A self employed General Practitioner who lives with his lovely family in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He dedicates his spare time serving people with precious information on climbing the Majestic Mountain of the Borneo, Mt Kinabalu. Reachable at drizad(at)gmail.comThe Unsung Heroes of Kinabalu : Porters & Guides
Ahh… We will not be able to reach the peak of Kinabalu without them. We will cry in agony if nobody help us on carrying our 32kg (~70lb) backpack for our 1 week stay here in Sabah. The Unsung Heroes of Kinabalu.
I would like to dedicate this post to them. I wrote one post on them few months ago, but things seemed to be viewed differently when I captured it myself with my Powershot A470. By the way, this is my 5th post on my trip up the mountain with Special Olympics Mt. Kinabalu Challenge.
One of them carrying a 39kg frozen meat up to Laban Rata. One of them carrying an athlete - Harris, an 18yr old Down’s Syndrome down from Paka to Villosa (oh, he’s a Sabah Park Renjer actually). Others just carrying things that you can’t imagine
Anyway, enjoy the photos!
The gas tank weigh 16kg…
He is carrying a 39kg frozen meat up to Laban Rata.
I am not joking. I snap this porter with an “Adidas Kampung” WITHOUT SOCKS!!! And he even walk faster than me!!!
They are our guides. Look closely. You may think that they are wearing Crocs up the mountain.
The porters who overtook us during the climb.
Yes, they are porters. All of them carrying the weight which are 5x heavier than mine…
Guess what did they carry? GARBAGE! I snap this just about another 100 meters to Timpohon Gate, on my way down from the peak.
They were carrying garbage from Laban Rata Restaurant.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:38 am
I’m speechless. This is so amazing. I’ve never climbed Mt Kinabalu even though I was born and raised in KK. My sister has but these pictures speak so much.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
My sis said they can even RUN to the peak with tank on their back. I can’t believe that….
I take my hat off to them
May 13th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Ur right. They encouraged me to keep going n reached the peak in the dark, help me climbing down sharp rock edge …. And always ahead of me waiting for me, to make sure that I’m OK.
June 15th, 2008 at 10:47 am
there are a wonderful lot of people, honest, helpful and always smiling and greeting climbers despite their heavy loads. By the way, I saw one porter carry a “Washing Machine” during my climb on 8 May ‘08 and he is moving at twice my speed. Thumbs up to them.
June 15th, 2008 at 10:56 am
@ kl chan:
Did you manage to take photo of the guide carrying “Washing Machine”?
Share with us if you have it!!!
June 15th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Several days ago, suddenly my memories took me back through those awesome trails of Kinabalu & definitely the serene ambient of Laban Rata. Today, I received your newsletter & saw these photos. It’s awesome. I tried carrying the gas tank when I was there but only managed to stand & shattered in only 15 seconds!
June 16th, 2008 at 8:14 am
@ shaQ:
Yes, and they are doing it for living.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
nothing much to say….amazingggggggg
June 17th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Big big thank you to all the porters! Without them, climbers can no longer enjoy the hot foods or drinks at Laban Rata and magnificent views of the surrounding to the peak. Thank you so much!
June 20th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
another interesting job ya.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:24 pm
oh yeah … remembered when i climbed many, many moons ago. a young chap probably ard 16 - 17 yrs old carrying gas tank passed by me on the way up ( i think abt half way to Laban Rata) and even before i reached LB, the same boy was already descending!!
and the women porters and my guide who also doubles up as porter (we also have another porter) … simply amazing people.
i can also remember the kindness of my guide when my knees hurt like there’s no tomorrow … he offered his arm to help me down some big boulders and waited patiently for me … his name is Soudi Moyuk (checked my cert!!)