Blogs from Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 11

Wow-what a journey! We are so lucky to be able to travel the world and enjoy time off in our favourite part of the world-ASIA! It all started on December 21st as we boarded the plane to Kuala Lumpur from Stockholm, Sweden. Traveling as light as we could and ready for adventure we headed back east to our favourite traveling ground for the first time as a couple. Out trip started with a few days with friends in Kuala Lumpur which involved being treated to delicious food and singing Frozen's theme tune "Let it go" until we really wanted to let it go! The adventures got going a few days later when we flew to Sandakan, Malaysian Borneo. We quickly settled into our fabulously rustic room with very comfortable bed at Paganakan Dii Resort https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1075066-d1105829-r340302556-Paganakan_Dii_Tropical_Retreat-Sepilok_Sandakan_Division_Sabah.html... read more

Eek! Now, I have finished my Padi course, I can go out diving. We got up early again, I am so not used to this but it does make a nice change, and headed down to the dive shop. We had to pay for the dives that we were going to do today. Since we had dived with them before, we both got a bit of a discount. My friend got more as she had done more dives. Then we headed along to the Jesselton Point Waterfront and met up with the divemasters and the other divers at one of the cafes. We'd already had some breakfast, so didn't get any food. Once everyone was there, we headed down to the boats. They do a roll call and we were directed onto the correct boats. It ... read more

26th Dec: We woke up pretty early, after a late night. I must have been cold with the air-con on during the night as one time when I woke up, the blanket was wrapped around my head. I had a good laugh at myself. I hadn't realised that breakfast was included at the hostel, so that was a nice surprise. It was only toast and jam with coffee, but it saved us a few pennies. We had to be at the dive shop for about 8:15 am. Diving is early business, and I am not used to being productive in the morning, but I was excited and nervous for this. The dive shop was actually really close to our hostel, only about a five minute walk away. I got the impression that Kota Kinabalu is pretty ... read more

Borneo is the largest island in Asia and the third largest in the world . For the past couple of weeks we've been traversing the Sabah region, filled with incredible wildlife and nature . Ever since I seen pictures of the orangutan I have dreamt of visiting this island . We were lucky enough to see orangutans in the wild and plenty more at Sepilok rehabilitation centre, set up to reintroduce these wonderful creatures into the wild . The organgutans in Borneo are solitary and elusive creatures, but at the same time highly inquisitive and playful . Watching young orangutans play at the outdoor nursery in their specially constructed jungle gym was a fascinating experience . Borneo has a large number of endemic species, not least the proboscis monkey (easily identifiable because of its unusually large ... read more

For the last couple of nights I've been staying in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the eastern state of Sabah. The city itself is really quite small, but, incredibly busy. Upon arrival here, I had about 20 minutes to sort out what I needed to go on a tour of a city with a guide for a couple of hours. We started off by going across the road from my hotel to what looked like derelict land with a few pillars on it, my guide explained that this was one of the oldest buildings in Kota Kinabalu, but it burnt down in the 1990's, it previously housed all the historical maps of the area (thankfully kept in the vault and they weren't destroyed in the fire). Developers have tried the buy the land, but the local ... read more