We were pleased the day that we left mingin' Sandakan and headed up to Kota kinabalu, the capital of Sabah and back into civilization again. I had been training to climb Mt Kinabalu (biggest mountain in SE Asia) before we came and was intent on doing it. When we had been diving we heard from some guys that had done it, that you needed gloves, a hat and a good coat. Where the hell are we gonna get them in Borneo when its 30 degrees most days?? But we got them and the next day i set off @6:30 and started climbing about 10. There were 2 german guys we had been diving with, i met at the bottom Harry and milo and ended up climbing a good bit up and to the overnight resthouse with Milo. It was a good 6.7 km hike up to the resthouse at (11,000 ft) 3226m.
Got a good scran that night and met up with Ben & Joey a really sound aussie couple and a french couple, played some cards and had a good haver with them before trying to get an early night for the 2:30 am start the next day!! Finally got sleeping at 11:30 so at 2:30am I wasnt for gettin up, but the mountain air and freezin cold soon woke me up!!
We had a 2.7km hike/ climb most of it with guide ropes in the dark , just your headtorch and the moonlight to guide you to the summit, awesome fun. Ended up climbing way too fast and got to the summit an hour before sunrise so as pretty chilly even with my 5 layers and hat and gloves on. Well worth it for the amazing sunrise and finally seeing all the different peaks and the whole area in daylight from 4095.2m up!!.
Headed back down to the resthouse for a big breakfast buffet where i met up with the aussies and french guys, then did the whole 6.7km with the aussies, really good fun having a haver with them on the way down. Pretty hard going on the knees, probably after doing to the whole descent and up to the peak in the one day. Finally got the bottom but didnt have time for a proper warm down at the bottom before the bus was about to take off.
So for the past few days I've been walking up and down any steps around town like a pensioner!Legs been burning , but better now.
Gonna meet up with Ben & Joey in Melbourne when we get there on our travels for a beer and hopefully get sorted with a short term job @ Sony ericcson with Ben, fingers crossed.
Since the climb we have done a few of the cool wee islands off KK, Manukan has amazing beaches so we got some well earned sunning and Sapi today we did a good bit of snorkelling where we seen loads of cool fish just off the beach and i got bitten to bits by a few of them.Had a day at the Water park in the rain, well if your're gonna get wet anyway, tiny wee place but really good fun.
Heading back to Singapore for a few days as of tomorrow then off to Bali and Lombok for 3 weeks, we thought we were in need of a holiday.....he he he. Canna wait.
We started off our two weeks in Borneo by heading to Semporna to do some more scuba diving. We were staying at a "floating" lodge on Mabul Island which was built up on stilts above the sea. On the first day we did 3 dives around Mabul Island. We saw some huge schools of fish and although the coral wasn't as nice or as much of it as there was at Ko Tao we definately saw a lot more fish. On the final dive of the day we finally saw a turtle sitting on a rock and then swim off. We'd seen some sting rays before but they were always sleeping under rocks. This time though the dive master gave it a little prod and it came shooting out under us (got a little fright) and we got a better look at it's blue spots. That night was the last night for one of the diving instructors so back at the lodge there was a bit of a BBQ and party with a band and plenty free beer and rum! We even went for a late night dip in the sea and met some really nice people. The next day we were up early again for some more diving. This time at Sipadan Island which is supposed to be one of the best dive sites in the world. Straight away it didn't disappoint we saw loads more turtles, plenty of reef sharks, a huge school of hundreds of barracuda and plenty more different types of fish!
After our 2 days of diving we headed up the coast to Sandakan. The town itself is like one big rubbish pile. It was horrible walking around, especially at night when there were rats running out of the rubbish and the drains. While we were there we visited a crocodile farm where we saw, well, plenty of crocodiles. We then spent a day at the Sepilok Orang Utang Rehibilitaion Centre. It is a huge are of forrest where the rehibilitate orphaned orang utangs before releasing them back into the wild and twice a day you can view one of the feeding platforms where they feed some of the younger ones. we saw so many at the feeding times and then while we were walking along before the afternoon feeding one came up really close to where we were on the walkway! While we were having lunch in the cafe another had come out of the forrest and sneaked past the rangers and climbed onto the cafe roof so it was pretty amusing watching them trying to get it to come back down! It was amazing to see the Orang Utangs up so close and it was one of the things I'd been looking forward to most. It was even worth staying in Sandakan for!
We got down to Singapore after a hellish bus journey, the worst ever (a 5 hour journey that took 10, arrggghhh!) and were met off the MRT by Janet (Les's mum), yipeee! She took us up to Andrea's apartment where Les's aunt Sally and uncle Colin were staying too!! Was great to see them all. Andrea's apartment is amazing 3 huge pools , jacuzzis, steam rooms, gym! From budget traveller to living like a king and queen. Andrea thank u very much again for having us!!
After a morning by the pool we took off to the Zoo and Night Safari. The Zoo was brilliant there were almost no cages anywhere just some ditches to stop the tigers etc eating you, it just felt like u were walking thru the rain forest, brilliant then the night safari was similar but with a totally different set of animals but in the dark, yes u could see them!! It was really cleverly done. The next day we headed down Orchard Road where every shopping centre is jam packed with Prada and Gucci as we found out good for a laugh tho, then headed to China Town, loads of cool old chinese buildings and temples. That night we got taken out for dinner by Sally and Janet for the best steak i have ever had, the thing was a monster in Chijmes restaurant, very posh and amazing. We then had a day at the Chani Prison Museum before heading back for a final dip in the pool. Janet & Sally were heading back home and we were heading back to Johor Bahru in Malaysia to catch our flight to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.
After bombing about the place in Penang we decided on a having a week in Kuala Lumpur. We did heaps, including a Bird Park where we held Parrots and hornbills (see photos on photobucket) and fed some bright wee Lorie birds. had a day of museums and came across little India which serves the most amazing curries ( as u would expect!) big bit of chicken, wee bowl of sauce and these Roti things (like chapatis) and eat with no fork and spoon (mingin yellow hand but awesome taste.
The Malaysians know how to shop, so spent a good bit of time in the huge KLCC mall and seen the aquarium there, its just below the Petronas towers. 4th October was our 5 year anniversary, we went up the Petronas and KL towers that, both massive and got cracing views over the city, then went down the posh part of town for a few drinks and big chunky fillet steaks!!!! mmmmmmmmm! Back at the hostel they had a brilliant roof top bar, when we came back from our meal and drinks we met Patrick and Andy two english guys up there then headed out for a few more, then had a nice lazy/ hangover day before heading down to Singapore. We did some other stuff too but cant remember off hand. will stick it in the next blog if it come to me
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