Part 55: Sapi Island adventure.... The night before, we all arranged to meet up early for breakfast in the Hostel lounge - unsurprisingly I was up first as usual. There was that slightly awkward moment when you are just sat there wondering if anyone else would actually turn up and go through with it, but Jessica, Sarah, Christine and Dan - my four new American friends all arrived at exactly the same time. They all looked chirpy, and all were raring to go! We ...

Part 54: Going our separate ways... The next few days were as much a struggle to walk as I ever remembered in my life. Like a 100 gym sessions rolled into one, my legs and back were so stiff I could barely step down a kerb let alone walk. The stink of pungent tiger balm rubbed into my immobile legs, was doing its best to offer me relief from the dull and deep pain I felt from the gruelling climb. And it continued like this for the best part of 5 long days, un...

Part 49: The Orang-utans..... I woke up in the cramped dorm to the welcome sight of this inconsiderate, and hugely annoying girl packing her mess up and checking out. She was in her own world, making noise with out any awareness of her surroundings all through the night, completely oblivious to the fact that this was supposed to be a shared dorm, and that people were trying to sleep. It was a really uncomfortable night with no air con. She hid the remote!! H...

Part 48: Borneo..... My no fuss, and certainly no frills budget flight to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo was first thing in the morning from Manila's tiny domestic airport. No cafe's, no food, just a waiting lounge, with the flight numbers written by hand on a board inside. Yes, this was just about as budget as you could possibly get. Not that it bothered me anymore like it used too in the past, the cheaper the better now. In the distance the grey cloudy sky looked a...