2008 Mt Kinabalu expenses

Some may want to know how much we spent for our Mt Kinabalu trip. There were 20 of us less 1. He was absent the whole trip.

FYI, they (Sutera) had increased the price tremendously staring from this year. Last year, we only had to pay RM150 for 3 nights per person and food was purchased only when you want to eat. You can also bring your own food, so you could cut down on cost. This year, they have included meals in the package and it's NOT CHEAP. We didn't have an agent for this trip (and the previous trips too). We booked everything ourselves and deal directly with Sutera, the company in charged of the Park. I heard from my cousin that an agent would charge RM1200 per person, excluding flight and they get to stay only 1 night in Laban Rata.

2008 Expenses for Mt Kinabalu

Airfare (KL/KK/KL) - RM 240.60
Accomodation (Sutera) - RM 431.00
Porter Fees - RM 96.00
Shared Porter Fees - RM 4.80
Park Entrance Fees - RM 3.00
Guide - RM 20.70
Permit & Insurance(Sutera) - RM 37.00
Luggage Storage - RM 10.00
Transport at park - RM 5.00
Travel Insurance - RM 28.00
Park Certificates - RM 12.00
Transport KK/Kundasang/KK - RM 50.00
Celebration Dinner after the climb - RM55.00
Accomodation-KK Daya Hotel -RM 55.00
T-Shirt - RM 27.00
Banner - RM 2.88
First Aid Kit -RM 2.82
Pre Climb Dinner - RM 8.00
Total - RM1,088.85

Notes -

Airfare - We booked tickets from Airasia.Travel from LCCT-KL. Some fares were as high as RM415.00. So do monitor the fares in the Airasia website if you want to get cheap tickets.... and book early.

Accomodation at Sutera - The initial amount quoted to us was RM 513.00 per pax. We planned to stay 1 night at the Mesilau Resort Park (foothill of mountain) and 2 nights at Laban Rata. We decided to skip breakfast at the Mesilau Park the next morning and lunch too, when we descend from the mountain on the 4th day. They allowed this and promptly gave us a new quote of RM 435 per pax. Still very high but we had no choice.

Below is the breakdown of the cost :

Buffet Dinner at Mesilau Resort Park - RM 45
Heated Bed at Bishop Head Resthouse - RM 35
Breakfast on our own
Packed Lunch by Sutera - RM25
(Contained 1 sandwich, small piece of chicken, sausages, 1 egg and 1 can of 100plus and a 500ml mineral water.)
Buffet Dinner at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM45
Heated Bed at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM60
(None heated = RM40.00)
Buffet Breakfast at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM40
Set Lunch at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM40
Buffet Dinner at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM45
Heated Bed at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM60
Buffet Breakfast at Laban Rata Resthouse - RM40

Porter Fees - It's RM 8.00 per kg. Since we were going to stay at Laban Rata for 2 nights, Sutera charged us RM 12.00 per kg. Be sure to weigh your bags at home first so that you roughly know your cost.

Shared Porter Fees - We brought a guitar and a banner up too and shared the expenses among the team.

Park Entrance Fees - Pretty cheap. But I think this is the rate for Malaysians. I heard they charge RM100 for foreigners... not sure about this though.

Guide Fees - We had 3 guides. RM 138 per guide. It should be about RM90 per guide. This is because we stayed for an extra night up at Laban Rata.

Permit & Insurance - RM 37 per adult. RM19 for children under 21.

Luggage Storage - Some may bring big bags because they planned to stay a little longer in KK (Kota Kinabalu). So instead of paying extra for the porter to call ALL your luggages, you can leave them with the Park (Sutera). It's RM10.00 per bag of any size.

Transport at Park - We paid extra RM100 to Faustine, the same person who fetched us from the airport to Kundasang (where Mt Kinabalu is)

Travel Insurance - We took a separate insurance with Tokio Marine to cover us for 5 days

Park Certificates - Cost us RM 12 if we go via the Mesilau Route and RM 1.00 if we made it up to Laban Rata only via the Mesilau Route.

Transport - Our contact, Faustine fetched the 19 of us from the airport to lunch, to the Mesilau Resort Park. Then the day we descend, he took us from the Park to dinner and to our hotel.

Celebration Dinner After the Climb - We had dinner at the Daya Seafood Restaurant. About RM1000.00 for 3 tables. Very cheap.

Accomodation - KK Daya Hotel - RM55 per person on a twin sharing basis. We wanted to be in town and this hotel's pricing was quite reasonable.... well, I had to do a little bargaining. :)

T-Shirt - We made T-Shirts for each climber specifically for this trip.

Banner - We made a banner specifically for this trip. If I'm not mistaken it's a 4 ft X 20 ft banner.

First-Aid Kit - We had some balance left over from the March Team. We just had to replenish the kit.

Pre-Climb Dinner - We had a pre-climb dinner at my mother's house. Each contributed RM8.00 per person.

For tales of the trip, click here. Enjoy.