Hello All,
Unlike Thailand scooters seem to be a relative novelty in Borneo but
we managed to locate one company that was willing to hire bikes to
foreigners .gogosabah.com was the name of the new company and this is
where we spoke to an extremely friendly, extremely helpful guy called
Joel who rented us a little 125cc "automatic" bike.This bike felt
like an asia bike designed for slimline compact Asians and as you
know we are much more generously build Westerns.Thankfully we were overseas when
the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) were collecting data on their
National Health Survey on obesity or the percentage could have been
fractional higher ....anyway from the minute that we got onto the
bike it felt uncomfortable.I know that the Asians have no concept of
personal space and to them the closer you are to each other the better but
when two people need to co ordinate breathing whilst riding a scooter then you know that you
need to ask to have your scooter supersized. We eventually positioned
ourselves so that we could breath freely and set off on our journey to
Kinabalu National Park home to the highest mountain in South-East Asia
4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sea level.At the first small bump in the
road the suspension bottom out and we knew it was going to be an
arduous and painful journey but we continued on anyway.The scooter was
a thirsty little beast and at one stage we feared that we were going to
run out of petrol and with no petrol station in sight we decided that
there was nothing that we could not other than turn the engine off each
and every time we careered down a hill and hope that the power
assisted brakes would instantly respond to the turn of the key,only
joking you don´t get brake assisted brakes on a motorbike.We had a
discussion and decided that there was nothing for it but to push on
and hope for the best.The panicky feeling gradually dissipated and the
petrol gauge stopped being looked at every nano second but still there
was no petrol in sight.We suspected that worst case scenario a
local would help us if we ran out of fuel.The jungle is trying to reclaim power poles and
drainage channels running parallel to the road and maintenance workers
are valiantly attempting to tame the jungle with whipper snippers but
it is a losing battle and I imagine that as soon as they finish one section they need to turn around and do it all again.The clouds were closing in on us but we were
still able to see Mountain Kinabalu through its shroud of misty clouds.The road to Kinabalu national Park
cuts through lush countryside dotted with traditional village houses
which gives you a rather scenic journey.We made it to the National
park entrance and were informed that there was petrol 6km away so we
breathed a sigh of relief and brought our tickets for the park.We step
off the bike only to be greeted by a gentleman from Western Australia
who told us that he comes over to Borneo regularly to do volunteer work
on a Rotary supported community project to ensure that villages have
clean water.He had previous climbed Mount Kinabalu so wasn´t climbing
this time but was there with his son who was climbing.He asked if we
were climbing and we said that we were undecided to which he said that
we would have needed to have booked 3-6mths ago to get a permit to
climb.We both knew that we had read this on various websites but knew
that this information was incorrect and this was confirmed by going
to the permit office and then the accommodation bookings office where
we were informed that if a first born child was sacrificed for the
cause (Sorry Kim)or alternatively $345 MR + permit fees+compulsory
insurance + compulsory guide we would have the privilege of climbing
the mountain.We told them that we would think about it and that is
exactly what we are doing thinking.about it We headed off into the
forest on a walking trail and just as well did the rain started to
tumble.
The trail that we were on was not a very interesting jungle trail as we
could see a building through the trees and the sound of cars driving
past in the distance so only walked for about 2kms before turning back to the carpark.
I´m sure that deeper into the park it is a botanical paradise that is rich in flora and fauna but it just wasn´t a good day to delve deeper into the jungle.
We came across a well prepared backpacker who had set up a temporary
shelter across the path so that he didn't get wetonly problem with this was that it meant that we needed to climb over his ropes. Hmmm.He sheepish apologized then retreated deep within his shelter to resume eating. We sat under a
shelter for a while near the botanic gardens to wait for the rain to pass before heading
off in search of some petrol for the scooter. We may return to Mount
Kinabalu in the very near future.
We didn't find any petrol 6km away but did find the Kundasang war
memorial and gardens commemorating the 2,428 Australian and British
prisoners, 641 who died during World War II at the Sandakan POW Camp,
and the casualties of the three infamous forced death marches from
Sandakan to Ranau under the Japanese. It also serves as a tribute to
the many local people who risked their lives while aiding the prisoners
of war. Only six Australians survived in this tragedy to tell their
horror and there were no English survivors.It has four interlocking but
separate gardens to represent the homelands of those who died: an
Australian Garden, a formal English Garden of roses, a Borneo Garden
with wild flowers of Kinabalu and at the top level is the
'Contemplation Garden' with a reflection pool and pergola. It was a
very respectful memorial and well worth the visit.Such a waste of life.
Next we headed to Ranau and found a petrol station. The distance
between petrol stations is much greater in Borneo than Thailand
presumably as the preferred mode of transport is a car rather than a
motor scooter. We were surprised to find that the price of petrol was
just 1.8 Ringgit per litre so it is no wonder that there are so many
cars! I decided to continue along and follow a loop to Tamburan,
passing across the crocker mountain range, Donggongan and back to Kota
Kinabalu. It was an interesting ride through the mountains and on quite
good quality road until we struck extensive road works. Not exactly
what I expected to find on a major highway and it got worse as the
gravel was large making it feel like we were riding on ball bearings.
It was quite a challenge as there were some steep descents and the rear
brakes of the scooter were not good enough to halt the scooter forcing
me to use the front brakes which placed us in greater danger of
slipping over. I was quite relieved after we safely navigated the 20km
of road construction and returned to bitumen road. Still we kept on
coming across washout sections every couples of kms along the way for
the next 30 or 40km. The weather was closing in on the mountains as
happens in the afternoon. It was clearly raining in some valleys and
with distinct cut offs between the areas affected. We decided to stop
and put on our wet weather clothing and within a few minutes wet hit
one of the wet valleys but when we left it the rain continued heavily
with water strongly running across the roads. Eventually we pulled out
of the rain just before the turn off to the Crocker range and decide to
get more petrol before proceeding for the last 81 km to Kota Kinabalu.
We had time for a quick icecream each, which cost more than the petrol
for the scooter, before heading off as I felt that we would need to
keep moving to make it back before dark. We were quickily rising up the
mountain range and the rain again started and continue getting heavier
the higher we climbed and the temperature also was dropping. I needed
to reduce the speed of the scooter as it was difficult to see out of
the full face helmet due to the amount of rain. The rain continued to
get heavier and was striking us so heavily that it hurt. We found a
shelter near the Tambunan Rafflesia reserve and rode the scooter under
it and waited for the rain to lighten. I don't think that it would have
been a nice day to look for the worlds largest flower and it probably
would have been a waste of time as the flowering season is about
February. We were soaking wet as our wet weather gear was no match for
torrential rain. The wind was blowing and we were almost at 2000m and
remarkably cold. Equatorial Borneo is green and lush because the jungle
is watered daily. Still it was excellent to be sitting under a shelter
in the pounding rain. The great outdoors. Perhaps this was the real
reason that people drove cars rather than motor scooters. Unfortunately
the rain got heavier and we just had to wait. It didn't look like
stopping so we both just took a deep breath, hopped on the scooter and
headed off again. I expected that we would start warming up as we
descended down the mountain and this was correct. The rain lightened as
we dropped down the mountain range revealing and absolutely stunning
rainforest. We needed to stop often as the jarring suspension was
torturing Vanessa, the usual numb backsides and my knees were finding
it hard going due to the size of the scooter. This gave us a chance to
admire the views and the extent of the range. We hoped that we might
see some wildlife but given the rain were fairly certain that it was
just wishful thinking. We got low enough for the rain to almost stop
and it was a great view to see the mountain peaks poking through the
clouds and being illuminated by the low sun. We were glad to get back
to Kota Kinabalu but it was still a challenge as my knees had
temporarily seized up presented a problem at the stop lights. It was a
great day but too long on a little scooter. I think we had ridden about
250km for the day.
Next day.
We woke to a blue sky day and had the scooter for another day but
didn't really want to ride far after yesterday. We decided to ride
south and have a look at the beach at Papar. I took us for a detour
looking for some jungle roads without success. It was a little bit of
fun trying to find the beach and we ended up driving on some tiny roads
through small Muslim communities before eventually finding a so so
beach. We didn't stay long and headed back to Kota Kinabalu after
dropping into Giant supermarket for some lunch food, snacks and an
icecream.(constantly thinking of our bones) We were glad to get back
and I returned the scooter early. I think the previous day had taken
too much out of us.
Tomorrow we fly to Sandakan on the eastern side of Sabah.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
