We have been looking forward to Borneo for so long now, there is so many thing we plan to do and see here, and finally we have arrived!!! We checked into our room at Borneo Gaya lodge which was luxury compared to the last place, and went for a walk to discover what was around. We are very centrally located in the main street, and we took a stroll along the seafront and to check out the boat timings for our day on the island tomorrow.
We have chosen Sapi Island as it looks the best for snorkelling and relaxing. The next morning we catch the boat and head off to the island which takes about 15 minutes. The captain even lets us drive the boat! It is a beautiful day here, and as we approach the water turns aqua marine and crystal clear!!!
Wow we are so happy to finally get the beach break we have been longing for since Thailland, as the weather pretty much tainted that idea there! It is so hot and we head straight into the water to cool down. I decide to test out my snorkel and swim out to see what I can find. There are so many different species of fish here and so many colours, although the coral is not that colourful the fish definitely are! I play around with the fish for a while and then swim back for some relaxation on the beach :)
As we walk to the cafe for lunch, we see some huge monitor lizards walking around and try to get some pictures without getting too close as they can cause infections if they catch you with their claws or tail, although they seem very placid I would not want to get on the wrong side of one! The last boat leaves at 5pm, so we decide another night we will camp out at an island, and we head back to get ready for dinner.
The chinese new year celebrations get off to a great start tonight and we are right in the thick of it! We head out onto the street all lit up with hundreds of red lanterns, and occupied by the chinese market, selling all sorts of weird and wonderful things. We walk towards the square at the end where there are fireworks, and live performances and to top off the night the famous Lion dance! It was amazing, these 2 kids balancing on poles and dancing as the lion, so much fun and worth the wait!! It is the year of the Dragon, and also the year of the water dragon which is only every 60 years!! The atmosphere here is buzzing with excited children running around chasing each other, people chatting and friends meeting up, pictures being taken and families getting together. Everyone is friendly, happy and having fun, we are so lucky to be here at this time!!
Today we are taking it easy as tomorrow is our climb up Mount Kinabalu! Found a lovely chinese restaurant just opposite the Borneo Gaya Lodge, where we are staying, and which I highly recommend for anyone wanting a hostel out here, think I will become a regular here throughout our stay, full of locals, so the food must be good! Had the best roast pork for a long time!!!
The day has finally arrived! We get up at about 6am to prepare for our trip. I get showered and packed and we are ready to leave by 7.30am. Our driver collects us and briefs us on the way, mainly slowly but surely is the way to go! We negotiate with him to take us to the Poring Hot Springs on the return back to Kota Kinabalu so we can ease our aches and pains after our climb, as I am sure we will need to by then!
At about 9.30am we arrive at the park, meet our guide Johny, collect our permits and head to the mountain. We hire a walking stick each, and begin our ascent! It should take us about 6 hours to get the 6km to Laban Rata where we are staying, so we are told, which is 3272 metres up, so we aim to get there at 4pm. There is a stop about every 1km on the way for rest breaks. I struggle for the first 2km as I have been resting my injured foot for the last few weeks and not done much walking, or much of anything really, trying to get it better for this climb. I am very unfit right now and if nothing else this climb will get me back in shape again, but I am slightly concerned about how I will manage it. The terrain consists mainly of steps of all sorts of shapes and sizes, made from the natural rock, some so high you have to really pull yourself up them, my legs are really feeling it now and my heart is pumping! As we get about halfway up, it starts to thunder and rain, we are already in the clouds now and what started as fine mist is now proper rain. The thing I am most disappointed about is the fact that on the way up there is not really much to look at. I thought we would get some nice views, but apart from the fact that it is cloudy, so as we are in the clouds everything is just white, the views are obscured by trees so you can't see a lot anyway.
We struggle on, it is now getting quite hard to breathe with the air becoming so thin. We just take it slow, as we couldn't speed up if we wanted to. We still overtake a few people on the way up, we also pass a lady who we later find out is 76 years old. I heard the oldest person to do this climb was 89!!! The elderly asian people generally are very fit, and flexible in their old age, I remember in China, seeing elderly people doing Tai Chi and swimming in a freezing river, and it was freezing, in November!! They put us to shame, I will learn their secret before I leave!
We passed people coming down as we were going up who told us the last 2km was the hardest. Looking forward to that then! By now we were already getting tired, we tried to keep in good spirits, through the rain, on the toughest part of the climb. All I could think about was getting there to a welcoming hot drink, food and hopefully if water had not got in my bag, clean, dry clothes. Apparently there is only cold water showers, so although we were sweaty and wet, there was no chance, as I had a cold already, that I was going anywhere near a cold shower in the freezing cold, and it was getting cold now the further up we went. It was just the exertion that was keeping us warm, as soon as we stopped at the rest breaks we soon got cold!
We puffed and panted up the last 2km, drinking plenty of water so we did not get altitude sickness, which I was also afraid of, but we seemed ok. Finally we arrived at 3.30pm, ahead of schedule! I ordered a large hot chocolate and put some dry clothes on and we sat and waited for dinner to be served at 4pm. I am glad we did not arrive early like some people, because there really was nothing to do up here. I ate dinner, sat with the girls for a while trying to keep warm, gave up on that idea, it was just so cold, so I went to bed to get under the blankets at 6 ish as we have to be up at 2am tomorrow for the climb to the summit! On the way to bed, I did manage to get some nice pictures of the sunset, now the rain had stopped. Lying in bed shivering, my legs throbbing, I do wonder why I put myself through this!! The girls come to bed around 7ish and Dave, a guy from Manchester who is sharing our room comes in too, and after introductions we all by now exhausted, try and sleep!
We are woken by knocking on the door and can hear everyone else in the dorms already on their way to breakfast. It is 2.10am, we get up and head to the restaurant to get some food, mainly porridge and eggy bread with hot tea. I am still so cold and slept in my clothes to keep warm. We don't want to leave too early because it is freezing at the top of the summit and the sun won't rise until about 6am. Johny is keen to go though and at about 3.15am we leave. It should take about 2 and a half hours to reach the top. Every muscle in our bodies ache, but we keep pushing forward. It really is hard to breathe now, we are climbing over 3500 metres and counting. The steps are fairly steep and it is an effort but we take it slow and steady and just breathe in as much as we can. We look up and there are a million stars in the sky and just a quarter moon, it is beautiful. I could just stop here and watch the night sky, looking for shooting stars, I just missed one go someone said. We have by now reached the point where we need to go up holding onto a rope! Nicola and Carmel go first, then I follow. I get a short way then I stop and look down. Big mistake, so dark, I can't really see much, just looks like a drop off and nothing!!! I just freeze, if I let go of the rope or slip, I will end up down there!! I panic and can't move! People have started to make their way up behind me. I need to make a decision! I can't, I need to think, or not to think just to go, but I can't because I keep thinking about how I will get down once I am up, in the light of day when I can see the drop down!! I can't do it!! I tell Johny I can't go, and now I need to turn back. The person behind me gets back down to let me off as there is only enough room for one at a time, and I follow. I feel so angry with myself for getting so far and quitting right at the end, but I had a feeling my fear of heights would be an issue! Mountain climbing I now know is not for me! The worst part is having to walk back past people going up, knowing you quit, felt such a failure!
I trudged back down in the dark on my own as Johny would have had to come back up for the girls, I told him to carry on and I would go alone, although I was a bit scared of being in the dark on a mountain by myself. I did bump into a few late starters on the way so it wasn't too bad! I got back just after 5am and went straight back to bed as I was so cold again now and not feeling great. I woke up about 7am and felt sick and then suddenly before I had time to think about going to the bathroom, it was too late! I grabbed the nearest thing to me, which just so happened to be the bin. I could not lie down again as was spinning out, so just sat there in the cold waiting for the girls to come back, because I had the key and the room was a way from the restaurant, where I wanted to be to line my stomach again. Eventually at about 8am Dave came back and said the girls were close behind, so I went off to have breakfast and told him to leave the door open if he went out.
Walking down was really tough on the legs as they were so stiff today! On the way to breakfast I slipped and then had a wet butt too, but reminded me to go slow as was really slippery because of all the rain. I felt better by the time I had eaten and was so ready to leave and get to the hot springs. We started the descent and it was slow going, we left about 10am and got down about 2pm. Every step was agony to our poor legs!!! Tomorrow I fear is when we will feel it the most. My head is pounding and all I want to do is sleep!!!
Finally we reached the bottom and were so glad to get some hot food inside us and head to the hot springs for a well deserved soak!!! The drive back from the hot springs took 3 hours and I have never been so glad to get somewhere in my life. The chinese new year celebrations were still going on all around us as we ate dinner in our little chinese restaurant opposite our lodge. Too exhausted to join in, we all just crashed out!!!
I was right about the pain. The next morning we all woke up so stiff we could hardly move!!! I decided to just have a rest day and go for a massage, while the girls went to see a cultural village, to learn about the tribes people of Borneo and the famous head hunters! In this part of the world, a beautiful woman was revered and protected by the tribe, so her head was a great prize for a rival tribe to take, it would show greatness and skill to get to her and take her head. Once taken it would be hung outside the house of the warrior who had claimed it!
The most effort I wanted to make today was to go and find a massage somewhere. I found this great place just along from our lodgings and booked myself in. There was no way I could have anyone touching my legs, so I just asked for a head, neck and back massage for an hour, which was about £10. I had such a bad pain in my head from all the tension in my neck from using the stick to come down the mountain, and just needed all the knots worked out! The girl was amazing!! I felt so much better as I left and the pain in my head had gone. I was ready for a sleep now, which is what I had been doing most of the day as the pain had been keeping me up most of the night!
Today we got ready to head out to Manutik Island for our camping trip! We hired our tents and made our way to the port. The weather was gorgeous and we were looking forward to a few days of relaxation, although we were still in a lot of pain and still could not really even walk properly, especially down steps, that was the worst!!!
We set up our little camp and stretched out on the beach to chill out! Nicola was not feeling great, so Carmel and I decided to check out one of the trails and go to the other side of the island for the sunset. We needed to stretch our legs and get them moving and the island was only small so it was not far. We found a spot, clambered down some rocks, made ourselves comfortable and marvelled at the sky changing colour as the sun slowly sunk behind another island and disappeared from view, leaving just the sound of the water lapping against the rocks. It was so peaceful, sitting there, watching the day fade away, without a care in the world, realising how insignificant our day to day problems are in the whole scheme of things and knowing how lucky I am to have this opportunity to experience all the wonderful, amazing things that are in this world to be discovered!
It was getting dark now and we could feel a few spots of rain, so we clambered back up the rocks and made our way back to camp. We believed Nicola to be sleeping so we quietly crept around, until she appeared walking towards us. She had been off chatting to someone and we laughed that we were trying to be so quiet, not that we had been very successful! A couple of guys who were teachers, one with his 9 year old boy with him, so cute, were pitched up next to us, but apart from them and the workers on the island we were alone. Tired still from our climb, we soon retired to bed, as it had also started to rain a bit and we just hoped it would hold off! It didn't, and before long the thunder and lightning roared and lit up the sky and the rain came down in torrents. The tent started to leak and the rain came through. We had to make a decision to run for it with our stuff to one of the undercover shelters where the food was served. We grabbed our stuff and ran for it, just leaving the tent to its fate! By the time we were at the shelter we were drenched. Nicola's tent was not leaking yet, so Carmel and her both ran back to get it as they had bought waterproofs. We brought it into the shelter to keep it dry and watched the storm unfold around us.
We could see the mainland from here and there were so many fireworks going off all along the coastline, to celebrate the chinese new year! Soon the other guys from the tent next door came and joined us, making coffee and sharing some of their BBQ food with us. We chatted until the rain stopped and then decided to see if we could salvage our tent. We emptied it of water and dried it off with a towel and we were good, as long as the rain stayed away. We were a bit chilly and wet now so the guys got a fire going and invited us over for some more conversation. We tried to learn some Malaysian from them and told them about where we were from and they told us about where they were from. It was an enjoyable evening sitting by the fire, chatting, watching the fireworks and learning Malay. Kind of reminded me of Guy Fawkes night, and we explained to them about how we celebrate the 5th of November and how Guy Fawkes was burnt alive for trying to blow up the houses of Parliament, which I think they thought was quite barbaric! I have to agree! Probably like we think cutting off peoples heads and hanging them outside your house is quite barbaric, I guess we are not really ones to judge when you think about it!
We said our goodnights for a second time and hopefully the last if the rain holds out! The tent was so uncomfortable, sleeping on the hard cold floor, with no pillow to rest my head on. I read for a while in the light of my torch and then tossed and turned for the rest of the night, sleeping intermittently in between being woken by the pain in my legs which were numb against the floor. Oh well, the things we do in the name of fun!!
It was a bit overcast still when we woke and we went to the cafe in search of some food as we skipped dinner, with the exception of some pringles and a piece of BBQ chicken donated by the guys. I enjoyed some baked beans on toast craving for some normal food and decided to go and test my snorkel ready for my diving. I wanted to get my mask fitted properly for my dive next week at Sipadan, one of the top 10 dive sites in the world, so it would not leak, and it was too tight so I need to loosen it. I snorkelled around for a bit in the shallows, trying to practise my equalising, because if I have a problem with my ears on this dive, I think I will call an end to my days of diving as they always cause me pain when I dive, which would be a real shame as otherwise I really enjoy diving, and I have my open water now! Practise over, I rest my weary body back on the beach and immerse myself in my book for the rest of the day. Eventually we pack up the tents and catch the boat back to the mainland and the luxury of a hot shower and a soft bed!!
We have a second wind and decide to go out for dinner and a drink before bed, forgetting it is the chinese new years holiday and loads of places are shut. We eventually find a locals restaurant, more like a cafe really, and order there. There are some other westerners in there in the form of 3 guys who eventually come over to pester us. we try and stay polite as they live here and then we learn they work in the dive school and we tell them we are diving next week and get talking. However with the exception of one of the guys who generally is just friendly and passionate about diving and gives us loads of information about the place we are going for our dive, the others obviously think they might get lucky and are just annoying!! They recommend a bar and we head there for a drink as I need to Skype in an hour. The guys are there too when we arrive and one comes over to pester us, he is a bit weird and in the end I have to tell him we are having a girls night and eventually as I turn my back to him, he gets the message!! Then his friend comes over, he is really putting the pressure on now for us to join them. I try and tell him we are leaving in a moment, and he is leaning on Nicola and getting in her face so I forcefully tell him to back off!! He does't get it! I tell him "we are not coming so back off now, off my friend and get out her face" he gets it now and drags himself away! Wow we leave as we cannot be bothered with any more hassle, and head back to Skype and the girls to bed. Tomorrow we are travelling to Sandakan and onto Sepilok to see the Orang utans, we are so excited!!!
