From jungle to beach in Malaysia

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We're now in Malaysia (!), country number 5 (not that we're counting!), and we've been to the extremes over the last week or so. From Singapore we got a very early taxi to Johor Bahru just across the border, and from there flew to Kota Kinabalu on Malaysian Borneo (the northern part of which is called Sabah). From there it was a short bus ride to the park offices for the Kinabalu National Park. When we arrived it was lashing it down with rain, but luckily for us that was the only daytime rain we had there, and the next few days were great. Rachel had an upset stomach that prevented her from reahing the top, but 2 days later, at about 5.30am Rhod and I made it in time for a great view and sunrise. It was a great, if pretty straightforward, climb and well worth the effort. The next day, with sore legs, we got the bus to Sandakan and stayed just outside, on the edge of the jungle. There we saw Orangutans at the Sepilok Sanctuary before a couple of boat safaris on the river further into the jungle. That was amazing and we were very lucky to see a herd of elephants drinking and eating at the water's edge. It was then a quick flight back to the peninsula and Kuala Lumpur for just a night and then back on the bus up to Taman Negara, an amazing area of jungle that is resisting the inexorable growth of palm plantations (much to satisfy the demand for bio-fuel). It was very hot there but we had a great boat trip and walked through the jungle canopy on an amazing walkway. We also caught up with Shane and his friend Toby there, so we are now travelling as a group of 5. After a couple of days there we'd had enough of the jungle, so we sped up to the Perhentian Islands, where we've been for a couple of days. The speedboat ride over was amazing and although it's all pretty basic, and alcohol is expensive (even more so than elsewhere in Malaysia), it's a fantastic place. Yesterday we lazed on the beach and then did a short kayak, today we're taking it easy before starting a dive course tomorrow. We plan to stay here until we have to head back to Singapore next Monday for the flight to New Zealand, which will be pretty cold. Time to put away the shorts and get out those jumpers we've been carrying but haven't worn yet!

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