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Published: April 12th 2015
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VIDA'S BORNEO BLOG - February to April 2015 http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Vida
I have now reviewed Blog 1 and added photos from the trip which highlight the wonderfully varied nature of my experiences in Borneo!
Our adventure took us from the far northern tip of Borneo in Sabah, south through Brunei to Kuching in the far west of Sarawak.
After wonderful long term travelling trips through India, Kenya, Central America, South America, Morocco, Thailand and SW USA I am excited to be off again to explore Borneo, the third largest island after Australia and Greenland. It doesn't look that big on the map as it sits on the equator and is not stretched out as is land nearer to the poles when we view it on the usual Mercator projection.
This trip has come about because my long term friend and travelling companion, Fe, sadly died of breast cancer 2 years ago. Her half Chinese nephew James and niece Yolande who live in Hongkong and her brother Martin who works between London and South East Asia used Auntie Fe's inheritance to buy a flat in Kota Kinabalu as an Asian family base. The invitation from Martin to use the flat
is a lovely gesture. Next week, Carole who also travelled with Fe and who now lives in Tasmania will come and join me to share the memories and this new adventure.
It's not a holiday- it's just living somewhere else which is more exciting, adventurous and challenging than living in my lovely country cottage in Perthshire. I just wake up each day and see what happens! I hope to inspire more mature ladies (and gents) to get up and go. Worldwide independent travel - alone or meeting up with friends along the way is possible and it is a wonderful experience!
A busy few weeks preparing for my 10 week trip to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah an independent state in North Borneo which is part of Malaysia. A new passport to ensure at least 6 months to run, travel insurance for the older lady where age and length of trip become limiting factors, new credit card and replacement of old scratched debit card (in case it stops working), PIN changes and checks, notification of banks of pending use of bank cards abroad, notification of house insurance that someone else will be living in my cottage, a visit to
nurse for injection top ups and a SORN application to take my car off the road for a couple of months and reclaim car tax..... Ready at last.
I leave behind new fellow travelling friends, Julie and Derek, who are staying in the Old Smiddy Cottage while they look for a new B&B / guesthouse to buy. Townies by nature, they are experiencing country living for the first time and coming to terms with looking after the hens, tending to the log burner and cooking on the Aga.
My adventure begins in Dunfermline. The no. 91 Citylink bus took me perfectly from Perth to Halbeath retail park where I collected my malaria tablets from ASDA, prescribed on site at a fraction of the cost of elsewhere. (Retail parks are not designed for pedestrians with luggage, distances are great and foot paths simply just disappear.)
And now to Barnton for a relaxing evening with friends. This involved a long wait at the bus stop - eventually boarding a Glasgow bound bus to Dunfermline bus station. Now I either become extremely frustrated with public transport - or I change my mind set to travel mode - and indeed I
spent the 50 minute wait sitting on a cold metal bench enjoying people watching and reading my Borneo Lonely Planet. The unfamiliar journey through Dunfermline and Rosyth was interesting, particularly the naval buildings and seeing the tower supports of the new bridge from a different perspective.
Qatar Airlines- new to me - but great to fly Edinburgh to Doha in Qatar without the stress of Heathrow. (Think World Cup football 201? It's in the Arabian Gulf.) A flashy plane - new B787 -8. Touch screen viewing, inflight wifi and mobile phone access, on line menu, electric window blinds, interesting maps, height, speed, distances etc but strange to see Arabic script on the British Isles map. Sadly a smelly loo and blocked sink.
Three seats to myself and views of the Union canal aqueduct and the Five Sisters bing before flying over the snow covered Southern Uplands and up through the clouds to a clear blue sky. A Glimpse of Rotterdam and the Rhine, a snowy Germany with white patchwork fields and black forests. Snow capped mountains in Poland. A full moon now in an azure then midnight blue sky casting moonlight over a snowy Eastern Europe. Then darkness
with the occasional twinkle of lights shining from some remote village.
International airports are much the same. No obvious armed police at Doha as at Heathrow the last time I travelled. Of interest to me, a shop selling beautifully embroidered and decorated burkas and abayya (long dresses for Islamic ladies) and wonderfully coloured and patterned shawls for covering the hair. (Think ?? on Coronation Street.) Fascinated by food I investigate the food hall but found Burger King and pizza stalls. Only one small stall selling Middle Eastern food. WH Smith was much the same as Edinburgh except camels, shiny metal palm trees and dates replaced Scottish souvenirs and shortbread.
Doha to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia was uneventful. It was dark and then mainly the Indian Ocean. Interesting to me was the land use on approach to landing comprising of a patchwork of various sizes and ages of oil palm fields and plantations which looked like knitted moss stitch from the air.
Now the last flight. Here we go. Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu. I sit next to Head of Customer Services for Malaysian Airways. (This plane must be safe!) A traumatic time for him recently but his
strong Catholic faith and supportive extended family pulled him through.
At last Kota Kinabalu. A visit to theTourist Office for a map and KFC for a coffee and wifi access. I always have a coffee on arrival to get my bearings and plan my next moves. Too easy to make mistakes when I am tired and rushed.
A taxi to the flat. Keys in hand. 'The locks are fiddley. Do be gentle. The little key fits the top lock ' writes Martin on a note with the keys he posted to me in Scotland. But the little key doesn't fit and I consider a night on the tiled floor...... Try the other way round - and 'yes' with a lot of gentle persuasion the door opens. I spend the next 36 hours sleeping and reading.
The flat is modern, spacious and well appointed with a swimming pool. The only draw back....cold showers only. A 'wake up' to the day. I introduce myself to Julie in Management and get the local info.
A visit to the supermarket downstairs. Full of almost everything you can imagine - both western and Chinese. Lots of organic products but very expensive
and aimed mainly at the local affluent orientals who live in the flats here.
Instead I walk to the local market mainly selling seasonal local fruit and veg. Also a chicken stall but with no refrigeration. Here I feel I have arrived. I love the local cultures. Here the market is bustling and alive and everyone smiles. My basket soon fills with sweet potatoes, aubergines, lady's fingers, pak choi and tomatoes to be cooked with fresh garlic, chilli, lemongrass, ginger and turmeric. I stop at a food stall for coffee. It smells wonderful. It comes sweet and milky either hot in a glass mug or cold in a poly bag with handles full of ice and a straw. I don't eat local ice as the water is of unknown origin. I settle for it hot for 35p and a lovely smile from the lady who is also busy cooking lunches.
Lovely wild flowers on the way back which I pick to identify. Interesting to watch the movement in the sward as plants snap shut as unsuspecting insects fly too close. A look in the bookcase - guides to birds, butterflies, snakes, lizards, mammals, trees, coral reefs and man
eating crocodiles - but no flower book. Must buy one tomorrow......
A 30 minute walk into Kota Kinabalu done either before 9.30 or after 4pm to avoid the hot sun. The first section is lovely along the shore of Likas Bay. A cooling breeze from the sea and some shade from the coconut palms. A cruise liner and a cargo ship importing new cars in the dock. Less shade on the edge of the town. Massive construction sites everywhere building luxury flats for real estate investment - certainly not affordable homes for the locals. A bit hot and sticky and then Starbucks appears as an oasis providing air con, wifi and an iced coffee.
More photos below.
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David Wong
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Blogs 1 and 10
Most enjoyable to read . Thank you so very much Vida