Mount Kinabalu

When you in Kota Kinabalu, you should visit Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia. It is also the first Malaysia world heritage, Kinabalu Park. It takes only a two hours drive by car from Kota Kinabalu City.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Mount Kinabalu (Malay: Gunung Kinabalu) is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Kinabalu is the highest peak in Borneo’s Crocker Range and is the hightest mountain in the Malay Archipelago. Mount Kinabalu is also the 20^th most prominent mountain in the world by topographic prominence.

In 1997, a survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low’s Peak) height at 4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sea level, which is some 6 metres (20ft) less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of 4,101 metres (13, 455 ft).

Mount Kinabalu includes the Kinabalu montane alpine meadows ecoregion in the montane grasslands and shrublands biome. The mountain and its surroundings are among the most important biological sites in the world, with between 5000 and 6000 species of plants, 326 species of birds, and more than 100 mammalian species identified. Among this rich collection of wilflife are famous species such as the gigantic Rafflesia plants and the orang utan. Mount Kinabalu has been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status.

Low’e Peak can be climbed quite easily by a person in good physical condition and there is no need for mountaineering equipment at any point on the main route. Other peaks along the massif, however, require rock climbing skills.