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Tuesday 17th March
Stayed awake all night it wasn't worth getting a hotel as we arrived at the airport gone twelve midnight and had to be at the check in desk for five thirty. The airport was busy all night so we sat in the cafe and drank coffee. It was cheaper for us to travel to Singapore and get a flight with Jet star than fly from Kuala Lumpur, they had a promotion on where the ticket was free you just had to pay the tax.
We arrived at Kota Kinabalau in Sabah, Borneo, at about nine forty five (am), and made our way to the hostel we had booked. This was the first time we had booked in to a hostel with shared facilities and will probably be the last!! it was the lure of a washing machine that made us book in, after nearly eight weeks the clothes are starting to look a bit grubby, even though they have been through the laundry at several hotels. Kota Kinabalau is a busy town and not particularly picturesque. We spent the afternoon having a look around the town.
In the evening we went to an Irish bar we had seen, as it was St Patrick's day, and had a pint of Guinness. The staff in the bar were very funny they were wearing the Guinness hats and had all the promotional items to give away, they wished us a happy St Patrick's day, but we weren't sure they really knew what St Patrick's day was.
Wednesday 18th March
Went to beach. Out in the bay there are lots of islands and you can get jet boats out to them. We chose to go to Manukan island as there were lots of fish there, good for snorkelling. The beaches were beautiful, very white sand and clear sea. There were hundreds of fish on the coral reefs and under the jetty. We got back on the jet boat and had just got back to shore when the heavens opened, we made it to a square in Gaya street and sat there for an hour or so until the rain had passed.
Went back to the square at night it was a lively place with bars restaurants and live entertainment.
Thursday 19th March
We found a lodge in the jungle on the internet and booked it for the next few nights at Sanderkan on the east coast. We had a ride out to the long distance bus station, which was out of the town centre, to book our tickets. Sanderkan is the best area to see the Orang Utans the Sepilok rehabilitation centre is located there.
Friday 20th March
Got the bus at nine o'clock to Sanderkan. The route took us over the mountains very close to Mount Kinebalau, the scenery was great but the bus journey was the worst one we have had. There were lots of people being sick around us due to the 'air-pin' bends and bumpy roads and bad driving, we were very glad to get off the bus about six hours later. We got dropped at an island close to the resort we had booked, we had arranged to be picked up by the owner of the hotel, but we had arrived early and there was nothing around by the island. A young lad appeared and started talking to us, his sister was picking him up and he offered us a lift to the jungle retreat. The people of Borneo are very friendly!
The Lodge was fabulous, built in the traditional style of Malaysian houses on stilts, there were six family lodges and two large lodges for shared accommodation holding twelve people in each. The staff were very friendly and the food was very good. We were the only people staying that night and it was very quiet. The bathroom was actually outside our room, open to the jungle, we made sure the door was shut properly before we went to bed. During the night we were woke up with scurrying noises, apparently there were rats and squirrels who would try and get in the lodges if there was food about.
Saturday 21st March
We were dropped at the island in the morning to get the bus into Sanderkan. We flagged down what we thought was a bus and told him we where we were going, it turned out the bus was a private bus but the driver still took us some of the way for nothing (the second act of kindness in two days). He dropped us about half way to the town at a bus stop which was by the Australian and English POW war memorial, so we had a walk along to it before going into town. The memorial was on part of the land where the WWII POW camp, it was a very moving place and the museum was very well created with the information of the history of what happened there.
We caught a proper bus into the town. We were very glad we hadn't booked to stay in a hotel in the town centre, Sanderkan was not a very nice town, very grey and depressing. Pictures of the town before the war looked nice and it had been a place where the rich and famous lived. Towards the end of the war the allied forces had bombed the town destroying most of it and what was left the Japanese burned, so the whole town was rebuilt after the war.
We had a walk up the “hundred steps” up the hill at the back of the town, to Agnes Keiths house, she was a writer who with her husband and son were imprisoned during the war, she wrote books about life in Borneo before, during and after the war. The house was also rebuilt after the war and the family returned to live there.
We then walked over to the English tea house for refreshments which was very nice we sat on the lawn over looking the bay, served by waitresses in black uniforms and starched white 'aprons' (very posh).
When we returned to the lodge there were five more guests that night. It was nice to have company!
Sunday 22nd March
Anton the owner of the lodge dropped us at Sepilok Orang utan rehabilitation centre. There are two feeding sessions a day at the centre, we walked from the main entrance along a walk way into the jungle. We saw some pygmy squirrels running around a tree, they were very fast. When we reached the feeding area we waited for the volunteers to come along with the food. They brought some buckets of food out, and started calling and banging a tray. A volunteer brought a new arrival to the sanctuary out for some food, he was very timid and shy. Eventually another Orang turned up for food, he came to the area swinging along on a rope. As soon as the food appeared lots of Makak monkeys started arriving, they were very funny trying to steal the food out of the buckets. Afterwards we stayed behind to speak to an English volunteer working there for four months, it was interesting to hear how well the sanctuary works for rehabilitating the Orang utans and the fact we had only seen two that day was good because it meant others were in the wild finding their own food.
Later we went to the rainforest discovery centre where there are walks around the rainforest and a canopy walk reaching 87ft high, where if you are lucky there are lots of birds, squirrels and plants to look at. We were half way round one of the walks when the heavens opened (well it is a rainforest), it poured for about a hour, got soaked, managed to find some shelter where we stayed until the rain passed by. By the end of the day we had a few more bites, but we had been spared being 'had' by any leeches!
Monday 23rd March
Went back in to Sanderkan to book our tickets back to Kota Kinabalu for the following day. Spent the rest of the day chilling out and packing.
Tuesday 24th March
Got on the bus at about ten o'clock for the journey back over the mountain. It was a better journey than the one getting to Sanderkan. We arrived back in KK with no hotel to go to, so we got the taxi driver to drop us in the square where we had been a few times and went in to the Rainforest lodge and fortunately they had a free room, it was a great location with a large balcony over looking the square and was a really lively place.
Wednesday 25th March
Caught the free bus to '1Borneo' which is the largest shopping mall in Borneo. It wasn't as good as some of the shopping malls we have been to though, we were a bit disappointed. We spent an hour in the afternoon repacking for the flight back to Singapore. We went for a drink to a little bar we found round the back streets, full of locals, the beer was very cheap as it's apparently smuggled in!
We have really enjoyed Malaysia and will be very sad to leave, the people are really nice and a lot more friendly than any where else we have been to in Asia.
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