A Precaution When You Climb Mount Kinabalu

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I bet a Gurkha looks cool to folks who have to exert themselves hard to climb Mount Kinabalu in the state of Sabah. People who have seen a Gurkha going up and down Kinabalu are impressed by his effortlessness.

Equally impressive are small size native Dusuns working as porters, carrying supplies to lodgings on the mountain. Both men and women, including old ladies with loads 14 Kg and more, sometimes wearing only slippers.

These Porters Carry Almost Everything

Let me relate to you a rather painful real-life account of a couple who had not prepared well to climb Mount Kinabalu. In accordance to the custom on Kinabalu where nothing's free, I am charging a price for this story- you have to know Bahasa Malaysia or, learn it. :)

Abang, aku tak larat jalan lagi.
Susahlah kita kali ini. Abang tak larat mendukung adinda.
Tunggu sekejap, adinda. Biar abang pergi minta tolong.
Bolehkah saudara mendukung isteriku ke bawah?
Berapakah harganya?
Aduh, mahallah!
Bolehkah kurangkan sedikit harganya?

Aduhai! Aku terpaksa bayar beratus-ratus ringgit untuk membawa isteriku turun dari Gunung Kinabalu.

Click here for the Translation

Folks like Wan who live at the foot of Kinabalu for life know these stories to be authentic. Kinabalu may not be as treacherous as some very high mountains elsewhere, however its height of 4,095m alone merits some healthy respect. You should at least jog a bit before the climb and obey your guide.

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Kinabalu and Porter

There are two versions to the meaning of the word Kinabalu:

It is a short form for the Kadazan Dusun word 'Aki Nabalu',- meeting "the revered place of the dead".

It actually means "Cina Balu" ( which would fully mean "A Chinese Widow"). Due to the lingual influence among the Kadazan Dusun of Sabah, the pronunciation for "cina" was changed to "Kina". This has to do with the legend of a woman who kept on waiting for the return of her Chinese husband in vain on top of the mountain until she turned into a stone.

As usual Kamus Dewan's explanation is not so straightforward with this word porter. The Malay entry for it is : "orang yg bekerja mengangkat barang (di stesen kereta api dsb). You have to turn to the entry: " Pengangkut" to get the English translation for porter. Personally I believe 'tukang angkut' is more easily understood even though it is considered an old word. I chose the definition 'pembawa begej' according to Minerva in the keyword list because the meaning is clearer, however I have not come across people using 'pembawa begej', have you?

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Profile of Kinabalu

Hugh Low, Mount Kinabalu

It is the highest mountain in Malaysia with a summit named... Low. Apparently, Hugh Low ( as shown in the picture on the left ) an English naturalist and Resident of Perak were among the first ones to climb Mount Kinabalu and therefore the main peak is named after him.I wonder why it is considered the highest in South-east Asia as Indonesia has the higher glacier-capped Puncak Jaya at the far end of Papua Province. It can be seen in Kota Kinabalu city which is 45 km away. The forest reserve at Kinabalu area offers a cool refuge from tropical heat. Personally, I haven't seen any of the famous stinky rafflesia. I don't regret it either. There are just too many flora and fauna nameless to me, to admire at. For example, I cannot forget my encounters with the smallest orchid in the world, a moss-like plant that grows to a height of one foot and an equally long milipede there.

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