After a pretty awesome dinner we were up around 2am. From there we hiked to the summit and just made it in time. Legs were on fire, slow and steady was the only way.
Wind chill was crazy, I couldn't hold the camera without gloves. My fingers were frozen
<- No it didn't rain, it is SWEAT
Food! after completing the trail down the mountain, I just wanted to eat and relax. Both my knees were stuffed, coming down was extremely harsh on the legs.
Photos from the summit, on the way down.
We checked back into Masada backpackers for the night, we were to set off early in the morning and head to Osaka :)
With our sore legs we struggled up the stairs of the backpackers.
We booked via Amazing Borneo Tours, and it went perfectly. No issues what so ever.
We opted for the KK climb and the via ferrata (A via ferrata (Italian for "iron road", plural vie ferrate or in English via ferratas ) is a protected climbing route found in the Alps)
We stayed at Masada Backpackers for the night, the tour group picked us up at ~6am (if not earlier).
I would easily recommend both, the backpackers and the tour organizer.
Lots of steps the whole way
He has the biggest legs I have ever seen in my life, he didn't drink any water and had smokes every half hour while we slowly died.
My Previous Plan
6/26/13, 3:28AM we checked in
We didn't arrive in KK until around ~7pm
We had a few hours to kill in the airport, we had to checkout of international and into domestic
Do note if you don't checkin online for domestic flights you get hit with a surcharge, I think it was about 15RM
My friend didn't have currency, we had to wait till they finish their break :(
FAIL ANDREW LOL
The small City of KK
Sabah Island, must come back for more!
Dinner is served.
We stayed @ Masada Backpacers, convenient location and fairly clean and cheap i give it 7/10
3 countries & 1.5 peaks in a week
- elevation gained on foot 3965m (base start isn't sea level)
- 4095m peak @ Kinabalu 27/06/2013
&
3300m @ Fuji 4/7/2013 (476m short of summit)
- 35km of mountain trekking (not including Koyasan & Wakayama)
#Perth to Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu (26/6/2013)
[Day 0 W]
-> Perth to KL to KK
-> Couple hours wait, time for Lunch
-> Left Perth early, arrived KK late (Long Day)
-> KFC @ KK Airport, late night snack
-> Dinner in a small place in KK - Nasi & Grilled Chicken
-> Shopping for Hiking supplies - water, dried food and some other snacks
#Kota Kinabalu
[Day 1 T]
-> 6am - Early start off to Mount KK
[Day 2 F]
-> 2am - KK - Pendant Hut @ 3,280m to the Summit
-> Hike down, arrived back to Masada Backpacker (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah)
#Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur to Osaka
[Day 3 S]
-> Epic long day
-> Airports, buses, taxi
#Osaka
[Day 4 S]
-> didn't arrive to Odori Guesthouse until ~3am
-> Thanks so much to Kinki and Ayumi, waited up for us
-> Sleep
-> Awesome breakfast @ Ichiban!
-> Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN
-> Dinner @ Odori - Pasta!
#Wakayama (couple hours)
[Day 5 M]
-> Day trip to Wakayama Castle/Ōta castle
-> Bicycle ride to get Saga beef
-> Dinner - Pasta made by me, Kobe & Saga Beef by Boss Lady
-> Sentō - Japanese communal bath house
#Osaka to Koyasan (maybe 3hours)
[Day 6 T]
->train and chairlift to Koya
->walk the mountain and the tombs
#Koyasan to Shizuoka (half days travel)
[Day 7 W]
->5am for morning prayers
->check out the temples
->set off for Shizuoka
->Dinner with Madoka-san and mum
->Long hard pack for Fuji
#Shizuoka to Fuji (few hours)
[Day 8 T]
->after a few hour sleep we set off, first thing 5am
->Shizuoka -> Tōkaidō Shinkansen -> Mishima -> Tōkaidō Main Line -> Numazu -> Gotemba Line -> Gotemba station
-> Taxi to Fuji ~5,000Y (no convenient buses, start too late in the day)
-> the fight for our survival begins
#Fuji to Shizuoka (few hours)
[Day 9 F]
->stay all morning till lunch time, no signs of weather clearing :(
->had to abandon the reach to the summit ~400m short
->back to Shizuoka
#Shizuoka to Tokyo (few hours)
[Day 10 S]
->breakfast & laundry
->set off for Tokyo, struggled to find accomodation
#Tokyo to Shizuoka to Osaka (half days travel)
[Day 11 S]
-> Took my mate around the usual hot spots. Shibuya, Akihabara, Shinjuku
-> Set off to pickup our luggage bags in Shizuoka
-> Train to Osaka
#Osaka
[Day 12 M]
-> Andrew left with the morning train to the Airport and set back to Perth
-> I went shopping in Shinsaibashi (心斎橋) is a district in the Chūō-ku ward of Osaka
-> RnR
-> One of the best dinners I had, super juicy steak, fatty was so creamy and the flavour!
-> Topped off by a cake made by Kinki
#Osaka to Aso-san (half days travel, maybe more)
[Day 13 T]
-> 9th of July
-> Set sail for Aso-san!
->
Shinkansen down south to Kumamoto, it was a super beautiful way to
travel from Shinkansen to old railways (Kyushu Railway)
-> Climbing altitude +400m by train
-> Checked into Base at Aso-San: Aso Base Backpackers then went to find some Ramen and Gyoza
-> Hired a bicycle and tried to climb up Mt Aso, I got about 3/4 of the way, AMAZING country side
#Aso-san to Yufuin (few hours)
[Day 14 W]
-> Morning research, where should i go and how should i do it?
-> Wanted to try some famous pastry shop in the area, bought some random cakes like a Madeleine
-> Took the bus up to Aso-san, got off early and took the trekking route up to the volcano (I think i climbed Kishimadake)
->
Attempted to hike to Mt Nakadake (1km away from Nakadake), I had to
turn back to get back to Aso to catch the last train to Yufuin, Oita.
-> Dinner @ Yufuin - Lucky they had an English menu haha
->
Checked into Yufuin Country Road Youth Hostel. A very long walk from
the station with my 30kg pack. I took a Taxi. Approx half hour walk
#Yufuin
[Day 15 T]
-> Walked around the whole of Yufuin. I was too wrecked to climb any moutains.
->
I had a burger made by some Yakuza looking guy, he was riding a
modified zx6r from memory. I hadn't seen to many custom bikes in Japan,
especially big bikes
-> Dinner @ the guest house
#Yufuin to Hakata to Miyajima (half days travel)
[Day 16 F]
-> Set of from Yufuin around 8am
-> Went to Hakata to watch the Hakata Gion Festival, I went to watch a movie as well (Pacific Rim), had to wait for the festival to start
-> Set off to Hiroshima > Miyajima
-> Checked into Miyajima Backpackers
-> Okonomiyaki for dinner, a local specialty of Hiroshima
#Miyajima to Osaka (couples hours)
[Day 17 S]
-> First off in the morning to Miyajima Island by ferry to explore
-> Picked the hardest route up Mt Misen, one of the hottest days in Japan
-> Got lost and ended up on the other side of the island, took hours to get back & i saw no one :)
-> Set off to Osaka, I couldn't find any accommodation anywhere for Saturday night :(
-> Lunch in the Hiroshima station, ahhhh so good after a hard days hiking
-> Odori was lucky enough to let me stay in the living room of the guest house, absolute life savers
-> Soba for dinner AMAZING YUM @ Odori
-> Then to Japanese bar for a pint of Asahi and assorted condiments
#Osaka to Nagoya to Matsumoto (half days travel)
[Day 18 S]
-> No rest for me, set sail to Matsumoto
-> Osaka > Nagoya > Matsumoto
-> Checked into MBP Matsumoto Backpackers
-> Hiked Matsumoto looking for water springs, Castles and high points for photography
#Matsumoto to Nagoya to Osaka (half days travel)
[Day 19 M]
-> Went off into the Northern Alps @ 5am
-> Did a 6km+ hike but didn't see anything worthwhile, I need to come back and camp in the alps I believe
-> Train back to Osaka!
-> Checked into Odori
#Osaka to Korea
[Day 20 T]
-> Knife shopping and Takoyaki!
- I wanted to visit Kyoto just to get Nishiki Market / Aritsugu knife shop (the original, unlike the Tokyo shop), but not enough time before the plane
- I went to a local market where all the restaurant people shop for items, this is where i bought my Santoku, south of Namba will take you to Shinsekai
