Winner Hotel Kota Kinabalu

... to the hostel to read a book ... It is now raining ... absolutely pouring in fact and it has been since about 8pm last night ... what a storm!!!

So now i am just waiting til this afternoon when i shall take a taxi to the airport and then fly back to Singapore

Chat soon everyone ... please sign the guestbook so i know who the over 1000 hits on my blog are from ... WOW over 1000 in a month!!

Thanks

c xxx

... on her oesophagus, which is why she is in pain when she eats. Dr Look (Melvin to Erin) suggests that Erin can go home today with a regime of acid inhibitors and antacid tablets plus some relatively strong painkillers to assist her to consume food. No spicy food to be eaten. He needs to see her again in 4 to 5 days and he will set up a referral for a travel doctor to get some other anti-malarials for Erin. So begins our 10 days in Singapore eating Middle Eastern food.

... then tackled the steps of despair downwards (now very slippery in the rain!). Easy going at first but by the last km our legs were jelly and we both literally hobbled out of the final gate at 1:30 in the afternoon. (Quite a respectable time by the way!)

We’d booked another night at Rose Cabin and after a hot shower crashed until the next day. We caught up with Adam, another Austrian who’d been unable to get accommodation at Laban Rata and ...

... with plenty of space to move! There were about 180 people there and by the time we'd scrambled over all the rocky slopes, using the fixed ropes as necessary we found ourselves on the summit at 5am with only 2 other people there! (Pete pointed out that they'd left before us too!) We were feeling a bit smug until the hoards descended and we all watched the sunrise together! Lovely, it cast shadows and bright orange sunlight on the rocks around and it was funny to see everyones ...

... t do fish) head straight to the fish market to hoover up some fresh stuff. Nice red snapper, some prawns (there were prawns the size of my forearm - no joke) and squid and we're stuffed. Odd meal though - sit down next to two Brits. Get the pleasantries out the way and find out there names, what do you do etc. Bizarrely, this lass who Cath recognises, says she's here on business. Not really an ...

... bus to the wharf where a rather surly Malay guide awaited us. Luckily we had some good English speaking Malay tourists on our boat to translate, because his English was sparse. The boat ride was phenomenal. The covered speed boat sheltered us from the sun as we took in the wonderful view. The area we travelled was mountainous and filled with strangely formed islands. Adding to the vista, was the clear, clean water providing stunning reflections. The euphoria ...

... wind increased and ice was becoming apparent instead of puddles! Normally after 3000mts, oxygen levels begin to decrease and i could certainly begin to feel every foot step, becoming that bit more difficult. My guide having an ever increasing competitive nature, began to egg me on to be the first to the top again. A feat i thought quite ambitious considering we were one of the last of 200 other hikers to leave base camp! We in fact and quite ...

... was just as difficult as climbing up (but dry conditions). Shared a minbus/taxi back to Kota Kinabalu for New Years. Met up with Craig and a canadian lad for a few (many) drinks. Pitchers/jus of Gin and Tonic for $10 and a few Tiger beers aswell. Just made it to midnight for the New Years Eve fireworks which was a great effort since we had been awake and walking since 2am. This morning we awoke feeling the entirety of Mt Kinabalu ...

... jetlag and excitment we woke the following morning very very early..and set out for a huge day exploring the city..typical beginning of travellling syndrome when you're so excited you want to try to see everything ; and then spending something crazy like 17 hours exploring a new city seems like nothing.. but we definately gained a fair impression of the city after just one day.. from the top of the biggest twin towers in the world to the bustling market ...

... land and sea for the bash.

I've never liked the idea of being locked up in a metal cage and then propelled into the air thousands of metres from the ground, my fate in the hands of two men and a series of computers and mechanical gadgets.

I know that flying is the safest way of travel, but statistics don’t mean a thing if the plane you’ ...