"Hati Hati Selamat Jalan" - Travel Safely With Mr Iman's caring words still echoing in our ears we wave from our rocking boat, mainland bound, as Mr Iman, Mrs Farah and the others ceaselessly wave and smile back from their perch at the end of Poya Lisa's jetty. A perfect last image of the happy caring people of this magical place. Sea crossing: Kalimantan to Sulawesi Indonesia is one of the biggest nations on earth, its vast land mass is scattered over countless beautiful islands, each with unique cultures and natural treasures. So far in our travels we had visited maybe half of Sumatra and a tiny part of Kalimantan, not even the tip of the Indonesian iceberg. Leaving Pulau Derawan's beautiful shores behind us we traipsed back to Tarakan to take the notoriously un-timetabled Pelni ... read more

Sandakan is a town often overlooked, with people pausing only to visit the Orangutan centre, however when you stay longer and get under the surface of this unprepossessing community you discover it's unique mingling of colonial and military history with the karaoke bar scene of mile four! There are opportunity for partying and pampering, visiting local villages and learning of Sandakan's past. Feeling a little sore and rather grimey after our jungle camping adventures we were looking forward to the soft mattresses, clean sheets and hot showers of Hotel London. This aptly named hotel had been our home last time we stopped in Sandakan and the friendly owners welcomed us back with open arms. After a little snooze we set out to find our days activity, which turned out to be croquet! Our jungle sturdy legs ... read more

It was raining when our boat from Labawan arrived into Jesselton Harbour, Kota Kinabalu, and the downpour only got heavier as we ate our lunch, fruitlessly hoping it would stop. The tropical deluge continued as we traipsed the streets of KK, as it is affectionately known, searching for a decent room and a roof over our heads. After almost two wet hours of hostel trawling we found 'Xplorer's Backpackers' where a giggling young chap named Andrew showed us around. It was the cheapest and nicest of all the rooms we'd seen and the hot showers were a treat. It was crazy to remember how ten months ago we had made tentative plans to meet up with Jenny in Borneo and now, fifteenth of august at 11pm, we were on the way to the airport to collect ... read more

The Batang Rejang is a huge river that sweeps into the interior of Malaysian Borneo. Living from, and along, this artery are the Iban people whose cultures and lifestyles are so different to ours. Their distinctive haircuts, over-stretched ear lopes, and tradition of living in longhouses, where a whole village sleeps under one roof, make them very interesting. We travelled to Kapit along the chocolate coloured river, swollen with debris and surplus rains, in hope of being able to spend some time with this unique tribe of peoples by staying at a homestay. The express boat ride was enjoyable and along the muddy banks amongst the mangroves we saw both modern and traditional stilted longhouses. There are both types obviously, a few remaining beautifully carved wooden structures and others newer, more practical, concrete designs. Trying to ... read more

Now that the idyllic island retreat was behind us we had city adventures in store, but first a full day of travelling to get there. The seamless run of prompt flights we'd taken with Air Asia came to an end with an annoying two hour delay at KL waiting for our connecting flight to Singapore, and we'd been so organised this time to avoid last minute dashes to the plane. Typical! With this extra time on our hands now we caught up on diary writing which had lapsed somewhat with the laid-back attitude on Gemia. Air-stewardess's were still sweeping the aisles and redoing their hair as we boarded the aircraft, they were on a quick (and now delayed) turnaround straight back to Singapore. The flight itself was smooth and we landed with a small bump into Changi ... read more