http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Malaysia , Sabah , Kota Kinabalu en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:17:13 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:17:13 +0000 This time my group of riders was smaller and wanted to experience a shorter visit to Sabah and visit village area and to test the life style of the locals. it was a 3 day ride going up north and turning east ward along the foot of mt Kinabalu. we where very lucky for the 1st day and the 2nd half day as it was sunny and clear by noon the rain started. This didnt break the spirit of adventure of the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-457627.html It always fascinates me when i go to maliau basin for trekking or just for a short trip recently i went with a bunch of riders for a 2 days 1 night ride. just to spend a night in the wilderness of the rain forest riding in the rain was fun slippery road mad it though but exciting. we didnt manage to spend more time as we arrived quite late in the evening. Trekking in maliau basin is also someth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-455466.html hallo... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-455390.html Cherating turned out to be slightly more exciting than I have given it credit for. It was a quaint little surf town that the Lonely Planet described as our first impression was that the town was dieing. We found a nice guest house more of a bungalow than anything and stuffed ourselves with amazing food We enjoyed the beach caught up on some emails wandered around the small town and waited for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-450898.html Well what can I say about our time in Penang. We have rather indulged ourselves and all I can do is blame Anji.The island of Penangrsquos history dates back to 1786 when it was seeded by the sultan to the British east India Company. Today it has around one million people half of whom live in Georgetown the capital and the state is one of 13 making up the federation of Malaysia. Having mov http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-450482.html Day 1While everyone else busy celebrating Deepavali i decide to above my boundaries and try to be adventurous as i can. Depart to Kota Kinabalu by Airasia at 1045am and arrived 2hours later. The taxi drive suggest me to accomodate in Summer Lodge and it already in my few budget hostel list. It only cost RM22 per night and come with breakfast. After put all my luggage start to figure it out what http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-447786.html The problem with not posting for so long is that you don't know where to start because so much happens in such a short space of time when you are traveling. After leaving Adrian in KL on the 16th Oct. I flew into KK Kota Kinabalu in Sabah Borneo a bit daunting for the first night but I woke up with a renewed optimism in the morning. Went out to one of the Islands for a spot of snorkelling not b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-447682.html Putting all of my worldly belongings on my back i staggered out of my bungalow suffering from a lack of sleep it was quiet and still dark with the sun just starting to creep over the horizon. The early morning start suited my mood there was no one around i was alone the island was dark and this part of the journey was dead in the distance the emerging sun was giving life to further adventure http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-442767.html Sunday night after a 2 hour flight delay I arrived in Kota Kinabalu KK. The flight attendant happily announced the local time as 1.30am and that it was 31C outsideAfter arriving at the airport and passing through immigration I found that the one and only ATM was out of service so had to jump in a taxi and ask him to take me to a bank before the hostel. On arriving at the hostel I checked i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-441700.html WOW I've just been on jungle training and whilst Ray Meers finds this an every day event I think it was AWESOME. I can now hang a tarp and hammock between 2 trees with a mossy net well sort of use a machete a perang in Malay to clear jungle dig a long drop that's a jungle loo by the way cross a river in a safe chain and carry out casemedivacs in a jungle. We set off trekking for 2 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-441507.html The rain was heavy 0n the 21st Sept 09 morning and we waited while hopping the rain will slow down so we can start our long ride. as we load up our luggage the on the support vehicle the rain started to slow down and drizzled we didnt waist any time we sadled up and started riding towards south headed for brunei which was a 354km ride across the SabahSarawak and Brunei Boarders. we had lunch at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-440631.html BorneoWe flew to Kota Kinabalu Sabah Borneo where we met Charlotte Neilrsquos wee sis and her friend Anna. Theyrsquore currently partaking in their elective as part of their medical degree. When we met we were embarrassingly white by comparison to these bronzed babes but rather than let it get us down we headed to the food markets and filled our faces with chicken kebabs and rice with t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-439063.html After our freezing cold bus trip to Miri we had a quick look on the air Asia website and got a 45min flight to Kota Kinabalu instead of a 10hr bus journey. It wasnrsquot worth another bone crunching artic cold night travelling through the Borneo jungle. Although a little more expensive it was worth it. It was strange getting a flight for 45mins if thatrsquos what it even was We got our tax http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-438922.html Saturday 20th JuneFlight to Kota Kinabalu got charged for being over weight then for being 2 days over visa Got to KK late so no buses to catch into City Two girls saw my plight of trying to sort a taxi and took me under their wing Found some accommodation and went for a beer at a local bar with a live band randomely saw Andres and his friend in the same place Theres just no escape from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-438685.html In my final days in Borneo I made visits to the Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre formerly known as the KK City Bird Sanctuary where I saw a lot of common Bornean wildlife to the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park also known as the Lok Kawi Zoo where I saw a lot of uncommon Bornean wildlife and to Pulau Manukan also known as Isle of the Damned where I saw very little of anything.The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-437857.html Tuesday 8th September 2009One of the beauties about travelling with no fixed itinerary with no prebooked accommodation with a little bit of time is that you can change your mind about what you are doing and where you are going. Its something we have a habit of doing. Like the time we took the bus to Sao Paolo to watch a football game arrived at the bus station remembered we didn't like Sao http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-435543.html I am in Singapore. I am an ant. There are squillions of other ants here too 4.6 million apparently and every race colour and religion you can think of. All squeezed into an incredibly small city. Its quite daunting at first arrival especially in little India where i've been staying. A tiny hostel in a little back street which is surrounded by endless other little back streets most all of them http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-435363.html Mamutik is one of five islands that make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park just off the coast of KK. Its an easy trip out there bus or Kuni Taxi to the Jesselton Ferry terminal pick a company to go with one that shouts the loudest has the longest or shortest queue the first one in the door doesnt matter the prices are fixed and wait for the boat to leave. Mamutik is a 1015 minut http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-431542.html Day One Saturday 22nd August 2009When does your trip begin for you When you finish the last day at work When you leave home for the bus plane train boat When the plane leaves the ground When you arrive at wherever you are goingFor us our trip begins when we leave home. The excitement begins when we leave work for the last time though So technically day one was yesterday when http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-431030.html Its been a long break between entries again but no excuses...Mike was here the other week and I wasted no time getting him out to the pub quiz where I was sure he could help improve our team's dismal record. We came in dead last the day he arrived...but Mike redeemed himself the following week when our second to last place finish got us a free pitcher of Stella compliments of the first place http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-430068.html