I woke up early to head back to Kinabalu park for my climb up the mountain with Pete and Andrea from the UK who were also staying at Vincents and of course even though it was before 9am Vincent still had his beer! A sign of an alcoholic perhaps? The views approaching the mountain are pretty daunting and you wonder how it will feel to climb through the clouds and then appear above them. It had been arranged for us to climb the alternative route that most people don't climb as it is at 8km to the lodge, 2km longer, but we were assured the scenery is much better this way so went with it. The fact our guide for the climb seemed about 60 I was fairly confident I at least would be able to climb it ... that was until I heard that he had won the veterans race in a previous year. Will talk about the race later.

I soon discovered that it was going to be a long trip up the mountain with Pete and Andrea with neither really in mountain climbing condition to say the least and the first km consisted of far too many breaks. They seemed bemused that I hadn't worked up a sweat and so were quite clearly not used to the concept of keeping fit. Added to that, Pete had an upset stomach so not ideal when you have the highest mountain in South East Asia to climb. Anyway we slowly went along and although the next couple of km's were mainly downhill which is a bit depressing when you know that it just means more of a climb later, they were at least easier for the other two and we could tick them off relatively fast. Only 5 more to go. Back to going uphill along the path and the first rain appeared which slowed us down getting to the halfway point but we eventually got there and stopped for some lunch.

I couldn't walk at their tediously slow pace so would always walk ahead and then wait a few hundred metres on and admire the surrounding views and flora and it was just as well it was good with all the waiting I was having to do. They had obviously heard the phrase 'slow and steady wins the race' and took it a bit too literally. I could guarantee that these two tortoises wouldn't finish ahead of the hare. My patience of waiting had run out by the last km so I went ahead as usual but then decided as it was getting dark I would just go all the way to camp where everyone stayed overnight. Luckily I had a head torch with me as it became pitch black very fast and it was quite eerie being so high up a mountain in the rain and dark all on my own. I passed the first other people I had seen in the whole trip and not long after made it to the camp and checked in and had some much needed food. I then began to worry about the other two when they didn't appear even though they still had the guide. I went to my accommodation and waited and waited and was massively relieved when the guide appeared to say that they had arrived but Pete and Andrea were staying at the first lodge as they literally couldn't make it any further!

The next morning everyone wakes up at about 2am for the final 2.7km hike to the top to watch the sun rise over Sabah. It was no surprise the other two didn't make it so kitted out in several layers and head torch I set off with our guide at 2.45. There were loads of people to overtake and I trusted the guide with some of the ways we went although at times it was a bit nerve racking not being able to see much of how far you would tumble down the mountain if you slipped and at points it was very far (I would later realise when it got light). A can of red bull had clearly given me the proverbial wings and full of energy I was determined to get up to the top sharpish which even meant my guide didn't even keep up. The climb was fairly gruelling at times but just before 5am I had reached a summit although I had a bit of a panic at first when I saw no-one else thinking I can got to the summit of the wrong peak. Thankfully I saw another guy and realised that I was 2nd up that day only beaten by the local which I was rather pleased with! The pleasure with being one of the first up is shortlived as it is soooo cold at the top and I was huddled in a ball for about an hour chatting to some of the other early arrivals waiting for the sun.

Not much could be seen in the dark except for the city lights in the far distance and I could tell that only a couple of metres behind us there was a drop of a good few hundred metres! It was pretty magical when it did start to get light and the incredible views all came into sight. It really felt like I was on the top of the world as I looked out to the other peaks all rising up out of the clouds. The only other times I've been above the clouds like this was in an aeroplane. Sadly it all started to get pretty busy at the top as more and more people arriving so my guide and I made a swift exit and began the journey back to the lodge for breakfast. Met up with Pete and Andrea and not long after we set off down the other route to the park HQ. This journey was far easier for them so it went by fairly fast but the descents are far more gruelling on the legs as each step down gives the knees a bit of a pounding. On the way we passed loads of locals that have one of the toughest jobs going I reckon having to carry up all the supplies up the mountain. Some of these had over 30kg on their backs for the tough 6km hike up and for a lot of these small Malaysians, it is well over half of their own weight.

We arrived back in Kota Kinabalu in good time and with sore legs I had a relaxing rest of the day looking up where it ranked in the mountains and it's the 20th highest mountain in the world which isn't bad. At just over 4000m it's higher than Mount Fuji which is known for being pretty big. Sadly the summit was not even as high as base camp on Everest! The race which takes place each year is known as the hardest mountain race in the world and involves a 10.5km climb to the summit and the same distance back down to the finish. The winner of last years men race did the whole thing in just over 3 and a half hours which seemed pretty superhuman after it took us a bit longer than that just for the descent which is much much faster. Not quite sure how they do it but they must be so so fit.

So I've climbed the highest mountain in S.E. Asia and now I think I might go and take on the highest in Africa ... or maybe not!