Have just spent the last hour or so catching up with all your diaries. Some very good stuff going on , lots of determination.
Borneo was wonderful. I loved the place and the people. Lots of very basic accommodation, mainly washing in cold water, not easy to throw pans of cold water over yourself instead of showering!
sleeping arrangements were mainly on the floor on very thin mattresses in mixed dorms. I have never slept with strange men before!
Did not climb the mountain as I got to 7000 feet and got altitude sickness. Nothing to do with fitness level or age but rather to do with circulation. I had to go by taxi to a hotel at a much lower altitude as our guide thought I was risking having a heart attack! Stayed in bed for a day in the room next to reception and someone came to check on me every hour. The hotel were given strict instructions to get me to hospital immediately if I got any worse.
had a couple of days in a lovely hotel at the beach then it was back to the jungle with 5 to 6 hour treks every day in 100% humidity. Within minutes of starting the days trek you were soaked with sweat. We only had two sets of clothes with us one to wear during the day and one to wear at night. You had to keep the night clothes dry but put on the wet ones again in the morning. We did that for five days. Walking through jungle with a heavy rucksack on your back in torrential rain and high humidity is no joke. At one point the bridge we were to cross had been blown down in the previous nights storm so we had to wade across the river. A waste of time removing socks and rolling up trousers as the river came up to my waist! Wet knickers!!!
the group we were with were great fun and you would think with all that exercise I would have lost a lot of weight but I think I have probably gained weight as I ate either fried noodles or fried rice for every meal including breakfast. I don't think I will ever look a grain of rice in the eye again!
on my birthday I climbed up to the Baku plateaux which was 3000 feet almost vertical. A very different way of spending my 65th. I then paddled in the South China Sea. Made some new friends, saw lots of primates, reptiles and insects in the wild and had experiences I never dreamed I would have. Enjoyed staying in local houses with lovely families a lot of smiling and very little English. Definitely the holiday of a lifetime. Pictures later once I have sorted through the several hundred I took. x
ps passed out in the plane on the way there and got wedged under a fallen tree in the jungle when hubby decided I could crawl under it with my rucksack on! All part of life's rich tapestry.