Hola from Borneo

From the Cameron Highlands we headed back to Kuala Lumpur. I really liked it, it was big & bright & bustling! We stayed in the Golden Triangle area in a lovely little guesthouse called Green Hut Lodge, which was 15min walking distance from the main shopping area. So you can imagine we spent most of our time doing! We went to Chinatown to a huge market there & spent about 4hrs mooching round the stalls. We then went to the Petronas towers but couldn't get up them & then attempted to get to the KL Tower to teh revolving restaurant which has "the best view of the city" but couldn't actually get to it! It was like some mastermind puzzle that we were incapable of solving! We would go down one street following the sign posts then would turn a corner for the tower to get further away, so we retraced our steps & went the other way for the same thing to happen! So we gave up & went for dinner instead haha priorities in order clearly.

We arrived in Koto Kinabalu, Borneo on Friday 20th August at 10:30ish. We didn't do a huge amount on the first day as it was raining (again) & we were pretty tired after getting up at 3:45am to get to the airport for our flight. The next day we got a boat to an island just off the coast called Sapi & spent the day sunbathing & snorkling (a fish bit me! It actually bit me, left teeth marks & drew blood for no reason! I was innocently swimming along then i stood up in the shallows & it came up from behind & bit my leg!). The next morning we went to the aptly called Sunday Market & spent a happy few hours wandering around there. There were various animals for sale - cats, puppies, tropical fish & they didn't look too happy crammed in tiny cages. We then got the bus to Kinabalu National Park & booked our climb for the next day - Jo wasn't too sure about it but we spoke to a girl who had just come down from the mountain & she said it was amazing so we decided to just go for it. It was cold & lashing it down so we found a little lodge & wrapped up warm (not what i was expecting in Borneo).

The next morning we got up at 6:30 had breakfast then walked to the park headquarters to meet our guide - Willi - & began our trek up the mountain. A bit of background information - the mountain is 4095.2 high (8.7km uphill). There is also a yearly extreme sports race up the mountain - the fastest time to go up to the very top & all the way back down in one go (17.4km in total) is 2hrs & 40mins! The basically run up it! Absolutely phenomenal & i have no idea how they do it. We set off just before 9am & it was pretty much ALL uphill. The terrain varied from rocky to muddy to steps to muddy rocks & rocky steps. It was hard work but the trail was very well organised with 0.5km markings & regular rest stations with benches, toilets & drinking water. The higher up we got the thinner the air got & the steeper the incline's were & the harder you had to work. Every now and again when i took a moment to look around me rather than chosing where to put my next step the views were gorgeous. Some of the walk was through thick rainforest, whilst other parts were more barren with gnarled trees & yellow earth. We passed two people being carried down on stretchers which wasn't very encouraging but apparently they weren't hurt they were just tired & paid 1800RM to be carried down! We eventually made it to Laban Rata (the 6km mark where everyone spends the night before reaching the summit) at about 2pm, thankfully just before the rain set in. We met so many people on the way up & at the rest station, everyone was really friendly & we were all encouraging each other, which was really nice. It was pretty cold as it was quite high up & there had been a generator failure for the past month so no heating or hot water was available. They served hot food cooked on gas stoves, the gay bottles & food had to be brought up manually by porters, some of which do the 6km trek twice a day with packs on their backs of up to 50kg - their calf muscles are huge! So after dinner we sorted out our packs for the summit (taking as little as possible) then got into bed so body weary.

We got up at 1:45am, dressed in several layers - i had 2 pairs of socks on, leggings, combat trousers, vest top, tshirt, hoodie & raincoat with an extra tshirt in my bag, gloves (an excellent 3RM purchase) & a scarf for the summit. We then had a quick bite to eat before setting off for the summit if the dark with only our torches & the moonlight to light the way- 2.7km away. It was so hard, there was times i thought i couldn't do it & but i kept telling myself i could & i also had "The Climb" going round my head "its always an uphill battle...keep the faith" haha it helped! One section of the trail involved hauling yourself along with ropes, it was so dangerous but also kinda cool! Sometimes when i paused for breath & turned round & could see the torch lights of other people behind, it was like a pilgrimage & their torches were candlelights. We made it to the top in time for sunrise & saw the moon set. It was spectacular, the moon was reflecting in the sea in the distance whilst the sun was creeping across the sky. It was so so cold & windy at the top. I never thought i would be in Borneo in August with 4 layers on & wish i had a hat! Unfortunately my battery had pretty much died on the way up so i only managed to take a few pictures but the view will be etched on my memory for ever.

After a 15mins or so at the top we started the gruelling trek back down, which is some ways was harder & more scary than going up. The granite rock face was pretty slippy & the rope section was like DIY abseiling - scary but life affirming & exciting at the same time. Once down from the rope section Jo actually hugged our guide & thanked him for saving her life as she was convinced she would have fallen & slid over the side if he hadn't been there. We stopped at Laban Rata to get the rest of our stuff & have some more food before heading back the rest of the way. Going down the steep bits was pretty tricky & hard on the ole' knees but thankfully we had taken Willi's suggestion & rented a stick which helped immeasurably. Although i did fall on my arse at one point, which was more embarrasing than painful, especially after succesfully navigating my way down the steeper scarier bits. We made it down to the bottom in 4hrs, Willi said we were the fast girls to descend the mountain that he's guided in 6yrs which was pretty cool. We then had lunch & wearily got a taxi to Poring Hot Springs & basically went to bed. I was total shattered but also felt amazingly good about myself.

We slept for about 13hrs! We were so body weary & our legs ached so much. It was the hardest thing i've ever done in my life but possibly one of the best things & one of the things i'm most proud of myself for! Getting out of bed was an issue , we were in a world of pain - our limbs were so stiff & sore we could barely walk so we spent most of the day relaxing in the hot springs which soothed our aching muscles. We also forced ourselves to make the short walk to a pretty waterfall within the park.

Heading to Sandakan tomorrow then to Sepilok where the orangutans are on Friday. Exciting times ahead...