Sorry it's been so long, it's been a crazy few weeks! Sabah, in Eastern Malaysia has been incredible!! We had such a great trip with the highlight obviously being reaching the summit of 4000m Mount Kinabalu which was by far the hardest thing I have ever done but so rewarding to be looking down on the earth from far above the clouds!
After a very turbulant flight in a tiny commuter plane, we were put up in a gorgeous apartment in Kota Kinabalu, it is wonderfully tropical there and we went snorkelling and swimming off the little Island of Sapi which we had to take a banana boat out to. We enjoyed some amazing markets which almost saw me buying a couple of dogs but didn't think I could get them back through customs! We drove from KK up to the tip of Borneo which is really stunning and then onto Mesilau to stay overnight before we started our hike. It was SUCH heavy going up the mountain in the heat with a 6kg backpack on and was literally like climbing stairs, no gentle incline! It took us 6 hours to reach the rest house and at points I was on my hands and knees but as the 6th girl in I did very well! We were all in bed by 6.30pm that night and then up again at 1am to continue the hike in to the summit for the sunrise. It was exhausting. Already tired from the day before, it was sooo cold at that altitude, the air was so thin and the climb was vertical up the cliff face, we had to walk with ropes with our bodies at 90 degrees to the cliff; no harnesses just our strength to keep us going. At 5.30am we reached the summit and it was worth the 3 degree temperature. I have never seen something more beautiful in all my life, the clouds were playing with the peaks around the mountain and we watched the sunrise over the whole of Malaysia. We were only able to stay 45 mins as it was so cold but that was long enough to appreciate what I had achieved.
A few hours later after breakfast we had to start our decent which was agonising and knees and ankles will never be the same again! The next few days saw up in pain walking up the steps onto the bus and relaxing in the local hot springs and natural warm waterfalls around the Borneo area.During the free time, I visited a water village; a community entirely built on the water whose livlihood relies on fishing. We arrived in the middle of a severe storm and children as young as 3 and 4 were diving off their houses into the ocean and there was not an adult in sight: so unlike England!
After 8 days in Borneo we headed back to UKM uni and have spent the last week enjoying our last few days with each other and writing up our reports. We just had our closing ceremony and I gave a speech which I thoroughly enjoyed and we gave traditional dances. I was involved in the Sabah dance and had a SERIOUS costume malfunction mid-dance!
Last night, the whole group through me a surprise party for my birthday which was incredible and a total shock! They had all been moaning about having no money left, were ill etc so I wasn't expecting to do anything but as I came back from the cafe with a friend they had decorated the uni living area and got cake and say happy birthday to me in 6 different languages! It was amazing! We are all about to go out tonight as it is our final night and then tomorrow (my actual birthday) we are having a large breakfast with everyone before we fly back to England.
Sorry for the brief update but there is a lot to do in the 16 hours before I leave Malaysia including turn 22! I will also try and add some photos soon! xxxx
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