Namesake

In the centre of the photo, you'll see a mountain. That’s Mount Kinabalu, which Kota Kinabalu is named after. At over 4 thousand meters, Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in Malaysia. To get there, one would have to travel to the Kinabalu National Park at the base of the mountain, about 2 hours driving from KK. Kinabalu National Park is also a World Heritage Site.

A trek up and down the mountain takes about a day and a half, including an overnight stay at one of the accommodation located at the height of 3,300 meters. Climbers would then proceed early in the morning up the peak in time to catch the morning sunset. The its the trip back down to the national park. And yes, you'll need a lot of rest afterwards.

Some people, however, take less than three hours to do this in the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon, the so-called world's toghest mountain race. This year's climbathon to be held on 25-26 August, 2007 will be the 21st version.

Those planning to climb the mountain should visit this website http://www.mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/ A word of caution is that plan your trip many months in advance as accommodation up the mountain is limited. Last minute trips are possible but be prepared to pay extra and worse, be disappointed.

For the curious, the photo was taken from my office window at a public institute higher learning in the city. Sorry for the quality of the photo. Don't worry Mount Kinabalu is an imposing feature over the KK skyline, I am sure better photos showing it can be seen later on in this website.

A footnote: Many years ago, I was born in a small town at the foot of the mountain. My family moved to KK when I was about a year old and we’ve been calling KK home eversince. I've studied, worked and lived in many places and countries, but believe me, KK is always "Home Sweet Home". You can take me out of KK but not KK out of me.