June 17, 2008

Summit of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Location: South Peak, Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (6° 4' 59"′N, 116° 33' 17"E)
Date: 15 November 1999; 5.45am
Camera: (analogue) Canon 500N with slides and scanned

Mount Kinabalu at 4,095m had been regarded for along time as the highest mountain in South East Asia (SEA). However that is actually incorrect. It is in fact only the 5th highest mountain in SEA. The highest is Hkakbo Razi (5,881m) in Myanmar followed by 3 peaks on the Indonesian territory of Irian Jaya- Puncak Jaya (5,030m), Trikora (4,751m) and Mandala (4,701m). However some experts asserted that the last 3 peaks are not technically considered "Asian" since they are located on the Australasian rather than the Asia Plate, though politically they are part of South East Asia. Anyway Kinabalu is still the most accessible of the highest five SEA peaks.

Until a couple of years ago, most trekkers used the Kinabalu Summit Trail starting from the Park HQ to reach the summit and backtrack the same way down. It is now possible to do a loop using the slightly more challenging Mesilau Trail, which is more pristine.

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1 comment:

Jinghui said...

Very beautiful photo of Mt Kinabalu Summit, went up there in December 2007.

Great experience and love it when I was up there !

Brought back great memories !