In the euphoria of the moment.....
...we had this great idea! Why didn't we come back every 10 years to celebrate the anniversary of our engagement AND prove to ourselves that we were still fit enough to reach the summit!! We sealed the deal with a kiss...
TEN YEARS LATER....1996.
By then we were living at Port Solent. We were spending most of our spare time learning to sail on Sundance, but we made sure that we kept our first 10 year anniversary.
We were delighted to find that the climb felt easier than in 1986 and as we left the summit we promised we'd be back in 2006.
As 2006 approached we realised that we were not ideally located to keep that promise. Living on Songline, then on the Pacific side of Central America, Malaysia seemed a long way off. However, a promise is a promise...
25 March 2006 we left Songline in Ecuador and arrived 11,000 miles away in Sabah, East Malaysia four days later. Our first glimpse of the mountain from the aircraft window reassured us that the journey was well worth the effort
And over the next two days we studied our old friend from our hotel balcony and wondered if we were fit enough to keep our date.
31 March dawned bright and clear and we met our guide, Maik Miki, and set off up the mountain
The climb was as beautiful as ever, especially the part through the wonderful cloud forest
We reached Laban Rata, the overnight shelter at 11,000 ft, tired but confident that we would make it to the summit the next morning.
AND WE DID!!!!!
The sunrise on 1 April 2006 was spectacular
and, needless to say, we were ecstatic!
Many people who climb Mount Kinabalu don't even see the summit because it's wrapped in cloud or heavy rain. However we have always been lucky and 2006 was no different with fantastic views in all directions...
On each climb we have also seen the wonderful sight of the shadow of the mountain on the rainforest below. This was in 1986
and this was in 1996
but this year we had the bonus of the shadow capped by a rainbow halo
We have a second tradition that follows the climb to the summit - a visit to Poring Hot Springs to soak our aching muscles!
In 1986 the hot springs were just as they had been left by the Japanese army in 1945. You reached them over a rickety suspension bridge
and sat in big tubs which were fed straight from the springs.
But in the 1990s the springs were modernised and the bridge replaced with a rather safer version
and small individual tiled baths were built with sun shades over some of them
Fortunately they didn't change the surroundings and it is still the most amazingly beautiful spot, surrounded by pristine forest and Barbara's favourite bamboo!
The mountain and Poring Hot Springs are both National Parks so should be safe from development in the future. The mountain is home to many unique endemic species includuing several varieties of carnivorous (insect-eating!) pitcher plant
and an enormous variety of orchids
We love the mountain and are already looking forward to our next visit in 2016!