We took a short flight from Singapore to the island of Borneo, which is divided between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei ownership. We've come to Sabah which is in the Malaysian part in order to climb Mount Kinabalu and visit the rainforest where there is an Orang-utan rehabilitation sanctuary. Our first stop was the Kinabalu National Park, which is home to the highest mountain in South East Asia, with the peak at 4095m/13600ft. In comparison it's higher than Mt Fuji in Japan and fractionally less than Mt Blanc in Europe. The plan was to climb to the summit over a couple of days! Our first night was spent at base camp at the entrance to the park where we were able to spend a bit of time getting acclimatised. Whilst we had encountered searing temperatures and humidity in the capital Kota Kinabalu, here at height, it was much cooler. The mountain is covered with forest for much of the first half but becomes bare rock at the upper reaches. It was an early start next morning in order to get to the Laba Ratan rest house where we would rest for the night before tackling the summit the next day. We needed to make sure we got there as there is no other shelter on the mountain. Luckily we teamed up with a few other Brits and an Aussie and hired a local guide for the climb. The climb proved to be pretty exertive to say the least. The combination of the thin air at altitude and the rugged terrain challenged every muscle in our legs and had us gasping for air. The route to Laba Ratan is about 6.5km, with an average incline of 1 in 4 over rocks and steep inclines. Imagine climbing the stairs at home non stop for twenty minutes and only breathing half as much as you would do normally, to simulate the lack of oxygen at altitude and you begin to get a sense of this climb. Then imagine doing it for six solid hours with a 20lb backpack and now you really understand the pain we went through on the first day! At the halfway mark at 3km, we were ascending through the clouds, which rolled across us making a very strange, ghostly feel. Little did we know that it would only get steeper and more irregular rock formations for us to climb over. The second half of this day was reduced to short spurts of energy clambering the slopes followed by longer and longer rest breaks. The fun and banter enjoyed at the start had ebbed away as everyone just put their head down and climbed. At every corner we rounded, we would hope for a piece of flat terrain, but alas, each turn only provided a new seemingly impossible slope to climb. We were very despondent and the rest house seemed to be so far away! Nonetheless, we did make it after a six hour climb and we were so glad to rest our aching muscles and get our breath back. The lodge was pretty basic but had food and drinks which were so welcome. Unfortunately there was no running water so we had to go to bed smelling very bad! Sleep seemed impossible to come by; either because we were thinking about the next day or we were just too exhausted. Roll call was at 2am as we wanted to get to the summit for sunrise. So, leaving the hut in darkness and very tired, we began the ascent to the summit. Had we know what we would be facing, we would have stayed in bed. The temperature had dropped significantly and armed with our torches we set off. Tired and with already aching muscles, this was hell on earth! The air was even thinner here as we crossed the 12,000ft barrier and we sounded like asthmatics as we climbed. If the first day's climb was steep, this was doubly so. Parts of the climb could only be done with ropes. We had to haul ourselves up almost sheer faces as the wind whistled around us and the temperature dropped to around freezing. I don't think we have ever been so physically and emotionally challenged. At this point it was purely mind over matter; at times we could walk no more than a few paces without rest. Just putting one foot in front of the other became a victory. The thought of lying down and dying seemed an almost logical one at this point! Eventually, we could see the final peak - Lows peak, which marked the summit. Although it was now only a couple of hundred metres away, the problem was that it ascended very steeply and we still had to get up there. By now the sun was just beginning to rise and as we were so far above the clouds, sunrise was first indicated by the clouds turning orange. Despite the agony we were in, it was a great sight. The final 150ft to the top was completed almost crawling on hands and knees, partly to clamber over the rock face and partly because we were too weak to do anything else! On the summit we were able to continue to watch the sun come up fully and silhouette the other nearby peaks. With only a 20 minute beak at the top, we began our descent back down to Laba Ratan. This proved to be an equally tortuous process; particularly descending the mountain by rope; in parts along narrow ledges. Six hours after setting off, we were back at the lodge. It was all we could do to eat before lying in bed in a near vegetative state to recuperate. We had done it and that's all that mattered. After a good nights sleep, we set off early the next morning for the final descent back to base camp. As we descended, we could not believe that we had made it up there in the first place. We did have great joy though watching the other people coming up the mountain, thinking we were on our way down. Chris took great delight in advising them how hard it was further ahead! But after three and a half hours we were back down at the bottom. Never have we been so glad to be back on flat ground. We swore we would never do anything like that again....at least until the next time...Everest maybe! From Mt Kinabalu to headed to the east coast of Borneo to Sepilok. The area here is still virgin rainforest and is home to Orang-utans which still live wild in the forests. Borneo is one of the very few places in the world where they still live but are sadly an endangered species as the rainforest is destroyed to make palm plantations for palm oil. It is for this reason that a reserve has been allocated for the orang-utans and also a programme for rehabilitation of ones which have become orphaned in the wild. The aim of the centre is to return them back into the wild in a safe area. We stayed in a small hotel on the edge of the rainforest and at night we could hear the orang-utans calling each other as we sat on the balcony. The jungle was alive with noise at night. The next morning we were able to go into the reserve to see the orang-utans at close quarters. The centre will take orphaned orang-utans and teach them the skills they would learn from their parents which they need to live in the forest. The orang-utans grow to about four and a half feet but when fully grown have the strength of four grown men and could rip a man in half. They are also 96.4% genetically the same as humans. The programme starts off with very hands on care and over a couple of years they are weaned off this and become self sufficient. This happens over a number of stages by encouraging them to venture further away from the centre and deeper into the jungle. As part of this plan, the young ones start at a feeding platform on the edge of the forest which gets them used to feeding in a natural environment and gradually move further in. It is at this first station that people are allowed in to watch the orang-utans in their natural environment. They come wandering out of the jungle to take the food and a natural hierarchy sets in. First, the orang-utans take what they want and then the smaller macaque monkeys which also live in the jungle come and take the rest, with a bun fight ensuing. We had great fun watching them swinging gracefully through the trees and ropes which are placed here to help them learn the skills needed for moving about in the tree tops. From here its back to the capital Kota Kinabalu before going back to the mainland.