I was absolutely dreading this part of our trip to Borneo - the climb up Mount Kinabalu. We intentionally arrived one day early so we could acclimatise ourselves to the weather and altitude. We stayed in very very basic accommodation next to the entrance to the national park but it only cost MR50 for the room whereas the park was charging MR120 per person per night in their lodges!!!

On our first day we decided to visit another national park attraction Poring Hot Springs. With a little help from the owner of our accommdation we managed to flag down a passing bus to the nearest town and then found a taxi man who we successfully convinced to wait for us at the Springs. As well as the hot springs Poring also has walks and a treetop rope walkway. You have to pay to come into the park and then you have to pay extra to go on the walkway so when they informed us that if we had a camera they would have to charge us for that too we decided to forget photos and say we hadn't got one -.the result, a man followed us all along the walkway to make sure we didn't take any photos!!! After the walk we decided to have our hot bath, you have the option to use outdoor communal baths (but as it was a weekend it was really busy) or private indoor ones complete with jacuzzi which were pretty cool - we opted for the latter.

The biggest shocker was the torrential rain that started when we left the springs - we got absolutely soaked. The main problem here is that there's nowhere to dry wet clothes as it is cold and damp so our bags and clothes smelt lovely when we got back to KK a few days later!!. Unfortunately it continued to rain throughout the afternoon and into the late hours of the night - just what you need when you are climbing a mountain the next day - didn't really sleep that night I have to say!!!

Morning came, the big day was upon us and the sun was shining - hurray!!!. Day 1 involves a 3000m climb up to Laban Rata, so after a hearty breakfast at a local cafe, parting with lots of money and picking up our guide we were off. A bus takes you to the starting point at the Timphon Gate and then you begin your climb. You are not allowed to climb the mountain without a guide and our's - Azam - was young, enthusiastic, spoke some English and was doing the job to raise money to go to University to study science. We were accompanied on our walk by 2 great ladies Rachel from Sheffield and Penny from NZ both currently living in Kuala Lumpur. It really helped doing the climb with new people as we all shared life stories rather then focusing on the horrendous climb we were doing. It took us 5 hours in total to walk to Laban Rata and by the end the cloud had descended so it was really damp and cold which wasn't helped by the fact that our accommodation was an unheated hostel some 150m away from the main common area - boo hoo! We dumped our bags, changed into warmer clothes and rushed back to the main building for warmth and food!! We then proceeded to pass a really pleasant afternoon/early evening playing scrabble wth Penny and Rachel. Life at Laban Rata is not exactly rock and roll particularly when you are getting up at 2am to continue the climb so everyone retired to bed at about 8pm. I would like to say that we had a good nights sleep but I was so nervous about the next day and it was so pigging cold that I just didn't!

At last it was 2am and Laban Rata was awake! Our lovely guide was sitting waiting for us when we emerged from the room in all our layers complete with new head torches. It is a bizarre scene to see the long line of lights in the darkness of the early morning. D managed the climb absolutely fine but I was not fairing so well - we think I was suffering from altitude sickness as at times I was acting like I was completely drunk and could barely put one foot in front of the other. In the end, as I was labouring for breath, there was a concern that I was not going to make it to the summit in time for sunrise so it was decided that D should go off ahead and the guide would walk with me. He kept tellng me it was just a bit further and a little bit further and then we agreed to stop and watch sunrise en route but then he convinced me that we could probably get a better view just further on slightly and so it went until suprise of suprises I was at the summit and the sun hadn't even risen yet. I just stood there stunned that I'd made it though I think D was even more stunned as he came runnng over. We were now standing at just over 4000m and looking at the most amazing landscape - suddenly it was worth it!

After a brief breakfast stop at Laban Rata and a chance to send a 'We've done it' postcard we started our 3000m descent accompanied by Penny and Rachel. We managed to complete the journey in 4 hours and I would love to say that the downward journey was easy and enjoyable but it wasn't and took it's toll on all of our knees and feet (as my 2 blisters will vouch)!

One thing I have to tell you about before I go are the Mount Kinabalu porters. As i've already explained everyone doing the climb spends one night at a mid post called Laban Rata which has a shop, a canteen, showers, bathrooms and beds all of which need provisions. These provisions are carried up the mountain daily by a set of porters who have leg muscles the size of which I've never seen before in my life. Take a look at the photos to see how these men and women carry their loads up the mountan. All I can say is I hope they get paid lots of money for their sweat and toil!