Borneo

Firstly i'd just like to say Happy Birthday to my Dad so... Happy Birthday Dad!

We have been in Borneo for the last couple of weeks and it has been very hot and, being peak season also very busy - which was a bit unexpected. Malaysian Borneo is made up of 2 states -Sarawack and Sabah. We started in Sarawack, in the main city called Kuching. We had a look round on the first day and managed to buy our tickets to the Rain Forest Music Festival which was good as that was the main reason we were there on the weekend. After that we tried booking up the other things we wanted to do but unfortunately most things were booked up for ages so we couldn't do anything! We did manage to book into one of the national parks (Bako) for a coupe of nights at the end of our stay but we couldn't get on any other tours or into any main parks cause there were too many other people! Theres nothing worse than other tourists to ruin a good plan!

As Kuching is pretty small its not an ideal place to be stuck for too long but we managed to get out of the city and over to the Orang-u-tan sanctuary called Semaggogh for Saturday afternoon feeding time. The sanctuary takes in Orang-u-tans that have been injured or made homeless as parts of the rain forest have been taken down. We were really lucky as we managed to see about 10 different ones from a new born baby up to a fully grown male adult. The ranger said it was one of the best viewings they had had this year so we were really lucky. I had my new camera and managed to clock up around 70 photo's in an hour and a half - god bless digital! At one point we were surrounded by them as we were walking down a narrow path and there was the new baby with her mum in front of us and 2 walking up behind us! The ranger was telling us to move but we had nowhere to go! Luckily the 2 behind us jumped into the trees and on there way so we could leave the mother to it. At the end we saw the large male chomping away on some bananas the ranger had given him. They were so agile and quick even though they look quite the opposite when just sat there. It was a very cool experience to be so close to them!

On the Sunday we went to the music festival for the day. It was held at the Sarawack cultural village which is a really nice setting as it has a collection of all the different styles of buildings used by the different tribes in Borneo. These different building were used to house the workshops during the day. The workshops were basically all the different musicians collaborating and playing their various instruments together. We went to an acoustic guitar one, and acapella choir one and another called bamboo magic which had these strange Indonesian bamboo instruments that you shook to make a note. They were all quite cool and got the crown involved. There was then a 2 hour gap before the music began so after some food we headed down to the beach and managed to catch sunset which was nice as it had been about 2 weeks since we had last seen the sunset on a beach! We made it back to the festival in time to catch the first act who were from the UK called 'New Rope String Band'. Without causing offense to anyone the best way I could describe this band was 'interesting'. They were 3 middle to old age men from England doing all they could to back up the 'eccentric English man' image. The act that followed them was a local tribe playing their gongs. Gong music is all well and good for a few minutes, however 30 mins later we were starting to tire slightly. The conductor seemed to be fooling himself into saying they were playing different songs but to the untrained ear they all sounded very similar. Next followed an Indian band that were quite good, although we didn't understand a word of it and following them were a Greek quartet who played these tiny violin type cello things. Again, as with the gongs, good for a few minutes but after 45 mins I was looking for my sniper rifle to take them down. The final act were an African band who were brilliant. They got all the crowd going and shaking their booties. The main guy was either singing and banging the bongos or singing and shaking his ass both of which were equally amusing. As it was held in the rain forest it had indeed rained, and everyone was dancing bare foot in the mud as the African dude was shaking his ass - a very good end to the day.

We changed hostels the next day and stumbled into one of the best hostels we have stayed in yet. If anyone goes to Kuching you must stay in Lodge 121 as the staff are brilliant. Anyway, thats the sales pitch over. The next day we headed out to Kubah National park and embarked on a bit of jungle walking. Our walk took us through the jungle to a beautiful waterfall. Then we headed up to a look out although by that point it had started raining so the view wasn't too great. Finally we headed back down to the headquarters and made our way to the bus stop. It was a long walk to the bus stop and by now it was hammering it down. By the time we reached the bus stop we were soaked and had to wait another 45mins for the bus! We finally made it back though and got ready for our trip out to Bako national park the next day.

The trip out to Bako was a bit crazy as the bus driver was driving like a mad man and the bus felt like it was going to fall apart at any moment. We made it in one piece and then had to jump on a small boat for the final leg of the journey. We were staying here for a couple of nights so once all checked in we headed out for a walk to a beach. En route we spotted a pit viper snake which is a venomous snake found in the park. It was just chilling on a tree branch and so we took a few photo's before continuing to the beach. There are quite a few beaches at Bako but you have to walk through quite a lot of jungle to get there. After an hour we finally saw the beach which looked amazing but there was a steep climb down through massive boulders to make it. On arriving at the beach it was deserted with golden yellow sand and blue water. As we were rather sweaty we decided on a quick dip - unfortunately we hadn't brought any swimming stuff which was a bit of a foolish error. As Pauline was deciding what to do i disappeared round the corner of a massive boulder to a smaller beach and decided as no one was in sight and it was ridiculously hot skinny dipping was the best thing to do! Pauline looked a bit shocked as she saw me and all my white bits running into the sea but after a bit of gentle persuasion she was joining me! The water was brilliant and definitely the warmest sea I have been in, also after an hour and a bit jungle trek it was just what the doctor ordered! Getting in the water is one thing but then with no towel getting out and drying was also going to prove interesting. Still with no one around we decided to dry of by lying on the rocks. Just as we were dry, Pauline was standing there in her underwear when she whispered 'oh my god' and as I looked up, absolutely butt naked, there was another couple wading in to the sea. The guy had also thought no one else was around as he was wearing his birthday suit as well, so trying to play it cool I raised a hand said good afternoon and put my clothes back on asap! We made a swift exit from the beach and left them to it - still it was an amusing end to the afternoon! On the way back we saw the proboscis monkeys that are only found in Borneo feeding in the trees which was so cool. They have massive noses and feed on th leaves. They really didn't seem that bothered by us even though we were only a meter or so away from them. That evening we headed out with one of the park rangers and went on a night hike. We saw tarantulas, centipedes, frogs and all sorts of jungle beasties which only come out at night.

The following day we headed off on the big loop which takes in most of the park and takes between 6-7 hours. It was a hard trek but also one of the best we have done. We saw loads of the jungle and had to go through some crazy terrain. After about 2 hours there was a small rope up the side of a massive hill that went down into swamp forest the other side. Logs had been placed through most of it so you had to balance on these logs and try to make it over without falling in. At one point we had to cross a stream by crawling across a narrow log. The drop was about 5 foot into the stream below which would not have been preferable but we both made it. It took us just under 7 hours in the end but was really good - at least thats what i say, Pauline may have a different perspective on it!

Having spent the vast majority of the mast 2 days wlaking it was time to get some R&R so we booked oursleves into a reflexology place for a damn good foot massage - 45 mins for about 3 pounds - splendid! Now i was envisioning a relaxing foot rub, possibly by a scantily clad young lady (i wont tell if you don't!), but it was in fact an old chinese man who's hands looked like they'd rubbed more feet than i'd had hot dinners. When the man first gripped my foot and pushed his knuckle deep into the arch of my foot i can only explain it as terror at the thought of another 45 mins of this torture! But after about 15 mins the pain wore off and relaxation replaced it and the final half hour was actually quite nice. It was only in the dyong minutes of my massage that pauline kindly told me he dislocated her toes at the end of the 45 mins - what!! No thank you very much i thought, but luckily it was only a slip of the tongue as the man just clicked the toes - apprently to increase blood flow or something like that.

Leaving Bako and Sarawack behind us we flew into Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. They have a Sunday market which we had a look around before going up to a look out. The city is quite small and was blown up by the Japs during WW2 and the rebuild was not the most inspiring. Luckily it is in close proximity to some really nice islands so the following day we jumped on a boat and headed out to Sapu for the day. Here we lazed on the beach and did a bit of swimming and snorkeling for the day before heading back across the the water to KK. Our main reason of coming to Sabah was to go to the island of Sipidan to go snorkeling but we had booked flights to go via Sandaken and see the Orang-u-tans again. However we were advised against that as it costs loads and what we saw at the other sanctuary was much better than they get in Sandaken. However our flights were already booked so after landing in Sandaken we had to take a 6 hour bus ride sown to Semporna where we could get out to Sipidan. The company we had booked with had no spaces left to go to Sipidan so the first day we went out to an Island called Sibuan. The island is beautiful and the snorkeling isn't too bad but we went with a company called Scuba-Junkie who are not really any good for snorkeling tours. The following day we had booked with a different company to go to Sipidan but unfortunately this fell through the night before as their boat engine had broken! Exceptionally disappointing! So we had to go back out with Scuba-Junkie for another day on a different island. The journey out to Mabul was possibly one of the worst boat trips we have been on. They hired a local boat as they had no room in their proper boats and so we set off in a tiny wooden thing into a not very friendly storm. As the waves started to rise and rain lash in, the guy, who spoke no English, decided now would be a good time to hand out the life jackets! After an hour and a half of waves beating us in every direction we pulled up at the island as the rain was hammering down. We managed to get under some cover and stayed there for the next 2 hours before the weather subsided a bit and we could get in the water without fear of death. The snorkeling was actually really good and the coral was cool with some really big fish. But we only had time for one go before it was time to get back before dark. All in all not a very successful 2 days snorkeling. We then had the 6 hour bus journey back the other way to get the flight back to Kuala Lumpar. So now we are waiting for our flight before continuing our last leg of the journey through peninsula Malaysia. Only about 2 1/2 weeks left then its home.... AHHHHHHHHHHH!

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