Ordering

Just a quick note to say sorry about the posts on Borneo being all out of order. Internet connectivity was very limited and often very slow so posting ended up a bit chaotic..
(The above photo is from seaside travellers inn, kota kinabalu).

Mulu National Park

Borneo's Mulu national park is possibly the most beautiful national park I have ever seen. To get to Mulu we left from Miri and traveled by express boat up river for about 9hrs. Along the way we saw crocodiles and spoke with locals heading back to their original home village because a fire had destroyed their parents homes and their families were now homeless and were lacking the necessary wealth to rebuild. We also passed huge logging vessels. After the express boat we boarded boats that were about 3feet wide and had a hull of about 6 inches. In these tiny vessels we traveled up the clear-water river system for 1 1/2 hours in a thunderstorm with rain so heavy we were sometimes forced to close our eyes!
The next day we again traveled up the beautiful clear-water river system by boat before trekking 8.9km through the rainforest to reach camp 5, our base camp for the next days climb of the Pinnacles. At camp 5 I had an afternoon swim in the river and laid about reading and writing before an early night.
The next morning we headed of at 6:30 to start climbing the pinnacles. The climb had us soaked in sweat, was very slow on the way down, but was also relatively easy. After navigating the various ladders and ropes to reach the top and come back down again, I returned to camp 5 about 12 o'clock. Again the afternoon was spent swimming in the river, relaxing, and watching lizards and insects run about.
The following morning we re-trekked the 8.9km back out of camp 5 to meet our boats. After arriving 20 minutes early for our pick up one of the girls and I decided we would float downriver and meet the boats on the way. The water was crystal clear and the perfect temperature for the humid rainforest. In the afternoon we headed out to do the canopy walk and then onwards to see Lang and deer cave. The canopy walk was good fun (though overpriced), but the winner of the day by far was the caves. Lang cave is quite small but has some amazing formations, while the size of deer cave simply can't be put into words of photographs. it is MASSIVE. It is also home to 3 million bats and smells terribly of bat droppings, but what an amazing thing to see. After exploring deer cave we waited outside for the bats to emerge for their night time hunt but they decided not to come up. this was both very disappointing and very uncommon...
The next morning we flew out of Mulu and from the plane windows the rainforest went as far as the eye can see. Mulu is a place I feel very privileged to have seen..

Turtle Island

To get to Turtle Island we took a fast boat from Sandakan, and the journey out was quite smooth. Pulling into the Island you could see that this was your typical tropical paradise but turtle island's real beauty actually lies beneath its waters. As soon as we had checked our bags in I grabbed a snorkel and headed off to the beach. Swimming out past the roped off area I saw lots of beautiful coral and sponges, loads of fish (including clown fish), and various clams and coral worms. My day was basically spent swimming and exploring the beautiful reef. In the late afternoon I headed out with three others from my group to snorkel to the drop off point where the reef became open water. The fish out there were incredible.
At about 9:30pm it was time to go and watch the sea turtle come onto the beach and lay its eggs. As everyone on the island (about 30 people)walked to the one turtle we were allowed to watch lay we passed about 10 other turtles on the beach. Watching the turtles coming up the beach was an amazing experience but actually watching the turtle lay felt intrusive and unnessecary. I think the program needs to be changed so that the mother turtles are not interuppted while laying. Simply to watch the turtles crawl up the beach from the distance would have been a far more special experience. Watching the babies released into the ocean was by far the best part of the experience however. They are so tiny and you can only wish them luck on a life that is going to be a hard one to survive!

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Cente

After witnessing Borneo's amazing wildlife on turtle island it was time to move on again and witness another of the small islands great ecological treasures, the orangutan. At Sepilok orangutan rehabilitation centre injured or orphaned orangutans are collected from the wild and brought in for nuturing until they are ready to be returned to the wild. From the feeding deck viewing platform we were able to witness about five orangutans and several other monkeys feeding and swinging about. Although it was incredibly hot on the platform it was a really great experience to see these rare creatures in their natural environment.
After the rehabilitation centre I headed to the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) to learn some more about the local rainforests and see a lot of the plants the forests have to offer. the RDC was a very interesting place but the heat drove me away before I had managed to explore all of its grounds. In the afternoon some of our group headed off to a proboscious monkey centre where they could get really close to these animals but this trip was a little to expeninsive for me. Instead, I spent the afternoon relaxing at the Sepilok B&B and using their wireless internet to catch up on some emails and blog posting.

Kinabatangan

My first jungle experience in Borneo was to be in the Kinabatangan region where I visited a small environmental and cultural conservation project run by a group of local people called MESCOT. MESCOT'S objective is to provide local people with an initiative of their own which encourages cultural preservation and prevents palm oil plantations from destroying local ecosystems. With the MESCOT organisation we travelled up Kinabatangan river where we saw crocodiles, hornbills, macac monkeys, silver langurs, proboscious monkeys, and more. Afterwards we set up hammocks in the jungle to sleep in for the night and went for a walk through the jungle at night to see frogs, various insects, lizards, and more leeches. The night in our hammocks started out for me to be a slightly claustrophobic experience, but soon became one of the most comfortable sleeps I have ever had. After another early walk through the jungle we headed back to the MESCOT centre where we cooked our own lunch. I made the salad because all that involved was cutting up vegetables and avoiding standing over a gas cooker in the heat.
After lunch we relaxed for a while before heading into the ridiculously hot sun for some games of volleyball. Both matches were won while much sweat was lost. In the sweaty state we were all taken from the volleyball courts to our hosts for the night's traditional home-stay. Our hosts were a lovely old lady who spoke no english, her daughter who spoke quite well, and another of her daughters three year old sons. I spent the afternoon playing with the little boy until dinner was served, where we ate river fish, rice, and pumpkin. The food was nice enough to eat but not amazing..
After a very hots night sleep in our hosts house that was also interrupted by the local mosque's calls to prayer we were up early and on our way to Sandakan, our leaving port for turtle island.
Kinabatangan was a wildlife filled region and a shining example of successful localised development initiatives that provide a sustainable environmental alternative to Malaysia's enormous, and destructive, palm oil plantations.

Poring hot springs

After our strenuous climb up Mt. Kinabalu it was time for some relaxation so we headed off Poring hot springs. A tiny town with just one small street of restaurants and accommodation, Poring had a very homely feel to it. On my first day here I swam in a nice cold pool that I shared with a frog, and had a bubbling hot-tub with some girls from our group.
On the second day I walked to see a perfect Rafflesia flower with another one still in bloom, visited the butterfly garden, and walked a total of 7km to see two waterfalls (one of which was 120m), and a small cave filled with bats. Walking to the waterfalls did mean fighting off loads of leeches but swimming in the cold water at the base of the falls at the end made it more then worth it. In Poring I also got to be very close to a semi-wild Orangutan named Jackie who lives in the jungle that surrounds the hot springs complex.
Though very quite and with little to do, Poring is a must stop destination as what there is to do there is really worth making the trip. Trekking to the second waterfall is not an option, it is a must do.

Dusun Village.

To kick off my adventure in Borneo I headed to a Dusun Village called Kiau, where we had accommodation just beside the local catholic church. When we arrived the church was packed with the local townspeople who were celebrating the harvest festival. Adults sang songs inside the church and little kids ran everywhere playing games and posing for photos. They loved the digital camera so much I was having trouble photographing them as they all swarmed so close to me I couldn't get them in the lens...
After the afternoon of much photo taking we all headed to the house of our guide for climbing Mt. Kinabalu, a legendary guide who has climbed to the summit over 4500 times! Here we ate a beautiful dinner cooked by his wife and then started our night drinking on the local rice wine. Being harvest festival bottles of wine and very drunk locals were overflowing in the small house, while a horrendous downpour prevented us returning to our accommodation and made sure the party went well into the night. I stayed awake until around 1:30 to celebrate the birthday of a girl who would be doing some of my travels through borneo with me, and a very good, and strange, night was had.
In Kiau the villagers made us feel extremely welcome, fed us well, and shared with us their amazing geographical location. And in the morning following, I felt very hungover!

Mt. Kinabalu

So I guess I should begin by saying that I didn't make it to the summit of South East Asia's tallest mountain! Not that I had any say in it though, the summit was closed to all due to extreme weather conditions. At 2am when we were supposed to start waking for the climb everyone was already awake and listening to the pouring rain and around 80km/h winds. visibility outside was at about 2m. For me, Laban Rata would be the highest point I reached on Mt. Kinabalu, at a little over 3000m.
That said, the climb was still more then worth it. The 8km trek on the Meselau trail to reach Laban Rata was quite difficult in some places and absolutely beautiful in many more. We crossed waterfalls and grottoes of pitcher plants, and we walked along ridges that provided us with amazing vies of the villages below. Had you asked me before I came on this trip how I would feel about not making the summit I would have said I would be devastated, but honestly after doing the first days climb I really wasn't bothered. Mt. K was an excellent experience with or without the summit!

Kota Kinabalu, Markets, and Islands

Borneo's Kota Kinabalu is a quiet town where the locals don't hassle you to buy things. There's not heaps to do here but its a great place to kick back. I am staying at a cruisy little guest house called North Borneo Cabins that has free internet and beer that's cheaper then the supermarket!
Last night me and some others from the backpackers (Katie, Jo and Ciaran) went to the night markets for some amazing fresh seafood, and we'll be heading back there again tonight. I spent yesterday with Ciaran out on one of the islands of Abdul Rahman national park just swimming, snorkelling and kicking back. Quite enjoying relaxing at the moment though it will be good to get on the move again soon...
Today we did almost nothing, just went and swapped the watch I bought yesterday for one that actually keeps the right time, hopefully anyway, and watched the contender at the backpackers.
Pretty boring post I know, but hopefully the photos add to it a bit.

It Begins

So, here I am, Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. And it is hot. The humidity is suffocating. But I have managed to get myself into a nice little hotel and had no problems getting all the way here from Australia. As expected, Borneo is more expensive then much of the rest of Asia but so far i've been pretty thrifty. I'm also realising how much effort it is going to be to keep this blog upto date! I will do my best I guess...
Anyway no real exciting news as of yet so I will leave it at that for now. More to come though guys... much much more. Haha.