A Journey to Well Known Places

After many months on the road we are starting to slip a little. The latest whirlwind attempt to enjoy one of Malaysia’s world heritage sights ended in a total bust. Partially (mostly) due to poor planning on our parts. We booked overpriced accommodation about 6 days in advance while we were still in Kota Kinabalu. We stayed the first night in a dorm room and the second night in a very nice private room. We had dorm spaces available to us close to the summit of the mountain for the third night. We got up on the morning of the third day and went to the park headquarters to store our bags. They wanted $3 a bag to store them over night. It was high, but we paid it. We then booked a place on the bus for the day after so we could hike down and go. As we were waiting for confirmation of our seats we decided to go ahead and pay for the park permit and the mandatory insurance. We found out we needed a guide to hike to the top and the guide was another $20. OK. Then found out the park fee was $30 a piece and another couple dollars for insurance on top of that. Oh, and we had to rent gloves at the top for $3 a piece because the last quarter mile is a steep climb with ropes and you need the gloves to hold on. Well, the cheap in us really came out. That was close to $100 for the privilege of hiking up a mountain. No way. We have mountains in America and we can hike them for free. So we decided to stay another night at the base camp and spend the day hiking to the midway point and back. After hours of waiting we transferred our already paid night from the mountain to the base camp. Then we headed off to the shuttle stop for a ride to the trail head. It was going to be $10 for a ride there and back after even though it was only 2 miles away. Mind you, we paid $3 for a shuttle from a neighboring town to the park that was 10 miles away. Again, no way. So we decided to walk it. Half way there the sky opens up and thick sheets of rain pour down. We got soaked. The temperature dropped to around 50 degrees in our damp nonheated dorm room and we spent the rest of the night shivering. What a bust. We are on the bus again back to Sandakan to search for my lost glasses and make plans to get our PADI open water diving certificates.

Have you ever found yourself thinking ‘you know, I would really like to spend a lot of money tromp through the mud with wild animals in the middle of a jungle’? I did. And it was really neat. Erica and I signed up for the 3 day 2 night package at Uncle Tan’s. If you happen to find yourself on the east side of Malaysian Borneo then I recommend you stop in for a visit. After an uneventful night in Sandakan, Erica and I woke up early and got a taxi to Uncle Tan’s HQ. We had a coffee and accepted their offer to transport us to neighboring Sipalok to see the feeding at the orangutan rehabilitation center. That was a treat. We saw about 6 orangutans swing in from the surrounding protected jungle for some banana treats. The program rescues orphaned and injured apes from all over eastern Borneo and raises them while slowly weaning them off of human help. While the orangutans were eating the macaque monkeys gathered to pick off the remains. They are very cheeky those macaques and it was fun to watch them squabble for the fruit and swing around on the trees. Then it was off to the jungle. We took a two hour van ride and an hour long boat ride to the camp area. We had our own bungalow right by the lake. The room had three piles of mattresses in various states of mildew and a mosquito net over each pile. It was nicer than the place in Phenom Phen with the rat, but not much. There was an elevated walk way connecting all the buildings of the camp, which is good since we arrived in the wet season and that adjective described everything around us for the duration of our stay. We tromped through the mud in the jungle in the morning, afternoon, and night with a guide pointing out the various wildlife around the camp. We waded thigh deep in snake and crocodile populated marsh area. We saw lots of interesting plants and animals; from a little bat sleeping in the curled new leaf of a jungle yam plant to river otters that somehow managed to continually evade the many crocodiles in the area. Bright plumed kingfishers and large horn billed birds flew all along the river. Five foot long monitor lizards strolled casually through the camp ground and a family of wild bearded pigs turns up daily to forage in the area. Then there was the troop of macaques that came by every afternoon. They make a habit of darting through the dining area and grabbing whatever they can. People have lost cell phones and cameras like that. When we were there they only got away with a can of condensed milk and a piece of French toast though. There was no running water although we got electricity from 6 to midnight. We emerged from the jungle after the experience in desperate need of showers and naps. Alas, it was not to be. Instead we boarded another bus and took a three hour ride to Mount Kinabalu national park.

Borneo. The name conjures images of jungles and monkeys and death marches through the jungle. It still is that, minus the death marches but with great beaches. It is as ‘out there’ as we have been so far. Right now ... [Continue reading this entry]

We returned to Kuala Lampur with shopping on the mind. We had been told that KL was the place to pick up cheap electornics, clothes, and souvenirs. There were some good bargains, but you really had to hunt for them. ... [Continue reading this entry]

After we left Singapore we discovered that there were many sights and attractions in that small country. Not that we really cared. No slight to Singapore intended, but really it was great to lay around in a real apartment during ... [Continue reading this entry]

We arrived in George town at night and walked around for what seemed like a long time before we finally settled on a guest house. It was an old Chinese wharehouse that had been converted to turn of the century ... [Continue reading this entry]

We did go to Ko Phi Phi after all and it was amazing. Just knock your socks off beautiful. It was expensive and VERY touristy. Every available inch of the low lands has been built upon, but if you look ... [Continue reading this entry]