Sabah (Borneo to some) has been so amazing it's going to be hard to beat, though at the same time you can't even try to compare it to any other place. The tour had everything... people, jungles, hammocks, trekking, monkeys and again lots and lots of chicken noodles and rice. We've done so much within 12 days that looking back I can't quite believe how I managed the 3am start to literally crawl up a huge mountain on all fours whilst a few days later be sitting in pools of warm sulphur-smelling water drinking out of a coconut the size of a football on steroids! For your benefit I've decided to write in bullet points... that and the fact my poor little midget hands would fall off at the end should i even contemplate writing a long essay!So here it is part I of the trip...

# First night of meeting everyone in KK turned out to be eventful as I ended up in an Irish Bar watching the Grand Slam crunch match whilst beating locals at pool. After leaving the bar slightly dejected from the loss that we suffered (though good game alround) I couldn't wait for bed. This was short lived as my new roomy, Kate, had accidentally locked me out of our room after having one too many sets of local beer. Not even the blaring ring of the telephone by her head could wake sleeping beauty from her sleep or me knocking on the door politely... here enters the night porter with his knowing smile and smirky grin.... great inventions those people should have them everytime you need a helping hand at 4am! from here i knew the trip was going to be an amusing one for sure!

# After thinking that Kate and I had walked in on a Danish holiday we all got very cosy getting to know one another on the back of an open pick up truck which felt like it was going to tip over at any moment. Only the tarpaulin and some danish muscle managed to stop us from falling out of the side on to the road which had turned into a mini ravine due to the amount of water pelting it down. Somehow me managed to get to this tiny village on the side of a mountain and after some banging on the local gongs to signal that the foreigners had arrived, if they hadn't noticed already after the cries for help from the truck that is, we verntured further up to taste the famous rice wine at Sapingy's home. To cut it short, if you can imagine this - 12 young (ish) adults sat in a wooden shack drinking homebrew fermented rice wine, here enters the guitar... and then the hokey kokey springs into chorus and we all revert to being 6yr old kids again ... the local's party's will never be the same again!

#With a bad hangover and a muddy arse from sliding down the mountain, care of Rasmus and his non slip daps, Kota Kinabalu HQ was calling. Early starts are the norm and the start of our climb was no exception. The run away group of young danes and myself were at the lodge after 4 hours, after pounding the side of near vertical rocky terrains and hiking the huge steps the size of my legs we thoroughly deserved the rest when we got there!Despite being overtaken several times by mountain porters with HUGE thighs carrying bags the size of little people we were proud of ourselves. By the by, the awesome danes are.. Rasmums, Mathias, Trine, Laerk, Ryan, and Clint but after the 3am start to hike the final 2.7Km to the top names were a bit hazey, mine included! But we did it and the sunrise at the top of SE Asia's highest mountain was phenominal. The descent was so much faster and easier - running down the mountain and using ropes is way more fun than crawling on hands and knees clinging on to the side of a mountain like a limpet in the dark! But we got to the end - the whole 11.4km in one day, little mountain goat and all!

#With aching legs and thighs and a fractured toe (from a little incident in the Perhentian Islands) I thought that it would be a good idea for a little run in the morning to ease the pain - oooh no what an idiot! Note to anyone.... running after trekking a mountain does NOT help it's PAINFUL! But eggy sulphur smelling pools on the other hand.... they are gooood! This short break was welcomed, for everyone seemed to have aged 50yrs by the way we were all walking.. gereatrics tours R us! But to help ease the pain and grumbles the local rice wine made an appearance again disguised quite cleverly as a bottle of sprite, along with ring of fire ..... this turned out to be the breaking point for many but Cathy and Clint, who later managed to get our tour "guide" Hairy into town for a disco.

#At this point I should mention Haiiiiry .... what a guy.. why single?? well maybe it might, correct me if i'm wrong, be the fact that it seemed as though he had his own stash of rice wine permanently in his hand?! This did not deter him to make an offer of marriage to me for the price of 2 buffalo's, which i must say after a long hard deliberation I turned down (much to the disappointment of my intrepid pimps) quite humbling since Laerk was worth at least 7!! must've had one to many beers before he said the number ;-))

Anyway on to Part II.... Homestay