Today was the start of our climb up Mt. Kinabalu.

After getting ready and another good breakfast together, the group split into two parts. One group – Team Turtoise – left for the supposedly easier Summit Trail, the other group – Team Bullettrain (incl. myself) – for the Mesilau Trail.

Destination of the day – for both groups – was Laban Rata, the mountain’s big resthouse at 3272 meters above sealevel.

Getting up was hard work … the distance from the startpoint to Laban Rata on the Mesilau trail is about 8kms, the start point is located at about 2000 meters above sealevel … combined with many uphill, but also some downhill sections – a quiet challenging hike.

While we got higher during the hike, the air got thinner – but also more and more opportunities to look back and enjoy the view came up – still a challenging, yet more and more rewarding hike