Up early again and off to Jesselton point to catch a boat over to Manuka Island. In Malay, this means Chicken Island. When I asked our tour guide why this was called Chicken Island and he said that there was no reason. Right then. There's also an island translated into Cow Island. Once again, no explanation. Were they watching Cow and Chicken? After a lay in the not existent sun as it was so bloody cloudy, we went for a snorkel. There's plenty of coral, sea u...

After a very early start, we left the rainforest lodge and made our way to the Orangutan rehabilitation centre in Sepilok. We listened to a talk and watched a short and pointless DVD about the centre, learning that the goal of the centre is to slowly introduce the orangutans back into the wild. They take in any abandoned orangutans, including babies, and they are carefully taught the natural skills they need, such as, climbing and finding food. With feeding areas...

After a night in the cool higher altitude of mount Kinabalu, we began our 4 hour journey to Sandakan. Our tour guide today was John, who apparently likes Charles Dickens and Disney. After the dozy drive, we arrived at the murky Kinabatangan river and greeted by a rickety old wooden step bridge over the crocodile infested waters. I hobbled cautiously with my 13kg rucksack over the bridge to the boat. With no phone signal, I was skeptical and panicked toward what a...

We've just arrived at our third hotel. The view is of mount Kinabalu, of which we just trekked along the foothills this morning. Finally the air was cool and the humidity was gone! Our tour guide, Hans (unfortunately not of the Southern Isles...) introduced us to all the native plants of Borneo, including the Sleeping Orchid which costs about £1500 to buy! We were previously dropped at a handicraft market (stuff shops!) of which every stall sold the same tat. L...

Never drinking again. Woken up with the worst hangover of my life. It all started with a harmless drink on our first exploration of the city. First impressions? s*** hole. I saw three huge rats within an hour. And the locals are very 'stare-y'. We found refuge in our hotel bar, which is a cross between a benidorm karaoke bar and a London dubstep scene. Both with 4 people in it, and we were 2 of them. Onwards with the cocktails which took about 45 minutes to make...