Borneo from Above

Me on Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Ted.
Water village, Bandar Sari Bagawan, Brunei
Kinabatagan River, Sabah, Malaysia


Female proboscus monkey
Male (need I say it?) proboscus monkey


Hungry leeches



Sleeping birds

Worlds smallest frog
Hornbill
Long tailed macaque




Hornbill
Kingfisher


Fish trap



Orangutan at rehabilitation centre








Mt Kinabalu, 4095 m














Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Yellow watermellons

80 kg yellow fin tuna





Bandar Sari Bagawan, Brunei
Water taxis




Interior of a couse in the water village


Water village, Bandar Sari Bagawan, Brunei

Breathing heavily, I look down at my sweat socked shirt which is pulsating with each beat of my heart. I look around at the ever thinning jungle around me, what I don't see is that the air is also thinning, my body is trying to adjust, to compensate. It feels like it is failing, with the hut in sight I feel like I am there, but several rest stops are required before I arrive exhausted. The sign tells me that I have reached 3273 m above sea level, the temperature has dropped from a steamy 30 degrees where we started to under 10. I rest, in 10 hours we will set out for the summit 900 m above.
Tossing and turning I don't sleep, the rain splashes down in a perpetual rush for the sea. I look at my clock, 1.37, I can't sleep so I get my things together and head downstairs, the stars shine brightly in the sky, my mood lifts. We have a quick bite to eat and head out, a line of 50 or so head lamps proceeds us, weaving its' way upwards. The sound of rushing water filla my ears as the tropical rain fills every crack and crevice. We make good time, passing person after person, just one light can be seen ahead of us, we soon catch up and pass, it's only us and at mountain. We move steadily up, the ever thinning air not seeming to affect us as it did the previous day. The summit is now in sight, we scramble over the last boulders to reach the summit at 4095 m. The world pans out below, a chilly wind blows lightly, cooling us to the bone. The snake of lights moves slowly towards us to the east, a lightning storm flashes brightly to the west, lights of a town to the north and millions of brilliant stars shine above. A glow on the horizon indicates the the sun will soon arrive. Everything is PERFECT!