After leaving Semporna, we got on the bus to Sandakan, 8 hours away. It is never that simple though and 2 hours into the journey the bus completely broke down, so we had yet another fun wait by the roadside for a replacement.

Finally, we arrived in Sandakan and the taxi dropped us off at our hotel, which looked like a hospital. We are clearly not the first people to ask about the history of the building as when Paul asked the owner he responded with "it used to be a restaurant... You think it looks like a hospital though don't you?!" ..."Erm... No"!

Whilst on Pom Pom Island we were advised to go to a roof top restaurant here called Ba Lim, which was amazing. Probably the best western food we've had since we've been away!! We ate there three times! Made me very excited for Christmas dinner (no pressure dad)!

We used Sandakan as a base to visit the proboscis monkeys and the orangutans. We visited the monkeys first and they are so weird looking (see photos). It's only worth visiting during feeding time as the monkeys are not enclosed and just turn up when they know they're going to get fed. The people running this place must be raking in the cash. It cost twice the amount to visit this place than the Orangutan sanctuary (which is a charity) and the place consists of a few viewing platforms.

We then went on to Sepilok to visit the Orangutan rehabilitation sanctuary. The sanctuary looks after young abandoned orangutans and then gradually releases them back into the wild. They have created boardwalks and viewing platforms into the jungle and again, some of the orangutans turn up when food is served up. Although we didn't get as close to the orangutans, it was amazing - they look so human-like. It was also really nice to see them in their own habitat and to know that they're free to come and go as they please.

Next stop was Kota Kinabalu, where we chilled for a day and bought the stuff we needed to climb Mount Kinabalu. The next day we were picked up at 6am and driven to the starting point, where we met our guide, Wilfred (or Wilbert as Paul repeatedly misheard). We climbed 6km the first day up the steep steps and rocks to our base camp. It was so cold up there and we were so glad we took loads of warm clothes. We had a brilliant sunset up there and ate our body weight in food before going to sleep. We started the climb up to the summit (8.7km) at 3am and got there just before 6am in time for sunrise - again, amazing views up there and it was incredible how far we could see.

We climbed down for about an hour to 3520 metres and then met our guides to do the Via Ferrata back down to our camp. This is essentially climbing down and traversing across the face of the mountain attached to cables and ropes. At first it seemed a little tame but then the guide told us we could try out their new route, which was brilliant. Hanging off the face of the mountain was pretty cool and we definitely want to do it again! It took us about an hour and a half to get back to our base camp, where we had a break, before heading 6km back down the mountain. There was torrential rain the whole way down so we legged it down in less than 3 hours. We are paying for it today! Climbing Mount Kinabalu was brilliant and a great way to finish off our Borneo trip! Next stop, Manilla.