Here I am, lying in a bed somewhere in the vicinity of Hungary, Slovakia, or Slovenia. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where I am at the moment because, well, I'm sick, once again. For those who know me well—my closest friends, family, and even my colleagues at work—this isn't an unusual sight. But for those of you who don't know me as intimately, I've been grappling with illness for quite some time, although it tends to come and go.

Armed with padded hiking boots, headlights and not enough warm clothes on our legs and bums, my friend and I ascended Niamboyoo at 4am on a Saturday morning. With short stops along the way, a moment of desperate need in the bushes and mysterious noises coming from the distant trees we slowly hiked onwards and upwards to the peak.