Before I start my rant on the weather situation here.... thank you all so much for your emails about getting better. I am now reasonably well repaired although don't think the mountain climb helped much (the facilities were pretty grim!).
And apologies for no updates since I got to Borneo (Malaysia but the independent bit!).... didn't mean to worry everyone - I just got lazy when I landed in Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday and didn't check any emails or anything and then thursday was an early start up good old Mount Kinabalu and I have literally just got back. My stomach is still churning about a bit so I will have to make this entry fairly short! But there isn't much to report. I'm still a bit pissed off really so not in the mood for going over it at the moment, as last night when we arrived at the rest house (2 thirds of the way up) we met a full on tropical storm! Soaked through to the skin and only 1 change of clothes (which had got soaked through in my rucksack, which doesn't appear to be waterproof!), so you can imagine that at 1 degree above zero temperatures I wasn't too pleased to say the least! I think the fleece some kind person bought me before I left was the only thing that kept me from hyperthermia (thank you!)!?
Anyway the reason I am still pissed off wasn't the storm bit, at least not when we arrived as we assumed it would clear and at 2am all would be fine and dandy for our final ascent to the summit and sun rise! However the rain came, and the rain came and it pretty mush turned into Noah's Arc up there so at 2am we attempted, with our guide in tow, to finish the trek.... only it was too wet and too dangerous and we only made it as far as the furthest rest house before having to come back down! So yeah - travelled half way round the world, really wanted to complete the climb having heard how hard it was, still braved it with a icky tummy knowing the toilet facilities would be a problem.... and wasn't allowed to bloody finish it! Yep I'm well and truly pissed off!
But there's always next time... and I am now the proud owner of a certificate stating how high I made it (6km) at 3 thousand and something metres (less than 1000 metres short fo the summit at 4095m). I'll probably frame it when I get back home in the hope I can get the summit certificate sometime in the future. So if anyone fancies climbing it with me next time - you have to book about 4/5 months in advance to get a permit....so let me know?! Although Mount Kilamanjaro was next on my list if you have a preference? I have another day in Kota Kinabalu tomorrow so no clues what to do with that.... maybe visit a village in a longhouse or go white water rafting. Although I'm not sure I can stomach anymore water for a while yet!
Must go confirm my flights and let my mum know (can you believe she left her mobile at home when she left for Malaysia the other day - queen of muppets!) that I'm still gonna be where I should be (at the airport) in a couple of days!
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