@travellingwiththeateam

Early morning start at KL and we are both feeling a little tired after our late arrival last night. However there is no time to sleep in as we are back at the airport for a short internal flight to Penang, the culinary capital of Malaysia.

We enjoyed our brief return to KL and especially the Majestic hotel. It’s a fantastic place with great service and a real old world charm.

After leaving the hotel we jumped in a Grab taxi and experienced a 45min high speed chase, or that’s how it felt, as our cabbie drove like his life depended on it, cruising along at 140kph and with no seatbelt on.

Once at the airport we indulged in some tomfoolery, with Andy’s love for all things sweets, he headed for the M&Ms chocolates and Chupa lollies isles.

With time to kill before our flight, we dropped in on the Lego shop, checked out the Porsche Tag Heur watches and the Kinder chocolates – you just can’t beat airport shopping….

The flight up to Penang was only short, just 45mins in the air and then we were in a cab heading north via Georgetown to our hotel, Golden Sands Resort.

The hotel is right on the beach with views out over there the Strait of Malacca, only 65 miles south of the Thailand border. It’s a big old place, with north of 400 rooms, although relatively quiet as we are outside peak season.

Palm trees and pools everywhere and every water sport you can think of on offer. We plan to relax for the first day or so and get to know the immediate area before heading into the historic George Town famed for his colonial heritage history and more latterly the street art and food offer.

Like any place in the tropics, you’re never too far away from the local wildlife and Andy bumped into this little lizard on his way into the hotel pool!

After a wander around the hotel, we headed out into the local markets opposite and searched out a laundry, in order to get some much needed washing done, as most things have been worn and worn for several weeks.

We came across a street food offer doing their take on sourdough oven fired pizzas, and decided to go Western for a change. It’s fair to say they took a little while, much to Andy’s frustration as his hunger pains had kicked as we hadn’t eaten since our 8am breakfast. Anyway the good news is that the pepperoni pizza and Tiger beers were a great success, although it’s back to local traditional offerings tomorrow.

So it’s goodbye to Borneo after our two week stay and a return to Kuala Lumpur.

Before we left, Andy managed one last morning run in the searing heat of KK.

With our flight not until 7pm, we decided to go for a wander around the city and being a Saturday headed to the cool of the shopping mall for a bit of t-shirt shopping.

The walk to the mall was like taking a wander in a sauna, such was the heat and the humidity. Once inside we wasted no time stocking up with replacement t-shirts and shirts from Uniqlo, as well as new Adidas running trainers for Andy from the infamous Sports Direct.

After our retail therapy and a coffee fix from Starbucks, we returned to our hotel for a spot of lunch and cake, before heading to the airport.

The sunset from the airport lounge was a near match for others we have witnessed elsewhere on Borneo, providing a stunning red/orange skyline as the sun disappeared.

Our flight of 2.5hrs back to KL like other Malaysian Airline experiences, meant great food and excellent service. After getting stuck into our respective books, Michelle a classic novel, Andy a trashy murder mystery, we were soon landing back in KL.

Getting a Grab taxi at the airport on Saturday night proved a real challenge. After trying unsuccessfully for 45mins, we managed to share a ride into the city with two Chinese guys who were in KL for business. Chris & Lydon (their Western names) were incredibly friendly and generous and helped us out with some spare cash when we realised the cabbie didn’t accept credit cards. We chatted to them about going to China and after getting their contact details, we hope to meet them in Hong Kong in August.

Again Michelle was a big hit with our friends from China, after dancing at the hotel bar a few nights before with a group of Chinese women on a work trip. This time the boys commented on how young she looked and couldn’t believe she had a daughter who was 19. I think Michelle might be a celebrity when we eventually arrive in Beijing in early August!!

Meeting people like this makes us appreciate how fortunate we are to be able to experience this incredible journey we are on.

After a traffic affected drive to the Majestic Hotel arriving just after 00.30am, we quickly hit the sack as we have an early start again tomorrow with a flight to Penang on the west coast of the country. Before going to sleep, we didn’t forget to admire our surroundings even if we were only in the room for 7hrs!!

Goodnight from KL.

Another early morning run for Andy around the streets of KK finishing his 10k jaunt under the Malaysian flag opposite our hotel.

With this morning’s breakfast being the final meet on our Classic Borneo tour, we are now back on our own and decided to return to one of the islands in the South China Sea.

The walk down to Jesselton Point ferry terminal was a v hot walk along the waterfront, with the temperature already at 34 degrees at 9.45am. Once we’d acquired our ferry ticket we were thankfully on the island of Mamutik within an hour.

The island is one of the smallest of five, with a modest cafe & toilet block and the jetty.

We quickly got comfortable on the island, Michelle in the shade, Andy soaking up the sunshine.

The view is stunning and has a feel of an exotic island beach, save for a few Chinese snorkelling tourists!

With the heat rising and little or no sea breeze we took cover in the trees and got into our book reading, alternating with dips into the sea.

Before we knew it, the time had arrived for us to return back to the mainland, however not before we had to help out another boat, overloaded with passengers which had started to take on water!

Despite being in the middle of the bay, 4 people including one child managed to transfer onto our boat without falling into the water.

Once back in KK, we had a wander around one of the many shopping malls on the front and treated ourselves to a Starbucks coffee and a Subway sandwich!

Our walk back took us past some Sabah street graffiti and the obligatory Love Kota Kinabula street sign.

One final ‘find’ on our way back to our hotel tonight was the Sabah FC team coach, which Andy was keen to have a photo of.

Tonight is our last night in Borneo, before we fly to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow afternoon and then take a further flight on Sunday to Penang Island and Georgetown.

We’re loved our time in Borneo and are excited for the next chapter of our travels on the West coast.

Final day on Manukan Island and Andy was up early to do a shortened run down to the sunset viewing point and back.

We then met with the group for breakfast and enjoyed an American styled meal of eggs, baked beans and toast. Others were more brave and went for the fish soup and a roti & curry.

Post brekkie we had an hour or two back on the beach, before catching the midday taxi boat to the mainland.

Within 15mins we were back on solid ground and in our original cab where the trip started – we knew this as the gear stick was a samurai sword – scary stuff!!!

After checking back into the Promenade hotel and doing a few chores and admin, we headed out for a wander around the Filipino craft market, before going for a drink on the waterfront.

Our final evening meal together was at a nearby Indian restaurant where we enjoyed beers on tap from our table.

The view from our outdoor table was pretty special and allowed us to catch a stunning colourful sunset.

The food at the Indian was great with the plates wiped clean by the end. A fitting way to finish the tour and great to spend it with our new good friends.

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When we got back to the hotel there was a Chinese all female company outing enjoying themselves at the bar. Before we knew it the music was playing and we were all up dancing and having a fun time. A great way to finish and made it a night to remember!

Today was all about messing about in the sea and enjoying some great snorkelling.

We headed out straight after breakfast and met up with Alex a local Malay, with a British dad, who acted as our guide across the various island reefs.

Our first snorkelling point was off Sulug Island, just a short distance from where we were staying.

We had three fun packed snorkelling sessions totalling almost 2.5hrs and we are pleased to report that Michelle is now a convert to both swimming and snorkelling. This is the longest time she has ever spent in water!

We returned to the island resort mid afternoon and decided to make the most of the sunshine and headed back to the beach.

There was a Insta swing that sat on the main beach and made for a great photo as you looked out over the sea and the other nearby islands.

We then had a wander along the short beach and took in the views – it’s stunning and it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

At 5.30pm we planned to have sunset drinks on the jetty, however a brief rain cloud had other ideas, creating a perfect rainbow and meaning we had to take shelter inside, in one of the reception rooms. It wasn’t all bad as we were treated to pre-dinner wine & beer, plus a few we smuggled in ourselves along with some nibbles.

Again we were treated to the 3 piece guitar group who were back to play some more cover songs. Our favourite was the wannabe Elvis impersonator who came alive when it was his turn to sing!!

Tonight marks the end of our stay on this beautiful island, as we head back to the mainland tomorrow lunchtime.

The end of our tour is getting close and we have so loved meeting our fellow Classic Borneo tour companions. We now consider them friends and hope to see them again, be that in Canada, New Zealand, Australia or back in the UK.

Thanks to them and also Ben our guide for making the last 8-9 days so memorable and great fun.

A morning of travel.

We left our hotel in Sandakan by coach and headed to the airport for a short 30min flight back to Kota Kinabalu. Once we arrived in the capital, we hopped on a local ferry boat for a 15min ride to the idyllic island of Manukan Island, our home for the next 2 days.

The island beautiful and is surrounded by clear blue shallow warm waters.

Having gone for a dip we discovered its v salty making you feel buoyant as you loll in the sea.

The views from the resort pier are stunning, like an island paradise with a white sandy beach surrounding.

After relaxing on the beach, we changed into walking gear and joined the sunset tour for a 1 mile jaunt to the far west part of the island.

The route took us along the edge of the jungle with a path that meandered up and down, and due to a landslide disappeared at one point meaning we were climbing along the rocks, so by the time we arrived at the sunset viewing point we were all soaked in sweat.

It was well worth it though, as we came across one of the rarest trees in Malaysia, of which there are only 200 left in the whole world.

We waited for 30mins to watch the red sun slowly set on the horizon and thanked our lucky stars for being able to see such a wonderful sight. It makes you good to be alive seeing nature in its truest form.

Once the sun set it was then a dash back as darkness descended.

With the heat it was a case of a few quick dry off, a change of shirt and then off for dinner at 7pm.

The evening meal with the rest of the group was good fun and we had the added benefit of being serenaded by a guitar playing three piece. The 3 guys were great and took requests and sang renditions of old Elvis and Beatles numbers, along with some more recent Ed Sheeran and George Michael. So entertaining and funny!

Tomorrow we head off snorkelling with a local guide and hope to see some turtles & reef sharks, as well as lots of local shoals of fish.

A full day in store seeing more of the amazing Borneo wildlife.

We started with a visit to the Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary where the monkeys have access to regular feeding, and where the young are looked after in protected environments with the older animals living in the jungle and using the sanctuary as a safe haven for feeding and socialising.

Whilst the food was meant for the orangutans, most was taken and eaten by the long-tailed macques.

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The young orangutan due to its lack of confidence just hung and watched as the food was slowly eaten by the smaller monkeys. That was until one of the older male orangutans appeared and he stamped his authority.

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After a very enjoyable time with the orangutans, we moved on to the nearby Sun Bear Conservation Centre set up by a Japanese wildlife enthusiast, called Wong who we met on site and spoke briefly to. It’s his money and time that has helped to establish the centre back in 2008.

Below are a few of the bears that have entered the centre since 2010. All have different colouring and markings on their chests which sets them apart and acts as their fingerprints for identification.

They are beautiful bears and spend a lot of their time in the tree tops hoovering up food, be that fruit, leaves or meat.

We did also pop in to see one of the orangutans who was happy to let us see him up close whilst he ate. Such an amazing experience.

Watching the Sun Bears was a real treat, particularly when they sat up and stood on their hind legs and you could see their markings on their chests.

After a spot of lunch at the Rainforest Discovery Centre cafe, we went for a wander along the treetop walkways learning more about the fauna, birdlife and reptiles of the Borneo jungle.

We eventually arrived at the centre of the discovery centre and climbed the highest of the three towers to gaze over the magnificent tall trees and jungle greenery.

Before we left, we had our photo taken with the various bears from around the world. Each of us from the tour group took on a role of one of the famous bears….

Tonight we headed out to the waterfront again and returned to last night’s restaurant next to the bay. Unfortunately Michelle had been feeling unwell on and off for most of the day, so decided to stay in the hotel and recuperate in readiness for our domestic flight tomorrow back to KK.

Once we return to the city, we then get a ferry on to the island of Manukan, where snorkelling and beach walks await.

Andy managed to squeeze in his customary early morning run, before we said goodbye to the jungle and started our journey east to the city of Sandakan.

After a couple of hours drive we arrived at Labuk Bay, and the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.

The sanctuary is blessed with birds and monkeys from Borneo’s wildlife, notably the rhinoceros hornbill, long tailed macque and orangutans.

After sitting out in the heat watching the birds come down for their banana feeding, we waited for the midday lunch to be laid out for the orangutans and macque.

The monkeys are used to the watching visitors and joined us in the shade. Up close they are the most beautiful and intriguing creatures.

The offspring of these macque are ginger haired at birth and slowly change colour over time.

The sanctuary is well established and has help and funding from car manufacturer Proton.

The proboscis monkeys are so unique looking, with the males having different colourings about their body giving the appearance that they are wearing jackets. Their noses are what really makes them stand out and unusual in appearance.

It was amazing to be up so close to these incredible monkeys as they feasted in their family group.

Being such a hot day, the monkeys were keen to keep cool and dip in the water bowl near where they were fed. Some even jumped in, much to the amusement of the watching tourists.

After the monkey sanctuary visit we stopped at a local market for lunch on our way to Sandakan. Andy went for a savoury black bean pastry.

The Chinese market was busy with locals and the food was incredibly tasty and cheap, costing just £1.50 for banana fritters, pastry and a drink.

Once we arrived Sandakan, we visited the memorial park honouring Australian and some British POW soldiers during WWII, when the Japanese imposed death marches across the country. Of the 2,500 prisoners, only 6 survived the marches, all from Australia after they escaped.

Ben our tour leader showed us round the park and explained that as the Japanese departed they burned all that was left in the camp, as a result there was little evidence of its existence, save for a couple of old machines that sit in honour of those who died at the camp and on the marches.

Mid-afternoon we arrived at our hotel for a 2 night stay and were pleased to be greeted by a pool and sunshine.

In the evening we headed into the waterfront for dinner with the rest of the tour group for some chicken curry and Tiger beers. A nice treat to finish another enjoyable day of this magical tour of Borneo.

Looking forward to tomorrow when we will be visiting Sun-bear and orang-utan sanctuaries to see both in their natural habitats.

A very early start this morning, with the alarm going off at 5.30am, in readiness for our sunrise river cruise. The hope is we catch the local wildlife as they start their day.

After a couple of hours of exploring the river banks we had spotted several local birds, two or three species of monkeys as well as crocs & lizards and it was only 8am.

After brekkie, Andy went for a morning run and then met the group for a walk around the local village. The fauna close to the river was impressive with banana and pineapple trees sitting alongside palm trees and native plants.

We also spotted more wildlife including water monitor lizards, small clawed otters, storm storks, purple heron, blue eared kingfishers, little egrets, white breasted heron to name but a few.

David Attenborough would have been proud of our viewing hoard!

After a relaxing lunch, we headed out again for another river cruise, this time with the intention of going further up river to one of the tributaries to see more of the monkey communities.

We headed off on a tributary and came across a large group of silver leaf Langgur monkeys. A pair were perched on a branch with one helping to de-lice the other, which made for an interesting experience as an observer!

We also spotted a group of long tailed macaques who were in a harem. This is where a single dominant male leads a large number of females and their offspring. There was quite a lot of commotion as the male dictated to the others and then took himself off to eat in isolation.

After another enjoyable couple of hours we made our way back to the lodge, but not before we experienced a wonderful sunset and a deep red & yellow sky.

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The last monkey was one we spotted the night before, which had proved a great find as it’s one of the first time a Western Tarsier has been spotted with a young offspring.

We’ve had a fab couple of days at the river, and tomorrow we head off to Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary to see the big nosed primates before visiting Sandakan War Memorial and the former Japanese prisoner of war camp.

An early morning start, with brekkie at 7am and a departure from Kundasang and the tea plantation at 8am.

Our prior nights stay had been at the Alfred Dent cottage, one of the early British colonial settlers who helped to establish North Borneo as an economic base.

The views from our garden room were pretty special and Andy/Maradona took no time to get out and look around.

The tea plantation is surrounded by the rainforest, which has helped to deter unwanted insects and animals who prefer to stay in this area. As a result the tea plants have thrived and no chemical treatments have been required.

Like any ‘attraction’ for tourists, there were a few oversized tea references which caught our eye and made for interesting photos!

We then headed east across the island on a 5hr bus trip, with a couple of toilet stops on our way to Kinabatangan River which sits close to Celebes Sea coastline. It’s fair to say the road was a work in progress, with large sections under reconstruction, as part of the government’s plans to build a new superhighway across the state of Sabah. From what we saw completion is a good few years off!

Eventually around 1.30pm we arrived at the river and the Borneo Natural Sakua Bilit resort. We were pleasantly surprised by the accommodation which comprise large wood lodge on stilts nestled on the fridge of the jungle.

The lodge comes with its own veranda looking out over a small pond and fountain.

The Kinabatangan River is a protected forest serve with some of the highest concentrations of wildlife in the whole of Borneo. We were quickly introduced to proboscis monkeys which sat in abundance outside of our lodges. We were warned not to leave our doors unlocked or anything outside, as the monkeys will see this as an opportunity to get inside and help themselves to bags etc.

In the afternoon we headed off on a river cruise to try and spot some of the elusive local animals.

Once we set off, our guide Ben and the boat driver were quickly pointing out animals on the banks of the river. Within the first 30mins we had seen macaques (monkeys) by the dozen, a couple of baby crocodiles, hornbills and kingfisher birds, with their colourful beaks and not to be forgotten a wild orang-utan up in the tops of the tree foliage.

We managed to take a few photos of the rest of the group whilst on the boat, below from the back is Ben our tour guide, doing a heart shape, Jill and Pete in front, our Aussie/Uk couple and ourselves all sporting our camouflage lifejackets.

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After an enjoyable boat cruise, we had some downtime and enjoyed dinner in the main lodge hall, which comprised a buffet of rice, curried chicken, pumpkin and fish, with some pineapple and a mango jelly for dessert.

As darkness fell, we departed on a night walk around the jungle which was a real treat and an awesome experience.

Within the first 15mins we spotted one of the smallest and most unusual looking monkeys in Borneo the Tarsier. They aren’t the prettiest, but you don’t forgetting seeing one. Tonight we managed to catch sight of mother and baby.

As we walked we came across elephant footprints and dung, however it turned out they were from some 6 weeks ago when they experienced heavy rains.

As we returned to the lodges we came across a sleeping bird. It turns out there are hundreds of varieties on the island, although this one had a distinctive colouring, with a white head and dark black feathers on its upper torso and vivid yellow to its lower breast. After shining a torch for a little too long it woke but happily sat there on the branch waiting for us to move on.

After a fun packed day and in the knowledge of a 5.30am start the next day to catch the birds and monkeys as they wake, we headed off to bed around 9.30pm.