Mike's Journal

• 19 Nov, Newark
• 21 Nov, Singapore
• 22 Nov, Kota Kinabalu
• 23 Nov, Laban Rata
• 24/25 Nov, Poring / Kota Kinabalu
• 26 Nov, Kota Kinabalu
• 27 Nov, Bangkok
• 28 Nov, Phuket
• 29 Nov, Phuket
• 30 Nov, West Railey
• 1 Dec, East Railey
• 2 Dec, East Railey
• 3 Dec, Singapore
• 4 Dec, Singapore
• 5 Dec, Montreal

23 Nov, Laban Rata

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Tuesday, November 23 –Kinabalu Park HQ – Laban Rata.

Today was an object lesson in the catastrophic shambles that vague plans can come to in developing countries.

Yesterday, we experienced an ominous hint of coming problems during the cab ride. Before leaving KK, we attempted to go to a bank machine. We found two, neither would give us money. One couldn’t read the cards, the other couldn’t access the network. So we arrived at Kinabalu Park in some financial distress. No problem, though, we thought, we’ll just pay with travelers cheques and VISA.

So – in the morning, we go to pay at the park office:

• The Sabah Parks people (for permits, porter fee etc…) don’t take VISA. Nor do they take traveler’s cheques.
• We have – just – enough Ringgits and US dollars to pay them. But that will pretty much clean us out, and leave us in the middle of Borneo with no money at all.
• Sutera Sanctuary Lodge – in the same room as Sabah Parks – does take VISA. But they can’t/won’t take our payment and give the money to Sabah Parks. Nor can they give us a cash advance, as they have almost no cash themselves! The money shipment apparently failed to arrive that day.
• We pay 30 ringgits for a cab ride to the nearest ATM, in a town called Kundasang. When we get there, the machine is out of order.

At this point, I start wondering if there’s a government initiative in Sabah to discourage the use of money.

• With few alternatives, we hand over all our money to pay the park fees.
• They then tell us that to do multiple peaks (as we’d planned) was going to cost two or three times what we’d otherwise have to pay. First mention of this. A very irate Dups storms up to flip out at the park warden, who “wasn’t there”. Lucky for him.
• Then we decide to cancel our second night at Laban Rata, and try to reschedule our night at Poring Hot Springs for Wednesday. Not possible.
• In the middle of the chaos, I discover I’ve lost my wallet. Money, credit cards, everything – gone. After 20 minutes of near panic, I find it while digging frantically through my luggage. I’d absentmindedly stuck it in the bottom of my bag during the endless negotiations.
• Finally, Sabah Parks agree to give us a 200 Ringgit VISA cash advance at a 10 % commission. At least we won’t have to forage for food on the mountain, in addition to everything else.

Sunset and lightning at Laban Rata

So finally we hire the guide, for 1 night, 1 peak, and head on up the mountain.

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