Part 57: the night trek..., Michael emerged from his nap a little more chirpy than before, not that he could have got any less miserable. He joked about a french couple who arrived the previous day. They took one look at the eco camp and decided to turn back almost immediately - one of them had a full on panic attack the very moment they arrived! Sounds very familiar to what would have happened to the old me a couple of years ago. There is absolutely no way I...

Part 56:Jungle adventure.... I had a few days to myself when Dan and Christine decided to have some quality time alone, so they decided to book a romantic river cruise - and who could blame them; It was their honeymoon after all. The plan was to meet up with them after, but until then I was alone in Kinabalu. It was quite nice walking around the night seafood markets and town sampling even more exquisite local delicacies like Nasi Lemak, fresh roti with dips, ...

Part 55: Sapi Island adventure.... The night before, we all arranged to meet up early for breakfast in the Hostel lounge - unsurprisingly I was up first as usual. There was that slightly awkward moment when you are just sat there wondering if anyone else would actually turn up and go through with it, but Jessica, Sarah, Christine and Dan - my four new American friends all arrived at exactly the same time. They all looked chirpy, and all were raring to go! We ...

Part 54: Going our separate ways... The next few days were as much a struggle to walk as I ever remembered in my life. Like a 100 gym sessions rolled into one, my legs and back were so stiff I could barely step down a kerb let alone walk. The stink of pungent tiger balm rubbed into my immobile legs, was doing its best to offer me relief from the dull and deep pain I felt from the gruelling climb. And it continued like this for the best part of 5 long days, un...

Part 53: The Summit...... After the huge breakfast of eggs, sausages, pancakes and rice in the lodge, we followed our guide towards the main pathway leading up to the summit - we were amongst the last to leave trying to avoid any congestion on the narrow trail and already way behind our schedule. My legs were really aching and stiff from the the first part of the climb yesterday, and the cold certainly did not help with that whatsoever - I was feeling more like...