Mt. Kinabalu

Quick post from Sandakan in Malaysia....

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have arrived safely in Malaysia. So far I have climbed Mt. Kinabalu to the summit at 4096M. It was not an easy climb, but well worth the effort. We stayed at the park head quarters for a couple nights before we ascended the mountain tuesday morning. It took us 5 hours to climb 6km from 1500m up to 3000m. The next morning we woke up at 1:30, had breakfast at 2am and left for the summit climb by 2:30am. It took us 3 hours to reach the summit, just in time for the sunrise at 5:30am on the morning of my 30th birthday. My sister and the other traveller that we met struggled with a bit of altitude sickness but somehow the altitude did not really affect me much. The climb down on the second day was long and grueling, a total of 5 hours to the summit and back to the rest area, then another 3.5 hours back to head quarters. Then it was off to Pouring Hot Springs to soak our pathetic aching bodies in the sulfur baths. Today we took a long bus journey 5 hours across the state to Sandakan where we are somewhat in limbo at the moment, unsure of where we are going tomorrow. Saturday we will be joining a jungle/river trek on the Kinabantangun River.

Sorry no photos yet, I didn't bring my thing to transfer photos to the computer. I will try to update when ever I can, but it's difficult to access internet in most places here as there are only 3 small cities here. Not to worry though, there will be lots of photos for you all to look forward to when I get home in a couple weeks.