KUALA LUMPUR: Mount Kinabalu’s climbing route has made the Lonely Planet’s list of the most thrilling hikes in the world.
The international travel guide rated Malaysia’s highest peak’s hiking trail as among the world’s top 50 in its recently-published Epic Hikes of the World.
The list is based on feedback from 200 travel writers who experienced popular climbing routes in 30 countries worldwide.
According to the Daily Mail, Mount Kinabalu’s hiking trail made the cut for “incorporating tangled jungle, granite ridges and barren plateaux.”
It added that “traversing Borneo's highest and holiest mountain is a task that requires nerves – and legs – of steel.”
Mount Kinabalu is the 20th highest mountain in the world, standing at 13,435 feet above sea level.
It was named Malaysia's first Unesco World Heritage Site, along with Gunung Mulu National Park and Kinabalu Park.
With its breath-taking sunsets and majestic viewpoints, Mount Kinabalu attracts thousands of climbers annually. An average climber takes roughly two days to scale up and down the mountain.
Other hiking trails in Asia that made the list are the 88 Sacred Temples of Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, the Markha Valley in India, and the Gubeikou to Jinshanling trail on the Great Wall of China.
Elsewhere, hikes recommended by the Lonely Planet include the 14 peaks of Snowdonia in Wales, the Routeburn Track in New Zealand, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
CLICK HERE for the article