Being an avid reader, I always have a book on the go. Below are the books that I've read during my travels (continually updated as I go), along with my wishlist of books.

Read
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Seth Grahame-Smith
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
Mini-Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
The Backpacker
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer
Pop Babylon
Air Babylon
The Time Traveller's Wife
The Beach - Alex Garland
The Lost Girls (This was actually a travel blog I read about three girls doing a similar trip to me. I happened to notice this in the book store today - maybe I can turn this blog into a best selling book!)



Want to Read
Railway Bazaar - Paul Theroux
New Lauren Weisenberger

Monday August 30th
Tuesday August 31st

Another early morning as I had an 8am bus to catch to Penang. I stopped in at an Indian cafe for a breakfast of roti with butter and sugar for a grand total of 2RM (about 70c), then settled in for my five hour trip to Penang.

After a brief stop in Ipoh to pick up more passengers, we arrived at the Butterworth terminal at about 1:30pm. The bus was headed to the island across the 7.5km bridge (the longest in the world I believe), but I alighted at Butterworth as the ferry would take me almost to my hostel, rather than a bus terminal about 20 minutes from where I was staying.


The ferry docked at Georgetown and from there it was a quick 10 minute walk (well, as quick as a walk with a 12kg backpack in horrific heat and humidity can be!) to Love Lane, where I was staying. (Doesn't the name conjure up images of the swinging 60s or love hotels in Japan)? I managed to score a dorm to myself and dropped in my laundry, which was filthy from my muddy hikes in the Cameron Highlands, as well as air my still muddy running shoes (despite my best efforts to clean them).

Of course I was starving and being the heat of the day it meant the air-conditioned mall was beckoning. I first needed to find some reading material, given the Paul Theroux incident (see previous post for details), so first stop was the 'Popular' bookstore. All of the September issues of the fashion magazines were out, and for anyone who's seen 'The September Issue', you'll know that September is the most important month for magazines. September is the month that really defines the whole next year of fashion, with advertisers clamouring for space. It's not unusual for a magazine to double in size for September, and for an actress or model to claim a September cover it's quite an achievement. I purchased the Malaysian Cleo at 400+ pages (AUS$2 compared to AUD$9 for an Aussie/US/UK version) and the next book on my reading list - Twilight. I flirted with the idea of purchasing my next guidebook (Thailand), but decided Langkawi would be the best option. This of course ended up not being the case, with Langkawi not having one single bookstore ....

I had fried carrot cake for lunch and, energy levels replenished, set out on my routine self-guided tour of Penang. This took me along the waterfront, where I purchased my ticket for Langkawi for the following day, past a fort and some pretty cool buildings. Why is it that all of the 'good' buildings in Malaysia seem to be police stations or military barracks?

Penang is best known for its food, and was actually listed in the New York Times as one of the 44 'must-visit' places of 2010. The streets were busy with people and street vendors, and I settled on Indian again of mushroom karpathi - another steal at only 75c! (Although the diet coke - sorry, 'coke light!' was about double that ...) I played on the internet for a while after that - this time of year means Accenture promotion and payrise results, so interesting to find out what's going on back in Aus.

Tuesday morning I was up at 6:30am - seriously, I'm meant to be on holidays, what is it with these early starts? - as I had an 8:15 ferry to catch to Langkawi. Today was Merdeka - Malaysian National Day - and the streets were vibing with groups of people, ready to march in a Merdeka Parade. There were marching bands, school kids, police and military groups - unfortunately they started too late for me to watch them.

The ferry to Langkawi took just over 2.5 hours - I was worried it would be packed given it was a public holiday, but it wasn't too bad. There is no public transport on the island, so a taxi was required to my hotel, 'Nadias Inn Comfort Langkawi'. What a horrific hotel. I'd settled on it since there didn't seem to be a lot of options in the lower-end of the accommodation scale, and the room I was given was brighted a garish pink colour with one light giving almost no light. (Later I learned that this may be because Malaysians 'don't read', so why is light needed for reading?) At least I had my own room, bathroom, and a TV - even if the TV did only play Malaysian channels!

I have to admit I was expecting Langkawi to be a lot more 'touristy' and 'Western'. I was staying on the main strip, Pantai Chenang, yet there wasn't one chain (i.e. McDonalds) to be seen, just a cluster of local cafes, travel agents and internet cafes. Langkawi is also a duty-free island, so there are lots of duty-free shops similar to those in airports.

I had my lunch/breakfast at 12:30pm - given it was a 'brunch' meal I had a brunch meal of eggs benedict - and then walked the main beach and checked out the duty-free stores. It was then I realised there were no bookstores on the island, and I had just finished Twilight. A lot of the stores were also closed given the public holiday, but I did find a second-hand bookstore that allowed me to trade for another novel (some political thriller). I also needed to change some money - I only had about 100RM ($30 AUD) in my wallet, and of course most of the moneychangers were closed for the public holiday (and the guidebook said all the ATMS and banks were located back in Kuah town, 24km away). Luckily I found one and scored enough ringgitt to see out my time here.

I walked back along the beach - my first beach this trip - but it almost feels like I'm 'cheating' on Phuket. I don't want to lounge by the beach, cocktail by the pool etc until I'm in Phuket, so I'm just taking it easy here. I found a beautiful Italian place for dinner - meals are noticeably more expensive here than anywhere else in Malaysia - and then used my headlamp to try and read before bed.

After my whistle stop tour of Melaka, I was ready to meet Jo in KL. Originally, we were to meet up in Penang but as her role in KL had been cut short, we'd arranged to catch-up in KL instead.

In Malaysia, there are some very deluxe ('VIP') buses plying the tourist routes, offering almost lie flat seats and individual entertainment units. However, I keep ending up in the crappy 20 year old buses with shot suspension! I was expecting to arrive at the Pudaraya bus terminal in Chinatown, which was a 3 minute walk from the hostel I'd booked, but it turns out that Pudaraya was being knocked down and all buses now docked about 30 minutes out of the city! This meant an expensive taxi ride and this time my taxi driver dumped me on the street, pointing at a sign and said, "That's it". It wasn't it! My hostel was actually down the other end of the street! I learnt my lesson and used the light rail whenever possible after that!

The hostel was awesome. It's called "BackHome" and located just near Petaling Street, the Chinatown market that sells all of the fake bags, watches etc. I'd booked into a dorm for one night but quickly extended to two as it was awesome! Instead of the metal stand alone dorms that all of the other hostels had, this one had wooden bunks built into the walls. Each bunk came with its one shelf, electical outlet and light; whilst the room had lockers, a sink, mirrors and even a chalkboard to write notes to your roomies!! I shared the room with 2 Swiss boys and a girl from New York. She'd just arrived, intending to stay for a night before she started work in Thailand (she'd just spent 18 months in Canberra as an au pair) but the airline had lost her bags. I gave her directions for a nearby mall to purchase the essentials and then headed out myself to Pavillion shopping centre.

Having been in KL so many times it feels like my second home. Pavilion was my favourite shopping centre and had an awesome food court at the bottom where I found fried carrot cake, my new favourite meal from Singapore. I did a little bit of window shopping and checked my e-mail, and then returned to the hostel to freshen up before meeting up with Jo (I tried dressing up to the best that my backpack could offer!). We'd arranged to meet at Malones, an Irish pub at Suria KLCC (the shopping center at the bottom of the Petronas Twin Towers).

Malones had apparently become her home away from home whilst in KL, being on name basis with all of the staff. It was great to see her again and also meet Jason. We had a great night catching up and drinking - we had intended to go to Skybar for a drink and Bukit Bintang for a meal but ended up staying at Malones all night. We had tapas for dinner - crumbed Camembert, eggplants, mushrooms; and even indulged in some dessert (chocolate mousse - yum!) I had to return to the hostel by 12pm for fear of being locked out, but we arranged to meet the next day at 5pm for some more shenanigans.

Since I've been to KL a number of times before I've done most of the tourist atractions before but teon thing I haven't done is been to Batu Caves. Batu Caves is a series of caves and temples, beginning with a series of 272 steps and large statue. It's completey free and was quite busy with tourists (August is peak month plus it's also holiday week, with Malaysian national day on Tuesday). Wild monkeys abound here, trying to score food and stopping to hiss at unsuspecting tourists - quite scary! I'd always thought Batu Caves was solely the 272 steps and statue viewable from the road, but the cave and temple complex continues on for some time beyond that. Returning to the bottom I asked an Indian man to take my photos. Once down though I was descended on by Indians, all wanting to have their photo taken with me. I refused the all - Monish had told me a story once that his cousins had taken a photo of him and I and sent it to all of his family, claiming I was his new girlfriend, and I wasn't keen for that to happen again!

I had lunch again at Pavillion, somehow managing to avoid all of the cupcake stores and bakeries, and purchased the new Sophie Kinsella novel, 'Mini-Shopaholic'. Needless to say it didn't take me long to get through it!! On the train home, I noticed an interesting sign. The sign was a list of 'what not to dos' on the train, comprising all of the normal (i.e. no smoking, eating, drinking) plus a picture of people kissing - no public affection please, we're Malaysian!

I met up with Jo and Jason at 5pm at Trader's Hotel. This was another place I'd never been to - on the top floor, they have an amazing bar that overlooks the twin towers, complete with swimming pool in the middle! Needless to say the drinks here were quite expensive so we sipped at a leisurely pace whilst watching the sun go down. We got chatting to an Aussie who was in KL for a Tupperware conference, and upon mentioning 'we' were from Canberra, he went over and fetched a Canberra rep who was also there. Of course being the small world that it is, Jo knew her!!

We moved on from Traders to Bukit Bintang, the main street for restaurants. We headed into an Italian restaurant that was fantastic!! Whilst Jason and Jo had oysters and salmon/steak, I went for a gorgonzola gnocchi that was to die for!! Thank goodness for the great exchange rate! The effervescence front of house then treated us to a strong drink and we made our way across th road to a bar that was blaring with music. The street made for great people watching, and as we were watching, a Bentley suddenly pulled up near us, blocking the traffice behind us. A young girl stepped out of it and throw her keys to a valet, who then went to park it - on the pavement! This is KL, where pavement are insufficient as it is, but he drove it right up the pavement vertically, with a little of its nose still sticking out. All pedestrians then had to start walking on the street to accommodate this car! All the 'Western' folk just stared in amazement ....
I made it back to the hostel just before the stroke of midnight again after farewelling Jo, ready to move on.

After my big day yesterday (and complete lack of sleep due to an aching heel), I didn't wake until about 9am, once both Amy and Owen had left for work. I put a load of washing on, had some of the cafe style toast with vegemite, and surfed the web for a while.

By about 10:30 I was ready to go, and MRTed it out to the HarbourFront, to catch a cable car. The cable car goes across to a mountain one way, and then to Sentosa Island in the other (where Universal Studios is). After a five minute stop on the mountain, I then crossed back to Sentosa Island and went for a walk across the island. It's like a huge 'attraction-world' - they'd created a huge Merlion replica; had numerous beaches; ziplines; biking etc. After trekking half the island I caught a monorail to the Universal Studios stop where I was given a freebie. It looked like a casino chip, however it turned out to be a tin of peppermints! An lunch of Toast Box (kaya French toast) followed, and then I decided to try to get tickets to the gymnastics at the Youth Olympic Games.

It took about 45 minutes, switching lines 3 times, to get out to the gymnastics venue, along with a walk in the scorching heat. When I arrived, I was told that the event was sold out but I was welcome to join the queue (in the sun!) for standby tickets. Um, no thanks, wasn't that interested. I was quite happy to return to Amy and Owens and spend the afternoon playing on the web, working out my travel plans for the next few days.

I had arranged to meet Amy and Owen at 6pm at the Bugis MRT. As it was my last night in Singapore, they were taking me to a highly recommended Mexican restaurant (I LOVE Mexican food). The restaurant was empty when we entered, although soon filled up. Rather than order my traditional vegetarian burrito, I went for a 'brandy snap-esque' potato pancake with frijoles and rice on the side, and we shared 'burnt' cheese with burritos as a starter. The food was absolutely beautiful! Apparently the cook was from Mexico, any everything was made from scratch. Everything was very light, as opposed to greasy and Westernised, with tantalising flavours.

Post dinner we went for a walk through Bugis, which is the Arab district of Singapore. There were markets, lots of offerings and incense burning for the 'Hungry Ghosts', and I managed to fit in an ice-cream sandwich. This is literally ice-cream in bread, although the bread is not quite the same as the bread we know, it's coloured and sugary. I remember they had a challenge on the Amazing Race to sell 25 ice-cream sandwiches, and it's no surprise that they were snapped up very quickly, especially at only $1 each!

Wednesday morning I had to say good-bye to Amy and Owen. I loved Singapore and could have stayed there for a lot longer, but there's more of Asia out there for me to see! I gave them a box of Cookie Museum cookies as a thank-you.

I taxi-ed it out to the Lavender Street Bus Terminal and unfortunately missed the bus to Melaka by about 2 minutes, so had to wait almost and hour and a half for the next one. The ride was fine, with the bus half empty, and we pulled into Melaka at about 3:45. Into a taxi to get to the guesthouse - at this stage I was absolutely starving as I'd had breakfast at 7am and nothing since! Of course, since I was starving, the taxi driver got lost. I ended up making him drop me in Jonker Street, the main street in Melaka, and finding it myself. The guesthouse was hidden, with no signs - only a doorbell to ring! When I'd been looking for accommodation in Melaka, all of the hostels looked to be quite dodgy, so I'd decided to pay a little extra for a nice place, single room to boot! The place, Number Twenty Guesthouse, was great. It was a large Dutch mansion with lots of exposed wood, and very minimalist furniture. It had a great book exchange too, where I was able to catch up on UK and Malaysian Cleos!!

After dropping my bags off, the first thing I had to do was eat. Of course, I turned the wrong way to find a restaurant and ended up in an older area, but I was that hungry that I stopped at an Indian hole in the wall and had a dosai (crepe) and iced milo. That was enough to sustain me for a walking tour of Melaka, although the heat didn't help. I don't think I've ever been that hot in my life - it was 5pm and felt like 50 degress with 99% humidity! I walked along the water-front, up a hill to an old fort, and through some picturesque parks before deciding the heat was too much. Once in the air-conditioned comfort of the guesthouse, I didn't want to leave so forfeited dinner for a couple of cold drinks. The heat and the issue with the taxi driver had put me against Melaka as soon as I'd arrived, so I decided I would head to KL first thing in the morning.

A slight sleep in this morning, as 'we' had breakfast scheduled for 10:30 at the local Tiong Bahru hawkers market. There, we met up with several other ex-pats that lived locally, and all enjoyed a good catch-up on the election 'results'. I really enjoyed listening and speaking with the ex-pats, as they had all been living in Singapore for a considerable period and they discussed the politics of the country as opposed to Australia. I also swapped e-mail addresses with one of the guys who said he was interested in coming to India for the Commonwealth Games. Breakfast was a very deep-fried affair, as I sampled more Singaporean delights - a churro-type pastry; curry puff; and egg tart, all washed down wimth iced milo (which I'm becoming addicted to!)

With a stomach full of food, Amy and I farewelled Owen for an afternoon of shopping in Orchard Road. Orchard Road is THE destination for shopping in Singapore, lined with mall after mall. All of the malls try to outdo each other as well, so there are about 3 LVs, 4 Guccis, etc in the one street. Our first stop was to a Youth Olympic Games tent though, as we'd been told at breakfast that the coke machine had been giving out free tickets with each purchase. I tried it but unfortunately didn't receive a ticket - my freebie was a Youth Olympic Games lanyard.

Shopping in Orchard Road (well, Singapore in general) is like having all of the world's best stores in the one place. For example, there's Witchery and Diva from Australia; Marks and Spencer and TopShop from the UK; Takashimaya from Japan. Takashimaya was my favourite - the food court was unbelievable! Amy and I had a late lunch here, with me tucking into 'fried carrot cake' again. I was looking for a pair of sunglasses and a pair of gladiators but didn't have any luck - yep, I went away empty-handed!

We returned to Amy and Owen's for a rest before heading out to Little India. It was a good initiation for the real India in October, with 1000s of Indians lining the streets. We headed into a recommended vegetarian restaurant and sampled idli (like glutinous rice cakes) and dosai (big crepe) with sauces. Both were delicious, at least I know I will

Flight 5: Kuching - Singapore (Tiger Airways)
Country 2: Singapore

Having walked most of Kuching, I decided to have a leisurely morning before my flight to Singapore in the afternoon. After smashing down more vegemite toast and packing my bag, I walked down to the riverfront and took a boat cruise for an hour. Very nice and relaxing and gave a different perspective of the town. With a few hours still remaining before I needed to head to the airport, I called in at a beauty salon to treat my nails to some TLC, before returning to the hostel.

I shared a ride to the airport with my roommate and was very excited to board the flight to Singapore, a country in which I had never stepped outside of the airport. (The airport is so nice though there's almost no need!) I took a taxi to Amy and Owen's place and the friendly taxi driver gave me a great tour of the city on the way, pointing out the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, etc. He also gave me an overview of the politics and economics of the country, comparing those in Australia to those in Singapore. The inaugral Youth Olympic Games are currently being held in Singapore and there were many flags and signs out for this - I also saw the village and Olympic torch on my way.

On arrival at Tiong Bahru and reuniting with Amy, Owen, and Carmen, my hosts took me down to the local hawker market to introduce me to Singaporean food. Now, everyone that knows me knows that I'm not much of an eater (American scientists have recently stated that fussy eating is actually a medical, psychological condition, so it's not just me being annoying!) and food is not a big part of my travels. But oh my goodness, Singapore has changed the way I look at food! For dinner, I tried out chee khue (sp?), which was like rice patties topped with radish and chilli; and 'carrot cake' (chai tow kway), which is like an omelette made with radish and spring onion; washed down my iced milo. Delicious!! If this is Singaporean food, bring it on, especially when it's only a couple of dollars.

Singapore is absolutely striking as a country. It almost seems like a perfect nation - perfect tourist attractions everywhere you look; polite people (you don't have to worry about walking after dark here), perfect green grass next to new apartments; great food ..... I was instantly thinking, 'I could really live here!' I couldn't wait for Saturday, as it felt like my first day of being a tourist since I left Australia. Everyone in Borneo was of the cool backpacker type - it was like an unwritten competition who could be the most untouristy and stay at the cheapest place - taking a photo was unheard of! Here, there were heaps of tourist attractions and heaps of tourist, especially with the Youth Olympic Games on.

Before we headed out to Sentosa Island for Universal Studios, we stopped by Tiong Bahru Plaza to have breakfast. NOBODY eats at home here since eating out is so cheap. I am love love loving the breakfasts here, there are so many 'Toast' places! I had french toast with kaya and an iced milo ... the first of many french toast/kaya toasts, and not limited to breakfast!

From there we MRT'ed and monorail'ed it over to Sentosa Island. The tickets were all sold out for the day, but luckily we had pre-purchased ours as we were expecting it to be a busy day. We were one of the first in the park, taking a few souvenir photos before the rides opened. We managed to go on just about every single ride and take in every show, even the ones aimed at the littlies like a carousel! The Battlestar Galactic rollercoasters were closed though, as on a recent test run a seat had fallen off! The second ride of the day was the Jurassic Park water ride and right at the end I was absolutely soaked - it was just like I'd taken a shower in my clothes! Having worn my jelly shoes my feet dried quickly, but the denim shorts I was wearing took forever to dry!

By 4pm we had finished the park, and we monorail'ed back to Vivocity mall, where I had my first experience of shopping centres in Singapore. It was massive! Having been on our feet all day we weren't reallly up for shopping, but the one place I did want to check out was Cold Storage, which is basically a supermarket for ex-pats. After all the vegemite toast in Kuching, I was running low so I picked up a tube. Also within the mall was 'Candy Emporium', which had lollies from all over the world. I was stoked to find Clinkers and Bertie Beetles among the Aussie section.

Back at Amy and Owens we remembered the election results should be in, and switched on the news to see what was happening. As expected, the result was too close to call. I also checked the footy scores and was devastated to find that the Crows lost to Collingwood by less than a goal after winning the whole match - this happens in every single match! We finished the night watching 'Melissa and Joey', the new American tv show featuring Joey Lawrence from Blossom and Melissa Joan Hart from Sabrina, which I loved!!

Monday 16th August





Apart from a few chips, I really hadn't eaten all day so I had a belated lunch/dinner at 5pm back in Miri city before returning to the hostel. Tomorrow I fly to Kuching, where I will get to see the orangutans!

Saturday 14th August
Sunday 15th August

After a sleep that would rival the dead, I enjoyed the (included) hotel buffet breakfast, paying particular attention to the pancakes, and then set out for my day of not doing a lot. I had originally intended on having a massage but my legs were too sore for anyone to touch. I think it took me half an hour even to get out of bed! Whenever I walked, the hotel staff would say, "Mt Kinabalu?", with knowing grins.

I spent several hours on the computer (again, unable to load photos - they are coming!) and suddenly realised I need a visa for Brunei, where I intended to go tomorrow. I'm sure that hadn't been the case when I left Australia ... There was an option of a 72 hour transit visa but it sounded like it was only issued at the airport with an outward flight confirmed, which I didn't have. Oh well, everyone I had spoken to had said Brunei was boring, so I made a plan B. I already had a flight booked from Miri to Kuching on Wednesday, so I basically had 4 days to get to Miri. I was sick of Kota Kinabalu and was intent on leaving tomorrow, and decided to take the afternoom ferry to Labuan, where I would spend the night, and the fly to Miri on Monday where I could spend some time in another national park.

Not really hungry, I grabbed another frappucino (they seem to have become my meal replacement) before retiring for a quick sleep. Upon awakening, I picked up my laundry (yay, clean clothes!), had a quick dinner, and watched a few BBC World programs before falling asleep again .....

Check-out from the hotel was at 12pm on Sunday, and I was intent on staying there until the last second, enjoying having my own room, a TV, and hot shower. After breakfast, packing, and finally finishing 'Wicked' (about the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz), I finally checked out and hailed a taxi to the Jessleton Ferry Terminal. The Lonely Planet said that the ferry to Labuan departed Kota Kinabalu at 3pm on Sundays (all other days it was 1:30pm) but as I didn't want to be stuck in KK for another night I arrived at the ferry terminal at 12:30pm. Good thing too, as it departed at .... 1:30!

Three hours on the ferry and we arrived at Labuan. Labuan is duty-free haven, ruled from Kuala Lumpur, and boring!! There was only 1 hostel listed in the LP, and I walked past it at first. Inside the door were about 25 steps, not what I wanted to see! The hostel was more like someone's house with 3 rooms of bunks, and I was the only guest (with the exception of 1 boarder).

Still unable to walk far and with inclement weather outside, I sheltered in an internet cafe and printed my flight ticket for tomorrow's flight to Miri. Dinner was Indian, naan bread and noodles, and then I retired to my room to start on 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' which Mark brought me (just as the title suggests - Pride and Prejudice in a land of zombies!

Thursday 12th August
Friday 13th August

This was the big physical challenge of my trip - to hike Mt Kinabalu. Leaving my big bag at the hostel's reception, I walked to the National Park's headquarters to register and meet my guide. Collecting my packed lunch, we shared a ride with a couple of Aussies down to the start of the trek, about 10 mins away, and off we started!

The trek to Mt Kinabalu is done over two days. On the first day, you trek 6km up to Laban Rata, where you overnight, before starting the final ascent at 2:30am on the following day (about 2.6km). You then return to Laban Rata for breakfast and to collect your bag, before trekking back to the National Park headquarters. All in all, it's a 17.2km round-trip, with numbers limited to 189 people per day.

The guidebooks state that anyone of average fitness can complete it; however, this is completely wrong!! Unless you are very fit, you will absolutely struggle to get to Laban Rata, let alone the summit.

Anyway, back to the hike. The first 100m or so is downhill, and the first1.5km is in through lush rainforest. It's by no means easy, as you're constantly hiking up steps, but this is the easiest part of the hike. There are constant rest stops with water and toilets along the way too, as well as sign markers every .5km. I'd started off in in pants but by the time I got the first rest stop I decided to change into my running shorts.

From about the 1.5km marker, it starts to get harder. A mixture of breathlessness from the hiking you've already done, the altitude, and the sheer constant upwards movements really test your cardio system and lung capacity. (Interestingly, my guide would have a smoke every time we took a rest! The guides do it 3-4 times a week, and the porters (everything at the resthouse is carried up by a person) will do it several times a day with 30-40kg on their back!) You're also not hiking along a normal rainforest trail -you're hiking up clay rocks or slippery mountains rocks.

By about the 4.5km mark, you're wondering whose dumb idea it was to do this (oh yeah, mine). The last 1.5km is a real struggle, and when you finally see Laban Rata Resthouse you cannot wait to sit down. I made the hike to Laban Rata in 3.5 hours (generally takes 4-6) and was the first one to arrive - not actually a good move because reception wasn't open yet! I was joined by about 10 others before we could check-in to our accommodation. I was in a dorm about 150 north of Laban Rata - not what you want to hear when you've just hiked 6km up. However, my dorm (Panar Laban) was in good condition with only 4 beds (of which only 2 were occupied that night). As there is no heating or hot showers on the mountain, the warmest place to be was in bed so I hopped under the blankets and read until dinnertime at 5pm.

With an early start the next morning, my dormmate (Roy, from KL) and I went to sleep at 7pm. Our alarms woke us at 1:45am Friday morning, and we piled on all our warm clothing in readiness of our trek to the top.

It is very interesting to see the types of people who attempt the hike, and I think they're divided into two groups:
1. Those that thought it sounded like a 'good idea' and they would 'give it a go'. These people are generally in their 20s and of good fitness. They hike wearing runners and old clothes, and are most likely to summit.
2. The Asian crowd (typically Chinese or Taiwanese) who bought a tour package to do it, most likely because the neighbours were doing it. The most strenuous exercise they've done for the past 10 years is a Tai Chi class, and go by the adage, "if you look like a hiker, then you will become a hiker". These people have headed off to their local Kathmandu store and purchased everything in sight - Merrel hiking boots, gaitors, walking poles, fleece jackets (hot pink for the ladies). These people have no hope of actually reaching the top.

Donned in a pair of leggings, running shorts, hiking socks and a soft-shell jacket, with a head-torch lighting the way under my beanie, my guide and I set off at 2:30am for the final 2.6km to the summit. The first 500m was a traffic jam as everyone was leaving at the same time, but the stronger hikers soon took over at a clearing, just when the steps stopped and the rocks began. I am very glad it was pitch-black (save our head-torches) when we ascended, because what we were climbing up was incredible. We were basically climbing up rocks, with water gushing over them, at a 70% incline, using a rope to assist us up. It was a lot more technically difficult than the previous day's hiking, but a lot easier on the cardio system. I shudder to think how the 'less-fit' could attempt this section.

With 500m remaining, the skies opened and it started bucketing! Even adding my rainjacket, hoodie and Gore-tex gloves, I was soon frozen to the bone, and was really starting to question why on earth I'd subjected myself to this. Normally when you reach the top, everyone waits around and watches the sun rise - on a clear day, you can see to the Philipines. However, not today - I reached the peak (barely big enough for 3 people to stand on), had a photo, and then my guide and I quickly started to ascend. About 500m down, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and I started to realise why people do the climb. The landscape of the mountain was gorgeous, looking like the surface of the moon. The sun in the distance was like a paint palette, springing colours of pinks, purples, oranges and yellows, and fluffy clouds danced below us. It was also at this point that I realised the steepness and 'scariness' of the rocks we had ascended - going down wasn't much easier, as we had to 'abseil' in various places.

Making it back to my dorm, Roy was sitting on his bed, swaddled in every blanket he could find, along with a friend of his. Being from KL, I don't think they'd every been this cold before in their lives, and were shivering so badly! They said they'd made it about 1km up when it started raining, so they decided to turn back (my guide later told me that hardly anyone summitted that morning - a lot had actually failed to make Laban Rata the previous day). On the way down from the summit all I could think about was laying under my blankets, but the sun had warmed me on the way down and I was hyped from reaching the summit, so after a quick breakfast my guide and I started the final descent. Going down was a lot easier for the cardio system, but I actually found it harded - you had to concentrate on every step, as you were traversing slippery rocks. The last 100m climbing steps uphill were the cruelest!

Farewelling my guide, I then had to walk back to my hostel to pick up my bag. Sweaty, dirty, showerless, and having being rained on, all I wanted was a hot shower and some 'greasy' Western food. Unfortunately I had to wait another 1.5 hours for a bus back to Kota Kinabalu. I'd booked into a hotel with all the conveniences and had the longest hot shower ever! I then dropped in my laundry (I pity the laundryman) and had a frappuccino and pizza. Food and hygiene fulfilled, it was time for bed ........

The numbers:
Total hours climbing: 12.5
Kms trekked: 17.2 (8.6km each way)
Height reached: 4095.2