Date: 7th July 2011

Place: Kota Kinabalu

Weather: Sunny

Since we were supposed to organise everything so far in advance here we thought we had better go and book some things. I really wanted to go diving in Sipidan which is meant to be one of the best places in the WORLD.

The plan was to go to the night market for dinner but we came across a restaurant called Texas that was decently priced and they had a computer on the table for us to use. I needed to research a trip to the Phillipines I had decided to fit in before going to Australia.

Date: 8th July 2011

Place: Kota Kinabalu

Weather: Really Sunny

Today we went to the Islands. The boat ride over there was great it was really fast and bumpy. The islands were really pretty, I didn't think they would be anything like that since Kota Kinabalu isn't a great city. The water was really clear and you could see all the fish.

We found a really private part of the beach where we were basically the only people. After lying in the shade for a little while we both went for a swim. Seeing how clear it was got me really excited about diving because before then I hadn't expected the visibility to be great since it was a city.

On the way back to getting the boat I stood in the water and looked at my feet. If the water hadn't been moving you wouldn't have known there was any over my feet. We looked at some more of the fish on the pier. There were lots of trumpet fish which are quite cool.

We decided to try the night market again tonight but it turned out to not do food so we head to the other end of the city that we hadn't been to. We found a restaurant that did sizzling food plates. It was so tasty and full of veg and meat which we really needed since the mountain climb was the next day. After that we went for an explore around the nightlife area which looked really nice and lit up even though it was early. There's a club called Bed there which obviously everyone jokes about saying do you want to come to Bed with me.

Date: 9th July 2011

Place: Mount Kinabalu

Weather: Sunny

I couldn't believe the day had come to climb a mountain! We got up super early, had a big breakfast and then went to get the bus to the mountain. After doing all of the signing in bits and paying for our guide we got another bus to the base of the mountain. When we first saw it I couldn't help but swear. I couldn't believe I had paid to climb this thing it was huge!

The first part of the climb was downhill which was kind of annoying. Then it began going up and I knew that was it for the next 8.5km/4000ish meters up. The climb started out with pretty normal steps which were still hard work because they were really high! Even by the first check point which was only 1km in I was sweating like mad! By the second I was soaked.

The climb was the same for the majority of it. It swapped between steps and scrambling over rocks. We went past people who were coming down from the night before and they kept telling up good luck which was a bit worrying. I couldn't believe it when we reached the clouds. It was absolutely freezing (well what I thought was freezing then). I knew we couldn't be far from the lodge then which was a nice thought. It took us 5 hours to get to the lodge that we were staying at for the night.

We attempted to have a shower but the power station was having problems so the water heater didn't work so that was almost impossible because the water was so cold! I had to brave it and used my sponge bit by bit. We then warmed ourselves up by having a hot cup of coffee whilst waiting for dinner to start.

After a huge amount of food Lucy and I went to bed at 5pm! On a Saturday night! That's 10am at home. I hardly slept though. I don't know if it was because I was nervous about the next part of the climb or what.

Date: 10th July 2011

Place: Mount Kinabalu

Weather: Absolutely freezing to sunny

2am start. I think I got about an hours sleep altogether and it turned out Lucy had been the same so maybe it was something to do with the altitude. Or maybe we were both just nervous. We put on all of our gear which was some leggings and trousers, two pairs of socks, a top, a thick jumper and my wind and waterproof jacket, gloves, walking shoes and a head torch. I was still full from dinner so we just had coffee and then set off up to the peak at 2.30am.

It was a slow process because everyone set off at the same time pretty much. I was pleased though because you could feel the air was a lot thinner so it was harder to breathe, but I was coping fine, and even though it was hard work, it was also a lot of fun.

It was pitch black, apart from everyone's head lights. When we got close to the top Lucy was struggling with catching her breathe, we sat down so she could catch her breath and when I looked around I saw that sun rise was starting! That was it, I was off, that was the main reason I climbed this mountain; there was no way I was missing it. Lucy made it too, it was an incredible experience J.

It was absolutely breath taking and the pictures I have taken do it no justice. I was absolutely freezing though and kept trying to hide between people for shelter. I stood on the very top rock and couldn't believe that I had made it to the roof of Asia, one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life!

The climb down was so satisfying. It got warmer and warmer which was great because when we started down I couldn't feel my fingers at all. It was really steep getting down which was hard work but it wasn't breathtaking like the way up so I didn't mind. It was also light then so you didn't feel as though if you took a wrong step you would go sliding down the mountain.

We made it back to the lodge by 8.30am we had already walked for 6 hours!! We told our guide we would meet him at 10am to start the walk back to the ground. We had our breakfast and then went to warm up in our beds. Well we fell asleep and didn't meet him until 10.30am which was only because the other people in our room were leaving then.

It was so nice to know we were only going down hill from then on. And passing people on their way up we didn't say good luck we said have fun because otherwise they would feel nervous like we did. It got a bit boring coming down because it was all the same and my neck hurt from looking down.

It took us 4 and a half hours to get down and I was still warn out from that. When we got to the last bit which had been down hill at the beginning it looked terrifying. There were so many steps to get up it was just mean to put this at the end. I powered up the rocky stairs to get them over with but got to the last 5 or so wooden ones and thought Id never get up them, my legs wouldn't work properly!

We had a celebratory picture, waited for the bus back to the centre and went to have a lovely lunch that was included in the price. We then picked up our big bags and walked (yes again!) to the hostel we were staying at for the night. I crashed out at 5pm and slept all the way through the night.

Date: 11th July 2011

Place: Kinabalu National Park

Weather: sunny

I woke up at 8ish and my legs were killing me! I couldn't bring myself to get up. When I finally did I went to have a nice warm shower which I thought would soothe them. It turned out the water wasn't on because of a water shortage. I was gutted so we left the hostel in a bad mood with them.

We were going to go to the Poring Hot Springs but it felt like too much of an effort so we decided to get an earlier bus to Sandakan. First we would get breakfast though. In the end it was just coffee because all the breakfast was either noodles, bread or eggs which is all we had had for such a long time I just didn't fancy it.

The bus was at 11.30 so we went to sit where we were told it would stop at 11.20. Well we saw it drive past but nobody told us we would have to flag it down. We were so annoyed because we were then told that it could be another 4 hours until the next one! I then got talking to a guy from the Phillipines who was giving me tips on what to see and said that his son lives in a place I am going to so he could give me lifts to places if I wanted.

Thankfully another bus came 45 minutes after the last one and it actually stopped because people were getting off for the mountain. We ran to it to make sure we could get on even though it was painful. Halfway through the journey they stopped at a rest place where we got ice cream for 1RM (about 20p).