The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

With a few extra days scheduled into my Borneo trip, Malaysia’s highest mountain beckoned. Mount Kinabalu (4095 m), located in Sabah State in Malaysian Borneo, is the highest mountain between Papua New Guinea and northern Myanmar. Additionally, it is the 20th most prominent peak in the world, just nudging Mt Rainier in Washington State out of the top 20. The Kinabalu massif consists of numerous summits, shown in the photo below, the highest of which is Low’s Peak, the destination for all commercial climbers.

Mount Kinabalu Peaks Map. Can you spot any on my park entrance photo at the top of this post? They do vary some from the different angle.

The popularity of Mount Kinabalu has necessitated a well-regulated system of climbing. Climbers must be accompanied by accredited guides at all times, mostly due to the risk of experiencing altitude sickness. A minimum of two days is required, with a mandatory overnight rest stop midway up the mountain at Panalaban “basecamp.” The number of permits is limited to about 180, the number of beds in several dorm-style accommodations at Panalaban, 6.5 km distance from Timpohon Gate, the usual start point. While that may seem a short way, it is a steep 1400 m ascent (from 1850 m altitude to 3250 m above sea level) that requires on average 5 hours to complete. An alpine start from Panalaban the second morning is timed to enable one to see sunrise from near the summit, another 800 m ascent of often very steep climbing over another 3 km distance. After enjoying the views, climbers generally stop for a rest back at Panalaban, and then continue their descent to the trailhead on day 2. A second night staying at Panalaban is another option. Refer to the highly schematic summit trail map below.

Mount Kinabalu Trail Map. Provided by Borneo Calling, the agency that expertly handled my logistics.

Mt Kinabalu was my first proper mountain climb since the two day ascent of Mt Toubkal, Morocco in 2023 and the three day ascent of Punta Rossa della Grivola in the Italian Alps in 2022. Achieving the summit of Mt Kinabalu – and returning to the trailhead – in two days proved a real test of my endurance. My journey began in Kota Kinabalu (KK) with a 6.30 AM hotel pickup and 2 hour transfer to Mount Kinabalu National Park. We received our climbing permit tags and got a short van transfer to Timpohon Gate where the climb started.

For this post, with one exception the photos are arranged in increasing altitude, NOT chronological order.

Carson Falls through the foliage, at the lowest point on the trail. It’s all up from here!
The Summit Trail through the forest near the trailhead
View back from a canopy opening
My guide, Freendy, leading the way. He has 25 years’ experience guiding on Mt Kinabalu.
The rocky trail heading into the mist. Clouds and low-level fog generally increase as the day progresses. Note the water pipes supplying the shelters with toilets along the path and the park buildings near the entrance.
A Krummholz promontory. Photo taken on the descent.
Pendant Hut, where I stayed the night, a small portion of the Panalaban Basecamp complex. Accommodation included two meals and an early morning snack. Photo taken from Borneo Calling.
Ascent route up the face on day 2 is denoted by the white rope zig-zagging up the right side here. Taken on descent (as it was dark on ascent!)
The day 2 ascent route here features steps with rails and a viewing platform. Taken on descent.
Mountain orchid (possibly Coelogyne papillosa). I had little energy for botanizing, but I thought this orchid, common for a section of the Summit Trail, was worth the effort.
The Vagabond Hiker on Low’s Peak summit with moon. Freendy was a great guide, but photographer, not so much.
Low’s Peak summit photo with Freendy
Dawn on the descent from Low’s Peak. Note the white rope used as a guide. The red light on the right side is likely a ship offshore of KK.

While the 2200 m (7200 ft) ascent of Mount Kinabalu was certainly tough, due more to the steepness and uneven terrain than the altitude, the descent if anything was more challenging. Trekking poles were absolutely required and even two days later as I write this blog from my KK hotel room, my quads and calves are still sore. Nevertheless, not only was it a great experience connecting with other climbers, chatting with my guide, and communing with nature, the climb certainly gave a sense of accomplishment and is one I will never forget.

Like many of the photos above, this entire post has been published out of chronological order. Still to come are two posts from my winter trip, Hikes & Walks in Western Australia and Hikes, Walks & Nature of Southeast Asia. Tomorrow I continue on to Bali for 8 days of R&R before returning to the UK. And who knows, maybe a couple of hikes?

The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking Uzbekistan’s Mountains

Visitors to Uzbekistan usually confine their travels to the Silk Road Cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva, with a day spent in Tashkent where most international flights arrive. While our Mountain Kingdoms group did all that, for 7 days we also trekked around the Nuratau and Chimgan Mountains, visiting remote villages and staying in guesthouses in the former, and enjoying a lake-side resort in the latter.

Nuratau Mountains

A 4 to 5 hour drive from Bukhara are located the Nuratau Mountains. According to Wiki, the Nuratau Mountains are a range of mountains located in Uzbekistan constituting one of the western buttresses of the Gissar Range. They border Aydar Lake to the north, the town of Nurata to the west, the Kyzylkum Desert to the south, and the Sanzar river to the east.

Our four day, 3 night itinerary included 1) a village walk around Asraf village; 2) a hike from Asraf to Uhum village; 3) a hike to view petroglyphs, continuing to Hayat village; 4) and a local hike around Hayat village. Apart from the first walk (where we were nearly benighted due to an inexperienced guide), the walks of 7 to 13 km were rather easy, with no extended ascents and generally good trails. The two British couples that comprised the rest of our group were all very pleasant and interesting, though perhaps not the strongest hikers. Enjoy some hiking highlights along with a couple “city” photos at the end!

Asraf village view on the day 1 local walk. The impossibly late start to the day 1 walk, due to wasted time en-route, made photography difficult, so only this poor photo from my phone is included here.
Looking back at Asraf valley near the start of our day 2 trek. The geology is primarily sandstone and limestone.
View towards Lake Aydar, a large, brackish man-made reservoir from the Soviet era just visible in the distance
A shaded lane in Uhum village
A pleasant valley and stream outside of Uhum village on day 3. The riparian ecosystems were entirely different from the arid mountains.
The petroglyphs we saw on day 3. Although the walk up the valley was very pleasant, compared to those I’ve seen in southern Utah, this one panel of sheep was underwhelming,
Landscape on day 4 outside of Hayat village. Although we did spot a herd of endangered Severtsov’s wild sheep in the tiny nearby Nuratau-Kyzylkum Biosphere Reserve, they were only clear through binoculars.
Spot our group in the hills outside Hayat village
Some hooved locusts near Hayat village. Incidentally, the Hayat Guesthouse was easily the best of the three at which we stayed.

Chimgan Mountains

No question that the Chimgan Mountains were more inspiring that the Nuratau Mountains. They lie about 90 minutes’ drive north of Tashkent, and are mostly known for skiing in the winter, but they are also a popular escape from the summer heat for Tashkentians (?), who comprise about 10% of Uzbekistan’s population. We did 3 day hikes in this area dubbed by Uzbeks somewhat aspirationally as “little Switzerland.” With distances around 13 km and more than 500 m of elevation change, they were definitely in the moderate category, a whole step up from the easy hikes in the Nuratau mountains. Here are the highlights. . .

View from near our high pass trailhead on day 1. Greater Chimgan is on the right, featuring several climbing and mountaineering routes, and is definitely worth a visit on its own. Our much easier objective the following day was Lesser Chimgan, on the left here.
Vista with Lake Charvak on our long descent on day 1. Our hotel was on the lower right portion of the lake from this perspective. Glorious light and clouds make this my favorite photo of this post.
Balcony view from the Avenue Park Hotel across the man-made Lake Charvak reservoir
A zoom view of the mountains to the east as we ascended on our day 2 traverse of Lesser Chimgan. Farther to the east and north are the much higher Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, obscured by clouds on this day.
Greater Chimgan (right) from our ascent ridge. Admittedly almost identical to the previous photo, but I wanted to show another perspective of Greater Chimgan, at 3309 m the highest Uzbek peak in the Western Tian Shan. Please forgive me.
The Vagabond Hiker on the summit of Lesser Chimgan (2099 m). Charvak Lake is below.
Our scrambling descent route on the Lesser Chimgan traverse, the most interesting part of any of our hikes.
Our group on descent. None were really scramblers, but they all eventually made it down safely.
Charvak Lake view on descent. Shortly after this, the hike went off-piste, as our inexperienced guide led us traversing around an animal track rather than descending any one of a number of good paths.
Shuldak Village, at our day 3 trailhead in the Chimgan Mountains. From here we did a loop up a ridge, descending another valley.
Geology along the Shuldak Valley in the Chimgan Mtns, near the start of our hike. Marble has long been quarried from these valleys.
The obligatory flower photo. European Michaelmas daisy (Aster amellus), one of the few interesting flowers I saw blooming this late in the season.
Variegated landscape above the Shuldak Valley
Another landscape pic. Again, pardon the redundancy, but the clouds on all three days hiking in the Chimgans made photography so much more fun!
Like a scene from the Old West: a rail car, a remnant from the mining and quarrying days.

Hiking in these two wildly different mountain ranges added immeasurably to the Silk Road Cities on our 2 week trip to Uzbekistan. To whet your appetite for the Silk Road, here are a couple of the many city photos I took. . .

Evening light on the Islam Khoja Minaret, Khiva
Registan Square, Samarkand, featuring a trio of madrasas: Ulugh Beg (l), Tilya-Kori (c), and Sherdor (r).

To save money, my return flight from Tashkent to London was by way of Tunis, where I enjoyed two action-packed days exploring ancient Roman and Phoenician sites, as well as admiring mosaics at the Bardo museum and wandering around both the beautiful town of Sidi Bou Said and the thankfully quiet (this was a Sunday) Medina of Tunis. If I get ambitious I will post on my cultural wanderings in Tunisia, including the Roman ruins of Bulla Regia and Dougga.

Last week was spent in Portugal’s Algarve, and featured 3 dramatic coastal hikes, the subject of another (shortish) blog post. Meanwhile, tomorrow I am returning to Cornwall to hike another week-long section of the Southwest Coast Path, from St Ives to Padstow.

No worries, though. I will eventually post some photos from these adventures!

The Vagabond Hiker

Walks and Wildlife in Rajasthan

Rajasthan, in northwest India (see map below), is a land of opulent palaces, magnificent forts and deep cultural traditions. There is an incredible diversity of landscape here, including jungle, mountains and desert. On a two-week walking holiday, our group explored this landscape and some of its communities on a collection of treks and heritage trails. We also visited Ranthambore National Park for two game drives. This post will highlight the walks and wildlife, leaving the cultural aspects for the reader to discover on her own. . .

This map (from Encyclopedia Britannica), shows where Rajasthan is located in India.

New Delhi – Lodi Gardens

In my humble opinion, smog-choked, massively congested New Delhi has little to recommend it. However, anyone traveling to Northern India will most likely begin and end their journey in this capital city. I can heartily recommend two things: a portable air purifier for your hotel room, and a visit to the 90-acre Lodi Gardens as a decompression from the stresses induced by this teeming metropolis.

A temple in Lodi Gardens
A common Kingfisher in Lodi Gardens

Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

The Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is a popular tourist attraction located in the Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. Encompassing more than 600 km2 across the Aravalli ranges, this sanctuary offers a variety of landscapes, plants, and animals. It surrounds the historic Kumbhalgarh Fort, also known as the “Great Wall of India,” a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spent two days walking in this sanctuary, the hiking highlight of the trip for me.

A small Hindu temple near the start of our first day’s trek
Hayricks
Ladies, here seen carrying hay, seem to do most of the work
A vista on day 1 of the trek
A tribal village seen near the end of our first day’s trek. December is in the dry season.
Laundry day
Path-side bougainvillea
Our local guide demonstrating a water wheel on day 2 of the trek. These are used primarily for the cows, but benefit all wildlife.
A cool stream in Kumbhalgarh
Lake view with crocodilians (not clear in this photo) and birds near the end of the 2nd day of the trek in Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

Aravalli Hills

This day walk between two tribal villages, although located not far from the Kumbhalgarth Wildlife Sanctuary, had an entirely different feel to it. A wonderful break from all the cities, nonetheless.

Some of our group on the Aravalli Hills walk, Udaipur
Ubiquitous cows
A well-made dry stone wall with steps
A local kid
A lush Aravalli hills vista

Ratnagiri Hill, Pushkar

An overnight stay in the city of Pushkar gave us the opportunity for a dawn climb – up 890 steps – to the Hindu temple of Savitri.

Pushkar city lights
A Langur monkey awaiting sunrise on the summit of Ratnagiri hill . . .
. . . and posing for her photo. I did apologize to her afterwards for the flash.

Ranthambore National Park

This national park is best known as a tiger sanctuary. Also located in Rajasthan, it covers a total area of 1,330 km2. It is named after the historic Ranthambore Fort which lies within the park. Our group went on two game drives, the first in the afternoon until sunset in a couple of small 4×4’s, and the second one early the next morning in a gargantuan truck-type 4×4. I strongly recommend only going on safari in small vehicles.

Driving in Ranthambore on the afternoon safari
Two Chital, or spotted deer
A tiger paw print. Some of the group were able to spot a tiger the next day, but I had sot settle for this print.
A Sambar deer, listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List
A Sloth Bear (perhaps the worst photo of one ever taken). Also listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.
A panoramic view of Ranthambore in the early morning
A red-wattled lapwing
A rufous treepie
A female painted sand-grouse landing on our vehicle. Not being fortunate enough to see a tiger, the birds were the highlight of the morning safari for me.
Ranthambore morning: lake, island, and peacock. My favorite photo of this post.

Of course, throughout these two weeks we also enjoyed much of the local culture, from forts and palaces to a home cooking demo. And temples. Tons of temples. And a mosque or two. The complete itinerary can be seen on KE Adventure’s Heritage Trails of Rajasthan web page. There was even one city that I found enjoyable to visit: Udaipur. It has much to recommend it, as far as cities go – large lakes, the City Palace museum, Jagmandir Island Palace, fine restaurants and hotels, and a noticeably slower vibe than other northern Indian cities.

I will leave you with only one photo from all these cultural journeys. Sadly, unlike all of the previous photos, it was not taken by me, but by another client.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, framed by the Great Entry Arch

Currently, I am in St. George, Utah, preparing for extended* overseas travel, which I promise will include many more hikes and treks in new destinations, as well as some of my favorites in England and Italy. The calendar on the home page of this blog has been updated to reflect my planned travels through September.

In the mean time, I am working on my next blog post, Trekking in Oman. Stay tuned.

The Vagabond Hiker

* – measured in years, rather than months

P.S. In case any of my readers were curious about the air quality in New Delhi, most of the time I was in the city the AQI was above 250, and often above 400, with both pm2.5 and pm10 particles the culprits. See the photo below, taken from my airport hotel in the middle of December.

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