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South East Asia - Week Two

Monday morning up early and showered and ready for the taxi man to collect us. The drive to Mount Kinabalu was an hour or so and went through stunning scenery. You could see the mountain looming in the distance but you couldnt see the top, we were going to climb that big boy, whoo! We left our bags in storage, got our packed lunches and met our Guide, Elson. We then boarded the bus further to the first checkpoint, then we were off. Mount Kinabalu's trail starts at 1900m, the size of Ben Nevis and we climb to the summit of 4095m. Mount Kinabablu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and Papeua New Guinea. Its a big part of Malay culture, not just the bigness but they sing about it, praise it and even have it on money. 100 people a day start the trail and 10% of those dont finish it. Its a steep 17km loop, 8.7km to the top and back down. Off a little over enthusiastic at first and we burnt out after 1km. All the way i was asking 'how long till lunch?'. It was hard work, very steep climb, rocky and loads of stairs. We stopped at 4km to have our lunch and a well needed break. It was freezing when we stopped, we kitted up with all our cold weather gear and jogged on the spot to keep warm. The last 2 km to the overnight stop was hard, it was wet and we were hot, cold, hot, cold. We had already broken through the cloud layer and as we neared our stop it started to monsoon rain. It was a relief to be there, have a 'hot' shower which was really luke warm and zapped any remaining heat from your body, put some warm clothes on and have some dinner. Dinner was good and for once we had no desire to drink beer, we were too cold, tired and dehydrated. Early night for us all wrapped up like mummies in the layers layers of clothes and blankets to keep warm.
Tuesday morning, more like Monday night, we got up at 1.45am. Breakfast at 2am and leaving for the last 2.7km to the summit at 2.30am. The first 700m in pitch black was challenging, the air is so much thinner and you can feel it. There were steps and muddy trails from the night before. After the 700m, you start the real difficult stuff. The huge granite smooth boulders which are so steep that you have to pull yourself up them with ropes, all in the pitch black. After a while i started getting the dizzy, spots, blackness (other than the dark), ringing ears, all the signs of altitude. We slowed down to baby baby steps and stopped when we needed to to acclimatise and after 3 hours we reached the summit. It was a great feeling to have got there and reached the top, an achievement for us all and the team work to get there. We found a precarious ledge to wedge ourselves on to wait for the sunrise. We had brought clothes and coffee so wrapped up in everything we carried, drank hot coffee and ate biscuits to replenish the sugar levels. Soon the sun started to come up and quite quickly we were in the light. It was like being on the top of the world as everything around us was so much lower. The track we had taken up the mountain looked like the surface of the moon and it was a wonder how we hadnt fallen off one of the ledges. It was stunning, We were lucky to get such a clear and beautiful sunrise after the pour down we had in the night. After a while, people started to make their descent. After a few summit pics, we joined them on the trek down. Now going up vertical walls is hard enough but going down is equally as hard. We had to hang on tight and go down backwards, all the while doing baby steps to make sure there was no slipping down. Once back down at the overnight stop, we filled up on breakfast, probably stopped too long and started to seize up. We got back on the track and started our next 6km down. This was easy at first, then it got really hard. At 3km we were still smiling, by the 4th, i was close to tears, at 1.5km, Tom rolled his ankle, well as far as his boots would let him, whilst walking this off and with the jelly legs going on he bent his knee the wrong way and ended up hobbling the rest of the way. We knew there was the bus we wanted at 2pm and it was nearing. We couldnt rush and had to go slow, even it meant missing the bus. Although saying that, the place we would have had to stay in if we did miss it we were told by Elson, was one of the most dangerous towns with gangsters who recently shot someone! Didnt sound appealing, we just prayed for the bus. It was really challenging the last bit but when we saw the checkpoint at the end we were elated. Phew, all done, just a few more places to shuffle before we got lunch and then off to the next adventure. WE filled up on the buffet lunch, grabbed our bags and lucky for us, got the next bus in time. Our legs were still wobbling and we had a 4 hour bus journey ahead of us to Sandakan, we were cold and wanted bed, we snoozed all we could and we were soon there. Taxied into town to one of the hostel sin our book, only to find that 1) The driver had no change and 2) The hostel as full. We had to prance around and find another hostel and get change so the poor drover could go. By the time we reached our room i was a little mardi. The cold we had experienced with the air con and post walk cold meant that we were wearing layers, hoodies, fleeces etc but now we had stepped into the Borneo night and it was bloody boiling. Hot, tired, hungry, in pain and traipsing around didnt go down well! Oops! We were all relieved to get in and sorted, phew. We watched some scary film on the tv and slept like babies, only getting woken by Pad's pneumatic drill like snoring and his equally loud bed when he turned over!
Wednesday was a lazy one for a bit, we made the most of the free wifi in our room. We finally shuffled from the room at midday in search for nourishment. The legs were agony and we re named our walking 'The Kinabalu Shuffle'. WE shuffled over to the Hawai restaurant the other side of the road and ate bargain 1 pound food and 2 pound beer. Full and satisfied we shuffled on down to the water front where we found a nice bar and sat for the next few hours people watching. We grabbed some supplies for the jungle on the way home, stopped again for another 1 pound meal at the same restaurant, then went home. WE didnt get too much further than that. We were up early to get to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and then the jungle.
Thursday, up and out by 8.45am, shuffling with our big bags down to the mini bus station. Its wet and the floor is slippy. With no strength in the pegs and 20kgs on the back, we dont want slipping. The Orangutan Centre was brilliant. We saw 3 Orangutans up close as they were getting fed. They were hilarious, we could watch them for hours. WE saw some others with the shuffle going on, seems we werent the only ones. It was great to see them so close but we were also looking forward and hoping to see them in the wild in the jungle. The bus picked us up at 12.30 and we started our trip towards our lodge. This was sleep time for us. We arrived in the afternoon and boarded a boat across the river to the Kinabatagan Lodge. Once on the other side, there was a steep climb up the jetty.....where Tom did an incredible fall. AS he stepped, he slipped and lost his balance. Due to the bag on his back turning, he turned to and had no hope other than to fall backwards. We both had a good giggle, so much so i got the tears, he he. We had our welcome drink of orange juice, something we had been looking forward to as 'welcome drinks' sound like a treat now (simple things) and then checked into our dorm room. We were sharing it with a couple from Italy and Germany, 2 people we were later to re name, the miserables. Once checked in we got back in a boat and made a trip down the river, monkey spotting. We saw loads of monkeys. Long tailed macaques, Proboscis monkeys (the ones we call c*** nose monkeys' (sorry!!!)), little cheeky monkeys, everywhere. We were all hoping to see the orangutans when one of the miserable duo said ' oh i thought i saw one back there hanging in a tree but i didnt believe it', everyone went quiet, i think if people werent so polite then someone would have thrown him out of the boat, what a pleb. So we went back down the river in search of said orangutan and Tom was the first to spot it. It turned out to be a mum and her baby. We sat and watched in awe until they disappeared to make a nest as it was starting to rain and get late. We carried on our trip further down the river and then down the small river where the crocs frequent. We didnt see any though, phew! It started to rain, then pour, then monsoon. You couldnt look up into the trees because it was so heavy and the boat was starting to fill with water so we turned back. On the way though, we saw one more orangutan, a young male in the tree. The guide told us that they have seen them in the past make umbrellas for when it rains with a stick and a leaf on the top! Clever things. We got back in time for some dry clothes and then dinner. Dinner was good, a buffet and we shared a bottle of wine with new friends, although there was 6 of us and the glasses were giant so we only really got 3 mouth fulls each, after that we went back to the cheap beer! Tonight we had a night walk and after stepping over the electric fence which carries 5000v!!! To stop the efalumps getting in, we slid through the mud in the jungle around the lodge. Because of the rain, we only saw 2 birds and a frog, other than that there was loads of mud and loads of leeches! Sat up for a while talking to Khai, one of the guides and after everyone else had gone to bed, decided that we should to.
Friday we were up at 5.45am to get the boat at 6am up river. Once again we saw loads of all of the monkeys but no orangutans today. We left the miserables in bed after they huffed and asked the time when we got up. I fell asleep in the boat on the way back to the lodge, dont like early mornings. After breakky we had a 3 hours walk into the jungle to the ox bow lake. Due to the rain it was muddy, muddier than last night. It reminded us of playing on the muddy beaches as kids, loads of fun. One girl fell over which was quite funny. The mud had sucked her boots in and they were stuck, she tried to walk forward but they just kept squelching, instead of her feet coming out she just lost her balance and ended up going down on her knees, she was covered, and not happy about it! Khai told us loads about the medicine plants in the forest, all of which he learnt abotu from his grandfather. The afternoon we had free time to rest, we chose to drink, which then made me want to sleep. So i snoozed, Tom and Pad drank with the guides and at 4pm there was a another boat ride. I stayed in bed, showered and chillaxed and the men got the boat. This time they saw a monkey who was 'excited' lets say. They also saw a monkey jumping from a tree and missing the next one, causing it to fall in the water!!! Tonight we were lucky enough to be guests that the 5th anniversary party of the lodge. The big bosses had come and the food that was put on was lovely and loads of it. After food the guides got their guitars out and did a few numbers, one of which they invited Pad up to join in with. The local elder of the village came along and blessed the lodge, we were quite honoured to have been there and a part of it and we managed to avoid the embarrassing dancing they were making some do. After more cake we went back to the bar ish area and chatted the night away. Helson, our boat guide had quite clearly had a few to drink to and repeated the same stories over and over until we had heard enough, made our excuses and went to bed.
Saturday we were up and out early to catch the bus to Semporna. The rain was coming down heavy and our things and us were soaked through within minutes. The river was running fast and rising. We met our bus enroute and luckily didnt have to wait on the side of the road for it. The bus journey was 5 hours or so, so more sleeping and reading. I felt ill at this point, not sure if it was the wet and cold but there was something a miss. We put it down o the malaria tablets. When we arrived in Semporna, our dive company, SIngamata collected us from the bus station. We arranged a dive and 2 days on the lodge with them but stayed on the main land for the night. As we were looking for somewhere to stay, we bumped into a group that we had met before and between all 7 decided to check into a hostel family room and share it. It made for a very cheap night. Once in, we went in search of food and ate noodles. Now this is one of the weird things here, our dinner cost us less that 1 pound each, yet the place we ate in had free WIFI. Crazy! I was not feeling it so retired back to the hostel for some Skyping, pain killers and a cup of tea. A bit later we went out again in search of beer to take to the lodge with us, we found some in the chinese supermarket only and it was pricey so instead of that we just went for a beer tonight! NO dinner, not hungry. The restaurant asked us to leave as it was late so we headed back for sleep.
Sunday was diving day...and it was p*ssing it down. The conditions were so bad and once again us and everything we had got soaked. Not happy, we arrived at the lodge and decided to change our dive day to Monday. I was still feeling unwell and didnt fancy being out on a boat in the cold and not being able to get dry so we decided to stay around the lodge for the day. The place was stunning. Its a lodge on sticks in the middle of the sea. In the middle is an 'aquarium' which has loads of fish in, some are huge, there are even sharks. You can swim, snorkel or dive in there if you pay. The rain started to clear a bit later so we had a snorkel. WE snorkeled for a while before realising that the tide was going out, when we decided to go for lunch we just stood up. Its then that we realised it was only up to our knees! WE still had seen loads, starfish, nemos, zebra fish. In the afternoon we went snorkeling again now the water was back. At the back of the lodge was deeper and we saw angel fish and alsorts. There was a floating pontoon with hammocks on which we swam over to and had a swing in, very relaxing, the calm before the storm which was.......a boat load of chinese divers. The loudest, most ignorant ever. The noise they made ruined our peace and soon they had stripped off and were jumping in around us. The first in earnt the cruel name 'fatty', he only had a little podge but the biggest mouth. He couldnt seem to talk, only shout. A reminder from our first week in Peru. He jumped in and swam over to my quiet haven on the pontoon, fell over me an a hammock to have his photo taken in it. Then he got back in the water....by belly flopping in, totally oblivious to anyone else. Second man in was 'Mr Muscle' who had a toned body and knew it. His lycra swimming shorts were pulled up to his arm pits and before stepping in, he limbered up and stretched. This was all unnecessary as he was in for a matter of 5 minutes. The group seemed to have no consideration for others or for the environment they were in. They were all here to do their Open Water, poor instructor! The afternoon we snoozed and read outside our room. WE watched the sun go down and then went over for dinner. If we had of known that the Chinese group were going to be at dinner before us, we may have run instead of walked. They piled their own plates high with rice and food and then piled group plates full of veggies. The buffet had enough to go around, but not with the piggies around, it was ridiculous. In our group, which was the rest of the people staying there, there were 2 vegetarians. The only things they could eat were rice and veg, this was limited because it had been had. Interesting cultural thing again i think, but not a nice one in our opinion. Had a good night. I was still feeling rough and had a splitting headache. Convinced it was the malaria tablets i stopped taking them. Considering the Australian doctor said not to and the side effects i was having, it seemed the best plan. When we went to bed we checked my temp. I was hot, achy and headachy. We watched a film and then took it again, it was going up. Didnt sleep too much tonight, having read our travel books we were worried i had dengue fever as i had all of the symptoms. See what the morning brings...