sandakan so singapore

Arrived at the north coast of Borneo,in sandakan.
had a fantastic time in the rainforest at sukau at the kinabantang river. Only yesterday evening we saw 7 urang than.

Flying to singapore tomorrow with maSwings, followed by air Asia.

Chilling our last night together at the roof terrace.

From rafting on the kiulu river to Ape volunteering

Booked my tour at center point with Borneo tours for 110 rm. A brand-new private car drove us from KK to the river. The rafting I found too easy, having done level 3....4 before, but great fun for newbies,although a lot of time went to swimming. Some people did not secure themselves so the same people kept on falling over board over and over again, but that should n ot have been necessary at all. I have to remember a next time go for the graduate level again.

Lunch was terrific. We were back at 15.00.

Our driver Louis mentioned having a homestay at the river 3 km from the rafting ending point. He is a nice honest man speaking English good. Room 45 RM pr night. He can pick you up in KK for 80rm. You can call him on +66 10 516 5327.
the area has beautiful secondary jungle with mountains and sometimes great views.

Tomorrow I fly to sandakan, north coast, where I will meet the other volunteers. The day after we will go by boat to stay with the River People at a 600 km long river from Sepilok. I expect from then not to have internet until Saturday evening 11 days later, but if necessary you cAn reach me on my Malaysian or Norwegian phone number.... if I have reception.


The longer I am in Malaysia, the more I feel it being ridiculous going to plant trees in the jungle while the government continues cutting jungletrees to fill their pockets through their private companies. And not only that I now know very well how much 500 rm, 120 EUR per day is that I pay as a volunteer. I look forward hearing from them how the island is spent. Feedback from Malaysians is that they ought the locals there were planting the trees as well as that they think it is strange that working volunteers have to pay for that, they mean we should get paid.

The trees are for the orang utans habitat, because that is diminishing very fast by oil Palm trees plantations after the jungle is cut down.

kk, kota kinabalu, pictures

KK, capital of Sabah, the richest county of Malaysia.

No customers, then why not take a nap.

Sabah is famous for its pearls. So by lack of spending money on a day trip, I spendid it on a seapearl ring .... in real :-) Malaysian gold, haha. I'm curious how long it will live.

Here you see 2 backsides of buildings with in the front shops and restaurants. It is here where the real life is lived.

Imagine you buying your birthday cake here.

This lady wanted me to take her picture. In front adible flowers of ginger plants.

I finally managed to book 1+  hour rafting for tomorrow. Because I want to sleep as long as possible I have chosen for easy level with departure at 08.30. The advanced level  leaves at 05.15 and has many more hours in the bus. Back at 14.00 after which I will switch from the lavender lodge back to the galleria hotel for 1 night in order to pick up the luggage I left behind. Hoping it still waits less then 20 kg for my big backpack.

 Bought today some seaweeds too. To eat in salads,after soaking for one hour in water.  No cooking.

day trip to Sapi island

I got up early to do some giftshopping on the Sunday market on  Gaya streelt in KK, before going snorkeling.  If I would have lived here I would have bought a Several fruit trees, but for now seeds will do.

Can you hear them jelling the number a kilo cost?

From the end of Goyastreet I walked to the main road to the left, which ends right in the middle of Jesselton point, with ticket boots for ferries to  thcriste islands in the national park just a few kilometers from Kk with crystal clear water. A return tiiicket will cost yo 3 ringgits, whichis 60 Nok. Entrance t o the park is 10 Rm,to be paid on arrival. I went to the smallest, sipa island. Normally on a sunday  manioy people go there, but today it was a bit cloudy so few people.

Yesterday's dinner at the night market. Huge shrimp. Every plate wrapped with plastic.

It has a small beach,5 but it looked good for snorkeling.... because I failed to get soft contacts in I could only swim, but I saw small fish near the surface. And many people snorkeling. The hotel had told me to leave all my valuables in the hotel. But if you travel by boat of Beach bunnies they have chairs and tables where they look after your stuff when you are floating. Probably the other boats do the same.

Just before leaving I saw a huge monard lizard, kind of a 2 meter salamander. Knew they are harmless.

Left the island 1 hour before plan and on arrival in KK IT STARTED raining.

I hope to g,o rafting and cycling Monday or Tuesday , but have nothing confirmed yet.

The atmosphere at the night market. Fresh fish everywhere.

It really is great that when you live in a big city KK YOU WITHIN an hour from your home can snorkel! Just Imagine you doing that in amsterdam north :-)

visited the Rungus tribe in the tip of Borneo

Last week I travelled from kota belud. Although lonely planet tells about hourly busses, no bus. A lot of eager taxi drivers telling you to take a private taxi or combined taxi, minivan instead.
it took me 3 hours to find out what how and where from, nobody seemed to know.

Luckily my first minivan left within half an hour. Nobody talked English. First van drove me to kota Meruda. There I had to change to the next van to Kudat. Some people were already waiting inside. First the minivan needed 6 people to start driving, so 12, finally with 12 passengers we left. It took me 4 hours to reach Kudat. From there my private taxi was already waiting, to Jamal village in the tip, totally north, of Borneo. Finally at 15.00 I reached my destination.

Staying in a rungus longhouse, build for tourists, in the style of their ancestors. I stayed with Roland and Nancy and their 3 kids, their parents, his 2 brothers, his wife and their 4 kids, all living in the same house. Youngest 2 years.
You can call Roland on 019 534 5225. You can also book by friend of them on 019 802 0549.

Roland showing how the coconut we have in the shop grows in a fallen coconut.

In the longhouse there are 4 rooms, with mosquito nets and thin matresses on the floor. I was the only guest the first nights. Quite dark and lonely and a bit far from their house it felt.

Roland showed me the beach, a 10 minutes walk over fallen trees and wading through a small river.  And there it started raining and it did not stop until 3 days later. And not just raining, pouring, heaven came down, floods in Kudat town and me having to wade over the grass to reach the toilet or my room. Those days I talked a lot with Rolands sister in law, 32 yrs old and now pregnant of nr 5.  I smiled a lot with grandma, only a few years older then me. Nancy took me out picking vegetables from the forest, only 20 meters away. I watched how the family interacted, how everybody took care of all the children, how the children change into and out their schooluniforms, how they prepared the food. While the only guest I ate together with the family sitting on the kitchen floor. What stuff we white people are :-) I learned to throw bones etc through the holes between the planks to feet the dogs underneath, and a lot more. The women were fantastic cooks. Ate cooked and fried Tapioca for breakfast, etc.

When I was trying to book a plane ticket back to KK, another couple came by taxi from KK AND it stopped raining. I accepted to stay 1 d longer driving back with them and on the way back visiting the gong factory, hand made. That was yesterday.

So I am in the city again, kota kinabalu, but this time in the hotel my Hong Kong friends had last time I was here. Today I visited the Sabah museum complex. Bus back to town, 1 ringgit only. So I am in town until Wednesday, with wifi.

impressions of Kota Belud, tamu market

On the weekly Tamu district market, every Sunday morning in kota Nexus.

Some ladies are trying cookies. A bid fat but tasty.

Lots of those very small fishes, often used as the protein resource in the meal.

Clothes beautifully hanged up on a row.

The normal daily market in kota belud.

The local mosque, far from my bed luckily.

Because of the Muslim locals I keep my shoulders covered, so they won't become that Brown this year.

Tomorrow morning I travel to the tip of Borneo, where the most beautiful beaches have to be. Because of the terrorists not sure yet if I will go to the island banggi to the north. 

My biggest problem for now is getting money before I leave to far away. Visited 5 banks today and none of the ATMs gave me money. On some was written not for foreign cards. So when my cash is gone I have to go back to town too soon. Hope not.

back on Wi-Fi around the 20st.

300 pk headhunter

Happy me leaving the island yesterday.

then we heard that only last week one of Mari Mari backpackers boats was drifting for 12 hours on the China sea. I am so happy we Dutch choose not to take Mari Maris boat back but this closed catamaran from the day resort in the bay on the right. This boat had almost no bumping at all.

 

Here the Mari Mari float. Normally the partly closed one on the right will drive the guests the 40 km from kota belut to mantanani island, but when I went to the island his engines did not  work and we travelled over high sea in an open diving boat. The boat regularly was almost standing on his back, only a miracle away from tipping. But that was not all, think about how it feels when you bump from 50cm above your seat down on the hard plastic. Imagine jumping up and down many many times a minute.

Before we left we all first had to sign that we travelled on our own responsibility. Then we did not know yet that several of these boats had gone down. But no wonder something goes wrong the way they drive the boat into the highest wave and giving grass as much as possible with its 2x 150 horse power motors. One way takes about 1 hour. I asked them if they could drive a little bid slower because my back was hurting after jumping up and down this hard for 2.000 times. But no they were only thinking about giving the daytrippers on the boat as much time on the island as possible. A back operation was not to their worries a bid. Later I heard even people with healthy backs getting back pain on the boat.

Anyway I was not looking forward to it having to go this way back.

After we arrived totally soaked not a dry dread on our bodies we got a not so welcoming welcome. First thing said ,you are only allowed to swim in the marked baby swimming pool not outside because that will be too dangerous. On my question if there was coral and fish there the answer was No.

Why do people go to a tropical island? Yes, I enjoy the peace and quietness and the snorkeling, with reading a book in between. They told us, you have to go by boat to go snorkeling. Free? No of course. Because I always snorkel 5 to 6 hours from the beach I became pretty disappointed. Could I get my money back when leaving earlier? No.

Ok, then I had to make the best out of it. One night stay already being 200 rm I did not have budget for boat snorkeling. Later I heard this even was 2x 45 minutes snorkeling only. So the next day we went exploring the island in search for tropical fish and coral. We walked from Mari to the left to the end of the island. We soon found out here there was too much current, so we went around the corner, yep fish even a lot.... and then while we were very close to the beach our head was almost cut off by one of the resort's speed boats. We walked further around, here my companion became so scared by a speed boat coming to us that she run out shaking leaving the island earlier the next day.

MARI MARI BACKPACKERS RESORT

The breakrfast is always inclusive , or better obliged, and you are charged 20 RM for it.  Sometimes there is no bread, white, at all. nassi goreng looks like rice with almost nothing in it, but you can take egg and sausage to it. Tea and coffee are free, good. Although you can read about a la carte from 08.00 to 21.00, this is after the breakfast.

The Mari Mari dorm.

One woman had booked a dorm bedv but she was offered a cabin insteaed because it was too dangerous to sleep there alone.

also walking alone was discouraged, not safe that either.

SNORKELING

Tip. Walk to the right, to the bay. Go into the water in the last third part of the bay. You will find coral, some even alive, the more out you swim. Also about 20 types of fish. It takes about 30 minutes walgking to it, and back. The day trip catamaran will drive along the forest coast.

We did not know about boats not reaching the island. I wonder how many snorkelers have died by their head cut off or exploded by a speed boat running over it. Needles to say, almost all the coral has died and most fish have left.

headhunters on Mantanani island

Tomorrow I will tell you all about it. Beware of going there.
But do you still want to go there, book a day trip only through borneowildlife.org.


For now, I have safely come to kota Belud. I even have tv with cnbc. Good night.

blue crab lobster

Kota kinabalu, capital of Sabah. Sabah forms the top of Borneo.

Today I strolled the Sunday market in Gaya street. They even had Chlorella to drink. Further on lots of garden plants and orchids which I would love to take home with me.

In front of my hotel, de galleria, was today a huge clothes market. I was told that they here sell second hand cloth from the States.

           

5

The Wetlands, yesterday. You can walk to it, 3 km. But not so many birds to see there. Probably many birds at 06.00 but then it is closed. Entrance 15 rm. 

Around 16.30 I suddenly was on the real Night market along the sea. Blue crabs were unloading and they looked back at me, so theis evening I ate blue crab, or is it lobster? In Norway the crab is always extremely dry, but this one you could suck out. Perfectly flavoured too. They only forgot to serve my mixed veggies, which then came half an hour later. Very European veggies, cowly flower with broccoli. But now I learned how delicious crab can be.

On my way back there were many more forestall. I restaurants along the sea at the other markets. Nice view with sunset around 18.25. Sunrise is 06.30.

Tomorrow I leave by bus at 07.00 to Montanani island. Finally time to snorkel and read my Kindle books.

I'll write again on Saturday from Kota Belud.

Kelabit highlands, pictures

Impressions of my Christmas week here. It started with high water in the river. Lots of trees had fallen in the river that night.

 rice paddy field with cabin, maybe I will try to make an aquarel of this picture. Liked the view of it very much. Belonged to my homestay.

Part of a Christmas meal prepared

Everybody has tv. Electricity from 18.00 until 24.00 by generator

Me in my wide jungle clothes

kelabit highlands

Are you visiting the villages around Christmas prepare yourself going from one Xmas lunch to the next Xmas dinner every day. Every meal in another local house, getting you to know the host family and even better the whole village.

 traveling by long boat to the village did not take the usual 1 hrs, but 3.5 hours because of many trees blocking the river. Luckily I could look at my male companions lifting the trees.

As a guest I was usually was offered a chair, while old villagers were eating like the others on the floor.  Other guests were teachers, pastor, police, beside the male head of the family.

 bario, highland cat

I  loved it! Probably will be going back here.
pa Lungan the last Malaysian village without  road access. I had to fly, drive, travel by boat to come there.

But the road is soon to come, making for the Malaysian government it possible to take  what they can take, the villagers only getting a bit of it. They are tricked to sign agreements giving up their rights. They feel obliged to sign because it is the government asking. I am so sorry for them.

I did it! mulu park impression

Dec. 31, 2014

5 years ago after I became ill I  could barely walk 10 minutes. The last years i always took care never to have to walk more then 3 km. Today I managed 8 km of which the last 3.5 km in 40 minutes, through an almost dark jungle with more and more noise around me. Wow I am proud of myself.  Off course this is when my body temperature is normal, so in a warm climate. But it taste for more, 2015 yr goal 10 to 12 km:-)

P.S. i forgot, in the evening I walked several more kilometers that day. Wow, maybe I really have to move to a warm climate.

 foto millions of bats flying out of the deer cave.

January 2, 2015

Gunu mulu national park

I give it a 5 out of 10. Will not go there again. Except the bats flying out in the evening not seen any animal. But when you're in a wheelchair this is the place to be. You will be able to roll for many kilometers. The only places you won't come is in the caves and the towers, rest all wheelchair accessible.
but 1 ltr water bottles sold out, forcing you to buy 3 small ones instead.
Because I 31 Dec and January 1 many guided tours not possible. All evenings, including new years eve, the park cafe closed from 21.00.

Did I mention earlier that when I arrived at the park there was a flood and after hours of waiting i was brought to my bed by boat? The water was almost 2 meters high.

 wild ginger

But the Hong Kong guys staying in the homestay a few minutes before the airport knew we had to go there. So exactly 24.00 we arrived, fireworks around us, a welcoming meal and Christmas cookies, huge loudspeakers and the female half Iban homestay owner inviting everyone to dance.

Today the airport bus to the airport was there except the driver so we had to walk to the airport. Luckily it was only a 15 minutes walk and Hong Kong Peter from the Netherlands carried my big backpack. Thank you Peter I wish there were more man like you.