Blogs from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 30

22nd & 23rd March - Kota Kinabalu Our flight from K.L to Kota Kinabalu arrived early morning, having passed some impressive looking deserted islands surrounded by reefs on the way. After travelling for 45 minutes in a taxi we reached our base for the next 10 days, The Shangri La Rasa Ria. It was a rare bit of luxury after the previous two months spent in basic guesthouses. Welcomed in by the staff, a huge gong was sounded in the open air reception indicating our arrival. The atmosphere was very relaxed and after eating lunch we went for a stroll down the beach. It was great to catch up with the family and in the evening we were able to watch the sunset from our balcony. The sky was the most colourful I have ever seen! ... read more

Well, here it is the last and long awaited entry from Asia! It seems like an age since I wrote on here, either due in part to the fact it is, or that I was writing very frequently before! Borneo has been really interesting and varied, with loads of nature treks and natural wonders, as well as some of the worst driving and the odd dirty binner! The mere name Borneo cunjures up images of deserted forest, dense undergrowth, ancient hill communities and wild animals roaming without fear. Not to mention logging, deforestation, corruption and explotation. Unfortunately all of these have proved true. Sarawak at the western end of Borneo, houses many National Parks and we managed to visit the vast majority. Bako was the first and the most humid, with a mere stroll to the ... read more

In case you hadn’t already figured, we have not sent the same blog twice; instead we have edited it with the full story and some photos. We know some of you find this blogging business a tad confusing, but really it is quite simple as long as you read the dates and location header, it follows chronologically. We thought we would write a quick blog just to let you know what we got up to on the 6th March, Stuey’s 30th. It didn’t start in the best way possible due to the lingering stomach bug issue. He really wasn’t a happy chappy, and anyone that knows Stu will know he doesn’t handle illness well at all. Much grumpiness followed. But really he was on the mend, I gave my best reassurance. We started off the day ... read more

Thursday 28th February I got the plane from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, where Collette's family live. I managed to get myself a malaysian sim card for my phone and it's been a god send! Collette's mum phoned me (Auntie Olivia) and kindly offered to pick me up from the airport with Collette's neice Natalie. We drove about 5 minutes to this stunning beach and had a tasty dinner by a coconut tree. I was enthralled by the lovely scenery. It quickly got dark and we left, before the mosquitos started biting. By then I was on my second day of malaria tablets (the most expensive kind with the least amount of side effects - thanks to Mike's father Eric for that bit of advice), but didn't fancy turning into dinner. So we drove around Kota ... read more

Ok tomorrow we are heading off on a tour like no other that we have been on so far. The challenge: which we have accecpted is to climb Mt Kinabulu. Wiki describe it as: In 1997, a re-survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low’s Peak) height at 4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sea level, which is some 6 metres (20 ft) less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of 4,101 metres (13,455 ft). The mountain is the fourth tallest in Southeast Asia behind Hkakabo Razi of Myanmar (5881 m), Puncak Jaya (4884 m) and Puncak Trikora (4750 m) of Papua, Indonesia, and is therefore also the tallest in Malaysia and on the island of Borneo, which Malaysia shares with Indonesia and Brunei. Sounds like a doddle as you need no specialist ... read more