Nick and especially Natty feed a generation of mosquitoes in Borneo!

On crocodile-infested waters

So, it's been a whirlwind of a journey through the jungles and beaches of Borneo. After a few nights in Kota Kinabalu, with a wet day of riding up to the national park of Kinabalu mountain and riding right back down again because it was so cold! Poor Nick was soaked to the bone, riding at the front, and we never imagined we could get so cold in such a hot country! I would say it was a rooky mistake, but we have been through this before!
We took a plane to Sandakan, which is a town out to the east of KK in Malaysian Borneo. We went straight to Sepilok where we stayed at Uncle Tan's, the hostel that is attached to the jungle camp where we did a 3 day and 2 nights package.
Before leaving for the jungle, we went to the Orangutan Reserve in Sepilok. We seemed to have a similar experience to everyone else we've spoken to. We paid about 8 quid to stand for 45 minutes with a few hundred other folks to watch some orangutans have their breakfast. After such a long time waiting, we were graced with the presence of a young male orangutan, who came out of the jungle hand in hand with one of the reserve staff. It was a little disappointing, and although atleast we can hope our money is going to the orangutans (if there are more than one), I wouldn't go back there. There were supposed to be a maximum of 50 people viewing the feeding, and it was pretty noisy despite signs saying 'BE QUIET' all over the place. So, in the future I hope the reserve sticks to keeping visitors to a minimum, rather than crowding the place with so many people that the orangutans stay away.

The entrance to the jungle camp

Luckily for us and the lovely Kristel from the Netherlands who we met that morning, we proceeded to the jungle where we ended up seeing 4 wild orangutans!

A wild orangutan

On top of that we got to see plenty of Proboscis monkeys, the kind that have that huge nose. And we saw a ridiculous amount of Long-Tailed Macaques, or as the locals call them, the Jungle Gangstas! They call them this because they are constantly fighting. These are the least shy and roam around in groups of up to 25 monkeys.

A pathway leading through the camp

My favourite was the night trek, where we got to see beautiful kingfishers and other colourful birds sleeping on low branches, so close you could touch them, though of course we didn't!

Black-backed Kingfisher (inappropriately named?!), asleep from behind

We also saw plenty of big spiders which is, let's be honest, what Nick was looking forward to the most! In the end we also finally saw a crocodile, which is really what you want when you spend the best part of 3 days on crocodile infested waters!

After our jungle adventure we spent one more night in KK (after a seven hour bus journey) and then headed up north to just outside of Kudat, at the Tip of Borneo. The beaches here were pristine and beautiful, basically empty, and we stayed at Tampatdoaman, a resort and restaurant.

Not a great picture, but wanted to show one of the beaches

The accommodation was simple, a traditional longhouse where we all shared compost toilets and showers with a fantastic view into the jungle around. We also had the company of some ducks, one who was particularly crazy called Fred, some chickens and roosters, and the odd dog. And don't forget the spiders and mosquitoes!

One of our roommates!

The owner, Howard, who is from Stratford, is expanding and building some 'nicer' accommodation, but we were very happy with our little room! It's a very sociable and relaxing place and the staff, Howard, Bronson and a few lovely ladies are very helpful. We spent a week on the beach, reading and eating delicious food from Howard's TipTop Restaurant. We spent one of our days on a challenging bike ride exploring the other beaches down the coast, but to be honest, the one we were on was the most beautiful!

Taking a breather on a hot journey up and down hills

A beautiful sunset from the beach

Every morning Howard or Bronson drove us the 2km to the beach from the longhouse, and every evening they ferried us back. It was a truly relaxing week and we met some great people.

Nick with the lovely Lisa from Sweden and Kristel from the Netherlands. Watching the sunset at the very tip of Borneo.

Next stop, the Philippines....

Well I think we say Mt. Kinabalu...

So after a couple of days exploring KL, and having done a bit of research into our 14 hour lay over in Jakarta ( voted one of the worst airports in the world), we decided to bite the bullet and book a new flight straight to Kota Kinabalu. KK as it is known by the locals is a bit of a surprise really. It's not what I expected but I don't really know what I expected...Maybe something less, commercial.

I mean don't get me wrong,it's quaint, there's palm trees everywhere, walking along the promenade( much like morecambe) you can see the local fisherman doing their thing and from the middle of town you are only a 30 minute drive into beautiful mountains and jungly looking stuff...but there's something off about the place. Maybe it's the Burger king and Pizza Hut, maybe it's the Rashid Mall style mall at the end of the road, but hey it's Asia and it seems ever
country round here has a knack of making things a bit odd.
Just like More - e - cambe right?

Beer's expensive, room's cheap, internet is fast, Indian breakfast is great ( masala Dhosa every morning with a steaming cup of chai), oh and it rains here.

Yesterday we rented a Honda Wave. Bog standard, semi automatic bike seen all over asia that we thought would be a great way of driving up through the mountains to Mt. Kinabalu and back. Now the idea of flying through the twisty turny roads with Nat on the back and the wind in our hair was appealing to us both as you've probably all gathered we like being on bikes, but the image I had for this fun day out was of us under a blue sky, a few whispy white clouds and looking in awe at the peak of Mt. Kinabalu from the hot springs which on the map we had were just down the road...

WRONG AGAIN NICK!!!!
Don't we look so happy!

We took off from KK and the weather was lovely, weaving in and out of the traffic, having to wave to the locals as they were big and smiley at seeing us ' doing as the locals do'. Lots of lane splitting and chatting to other bikers at lights basically. We followed the directions we'd been given and after filling up at 'the last petrol station before the mountains' we started to head up
an incline into the hills. It was delightful, within 30 mins we couldn't see anything that resembled a village let alone a city and the jungle just went on and on. We then saw the cloud line in the distance, but it looked broken, as if we would pass through them into a land of unimaginably beauty...but alas this was not to be. From the moment we entered the cloud cover, that was it. the last time we would see blue sky until the following morning!

It rained.

Not too much at the start, but enough to get us wet when we just had shorts and a linen
shirt on. But by the time 2 hours later, when we had arrived at the Mt. Kinabalu National Park, it was pelting it down. Visibility was down to 20m ( metres not miles) and when we got to the park map, we couldn't see the tree behind it, never mind the illusive mountain itself!

Ah, you say, it's ok because your plan was to stop at the hot springs anyway right? Warm up, dry the clothes? WRONG! the hot springs were another hour into the rain, NOT GONNA HAPPEN! so we turned around, and drove back to KK. Another 2 hours, this time on really slippery roads. Freezing cold and hard work!

Look what I got for a quick refreshing drink on the way up the mountain...this was just before it got really bad!

For anyone who hasn't ridden a motorbike in the rain it actually asks some very difficult questions of the driver. You basically have two choices. (A) drive faster, get out of the rain faster but get really cold, wet, and the rain actually hurts when it hits you at 80kph! or (B) drive slower, be a bit a bit warmer but get just as wet and spend more time in the rain wishing you were at home. I found 60kph was my happy medium!

So we survived, it was a long day but fun either way, didn't see the mountain, but got a fun story out of it anyway, and believing we'd deserved it went and had a slap up dinner and a few beers. You'll be pleased to know, and not surprised in the slightest, that I still managed to get sunburn on my hands and forearms...typical.

A little bit wet, but we gave the locals something to chuckle about!

What else, seen a few rats. Having a beer with a couple who were on the Queen Elizabeth round the world jobber and a kitten fell out of the roof, somehow dodging the fan on the way down and landed on the fella's lap...in true Northerner style his first comment was " It's not often that pussy falls right in my lap" - Not bad and very quick for an 81 year old! haha. Brian- the pussy magnet!


We agreed before we left that we had to surprise each other with something during the trip and Nat's arrived on our second day here. I'd booked us into a rather exclusive and very good massage here, most relaxing couple of hours we'd had for a long time!

Nat's feet at the start of the spa afternoon.

Ate some lovely food as you would expect from some rather questionable establishments but have stayed healthy so far!!

How'd you like them prawns!

Tomorrow we fly into the jungle for a few days before heading to the 'Tip of Borneo' for week on the beach. Hope you are all well, and we'll try and post an update when we can.

Take care,
MOT!

Nick and Natty, doing the world once more!

Nick and Natty back on the road...first stop Kuala Lumpur!

Lokhee and Anthony took us for galmegisal. Delicious! Beautiful Lokhee. x

So, we're back on the road, but before leaving South Korea we spent a week in Gwangju and Seoul with friends Lokhee and Anthony and then Josh and Mel.

Before we left Seoul, with plans to return in six months, we went for a much anticipated 9 course meal with Josh and Mel at OKitchen in Itaewon. It was AMAZING! Forgive the terrible pictures, but this was what was on offer!

This was the very first course, some delicious seafood. There was plenty more but I am no food photographer I'm afraid!

It was a pleasure staying with our friends for our last few days in Korea, we'll miss them!

On the 8th of March, we set off for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a cheap upgrade to premium class on Air Asia! Nick had a wonderful time in their flat beds, as you can see!

We stayed at Ribbon Stayyz guesthouse in Kuala Lumpur for two nights and it was comfortable enough, with the only downside being the shared bathrooms were very busy, seeing as half of them were being repainted and therefore were out of use. Good location though, with the busy Petaling Street just around the corner.

Our first breakfast was in a vegetarian restaurant in what we believed to be the Little India neighbourhood...it turned out this was not where we were, but we got to eat Indian anyway! Nick got his Puri Bhaji for breakfast after such a long time!

We had a great start to our travels in Kuala Lumpur. It is a much nicer place than I imagined, people don't seem to have a lot of nice things to say about it. The colonial buildings are overgrown and charming, and we found everyone to be helpful and friendly.

The highlight for both of us was probably the KL Bird Park. It is the biggest walk in aviary in the world, and there are plenty of species to see. Nick was especially pleased when this Hornbill regurgitated a piece of banana in an apparent attempt to befriend him and possibly share his lunch! If only the cage hadn't prevented an exchange!

Nick also enjoyed it when I I decided to feed some parakeets who were apparently very hungry! They have surprisingly sharp claws, and I should have know it wouldn't be the peaceful experience I had imagined!

That'll teach me to feed the birds! It isn't like Mary Poppins promised!

So, fun times were had all round, and next we are off to Kota Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo! Woopee! Natty xxx

Nick and Natty's two years in Korea...a summary with photos!