Part 53: The Summit...... After the huge breakfast of eggs, sausages, pancakes and rice in the lodge, we followed our guide towards the main pathway leading up to the summit - we were amongst the last to leave trying to avoid any congestion on the narrow trail and already way behind our schedule. My legs were really aching and stiff from the the first part of the climb yesterday, and the cold certainly did not help with that whatsoever - I was feeling more like...

Part 52: The climb day two... We reached the laban rata rest lodge 11000ft above sea-level late that afternoon, and we did it in good time according to our friendly smiling guide, although it certainly didn't feel like it. I'd suspected he was just being kind to us, rather telling us what we wanted to hear, because at times I felt every last one of the steep steps up here. My attention then turned towards a helicopter landing pad to the left, and my mind wande...

Part 51: The climb, day one... The early morning air was crisp and clear. I filled my lungs with a deep intake of breath as we commenced up a steep set of wooden steps - to call it a brief taste of things to come would have been the understatement of the century! Behind us, Aslan the smiling guide allowed us to take lead, and dictate the pace. 'Take your time, save your energy' he repeated. The mountain and its surrounding national park was rich in lush fore...

Part 50: Mount Kinabalu..... The hostel was fully booked with a fresh new batch of travellers - out went the unsocial's - in came an instantaneous, friendly talkative bunch. Already there was a very noticeable, and different atmosphere at breakfast, people were talking and acknowledging me for the first time since I arrived here. A friendly German guy introduced himself, showing off several leech bites from a jungle trip he'd been on the day before, a tall Nep...

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...