough for only a few seconds…

When I was young I read a story about the legend of Mt. Kinabalu.  According the legend I read,  a dragon lives on the mountain with the main purpose of guarding a large pearl.  A young chinese prince was given a task to steal the mountain from the dragon.  However he didn’t return to China soon after for he has fallen for a beautiful local girl.  Eventually he had to go back home and had to leave his Dusun wife. The wife was heartbroken and wanders up the mountain to mourn.  She was never seen again.  Perhaps her spirits still lingers on the mountain.

Speaking of spirits, local legend tells of the mountain being the final resting place of those who died.

So what’s your story?  While you’re at it why not share a pic or two.  Don’t forget to register before you contribute.

In the meantime I’m still trying to configure how to allow contributions from others to this project.  Do send me some suggestions - disney[at]gombui.net.