So, we started hiking at about 8:30 a.m. and then we arrived the hotel at 2:15 p.m, which gives us a total of 5 hours and 45 minutes of hike (rest included). And, our porter arrived way earlier than us...! He's so tiny but have mighty strong legs! It's just so amusing to see porters and carriers carrying heavy and big things up when we're on the way hiking. We had lunch at Laban Rata's hotel and then our guide came to our table and told us a few more things for the next day's hike to the summit. Here're the more important ones I've also noted:

• * Hike to the peak starts between 2:00 am - 2:30 am. No later.
• * Headlamp is highly recommended.
• * It is recommended to leave your hiking poles when you hike up and bring sufficient water (I personally needed 1 bottle of 500 ml throughout the trip to the summit and back to Laban Rata).
• * Going up the first part wouldn't be as cold but during the last 2 km it would be really cold. So, bring proper gloves (as aforementioned above), beanie and other necessities you'd need to shield you from the cold (especially if you're afraid of the cold). 
• * Here's a list of what I brought/wore when I hiked up there, that might be useful for you:                        
•    - headlamp and a spare battery
•    - base layer/thermal wear, 1 outer-wear and one jacket
•    - shorts (inside) and 1 long base-layer pants.
•    - 1 bottle of water, 500 ml
•    - camera ( to take pictures of course! :P)
•    - Powerbar
•    - full-fingered cycling gloves (which, clearly didn't help me shield from the cold at all. It was as if I soaked both my hands in ice,cold water. For me, my feet and hands gets cold very quickly.)
•    -Thick polyester sock (Didn't help me when i was on top. My feet was crazy cold)
•    - Sports glasses (Thankfully for these glasses because my eyes were dry from the wind blowing! But the rest of my buddies were not affected, though)
•    -My faithful Columbia shoes :) 

We slept at about 7 p.m. and during the night's sleep, Christine and Calvin was really sick from the altitude. :( Even with the pills, it didn't quite help them. Calvin was vomiting when I was fast asleep and Christine was having diarrhoea. While both of them had their little (unfortunate) date with the toilet, they also heard other hikers share similar fate with them in the toilet. They heard few others vomiting. Both of them didn't quite exactly had a good's night rest but they still manage to get up for our hike up to the summit. 

We woke up at 12:30 a.m. , had our 'supper' at 2:00 a.m. and then started our hike at 2:40 a.m. The hike up was dark and we all depended on our headlamps to get up there. As for poor Christine, she vomited along the way up but thankfully felt better after that. The hike up was pretty steep as we needed to ascend a flight of stairs and rocks. After about 1 km, we arrived the part where it gets a little bit tricky. It's actually also quite dangerous and you'll need to hold on to the ropes as you walk along the cliff/edge of the mountain. But not to worry, listen to the guide and you'll be good. We're also super proud of Ben because he manage to get all the way up and overcome his fear for heights! With some little 'voice-guidance' and 'sight-detour' (Christine made him look at my back and shoes), he made it up. The cut - off time to reach Sayat-Sayat hut is at 5:30 a.m. If you arrive there after the cut-off time, you are not able to continue up. All of us made it pass Sayat-Sayat on time, although we didn't get to arrive to the summit to catch sunrise. 

It was freezing cold when we arrived up there and the guide told us that the temperature up there was about -1°C. No wonder I was freezing my hands and foot off when I was up there! Then again, my hands and feet gets cold first so, it might be a different story for you. We quickly snap a group photo and ascend down. While going down, Calvin was suffering from his tummy ache and so, thankfully for our guide, he stayed with him behind while we hurried down as we were trying to checkout from Laban Rata's hotel before the cut-off time. The check-out time for Laban Rata hotel is at 10:30 a.m. I believe they're doing this so they have sufficient time to clear the rooms for the next batch of hikers to come in since spaces are quite limited. They impose a fine of RM 100 per hour for not checking out on time.

Thankfully, we arrive the hotel quite early, at about 9:15 a.m, in time for breakfast and to quickly pack our items out. We relaxed for a little before our final push-off back to the entrance! We started at  11:00 a.m. and came out at 3:15 p.m. I needed a lot of small breaks in between because my quads were burning! It's as if I had leg day!!!!!  We had to 'leave' Calvin and Ashley behind with our guide (thank goodness for the guide!) because we were trying to get back to Balsam for late-lunch and also to try and get a taxi for us to go back to Kota Kinabalu town. There weren't much left when we arrived and since both our buddies can't get back in time for the buffet, we tried to get some food for them.

Christine got a taxi for us but it costs a lot because its already after 5 p.m. We were told that busses are hard to get after 5 p.m. (and also because it's a Sunday) as the time schedule is not fixed and if you're unlucky, you might need to wait for an hour or 2 before the bus comes. Also, not to mention you had to walk out of the park and cross to the opposite side of the road to the bus station to get the bus. Taking the bus would cost you about RM 2x (I can't re-call the exact figure).We're all also pretty pooped out to walk so, looking at all the circumstances, we spent RM 200 per taxi to get us back to town.

We reached town at about 8 p.m. feeling crazy exhausted and Christine ordered some pizzas for us but she herself couldn't even eat any because she still feels sick and can't eat. So anyway, I slept pretty early, at about 10 -ish pm while the rest were outside the common area mingling with Calvin's Sabahan friend (she decided to drop by, impromptu, because she bumped into calvin while he was out with Ben). 


So, the following day, we woke up, packed and it's time to head home back to our respective home. Just when I thought our trip was over, Calvin, Ashley and Ben got me a surprise little gift! *cheesy grins* Thank you! Ben got the idea when he was looking around at the airport's gift shop and he said he'd get a monkey shirt for me and Ash spotted one, which all of the agreed whole-heartedly that I'm true to the shirt's statement. What you'd say?

Looking forward to another adventure,

Disclaimer: There are many many blogs out that might recommend different from what I wrote here so, just take mine as another piece of advice...! what you ultimately decide to pack and prepare is entirely up to you! :) But you can drop me a message/comment if you'd need help and I'll try to help whenever I can. And no, I'm in no way affiliated to any of the hotel or restaurant that I have mentioned above.