Oh, so that’s why it's called a rainforest

Just over two hours north of the city of Kota Kinabula is Mount Kinabula, the tallest peak in Southeast Asia. Despite its height, Mount Kinabalu is very climbable and is a very popular destination among tourists. Even though we weren’t planning on making the ascent to the peak, we planned on spending two days in the National park on the slopes of Mt. Kinabalu. It is one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world and is listed as one of 700 World Heritage sites.

As we walked from our low-budget hotel to the park entrance, it drizzled. Once inside the park’s welcome center, we waited for the now-steady rain to subside. Finally we ventured out on our two-hour hike through the jungles of Borneo. It rained on and off. After our first hike, we bought thin, overpriced rain ponchos before heading out on our second hike of the day. They helped. A little.

Hiking in Mt. Kinabalu offers some of the most amazing views in Southeast Asia. We didn’t see a single one of them. For the entire twenty-four hours we were on the mountain, a cloud bank obscured the view.

After a morning of soggy hiking on day two, we sought refuge from the incessant rain by ducking in to the interpretive center (does anybody call them “museums” anymore?). Aside from the lonely attendant behind the desk, we were the only one in the small heritage museum.

Previously, we had gotten conflicting information from some locals about whether this was Borneo’s rainy season or whether it was the dry season. After we had had our fill of diorama’s of Malaysian fishing villages, we decided to take the opportunity to clarify just exact which season Borneo was in.

We asked the attendant behind the desk. She said it was the dry season. We told her that someone had told us earlier that it was the wet season. As politely as possible, she assured us that it was the dry season. Julie off-handedly joked that it sure was raining a lot considering it was the dry season.

I’m sure that what the attendant said next was in part a result of a language barrier. But, I suspect the other part was her attempt to help everyone involved –including the two people who had previously given us conflicting information- save face. She gave it a moment’s consideration and then responded to Julie, “Well, maybe the rules have changed.”

Well, whoever changed the rules, could you please ask them to change them back. I’d kind of like to let my feet dry out. And I wouldn’t mind catching a glimpse of that mountain peak everyone is talking about.