Part 1 Part 2
They decided to make their way down again and had travelled for about ten minutes when they met Bruce. Ellie was delighted that he had ‘made it’. ‘Oh Dad, you’ve made it, I’m so proud of you’, she said, hugging him. Bruce said that he would go up to the top and then come straight down. He feels now that he should have just walked down with the children, but knowing Ellie as we did, she would have insisted that he complete the climb. As the fog swirled across the mountain, the wind howled and the rain lashed against his face, Bruce decided not to hang about, but get back to the shelter of the trail as quickly as possible.

Part 1
We set off at 08.30 after a breakfast of rice and vegetables, carrying water bottles and snacks such as dried bananas to eat on the way. The younger members of our party rushed off determined to arrive at the rest house at Laban Rata in record time. They were less interested in comparing the changes in flora and fauna on the trail, than overtaking other walkers who had set off before us. At the Timpahon Gate, the entrance to Mount Kinabalu, is a board detailing the times taken by the fastest runners up to the summit and down again. Some have realised unbelievably short times, which spurred Ellie and Kit to climb even faster.

This is the true story of the tragedy in 2001, told by Ellie’s father from his email. It’s a long story. I have divided the story into 7 posts for easy reading. Take your time to read Mr. Bruce James 8000 words write up. Pray the Lord that her soul  will rest in peace.

A very nice and neatly done video by one of our readers. Congratulations, Michelle!

You need to watch it until the end.

Send post as PDF to

Yes. You heard it right. I have been delaying (procrastinating) my book since the past few months as I am doing another project right now. And I think I can create a better book by offering you to be my co-writer cum editor, as I my English is not so good. (I got credit for my SPM English subject).

Good news for all Kinabalu climbers! I managed to get hold of one tour operator that could help me handle the enormous booking request that I received from all over the world. It has been about 6 months since I last stopped the services due to some technical issue, but today, I resume servicing again.

I have also updated some few things in the booking page (like omitted the pricing and cost) and clean up the database of client that I received since 2007 (ha ha ha)…

Courtesy of Mr. Anthony Catherall, he emailed me more photos of Jambatan Tamparuli in May 1960, during the big flood tragedy that had claimed the lives of 2 brave British soldiers and a local woman.

Please read his entry here if you have not read it. Enjoy the photos!

The Landrover emerges from Tamparuli River, May 1960

The Scammel hauls out the Landrover

The extension where the stretcher lay can clearly be seen

The investigation begins

Tamparuli Bridge 1960

Tamparuli Bridge from Kota Kinabalu

The memorial plaque to two brave soldiers

By the way, the photos are copyrighted to Mr. Anthony Catherall. Thank you very much!

The Jambatan Tamparuli post written by Ben Godomon in September 2007 has lead to this historic photos dated back to 1960. Mr. Anthony Catherall apparently found the post and gladly shared with us his side of the story, more than 30 years later today. If you missed his comment, I hereby re-quote his entry:

Yeah… I read it from the newspaper few days ago. Our Sabah’s Minister of Tourism, Datuk Masidi Manjun urged us to vote Sipadan Island as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Although we have not heard any good news on him getting the price of Kinabalu climbing down, I think we should support him and our government vote for Sipadan.

I received an email from one of my good friend during my holiday. Cikgu Ismail sent me a suggestion to write about mystical experience that I had during my trip up the Majestic Mountain of Kinabalu.

Personally, I have never encountered any extraordinary and strange phenomenon and experiences during my several visits up the peak. But then, I heard from few climbers that they experienced some strange event even before they climbed Kinabalu. Some of them are during the climbing and the rest were after the climb.