First stop in malaysian Borneo!
It was a lot cheaper to fly here than straight to Sandkhan where the Orangutans are.
We stayed in a fantastic hotel called eden 54, as recommended on TripAdvisor. It was so god to have a bit of luxury m so looking forward to visiting the rest of Asia. Luxury on a budget.
kota kinabula is famous for the 5 beautiful islands off its coast and the largest mountain in south east Asia mt kinabula.
We spent two days in kota kinabula. The first was the snorkeling around on a desert island. In order to get to the island we needed to take a speed boat-very james Bond! Haha. Across the shore there is a the floating village, these are corrugated iron shacks built above the sea on wooden stilts. The captain tells us these are inhabitanted by gypsys who have no legal documents and live off the sea.
The island was unfortunately quite busy as it was the school holidays, but it was still possible to enjoy the snorkeling. The water was warm but it was stinger season- these were definitely more annoying than painful.
We booked a private tour of mount kinabula, poring and a canopy walk through hotel for 100rm (£20). However, this was slightly disappointing as without permit s and jungld trekking gear you are unable to climb the mountain/walk around the base. Instead we were taken to a viewing platform.
The canopy walk was a lot of fun as it was like beinb a monkey in the jungle. The hot springs in poring were a bit of a disappointment, they were just manmade baths that smelt of sulfer. They also looked a bit dirty so I wasnt keen on going in. The butter fly house was good though.
