(Day 491 on the road)They say certain places have to grow on you in order for you to appreciate them. Well, after almost two more weeks in chaotic Jakarta I have to say this saying does not hold true for me this time. I found the city just as mad as the first time I was here a few months ago. But I was here to see my Indonesian friend Endah who happens to live here, so I had to brace the city in order to meet up with her. Checking in for my flight in Kota Kinabalu, I was very pleased when the scale at the airline check-in desk showed 5,6 kg for my big backpack (this included all my belongings except my laptop, which I had in my hand luggage). The doctor had told ... read more

(Day 447 on the road)From Brunei, we decided to take the overland (read: hitchhikers) route to Kota Kinabalu, or KK as everyone calls it, in Malaysia's eastern Sabah province. This turned out to be a little more complicated than anticipated and involved a total of seven different cars (and more than six hours on the road), all taking us a little further towards our destination. Still, as always in Malaysia, hitching was easy enough and we never had to wait longer than a few minutes for a car to stop. Plus we were riding with a few real characters again, amongst them an ex Brunei-Army helicopter pilot and a friendly Chinese family with three kids on vacation. Kota Kinabalu (KK) however was nothing more than a stop-over point for us on our way to the world ... read more

(Day 435 on the road)After our wonderful time in the lush jungle of the Kelabit Highlands, it was time for - some more jungle! To that end we made our way to the grand Mulu National Park. As with Bario, the park is only sensibly accessible by plane, so we had to take another two flights across the massive Borneo rainforest (one Twin Otter 21 seater, one Fokker 50) to reach there. Our plan of action was simple: Spend a few days in the park exploring the massive limestone caves, then hike up a steep mountain to see the pinnacles, and then trek and boat across the jungle almost all the way into Brunei on the northeastern border of the park. The first part of this plan was easy enough: A few of the most beautiful ... read more

(Day 420 on the road)How ironic: On one of my last blog entries I wrote how much I enjoy my absolute freedom on this trip, and how I disliked planning and committing myself. And now I have just booked nine flights over the course of the next two month (total cost: 163 EUR, or 18 EUR per flight), essentially forcing me to plan around these fixed dates. But there seemed really no viable alternative: For one, Borneo is huge and large parts are either inaccessible or prohibitively expensive to get to if you are not flying. And second, getting to where we want to go after Borneo (Philippines and Taiwan) is virtually impossible via ferries. So Karen and I decided on a few flights inside Borneo to get to some of the more remote jungle corners ... read more

(Day 414 on the road)Of all the things at my disposal on my travels, time is one of my greatest asset. Unlike many other travellers I have met so far, I have no real plan for my journey, most of the time not knowing where I will be tomorrow. I feel that this is the best way to travel, as it leaves me very flexible in terms of where I go and at what time, but also for when things go wrong (as they invariably do) or simply don't work out. I frequently meet travellers who plan their trip in great detail and are then frustrated if, say, their chosen bus is fully booked or leaves at a time that they consider inconvenient. But if you have nothing more than a very rough plan of the ... read more