slothis · English

Mount Kinabalu Lookout: Hidden by Clouds

2017-12-17 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

After getting back in the car and driving for about another hour, we finally hit the mountain roads. Winding, rugged mountain passes seem to be the same everywhere in the world. But just like how the same main ingredient can taste completely different depending on the seasoning, the mountain scenery is the main dish, and the little details within it act as the seasoning, giving the viewer a totally different vibe. The "herds of cows refusing to yield the road" and the occasional Catholic churches or monasteries we saw on the way up were the perfect seasoning. They were the kinds of sights that suddenly reminded me, "Ah, right, I'm not in Korea." Wait a minute, none of these things belong to an Islamic country, do they?

As we made our way up the long, long road, our driver kept expressing his concern that there were too many clouds. It rained yesterday and was heavily overcast today, so we were constantly worried that we wouldn't be able to see Mount Kinabalu. Still, clinging to the hope that we might catch "even just a brief glimpse," everyone quietly stared out the window. Or maybe we were just zoning out with empty minds. After driving for over an hour, we finally arrived at the Mount Kinabalu lookout!

People leaning on the observatory railing looking at the scenery and a welcome sign
A blue sign with a welcome greeting in Malay and surrounding plants
An observatory with people gathered and a blue welcome sign against the background of cloudy mountains
We're doomed.
A village nestled on the mountainside and a mountain range covered in thick clouds
A landscape of a green mountain range with its peaks hidden by thick clouds
Mount Kinabalu is right over there. They say only good people can see it; I guess I've committed too many sins.
A panoramic landscape of a wide green mountain range and silver grass under a cloudy sky
A layer of gray clouds thickly covering the mountain peaks
A park landscape with a parking lot and a red-roofed pavilion under a cloudy sky
These clouds aren't going to clear up just by waiting a bit.
Thick clouds obscuring the blue sky
A brown dog lying and resting on a tiled floor
Local mutts. They seem to be saying, "Ugh, you idiots."
A Mount Kinabalu information board standing against the background of a thickly clouded mountain range
Let's use our maximum imagination to draw the mountain.
An information board introducing the various peaks of Mount Kinabalu

We awkwardly waited around for about an hour. I became absolutely certain that Kinabalu wasn't going to show us its face. This wasn't a situation where we could even catch a faint shadow of it. Everyone was feeling down when our guide suggested we check out a nearby shop selling handmade bags. He was an Uber driver, but he was guiding us to a shopping stop just like a real package tour. He really didn't need to do this... Do they get a cut if we buy something? Probably not, but since the mountain was too shy to show its face and we had time to kill, we decided to go take a look anyway.

Parked cars, dogs lying on the street, and people in front of a shop
A person walking in front of a street stall selling fruits and various goods
A wooden welcome sign for Pekan Nabalu
People browsing inside a shop selling various souvenirs such as bags and clothes
Isn't this way too much stock for handmade items?
A person is walking down a market aisle densely lined with various souvenirs such as bags and clothes on both sides.
If I hadn't already bought a 10,000 KRW shoulder bag in Kota Kinabalu, I would have bought one here, but I passed since I already had one. Considering they are handmade, the prices were reasonable, but spending 30,000 to 50,000 KRW still felt like a bit too much.
A black dog walking on the asphalt ground between parked white cars.
Seems to be saying, "Oh, you idiots lol."
Two trumpet-shaped flowers blooming downwards hanging from a branch against a cloudy sky.
A large, light apricot-colored trumpet-shaped flower blooms facing downwards among green leaves.
Guess I'll just take pictures of flowers ㅠㅠ

While taking pictures, I thought to myself, "When I get home, I should learn how to edit photos so I can save some good ones." But once I actually got back, I was too lazy to do anything, and looking at the photos, editing them seemed pointless anyway. No matter how I look at it, travel journals like this really need to be written and edited day by day during the trip. Of course, when you're traveling, you're too tired and don't want to do it... To describe the actual situation back then: it was so heavily overcast that it looked as dark as evening, and I instantly knew we were doomed the moment we arrived. I tried my best to get the brightest photos possible, but it seems it was all for nothing. Plus, since I resize the photos to 720px for the blog anyway, they all end up looking the same. I guess the best way for regular people to get good photos is just to take a ton of them on a nice sunny day and hope to get lucky with a few good shots.

I was sitting on a bench zoning out when I heard people speaking Korean. It didn't look like a very famous spot, but I guess it's a regular stop for group tours. A Korean package tour bus pulled up, and a crowd of people poured out. They all excitedly ran toward the lookout, but it wasn't long before they started groaning in disappointment, saying, "What is this~" Still, I was amazed by the older Korean men and women who just laughed it off with a joke. Meanwhile, we were so disappointed we couldn't even bring ourselves to leave.

Expenses (Conservatively, multiply by 300 KRW to get the amount in Korean Won)

Daily expenses: RM 273.95

Total travel expenses: 2,875,000 KRW + RM 1324.78


#Ruined #Kinabalu #IllJustPay700kKRWAndClimbMtKinabalu