Boarding the boat in Ampana was of cause made extra interesting by the locals taking extra supplies to Wakai for the sunday market tomorrow including four scooters conveniently placed next to us. I don't think there are any real limit in the amount of people you can have on the boat so it turned out to be rather over crowded but it was 5 or so easy hours to Wakai and I managed to find a seat in the shade and relaxed. Once we arrived in Wakai we were met by a small wooden long boat to take us to the lodge on Kadidiri, one of the islands where there are three lodges. This part of the trip took around an hour and we arrived around four ish. After booking my accommodation with Anton in ... read more

After arranging for the bus to collect us from the hostel sometime between eight and nine, waking up at 7:55 wasn't the best start. But I managed to have time to get ready and have my last breakfast at Wisma Maria - homemade bread with homemade jam and smoothie - so good. The bus finally arrived to pick Hylke, Joszi and myself up just after nine and it looked alot more comfortable than the one we arrived on! Joszi forgot her mp3 player so after telling the driver she had left her passport he returned to the hostel. The bus gradually filled up with men, rice, rice and more men and after we asked them not to smoke it was a not very eventful 13hr trip to Tentena. The roads are in such a bad condition ... read more

Wow Indonesian people are so friendly! The first two days in Rantepao Meena and myself hired a scooter and set out to explore the outskirts of Rantepao. Firstly we headed south and visited Ke'te Kesu, a small village of traditional style houses, hanging graves, cave graves, rice paddies, collections of bones in open coffins with skulls placed to watch to goings and comings. It is a great example of how the Torajan people treat the dead like the living and shows their traditions have been the same for thousands of year. We then followed the road back towards Rantepao through rice paddies and amazing scenery to Karassik. Karassik is another town that has traditional houses and a great view over Rantepao. For lunch it was Mee Goreng, amazing. After trying to find out some information about ... read more

Leaving Uncle Tans i took the bus to Lahan Datu and onto Semporna, first impressions - o my GOD - this place is much worse than everyone said, its a complete and utter dump! But when you get into the main street where the dive shops are and hostels its just a dump and not as bad. Checking in to Scuba Junkie backpackers they had lost my booking but by the time i headed over to fill out the paperwork for my dive it was all organised i and checked into my room. There are loads of local cheap cafe's and a very good western cafe attached to the hostel, for the first night i headed to the cheap cafes. And after been at Uncle Tans for three days where there are no showers had an ... read more

Catching the minibus to Kinabablu NP was surprisingly easy, i made the bus full so there was no hanging around and we headed straight off to the National Park. Having told the driver where i wanted dropping off i thought it would be simple, but i forgot i'm in Borneo and nothing to do with public transport is ever simple! The driver missed the drop off point for Kinabalu Mountain Lodge and arrived at the park where he thought i would happily walk the 1km back to where he should have dropped me off then the 1km up the drive way to the lodge. He turned around and took me back. Kinabalu Mountain lodge is in a perfect setting, views over the mountains and into the valley below, vegie garden and its much cooler than the ... read more