Borneo - The Island of Diversity

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Part 1:
My first teenage adventure. A 500 mile journey through cities and rainforests of the northern regions of Malaysian Borneo. The journey starts in Kuching in the North West of the Island and ends in the famous city of Kota Kinubalu, which rests alongside the Sulu Sea in the East.

Its easy to think of Borneo remote island, covered completely in dense indigenous rainforest. However, in my experience this is far from the truth. My first experience of life in Malaysia, was in a smoky 'sheesha bar' which ran parallel to the Kuching River. It was evident from the beginning that the Malaysians are generally very sociable people, and before long I had sparked up a conversation with a Local. The subject of football was the main focus of our talk, which certainly helped me to feel a little more at home on my first night. After spending a few ours in the bar, I returned to my £3 a night hotel room and got ready for my boat journey the next day.

Baku National Park was the first destination, which turned out to be totally different to Kuching. Here was the first sense of being immersed in the rainforest. Wandering off is certainly a trait of mine, and this seemed to be a big fault in Baku. After wandering into the forest, I arrived back to my camp, to find it had been ransacked. I only noticed a few minutes after, that the damage wasn't cased by people, but by the monkeys which seemed to be 'loitering' outside before I left. Apart from pissing on my sleeping bag, eating a large amount of paracetamol, and chewing my National Geographic's the damage was minimal and I was able to carry on with my adventure...

Part 2
After the adventures of Kuching and Baku National Park, I am optimistic that the next leg of the journey from Miri to Kota Kinabalu, will be as eventful.

As usual, I am woken by the voices of many muezzins echoing across the city. Luckily for me, my favourate time of day is the early morning, so I took the chance to walk through the centre of Miri as the city began to wake up. Miri is predominantly Muslim however I noticed a Buddhist temple, evident from its deep red coloured walls, which nestled in one of the side streets. Its delicate and artistic walls differ dramatically from the concrete walls of the majority of buildings in the city. Inside is a array of candles, scriptures and sculptures. The only person in the monastery at the time was one lone monk, who gave me a tour of the building. After spinning the prayer wheels, I left the tranquility of the temple and headed back to the concrete jungle of the Miri streets.

The majority of the day was spent recovering from what I presume was food poisoning, but at around 6:00pm I was ready to experience another night out in one of Borneo's most vibrant cities. I spent the first part of the evening in Ming Cafe, a small bar located right on the Miri highstreet. There I was able to watch images of the London Riots taking place at the time, knowing that many of the boroughs shown on TV are ones I visit often. Undeterred by the riots, and more interested in catching the football, I returned to the Motel. However after talking to the motel owner, William Putra, I realised that the night had not ended yet. I went to the roof with William where I found 10 intoxicated Malaysians all celebrating the return of a friend to the area with alcohol and tobacco. The roof looked over the city, which gave me the perfect opportunity to take in the views and capture some brilliant images. The night was spent eating perfectly cooked BBQ chicken and socialising with William and his friends, who I continue to talk to at home in London. One of the most iconic memories was of the night sky which was blanketed by nothing but thousands of stars, which lit up the world beneath. If anyone reading goes to Miri, please make sure you stay in a motel as I believe that the people and culture will blow you away.

Unfortunately, I do not recall any further events on this night, apart from lying horizontal on the lobby sofa with the football commentator gently talking me to sleep. The next step will be traveling to Kota Kinubalu, possibly the most famous of all the Sabah cities.

Part 3
In am well into the 2nd half of my Malaysian trip, as I travel into the rainforests of Central Borneo. I was guaranteed that the next half of my journey will be much more challenging both mentally and physically, as I begin my Trekking phase of the trip.

I start the morning at sunrise, where I am rushed abruptly to the waiting bus which was flagged by the Motel owner. I was preparing for my flight from Miri to Kota Kinubalu, which takes around 3 hours on a small 10 seater plane.
After a bumpy landing, I arrived in a landscape which for me seemed a little sureal. It resembled the jungles show in films like Tarzan and the Lion King. The small town I arrived in was called Bario. The town was made up of a small airstrip, a cafe and some well spaced wooden housing. I was staying in a local longhouse owned by Nancy and Harris, whom were locals in the area. I only stayed two nights in the longhouse, but this was plenty of time to take in the incredible landscape and get to know the people. One of the greatest times I had on the journey was in a small bar, which people visited religiously every night. It would never disappoint me with its locally brewed cider and cheezy karaoke sing-alongs.

The main reason I traveled to Bario was to meet the chief in the neighboring village, Pa'Ukat. The chief owned over 200 acres of rainforest and ran the village of 50 people. I stayed 2 nights at Uncle Bojan's (the chiefs house), until I left to embark on a another journey deeper into the rainforest by foot. However, before then the days at Bojan's were spent volunteering at the local school, playing volleyball and drinking. The best way to spend time in the middle of the rainforest.

The next day I was woken not by the Mosques, but by the noise of the hungry chiefs dogs. I knew that the next couple of days would be hugely physically demanding, as I was planning to spend 5 nights sleeping and trekking near the Malaysian-Indonesian border. The forecast was not good, 3 nights of rainstorms were going to hit the central rainforest's of Borneo. Despite this, I continued into the jungle with the help of two local guides. I would trek for 6-7 hours each day, and each night I made up my Hammock and Basher to keep me dry during the daily downpours. Apart from the demanding terrain, the hardest thing for me was the huge amount of Leeches which were in the rainforest. At any one time, there would be around 10-15 feasting on my blood. Not only that, bees caused quite a lot of pain too. However, the greatest time of the day while trekking was the evening. Every night I would cook the Wild Bore ribs over an open fire with the guides, and bathe in the many rivers which flowed through the rainforest. Many times, especially when in the rivers, I would be approached by terrapins and large fish which added to how surreal the whole area felt. On the 4th day, I realised it was only a matter of minutes until I reached the village again. As I walked through the rainforest I suddenly met a tarmac road leading straight to Bario, signalling the end of my journey in Sarawak.

The next part of the journey involves mainly the city of Kota Kinabalu and its surrounding area. The movement into Sabah symbolises the last part of my Malaysian journey.

Part 4:
The last leg of my journey I traveled into Sabah, the North Eastern province of Malaysian Borneo. Sabah is far more tourist catering than Sarawak, and so I was able to meet many westerners who were spending time in Borneo.

The first reason I visited Sabah is because of Mt Kinubalu, which stands 4,095 metres above the rainforest canopy. I planned to reach the top of the mountain in about 2 days of walking and climbing, and after eating a high calorie breakfast of noodles and bacon I started my first day of climbing. Looking up from the camp, I couldn't see the summit due to thick white clouds which seemed to hover on the mountain. At first, trekking up the lower part of the mountain was physically not very demanding. Steps were well shaped and the path was well trodden. Optimistically I kept trekking towards the top, secretly listening to the conversations of people on the way down, saying how demanding yet rewarding the summit looks. As the first base camp was nearing the summit was coming into view. Too high for trees, the summit looked like something from a different planet, as think mist seemed to hug the grey rocks. At the base camp, there was a small eating area and small dorms, where I spent the night to wake up at 3:00am the next morning for the summit attempt.
Starting the climb the next morning was difficult, the temperatures were lower than I had anticipated in Borneo and sunrise was going to occur in over 3 hours. The sky was lit up by the milky way, and the only way I could see was through the dim lighting of others head torches. To get the the top before sunrise is a huge push over many hours. Fortunately, I was able to make the summit in time to see the sun rise over the rainforest below (please take a look at the photos section of the website). The summit was reasonably scarse of people, although I could see the strings of people making there way up the slopes from the base camp. After staying for one surreal hour at the top of Kinabalu, I decided to make way down to base camp 4000 metres below the summit, taking over a day to complete.

Having spent 4 weeks in Borneo, it is evident to me how diverse the island is. Traveling through cities on the coast and villages in the rainforest, the main thing I can say is how happy and friendly the people are, as not once did I feel like I wasn't safe. The journey home from Kota Kinabalu took over 13 hours, enough time to reminisce and experience the journey again in my head.

I hope you enjoyed the Blog, please leave any comments or questions you may have...

Please visit my website: www.martinroberts.weebly.com

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Photos

Part 3: Hamock in the Rainforest
Hamock in the Rainforest