The Drive down the Mountain

"Three little maids from school are we.." Preschoolers

On Friday afternoon I was reunited with Tanya after her diving course in Mabul Island. She was with  Katha, her friend and ex house mate from university who is now a physio in Singapore. We headed straight to Manana where we spent the usual idyllic weekend. The weather was lovely and we swam, read, sunbathed and chatted and just enjoyed the peaceful, relaxing setting although I did hear someone mention that the waves crashing on the beach were too loud! I met the owner for the first time and he was telling me that Manana was going to be included in the Malaysia, Brunei,Borneo Lonely Planet edition next year and he was very unsure as to how things would change. On the one hand it is great for business but on the other hand if lots of people start coming to Manana it will loose the feel of discovering a little paradise away from everything. Travel writers are renowned for ruining places by writing about them and I suppose the same is true about the travel guides too.

The view from our chalet

Sunset

  Anyway on Sunday afternoon we set off up the mountain and were doing fine until we came upon a very bad accident, then another and not long after yet another. There are certainly very bad drivers on the mountain but I'd never seen that many before in one drive. The next car we came across was in the ditch and very soon after we realised what was causing the accidents. Some vehicle had been leaking oil the whole way down the mountain and combined with the rain it was making the road just like black ice. I started going very carefully but as we turned round a hairpin bend the car proceeded to slip and we just went off the road. Fortunately the grass eventually stopped us and there were no ditches or other large things in our way. We were very lucky and there are many corners that have huge drops into the valley below so all of us were a  little shaken. I gingerly backed the car and proceeded to crawl at 2 kph for 10 km to Ranau and much to everyone's relief we made it!
  The girls set off this morning to conquer the peak of Mount Kinabalu and it is a beautiful day so I am hoping that they will have good ascent.

Check the hiking boots!