GROUP OF 10 TOURISTS STRIPPED NAKED AT THE PEAK OF MALAYSIAN MOUNT KINABALU?

KOTA KINABALU, Sabah, Malaysia – A group of 10 tourists, believed to include two Canadians, two Dutch and a German national, who stripped naked for photographs at the peak of Mount Kinabalu allegedly called their mountain guide “stupid” and told him to “go to hell” when he attempted to stop them from removing their clothes.

Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais(photo) said that the guide was in charge of a group of 27 Europeans during an expedition on May 10 and about 10 from the group — six men and four women — broke away to pose for pictures in South Peak, on the west side of the summit’s plateau.

• “The guide involved said he had approached the group and told them not to do it but was rebuffed with the words ‘stupid’ and ‘go to hell’,” said Jamili when contacted by Malay Mail Online.
• “We have since lodged a police report for further investigations to be taken against the climbers,” he said, adding that the guide involved was also reprimanded for not reporting the incident earlier.
• Jamili said they have identified five out of the 10 climbers involved in the nude photographs — two Dutch nationals, two Canadians and a German — and have passed the information to the police to decide if action will be taken.
• Jamili said that they have never had to deal with such incidences, although men taking off their shirts were common.

Jamli said they believed this is part of a puzzling travel trend to get naked at world heritage sites and such incidences have been occurring in Machu Picchu in Peru, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, with the latter incident resulting in two American tourists deported.

• Sabah State Tourism, Culture and Envronment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said The caucasians who posed naked on Mount Kinabalu will be kicked out of Sabah if they were found to still be in the State.

Source: Borneo Post