Sepilok & Mt Kinabalu
On Friday we had a 5 & a half bus journey to Sepilok. We stayed for 2 nights at the very nice Sepilok jungle resort, which had a lovely lake & grounds. On Saturday we visited the orang-utans at the Sepilok rehabilitation centre. We went to both the 10am & 3am feeding, & it was very very cool. They really are the most amazing creatures. The ones at the centre have been rescued from all over Sabah, either because they are orphans, or some people are keeping them as illegal pets & the centre is tipped off. After several years of rehabilitation & being taught to fend for themselves, some of them are eventually released back into the wild. 
On Sunday we travelled to the Mt Kinabalu park HQ, where world challenge had really pushed the boat out & booked us into some gorgeous luxury chalets. It seems to be a case of booking whatever is available at the time, because other world challenge groups we came across said that they stayed in dorms! We had an amazing buffet dinner there, I was in heaven with unlimited beef & chicken satay sticks! I'd hate to think how many I managed to get down... The whole time at Park HQ you were aware of the mountain looming over you... 
Monday morning we started our climb. It took us just over 5 hours to reach Laban Rata, our rest-house for the night at just over 3000m. Despite the altitude, & the 2700 steps, I actually felt good & quite enjoyed the climb. We had an early dinner at the hut, before retiring to bed at around 7pm for whatever rest we could manage. It was a lovely view out over the valley, & we had a gorgeous sunset as well. 
At 2:30am we were up & ready for our summit bid. Unfortunately Ric wasn't feeling at all well. He had been up most of the night & was in a lot of discomfort with suspected giardia. I was in the bunk next to him & also didn't get much sleep because I was concerned for him. He stayed down at Laban Rata, along with 2 other kids who for various reasons weren't up for the climb.
An hour into the climb we had another two kids go down with stomach problems, & they were so uncomfortable they were not able to carry on any further. One of our two mountain guides walked them back down to Ric at the hut, while the rest of us carried on. One by one the majority of us, including myself, started to also have tummy trouble. We had chronic diarrhea, & when the urge came, we REALLY needed to go! Myself, & one of the kids were the only ones who had bought loo roll up with us, & it ended up being a very precious commodity!!! We blame the previous nights dinner at Laban Rata. We carried on however, & it was not long before we cleared the vegetation zone.
Once above the treeline we were on an impressive rock face. From here to the summit was a series of fixed ropes to haul yourself up with. Anywhere in the western world you would have to have helmets & full climbing harnesses, but here you just pulled yourself up hand over hand in the steep bits. We got to 4000m, & 2 of the 3 girls decided that that was it for them. We stuck them in a group shelter, & carried on the short distance to the summit. Just before the final uphill slog our world challenge leader decided that she couldn't go on any further, so that just left myself, & 7 kids out of our party of 16 to make it all the way to the top. At 4095m on the highest mountain in South-East Asia it felt pretty great! We missed seeing the sunrise on the summit due to the medical problems we had along the way, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we had the summit all to ourselves, bar another party of 3. After the obligatory snaps to record the moment, we climbed down & returned to Laban Rata for breakfast. 
After breakfast we continued all the way down the mountain & back to park HQ for a late lunch. We then caught a bus back to Kota Kinabalu & our hostel, where absolutely shattered we showered & got an early night.
Today was a much needed day of R&R, & a group of us caught the ferry to one of the islands in the marine national park just off KK. We had a lovely day lazing on the beach & swimming in the warm tropical waters. Tomorrow is our last full day in Borneo, & because the group have been frugal & saved loads of money on their budget, they have accumulated enough money to spend our last night in the country in the Meridien, the poshest 5 star hotel in KK! Understandably they (& us staff) are very excited! We fly back to the UK on Friday evening, arriving Saturday morning local time. I am very much looking forward to being reunited with my lovely husband.
On Sunday we travelled to the Mt Kinabalu park HQ, where world challenge had really pushed the boat out & booked us into some gorgeous luxury chalets. It seems to be a case of booking whatever is available at the time, because other world challenge groups we came across said that they stayed in dorms! We had an amazing buffet dinner there, I was in heaven with unlimited beef & chicken satay sticks! I'd hate to think how many I managed to get down... The whole time at Park HQ you were aware of the mountain looming over you... Monday morning we started our climb. It took us just over 5 hours to reach Laban Rata, our rest-house for the night at just over 3000m. Despite the altitude, & the 2700 steps, I actually felt good & quite enjoyed the climb. We had an early dinner at the hut, before retiring to bed at around 7pm for whatever rest we could manage. It was a lovely view out over the valley, & we had a gorgeous sunset as well. At 2:30am we were up & ready for our summit bid. Unfortunately Ric wasn't feeling at all well. He had been up most of the night & was in a lot of discomfort with suspected giardia. I was in the bunk next to him & also didn't get much sleep because I was concerned for him. He stayed down at Laban Rata, along with 2 other kids who for various reasons weren't up for the climb.An hour into the climb we had another two kids go down with stomach problems, & they were so uncomfortable they were not able to carry on any further. One of our two mountain guides walked them back down to Ric at the hut, while the rest of us carried on. One by one the majority of us, including myself, started to also have tummy trouble. We had chronic diarrhea, & when the urge came, we REALLY needed to go! Myself, & one of the kids were the only ones who had bought loo roll up with us, & it ended up being a very precious commodity!!! We blame the previous nights dinner at Laban Rata. We carried on however, & it was not long before we cleared the vegetation zone.
Once above the treeline we were on an impressive rock face. From here to the summit was a series of fixed ropes to haul yourself up with. Anywhere in the western world you would have to have helmets & full climbing harnesses, but here you just pulled yourself up hand over hand in the steep bits. We got to 4000m, & 2 of the 3 girls decided that that was it for them. We stuck them in a group shelter, & carried on the short distance to the summit. Just before the final uphill slog our world challenge leader decided that she couldn't go on any further, so that just left myself, & 7 kids out of our party of 16 to make it all the way to the top. At 4095m on the highest mountain in South-East Asia it felt pretty great! We missed seeing the sunrise on the summit due to the medical problems we had along the way, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we had the summit all to ourselves, bar another party of 3. After the obligatory snaps to record the moment, we climbed down & returned to Laban Rata for breakfast. After breakfast we continued all the way down the mountain & back to park HQ for a late lunch. We then caught a bus back to Kota Kinabalu & our hostel, where absolutely shattered we showered & got an early night.Today was a much needed day of R&R, & a group of us caught the ferry to one of the islands in the marine national park just off KK. We had a lovely day lazing on the beach & swimming in the warm tropical waters. Tomorrow is our last full day in Borneo, & because the group have been frugal & saved loads of money on their budget, they have accumulated enough money to spend our last night in the country in the Meridien, the poshest 5 star hotel in KK! Understandably they (& us staff) are very excited! We fly back to the UK on Friday evening, arriving Saturday morning local time. I am very much looking forward to being reunited with my lovely husband.
posted by Lydia @ 1:21 am
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