Day 121 and 122: Cat Museum and More Airports

Day 121

It's our last full day in Kuching today and it's going to one of exploring but this time the town instead of the forest. We hear there is a cat museum here so it's going to be first on our list but not before we take some cheeky snaps of the cat statues along the way.

The museum is a little out of the way so we grab a taxi which heads out of the city centre and towards the impressive city hall. Why the city hall? Well that's where the place to put the worlds first cat museum of course. It's free to go in apart from a small fee for taking pictures which we are more than happy to spend. The place is amazing, how to describe it, imagine the craziest cat lady house and then times it by 10, we love it! It literally has everything to do with cats, cat things, posters and anything else a little feline. 

They even have some rubbish taxidermy, what more could you want? We spend an hour here taking a mound of photos before even we get a little cat-ed out. The taxi has waited for us so we jump back in, heading back into the centre and we get dropped off at a museum in the middle of town. This also has taxidermy, huge skeletons and upstairs a model long house that would fit normally a whole village worth of people in, it was really interesting but we didn't take any snaps and I've forgotten the names which doesn't make good reading for you. Now tired of walking and our heads full of museums, we head to a cinema to see the new Mad Max film. The maps points is in the direction of a seemingly derelict building. But it can't be, it's got a film poster out the front for a movie that only came out yesterday. We try a door and it opens and a shifty looking man points us to the lift. We open out onto an empty cinema foyay which is full of Avengers bits. I got a few snaps before going to the counter and getting our tickets.

Ben heads to the popcorn stand and grabs us 2 drinks and 2 popcorns and the total, with the tickets in £3 all together! Apparently the cinema isn't very popular in Kuching, as the screen is as dead as the rest of the building. It's just us, a business man and a couple with a 3 year old girl (I don't think she enjoyed it that much as I heard Peppa Pig in the quieter moments). I wasn't that impressed with the film as a whole but loved the costumes and some of the cinematography but I haven't seem the others and I have just fallen in love with Grand Budapest Hotel so I might be biased. We head back after is and pack as tomorrow is the start of my birthday plans, woohoo!

Day 122

I am so excited this morning! We are heading for Langkawi which for us means it's my birthday :D We've got a few flights today so we are starting early but not before another yummy breakfast and a cute gift of a bracelet and a cool key ring from the lady who owns the home stay. The first flight is uneventful and we arrive in Changi Airport, Singapore. This is the airport that we are most excited by and once we drop our big bags off (they aren't coming to Langkawi with us) we go off and explore. The first place we go is to the Social Media Tree and take a few snaps.

I also photo bomb some girls which I really didn't mean to do but made Ben laugh, a lot.

We then grab some food and as we've got a few hours and the free wifi is good I FaceTime my bro and my nephews which was so so lovely, I do miss the little monkeys. Still with 3 hours to go we potter around the airport which is when Ben lets slip that my lovely, awesome, fabulous family and sent some money for me to spend on treatments and food in Langkawi, I've already thanked them but here is another one, Thank You!!! I decide to spend some here at the airport and grab some moisturiser which I am in dire need of and then we go to the duty free shop to pick up a bottle so we can celebrate in style. This is when the Hendricks Gin counter catches our eye and we decide it would be rude to not sample some free cocktails off their menu, yum.

With a little bit of hic, we buy a bottle of Tanquay gin and then I spot the Mac counter and grab myself some nail varnish, oh I feel very spoilt. Next stop for us is Harry's Bar for a very expensive drink and then we spot some a leg massager machine and this one is free!! 15 minutes later and feeling nice and relaxed we go for another wander and find an outside area that we chill out in for a bit, oh I do love this airport. It's time to walk to our gate but we squeeze another leg massage we before we do. 

The flight is only an hour long and I'm getting so excited! We grab a taxi and head off to our hotel which is on the other side of the island and it's so lovely. The foyer reminds me of the amazing snazzy place we popped in in Kota Kinnabula to grab a taxi one wet afternoon and I never thought I'd be able to stay somewhere so grand, thank you Ben!! The staff are really lovely and then we grab a shuttle to our room as the place isn't one building but a selection of chalets. We have got a rainforest suite and it's beautiful, I have a bath!!!!! We unpack, order room service and I have a luscious slash in the huge tub so I am looking devine on my birthday, I could get used to this.

Day 119 and 120: Arriving in Kuching and Treking through Borneo Rainforest.

Day 119

After our long day travelling yesterday, we have decided today is going to be an in room day and what a room to be in! This place is all laid out like it would have been in the 1950's with cool radios and typewriters as props. The walls are lilac with dark wood finishing second and the ceilings are high. All of which has given me and Ben loads of ideas for our imaginary place at home. After a yummy breakfast of eggs, we head stairs with Ben on working out what we are going to do in Indonesia and me tasked with sorting out Sri Lanka.

Fast forward 6 hours and neither of us feel like we are any closer. We head out for some lunch and find a noodle place that's yummy though has a weird idea of what's vegetarian, everything comes with chicken. The time out gives up both chance to exchange what we have learnt and we actually really we've got a lot done. So back to the room and our searching, we give up at 7 and watch the Grand Budapest Hotel from the DVD selection in the common room. Oh my god, I love this film!!! It's got to be my new favourite, I would most definitely recommend it.

Day 120

An early start today as we are going off trekking in the Borneo jungle, woo. We have our breakfast then the lovely home stay owner walks us to the bus stop, I can't say enough how helpful she is. We wait about 5 minutes for a bus to come and it's only £1 for the both of us to do the 45 minute ride to the park entrance. We fill the time with our usual nattering and then we are there. That bus drops us off at the entrance to the park which is a jetty as the only way to get to Bako National Park is by boat. We don't have to wait long before we grab a boat with a few others and bomb along the waters which we find out later is infested with Salt Water Crocodile. We reach a beach with the most amazing rocks on them with bright orange swirls going through them.

We get to the park entrance, sign in so they know we are here and pick a trail. I really want to see proboscis monkeys so we pick Trek 3 that hopefully means we will see them. It's 1.6km there and back and I really enjoy it. You just set off on a well signed but just rock and roots path through the Borneo jungle. You clamber up trees and over boulders, constantly listening to the sounds above you just in case you spot a monkey. There is definitely something above us as we can hear it moving around but they obviously weren't keen on being seen as we didn't spot them. At the end of the trek there is a beach which looks beautiful but you can't swim in it currently due to crocodiles, nice. We wouldn't have wanted to any way as the heavens open at his point and we rest up before heading back, with me ignoring my aching muscles.

We don't travel far before we notice some bats flying just above us and then fly around Ben's head which looks so cool! We also spot a mid way through evolution type creatures in the waters that we pass that looks park fish, part frog. Once we are back at the entrance we grab and drink and have a rest up and Ben spots a wild bearer pig just wandering around! 

Now rested we head off to Trek 2 where apparently some proboscis monkeys have been spotted but we get distracted by Trek 1. It's mainly up hill and we have to clamber over tree stumps and under branches but the view from the top is great. We disturb something as we get to the top but it's either too small (slow loris) or really good as hiding (every wild animal) for us to spot. We walk back down and spot the coolest army of ants.

We now go off to Trek 2, it's a longer route but we are hopeful of seeing monkeys so our tired legs don't mind, it isn't long on the route that we hear some monkey calls but they are a way away so no sightings. The route is nicer than the others and I'm still enjoying the clambering. Still no sign of monkeys though and Ben gets a little nervy when we go through the long grass as he's not overly keen on snakes. We head back to the park entrance, sign out, get some more piggy pictures and get a boat back. We are bouncing along the water when suddenly the boat slows and in the trees, quite far away are proboscis monkeys! I'm so excited but they move to fast for a picture and I don't even think Ben saw them. We grab a bus back and then slump, tired from all our treks.

Day 117 and 118: Stars and Moving On

Day 117

It's our last full day here and it's going to be so hard to leave it :( We wake up and have the best poached egg on toast as its on normal, non sweet bread and Sue makes it, nom. We want to have a photoshoot with Julian today as he's pretty sad to leave the place too. He goes everywhere and decides he's going to become a travel reporter and uses this shoot as his interview, have a look here to see how well he did.

We spend about an hour taking snaps before it gets too hot and we strip off and dip in the pool, practising our diving. We want to grab some rum to take back and it was our plan to do so after the dip but one of the staff is going into town and grabs some for us which is really lovely.

We back our bags now, sad as it reminds us we are leaving. It's a bit of a logistical nightmare as well as we try and fit the rum in but after dumping a few bits we manage to squeeze it all in. At 2pm, I head over to Sue's as I'm going to get a manicure and pedicure as a pre birthday treat curtsey of Ben. Oh it's amazing, I have a foot spa, a leg massage and I picture some bright red nail varnish to top it off, I feel so good. After this 2 hour beauty session we cash up our bill and head over to Phil and Sue's again for our leaving dinner. The food, as always, is incredible which makes me want to leave even less :( Today we have an aubergine salad, okra with Spanish sardines which is amazing and Ben has refried pulled pork and I think he's in love. We are eating early as we are going to a little opening of the Nightscape project tonight which is going to be a camp where you go up and spend the night learning about the stars you can see from the mountain with a trained astrologer which sounds so cool!

We bundle into Goldie and head up the steep volcanoe, stopping every so often to grab some shots of the sunset. Once we arrive, we meet up with the Spanish team organising it and wait for the local teachers who will be using it for their students and the dignitaries to arrive. Once everyone has (about 40 people) and taken the obligatory selfies, we all grab torches and head up to where the camp will be, it looks amazing to look back and see the trail of lights weaving through the forest. Nothing has been set up yet but we see the space it will be and have a look at the very clear skies.

It clouds over and the speeches have started so we sneak off and head back, seeing fireflies for the first time as we do. So so cool!! We drive back with a detour for me to get some marshmallows and a farewell drink at Linus's where we meet his really cool diva dog :D

Day 118

We are up nice and early as our flight leaves at 7. Phil and Sue are being there usual lovely selves and taking us to the airport and its so hard to say goodbye as they made us feel so at home, luckily they leave quickly so I don't get chance to dwell on it and cry. The airport also distracts us as the bag scanner isn't working so they are checking every bag manually, which is fine if you have a small bag or a suitcase but a tightly packed rucksack? No way, luckily they just had a quick peak inside and don't take out half the contents like I thought they would. We check in and sit in the tiny airport where you can see all parts of it, arrivals, check in, security, the gate and the runway from our seat. Our plane is on time yay and we wave as sad goodbye as the plane takes off. 

We both feel like we are heading home and not off to the next part of our adventure and this plane ride is a little glum until I remember it's 2 days till my birthday :D woohoo! The flight is quick and we land in Cebu ready for our next long wait. First things first though is a snack and I fall head over heels for a tuna sandwich, I haven't had a good one in ages and I'm in love. Seriously I could have eaten another two straight away. Whether it's today with leaving our little bit of paradise or the long wait we are both a bit fractious with each other and this wait doesn't go so fast. Once we are in the plan though and had a little chat we are back to being our silly selves again, with Ben pretending to be deaf as his ears block up and I pretend I'm taking when I'm actually just mouthing. We carry on with that for about half hour when we hit a bit of turbulence which is easily the worse I have ever experienced, luckily we are both strapped and no one was walking aisle. It started off like a little bounce on the roller-coaster then suddenly the plane drops (probably not even a few cm in reality) and the whole plane bounces out of their seats, the guy in the row opposite didn't have his seat belt on and he hit his head on the ready lights. The pilot comes over the speaker system to apologise and seat belts are suddenly fractionally put on but luckily we have a smooth flight after that.

We land in Kota Kinabula and grab a quick snack before checking in. Another long wait here but we do have a try out the massage machines which are 50p for 15 minutes and very good. We aren't sitting together on this next flight but my guy isn't too bad who I'm next to and I get some bits done. The plane lands and I'm so happy our day of travelling is over. We grab a taxi and head off to Borneo Life Home Stay, the nicest home stay and hostel we have stayed in all trip. 

Day 107 and 108: Boxing and Losing my Passport to a Sleeping Man's Foot

Day 107

After sleeping in and making postcards to send out to our loved on (PopCarte and ByPost are the best apps) we decide it's too late to do another island trip which is quite good as it saves a few pennies. So the plan instead is to catch a film and then watch the sunset from the Observation tower. We eat some lunch, glam up and head towards the mall. However much I want to, Ben won't let us watch Avengers again so we scroll through the choice of films and settle on Furious 7, I've not event any of the other ones but Ben's not sure it will be too confusing for me to pick up.

It has to be the worse, poorly acted, badly written, most entertaining film I've ever seen. Honestly, I laughed so hard at the cheesy lines and gawp at the fast races that even the bad bits became good. I'm not saying it will ever win an Oscar but it was a really good film to watch when your brain needs a rest and there was a really moving tribute at the end to Paul Walker who has died half way through the filming. We grab a supermarket stash of food and head back to our cave for our last night before heading to the Philippines tomorrow and a long wait in the airport.

Day 108

We are leaving the lovely lands of Boreno today so it's a morning of packing, well supposedly. You probably couldn't miss the build up to the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao boxing match in the UK which is on this morning for us. Ben's really keen on watching it and he had spent the last few days trying to find somewhere to watch it but the head of Malaysian TV has obviously been living in a whole for the past few weeks and hadn't heard of the fight apparently so no local TV was showing it. Majorly annoying so we had resigned ourselves to the fact we would only be able to get it in Twitter. 

This was until breakfast and a common room full of Fillipinos caught our eye. I'm putting toast in the toaster and Ben's making coffee when I hear a very American, Very boxing sounding commentator on the telly.

"Ben, psst, Ben" I whisper "I think the boxings on"

It can't be, he says, it's got to be WWE but as we go round the corner into the common area and we look up at the screen it looks like Ben's prayers have been answered, the cheeky Philipinos have somehow managed to get HBO and it was currently showing the pre fight fluff. Ben's in love. I get to bask in some of that love when I offer to pack up his bag for him and check us out so he can watch the fight. I know, I know I'm lovely. The hour and a half to myself means I get a little head space and chance to play some cheesy tunes that Ben can't handle. With both bags packed and us checked out, I head into the common room to find out that the big fight is just about to start and Ben is very drunk.

Turns out the Filipinos are as friendly as I remember and have been plying Ben with food and drink whilst they wait for the fight to happen. It's extended to me as well as I glut coke, and eat nuts whilst we boo and cheer as the fight goes on. I'm not qualified (as a non regular boxing fan) to comment on who should or should not have won but I do think Mayweather's way of fighting isn't that interesting to watch.

Once the fight is over and we've said our many goodbyes and promises to visit all of their home villages, I drag Ben into town to sober up with a Burger King and a lot of water. We were both pretty excited about going to the Philippines anyway but after spending the morning eight those guys we both now can't wait and are wishing away the next 24 hours till we are there. Relatively sober, we grab our bags and get a bus to the airport where we begin our long wait and epic travels to get to our final destination, Camiguin. KK airport is a little crazy with only one departure lounge for all the flights leaving and a lot of crazy Chinese families shouting at each other.

4 hours later we board our flight but we haven't finished take off when I realise my passport is no longer in my pocket. I know I had it on the flight but it's not on my chair, it's not in my bag and I'm starting to panic. As a last resort, I look under my seat and finally spot it just behind me, phew. I jumped down and awkwardly jam myself in between the seats and stretch under mine, my fingers nearly touching it and with a final push I know I will be able to reach it, when...the man behind's foot steps on it and pulls it back, under his shoe and out of my way. No amount of stretching is enough, with my fingers always being a few cms out and when I look up I realise that the guy is asleep. I trying and wake him but no response and I'm not so out to break a social faux par by touching a sleeping person.

I'm fretting a little as you can imagine but luckily a steward is passing and after a quick explanation from me, sets to retrieving it for me. The passport captive is in the window seat, the seat in the middle is empty and there is a confused looking Chinese man in the aisle seat. The steward asks him to move, meaning out but in a Monty Python styley, he does understand and shuffles into the middle seat that the steward is trying to get in to. All this kerfuffling wakes the Mr Sleepy, who looks a bit startled to find a steward and a pink haired girl staring at him.

"It's my passport" I say "it's under your foot" 

He looks at me confused, realises after a few seconds, then looks sternly at my saying "It's a very important document, you know" like I had threw it under is foot for a giggle, give me strength. I forgot to mention is this story so far that he is very over weight and as he leans down to grab my passport, his size won't let him so he awkwardly shuffles himself, bum in the air, wedging himself down and finally gets me my passport. Why he didn't just kick it to me I'll never know but I thank him all the same. 

Thankfully the flight is unevenly after that and we touch down in warm and dark Cebu. Knowing we have a lot of time to kill (10 hours in total, over night) here we meander through the airport and immigration. The guard on the counter, who are usually quite quiet and stern, is amazed by my hair and lets me know Katy Perry is in town and that I should definitely go and see her, so cute.

We grab out backs and make our way to domestic departures, we have a nervous 10 minutes when we realise we have forgotten to download our itinerary and have to steal some wifi from a closing cafe to get it. Once through first security, the hair causing a stir once again, we settle down as we can't check out bags in until 4 hours before the flight and decide to kill time till 2am when we can check in.

Day 105 and 106: Fishes and Dragons

Day 105

I don't know why but so many cheap rooms in Asia have no windows and this one is no different. We are also quite close to the reception so when I hear voices that sound like they are checking in, in my sleepy state I think it's morning. When it's actually 3.30am, how inconsiderate of them.

It's another blogging and trip arranging day which means we don't really leave the room, but it has to be done. These days sometimes feel a little like a waste but we do need them to sort everything out, getting the right (and cheap) hotels and transport. We head out for dinner and towards an Indian restaurant that Chris the German recommended. I got for a roti canai as why ruin a good thing? Ben's a little more adventurous though and go for a Masala Dorsi which is a huge stuff roti with super hot curry which even makes Ben gasp. We are treating ourselves to a Terminator night so grab some movie night snacks and head back for T2. I'll be back.

Day 106

After a day of rest yesterday, we are off island hopping again. We get down to the not so jetty a little late which means there's no one to share a boat with. We come to this bit because it's a little cheaper than the jetty but it doesn't mean they won't leave until the boat has at least 4 people, we wait for about half hour and it's looks like we are going to have to go find a more expensive place when a group of girls turn up who work in Singapore and they are happy to share, woohoo! 

We are going to go back to the same islands as we liked them so much last time but Sapi is rammed busy this time as it's coming up to a bank holiday. We have heard a rumour there's another beach around the corner and we scramble over some rocks and round the cove to find a near empty beach! We set up camp on a rock and don the snorkels. The fish aren't as plenty here but we still see some clown fish (this one a little more aggressive, by that I mean he swam at us in a "You what?!" Styley) loads of rainbow fish which I've found out are called Parrot fish and a really cool leopard print one. The masks are really failing now and between us we have only one good set so I give it to Ben and go enjoy the sun whilst he paddles round. 

We head back round when our stomachs start to rumble and we have just turn the corner to the main beach when we hear a commotion and I see something moving in the water, my first though it shark but it bobs it's head up and it's a monitor lizard!! Ben's so excited and we watch him as he comes to the shore. The locals have to ruin it though by chasing it and pulling its tail, grr don't they realise how lucky they are to have these animals? We didn't get any pictures and I know Ben's a little disappointed so when I hear a rustling at lunch, I get Ben straight away and there's another lizard right near when we are eating!! He's so cool and Ben is so excited, I can't wait for Komodo now :D

We grab the boat after and head over to the next island and shelter from the daily rain storm here under the trees, nattering away as we do. The boat ride back is a little rough so I'm glad once we are on firm land, I don't get sea sick but today was pretty close. Pot noodle for dinner tonight which is actually scrumptious and settle in for another film night, tonight's choice is Leon and I'm in awe of Natalie Portman, if you haven't seen it you must.

Day 103 and 104: Puppies and Islands

Day 103

Jacks off on holiday today so there's no new climbers. You would think this would mean a lay in but he's up at the crack of dawn and sets off his car alarm.

We get up, play with the puppies a little more and wait for everyone else to wake up. We are leaving the mountain today and as there is a few of us we're going to get a taxi bus thing together. We wave goodbye to Jack and the mountain and we are down in a record  time of an hour and 45 minutes. We've shared the ride with Chris and the 2 Norwegians who are funny but don't half like to let you know all their random bits of knowledge.

We check back in to the hostel we were in before and catch up with the world till hunger strikes and we grab some food at food court, well Ben does as vegetarian isn't on the menu. The good thing about Bonibon (our hostel) is that it's got a kitchen so we are going to have a go at cooking for the next few nights and find a supermarket to load up from. An uneventful but lovely day.

Day 104

We are going island hopping today and I can't wait. We've heard good things about the snorkelling so we pack out kit no swimwear and set off on search of the jetty and a boat across. On route though we spot Chris, the German guy from Jungle Jacks and turns out he's looking to do an island hop thing too so we grab a boat with him after deciding on Sapi and Manukan as our islands of choice.

The boats a bit bouncy on the way there but not too bad and we arrive on Sapi, our first stop. Oh my it's beautiful. We set up at the first beach we see and don our snorkelling gear and it isn't long before we spot some really cool, bright fish which we chase around. Our cheap masks are starting to show their true colours though a leak every 30 seconds so we spend a lot of our time clearing them out. It's only so long you can do that before you eyes start to sting so we head in for the usual flop, flip and dip. 

Our second snorkel is even better than the first, we aren't in for 5 minutes when Ben spots Clown Fish!! It was so awesome, they were just dipping in and out of the coral, looking a little aggressive. Easily my fish highlight of the trip so far. We also see some big blue neon fish, yellow ones some amazing coral and more. It's the best snorkelling we've done so far and we will definitely be back.

We grab some lunch with Chris after this and then head over to the second island, Manukan which looks even more desert islandy. The snorkelling's not so good here but I do see a little lobster which is cool. We spend the rest of the time, hiding from the sun as  blistered skin is never fun, picking Chris's brains about where he's travelled so far (where hasn't this man been?) 

Once back and after a quick dinner of spaghetti we head out to see the new Avengers film, reminding me that I love the cinema and I fricking love super heros.

Day 101 and 102: Mountain Climbs and Food

Day 101

Ben's nervous energy about today's climb means he is awake from 5am and ready and raring to go at 6. People are still trying to persuade him to do the 2 day but I've got faith he will smash today though I don't think he's currently that sure.

He's gone at 7 but I stay in bed for a bit, taking in the beautiful scenery. I've not got much planned today so dress slowly and take a leisurely breakfast. The two day climbers leave a little later and then it's just me and Teneka who is still recovering from yesterday's climb. We spend most of the morning chatting away and she's really cool. She is currently working in Singapore and before she leaves we make plans to meet up again when me and Ben are there.

Once she's left, I just mooch until Emmit offers to take me down to the park to pick up some of the other climbers and it's a beautiful view and for the first time I'm a little jealous of Ben and everything he is going to see. They all look shattered and when I let them know that Ben's doing the one day, they look horrified and start to get a little worried at what I'm going to get back. Once we are back at Jack's a couple of French lads have turned up who turn out to have stayed at the hostel in KK the same time as us. We lunch with Jack and then all chaos breaks loose as more people turn up than he realises and he gets a call to say Ben's down! 

I jump in the van and can't wait to see him, I've actually missed his little face after 3 odd months together. The man we picked up though, is not excited to see me, in fact I don't think he's excited about anything at is point. He looks like a shadow of a human and I finally realise it really was as hard as everyone was making out. He can hardly talk or walk and curls straight into a foetal position as soon as he's back in the room. I manage to persuade him to have a shower but coming out for food is out of the question so I grab him a doggy bag and dodge everyone's who is yet to climbs questions about him, well I don't want to scare them.

Day 102

You can't really sleep in at Jungle Jacks as there is always people up early, getting ready for their climb but we hide in our bunk until they've all gone so we don't get in the way of the frenzied sandwich making. One of Jack's dogs has just had puppies which are absolutely adorable so we spend a little while playing with them before Jack announces he wants to go to the hot springs and would we like to come to? Yes please.

The conditions of getting a free lift (and sneaky free entry but I'll explain that later) is that we have to go shopping with him and carry his bags. We dash into a supermarket first for a few bits then we go off to the springs. The water here is from underneath the Mt Kinabula and though most of the hot springs are slightly ugly looking man made baths the water here gets real hot and we lounge for a good few hours whilst Ben soaks his weary muscles. He is walking better today but still stiff and I can see him wincing as he sits and gets up. On the way back from the springs, Jack pulls into a wholesale fruit and veg market and we follow him round as he tests fruit and complains about prices. It's really incredible, I don't think I've ever seen such delicious looking food but we didn't take our camera so you will have to take my word for it. Lunch is at a small place Jack knows just next door and a scrummy and cheap plate of noodles.

The first lot of people we met have finished their 2 day climb and are back when we get back. After exchanging exclamations that Ben's still alive and comparing mountain stories, the afternoon is spent lazily at Jacks whilst the climbers sleep and me and Ben pack for leaving tomorrow. The choice for dinner tonight is Indian and it was a bit of a disappointment but we have been spoilt with our foods. There is a series of power cuts which starts Jack off on a government rant about poor generators and such but our dinner is still cooked and candle lights nicer to eat by anyway.

Day 99 and 100: Planning things and Jungle Jacks

Day 99

We are all up and ready at 6am for our taxi at 6:30, only problem is the main gate is locked and the reception is very much dead. Not a problem I think, we'll go down the fire escape. Yeah, that main locked gate is the only exit. Who needs health and safety eh?

After a bit of banging we manage to wake the receptionist and we grab our taxi and make it to the airport at 7.15. A whole two hours later, we've landed and left the airport in Kota Kinabalu which I think has got to be the fasted airport to airport I've ever done. We grab a taxi and dump our bags as soon as we get in as we've spotted sand from the plane and we are missing the beaches.

Taxis here aren't cheap and after a fruitless search for a bus we grab one to the water for an eye watering £6 single (the bus would have been £1). It wouldn't have been so bad if the beach has been amazing but it smells funny and covered in rubbish and we only get 40 minutes before a huge threatening rain cloud comes in and we get another expensive taxi back, not a good day so far.

We hide in our room from the rain where I get an email from my Dad with the innocent remark about how close we are to the Philippines which sparks a whole new adventure idea and we spend the night working out if we can afford to go and how to go about it. My dad has some lovely friends with a resort on a small island called Camiguin so we centre our plans around that, deciding after much deliberation that an awkward timed flight is our best option. We then sit on the computer for an hour battling bad wifi for the website to crash half way through and to reboot with the prices doubled. We also are still waiting to hear back from a climbing guy about whether Ben can do is mountain dream and we are meant to be leaving tomorrow but are still waiting on a confirmed yes. We go to bed pretty grumpy tonight.

Day 100

Woohoo, 100 days of travelling! Can't work out if it feels like it's been only 20 or actually 1,000,000. 

We wake up determined to get this trip back on track and manage to book the flights to the island and in a stroke of luck, £60 cheaper than the original price last night! Woohoo. We've also got confirmation from Jungle Jacks, the climbing man and we are setting off today, double woohoo! We've got to be there by two so we pack up quick, grab some snacks for the road and energy for the climb and grab a bus off to the mountains.

The drive up to the top is unbelievably beautiful, as we climb we seen huge valleys below us, crammed with trees and still more and more rock above us. Ben's getting so excited about the climb and I'm a little in awe of it all. We arrive at a jungle Jacks 2 hours later to find 3 or 4 brightly painted shipping containers, a bunch of dogs and a lovely man called Emmit, who's not Jack he says but he's taking us out to lunch. There is also a Czech couple who have arrived just before us and don't speak much English and by the time we get in the mini bus to food, we also have 2 Norweigens, Olaf and Jorgen and a Dutch girl called Tineke who's just come down from the mountain and we all look a little in awe of her as she's actually completed it. It becomes apparent as the conversation goes on that Ben's decision to do the climb in 1 day is a bit of an odd one as it pretty hard for most people and that's going up in 2.

None of the conversations I hear and putting it with the look of Tineke, who's much fitter than me and really didn't seem to enjoy it, I'm so glad I'm not going up the mountain. I know it's going to be beautiful but I'm really not fit enough and I don't want to ruin this for Ben after all he's done for me in the past few weeks. The lunch is amazing, and I fill my face full of fresh veg, fried tofu, rice and anything else I can get my hands on. This isn't the best idea as we haven't been eating much in the last few days and I can't remember the last time I had veg as fresh as this.

Once we are back a German guy called Chris and a Canadian called Andrew have turned up and we spend the afternoon swapping stories and everyone getting excited about their climb tomorrow. This is the first time we've spent any real time with other travellers and it's really nice swapping tips and regaling stories, everyone is really friendly and I'm so glad we've come here. Jack appears and he's as every bit crazy and lovely as we've heard. Darkness comes and he takes us out for some dinner which smells incredible but in the first scent my body reminds me I over ate at lunch and I manage a few sips of tea before I loose it all. Teach me to stuff, eh.

This place has tapped into my anxiousness as it's very basic and with rat traps and rustles in box I know we've got company. I'm determined to fight this though and use every tactic I have to calm myself down once we are back in our dorm (empty again) and it's not long before I'm asleep. Boom.

Day 97 and 98: Arriving in Borneo and Orang-tangs

Day 97

We are breakfasted and out early so we can catch our morning flight to Borneo today, so so excited about this! We grab public transport there and get there with loads of time which is good as we spend a good half an hour searching for an invisible gate 19 before we realise out boarding passes have been printed wrong and it's actually gate 9.

This flight has to be the most beautiful for views, we are flying over the mountains, that one of which Ben will hopefully be climbing in a few days and I'm in awe of it. Sandakan is nice and hot when we arrive and we stuff ourselves into a taxi with two other back packers to save in cost, though I don't think the driver was too keen taking 4 and huge bags. The ride from the airport is about 30 minutes and we pull into the main town to realise it's just the Borneo version of Harwich. It's dead and has a strong smell of fish but it's meant to be a base for a few days travelling around so the quietness doesn't really bother us at the mo. We check into our hostel who don't seem to know we are arriving into our first shared dorm of the trip...to find no other guests are staying, sweet. We grab a few bunk beds and try to log onto the wifi to find it doesn't work, hmm. Then place also has a strong smell of wee and it's unbearable hot. Big hmmm. So we go out and grab some free wifi in the cheapest place we can find (Mc D's) and try and work out how to utilise this one horse town. 

We head back to a sweltering hot room that we can't cool down with the windows and both fans on and try to play cards to distract us, it's gone mid night when we finally put our heads to pillow but the heat is too much to bear and I lay awake as I know Ben does trying to think of cool thoughts and ice boxes.

Day 98

In the early hours of the morning, I decide that lying on the floor would be my best option to get cool and I finally get a few hours sleep. I'm back awake at 4:30am though and there's no chance of getting back to sleep as I feel like I'm in a furnace. Ben wakes from his sweaty slumber at 6am and we both decide we are only having one more night here and it's going to be with air con. The breakfast is probably the only winning feature of this place as its a large gooey syrupy pancakes, hmm. We snaffle that, move rooms and then go to the snazzy hotel to steal the wifi and to actually book some of the plans we thought about yesterday. 

This takes all morning (honestly we spend so much our time booking things) and we give in at lunch and go find some Roti Canai to fill our stomachs. Now that we've got some plans set in stone we decide it's now time to make use of Sandakan and go see some of the wildlife around it. We want to go see the Proboscis monkeys but which taxi drivers charging us £60 return and having missed the last shuttle (urg for not being organised) we got for our second options, a Orang-tangs. This we can get a public bus to so much more in our price range. It's takes about 45 minutes and is a really lovely place. It's a centre for orphaned ones which they hope to rehabilitate and let back into the wild. We get there just in time to see some of the Orang-utans feeding and it's amazing to watch. Next we take a trail around the corner and find ourselves at the nursery. This is the final human interaction state before they are set free and it's full of climbing frames and ropes and the teenage Orang-utans remind me of toddlers. We are a little late getting here so can't go on the trek around the forest or see the sun needs next door but as we wander out of the forest we hear the call of two adults and it's an amazing sound.

Our bus back doesn't turn up so we grab a taxi with a German couple, the taxi driver is pretty cool and quite enamoured with my hair so we organise for him to pick us up for our early airport run tomorrow morning. We grab some internet in the hotel again and then back to the hotel for a delicious pumpkin curry, a weird lettuce warm roti (not so delicious) and then sleep in our cool, double beded room. Bliss.