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Advice on Borneo

Advice on Indonesia and Borneo?

16 years ago, July 9th 2007 No: 1 Msg: #16289 Delete Edit

garren83
gerrit kamps

N Posts: 2

Will be doing some travelling in August/Sept around Indonesia. I am flying from India and have 2 months before having to be in Oz for work. Wondering if someone can give me advice on perhpas flying to KL and going to Borneo first, and making my way to Jakarta then Bali/Lombok. I really wanna spend some time in Bali for the surf. Is Borneo worth the extra cost for the flight and the time? I see that there is some cool wildlife to see, but considering I will be travelling Java, I don't think I'll miss out on much. Also, is there anything on Sumatra worth going to?

Any advice would help.

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16 years ago, July 10th 2007 No: 2 Msg: #16294 Delete Edit

erictjie
erictjie

N Posts: 8

welcome to Indonesia, there are plenty of things to see.- Borneo you can take a boat and follow one of the world greatest river and see the orang utan . Sumatra - see the lake toba and some traditional houses looks like a boat shape . In Sulawesi see the Tana Toraja weird custom and world best diving in Bunaken. papua- see the primitive people and also wordld best diving. Bali and Jakarta are the hubs to see Indonesia. As a foreigner in Indonesia you will be treated like a king and feel very safe. Reply to this

16 years ago, August 9th 2007 No: 3 Msg: #17620 Delete Edit

pPamela
Pamela Joy Fuge

N Posts: 102

Oh, is there anything to see on Sumatra- Yes there is. I spent 3.5 months there last year travelling by myself. This was my 7th trip to Indonesia since 1997.

Firstly you have West Sumatra and places to visit are Padang and south of Padang is Painan- great little place never in the travel books, then north of Padang are some beaches and then there is Bukittinggi a cooler town in the highlands and not so far away is Lake Maninjau- great place to chill out in one of the bungalows by the water's edge.
You can do a trek for 2 days from Bukittinggi down to the lake staying ovbernight high up in the jungle aat Anas Homestay looking down over the lake. When the weather is good the view is breath taking.
Many other places to check out in that area- see this report by a woman who lived in the area for 3 months from end March- end June 2006.
http://forum.indahnesia.com/topic/3985/0/recent_trip_report_from_west_sumatra.php
and another report from a family I helped with recommendations for their trip last Christmas.
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hongkongclauses/sumatra-2006/1198469580/tpod.html
Also bordering West Sumatra is Sungai Penuh,Kersik Tau and Kerinci National Park.
In North Sumatra you have Medan, Bukit Lawang, Tangkahan, Lake Toba and then next door Aceh with Ketembe and Takengon in the Gayo Highlands, then Banda Aceh- Pulau Weh.
Photos of my 5.5 month trip in 2006.www.webshots.com/user/ppamela2006
Photos of my trips since 2000 -2005 http://community.webshots.com/user/ppamela1

Hoping I have helped you realize there is a lot to see in Sumatra let alone the rest of the wonderful country of Indonesia.
Pamela currently at home in Sydney working.

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16 years ago, January 15th 2008 No: 4 Msg: #25489 Delete Edit

beymaga
calvin J

N Posts: 4

Borneo is definitely worth the cost if you are into nature. Miri city in particular is the best place to go if you're into caving and jungle trekking. Mulu Cave located about 20 minutes short flight from Miri is the world probably biggest caves. It's just an amazing place for nature and you get to meet the exotic Malaysian tribes - such as Kayan, Kenyah, Berawan, Penan and Kelabit.

The Penan can help you trekking Borneo vast jungle without getting lost event if you have no modern compass to guide you.

Sabah - especially the Sipadan island is the best diving spot you'd find the whole of Malaysia. But - it's usually fully booked - and you've to make and advance booking.

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15 years ago, February 11th 2009 No: 5 Msg: #62854 Delete Edit

deleted_110107
deleted_110107

d Posts: 8

Mabul is a nice place for diving and snorkeling.

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15 years ago, February 12th 2009 No: 6 Msg: #62911 Delete Edit

Rat on the Road
Kris and Kate

B Posts: 1,411

We flew from Kuala Lumpur to KK on Sabah, from KK to Kuching on Sarawak and then from there back to Kuala Lumpur. We flew with Air Asia and got bargain flights, so it only cost about £100. We spent about 10 days there and spent time in KK, time at the foot of Mount Kinabalu, went to Sepilok to see the orangutans and did a jungle trek where we saw orangutans in the wild. Pretty cool. We then spent 4 days in Kuching, which is a lovely city.

So you don't need to spend a lot of time and money.

It depends on what you fancy doing! Reply to this

15 years ago, February 12th 2009 No: 7 Msg: #62953 Delete Edit

Ant and Allee
Ant and Allee

B Posts: 67

If you want to see wildlife in Borneo head to Uncle Tan's near Sandakan (Malaysian Borneo). It cost around £50 for a 3 day trip including all meals. You stay in the jungle and see so many wild animals - we saw 4 orangutans while walking there as well as countless proboscis monkeys, crocs, exotic birds, wild pigs, etc, etc, etc. They have a website and are really good at getting back to you. It's really worth it.
If you do stay in Sandakan consider staying at Sunset Botik Hotel/hostel. It's nice, clean and the owner there is fantastic. She's called Faridah and is a real character.
As ajbetts says, if you want scuba diving then Semporna is a must. We found scubajunkies (or scubajunky not sure) to be very good.

Consider Yogyakarta in Indonesia - it has the fantastic Borobudur temple and an active volcano (Mt Merapi).

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