We arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo with a massive hangover from Cambodia into slightly shabby accommodation and live karaoke in the outside bar, however we were looking forward to seeing some friendly faces from back home.The few days spent with Angie’s parents were a welcome pamper time to take a break from traveling and it was nice to catch up on news from back home. In between catch ups and the relaxing we managed to squeeze in a few activities such as a visit to the Orangutan sanctuary as well as a trip to one of the local islands for a snorkeling adventure.
Having changed our flights to spend more time in Indonesia and less in Australia we weren’t sure what route to take next. Having mulled over the situation we decided that Borneo was a wee bit expensive so we traveled east with a view to get a few of Borneo’s best nature sights in and then travel down into Kalimanatan.
In order to get ourselves moving we headed to Sandakan, purelys a means to the next destination but worth a mention just for the hostel we stayed in. Run by Mr Lum who sits at the main desk in a wife beater vest and shouts at the customers, he looked on the edge of a violent explosion at all times, even if he was simply showing you the way to your room. The deco was a bit 1950’s although impeccability clean and he had the most extensive collection of DVD’s which you could take into your room and watch on the massive flat screen TV (the only modern thing about the place). It was so funny to watch a couple of kids going through this large collection of DVDs and picking ‘only 5’, then getting barked at by the owner, only to come back after about half an hour or so to choose another 5 as they ‘couldn’t decide what they wanted to watch’. It was pretty obvious that they were taking them up to their parents to burn onto the laptop but you have to admire their balls as even we were slightly scared of the man. Despite his bad temper he is an extremely helpful man and obviously tries his best to help his customers but he just shouts at you like he wants to take you down with a meat cleaver.
First stop on the nature trail was a river cruise along the Kinabatangan, an area of jungle which has been cut back so much to be replaced by Palm Olive plantations, that all that is left is a narrow strip which pushes all the wildlife into a small area. Great for nature watching but obviously not so good for the wildlife. We stayed in a small lodge and went for three different river cruises. It certainly lived up to its reputation as we saw orangutans in the wild (apparently not that common) as well as the probiciuos monkey (very very strange noses), crocs, a king cobra to name just a few.
Then it was time to see what the sea had to offer. We headed to Semporna which is the hub for diving around Sipidan island which is world renound. Unfortunately there is a two week waiting list for diving here so we opted for a close neighboring island called Mabul which to us was still brilliant diving. I’d list all the crazy things we saw down there but it’d probably only bore you.
We enjoyed Borneo but our enjoyment was probably clouded by our Cambodia hangover. The nature was amazing (and it was certainly nice to meet up with Angie’s parents) but the towns lacked a certain something (or anything slightly interesting) and it was all a bit expensive. Next time (whenever that is) we’d like to head to the other end of Borneo, Sarawak, as we get the impression it might be me more for us. Certainly if we ever head back with a big bag of cash I’m sure we’ll have a great time.
