LOVE ON THE ROAD
This week ZoË and train man
go mountain climbing
THIS WEEK ZOË AND TRAIN MAN GO MOUNTAIN CLIMBING
It was my birthday on Wednesday and I slept with four men that night. It wasn't supposed to be like that but Train Man thought we should do something adventurous. Let me explain.
Not wanting to sit on a bus for nine hours, I decided to mark my birthday by climbing south-east Asia's tallest mountain, Kinabalu. That was the idea, anyway.
We flew from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, where escapades aplenty are to be found river deep and mountain high. Train Man approved of my adventurous spirit as he's a Mountain Man. Somehow, he didn't think we'd been keeping it real in Topshop Kuala Lumpur.
We spent the day hiking up to the rest point while thoughts raced through my head. From: "I'm 32 but so alive!" to: "Where's the romance?" and: "This is his fault". At the lodge, 3,272m up, I realised all romance was out – our room was a dorm, already occupied by three guys from San Francisco. They were cute, though, so it could have been worse. And Train Man had sneaked chocolate cake into his backpack.
But as dark descended, so did a typhoon. We endured hellish wind and rain, which shook the lodge all night. To make matters worse, I got altitude sickness and vomited the contents of my stomach, including six yummy squares of cake.
I cried as I climbed into Train Man's bunk. "Need… a… doctor," I whimpered. Train Man held me tight – his bedside manner much improved – and assured me we'd be OK.
"Don't you ever get scared?" I squeaked.
"Erm, I'm quite scared now," he mumbled.
We're doomed, I thought.
At first light, we trudged down to sea level to recuperate. I've since told Train Man in no uncertain terms that I'm a Beach Girl and he can scale Everest with his mates.
Next week: Zoë and Train Man fall for an orang-utan
Miles travelled: 953
More terse thoughts than words
Birthday candles: 32
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