Singapore and Borneo

Hello all! After saying that I wouldn't do a blog, I've realised that actually it will be quite a lot of effort to write to you all individually, so here it is!

I began my trip in Singapore last Wednesday, I didn't arrive at the hostel until late, so pretty much went straight to bed. The hostel was actually pretty nice compared to what I was expecting, and it had air con which was a big plus as it was so so hot there! So the next morning I got up and went out to look around the city, I did a river tour which was alright, nothing spectacular. I noticed the very strict rules in the city - I got told off for eating a McFlurry at an MRT station, which I thought was strange. Later I saw a sign which said the fine for eating on the MRT is $500 - 250 pounds! Lucky escape for me!

That evening I went to the night safari which was pretty cool. They put on a couple of shows which were entertaining, one involving the animals and one fire show. On the bus on the way back I met a girl from Oxford, Kate, and we went for a drink when we got back in the city. Drinking in Singapore is really expensive, I got half a pint for 4 pounds! Anyway we chatted for a while and then went back to our hostels.

The next day I flew to Kota Kinabalu (KK) in Borneo. Again I arrived fairly late at the hostel - not as nice as the first one, I think my expectations had been set too high! However it was a lot more sociable and I met a few people that evening and we had a drink at the hostel. The next day I spent trying to figure out plans for my time in Borneo, a lot of things it seemed you had to book in advance and were pretty expensive. That night I had dinner at the night market with a couple of people from the hostel, and then back to the hostel for a couple of drinks, where we were joined by a few others, and ended up staying up until about 5am.

We had to get up reasonably early the next day as we'd planned to go over to the islands close by KK. We also had a quick look round the Sunday market before we left. Spent the day relaxing and the islands and snorkeling. There were a lot of fish around so that was cool, and I got to test out my waterproof camera case, the pictures underwater didn't come out great, but I wasn't expecting much, at least the camera remained dry! I got bitten by a fish, or not bitten as they don't have teeth, but I felt a sharp pinch which really made me jump and made me scared to keep snorkeling! And it left a little red mark on my leg! Damn fish! Diving later on could be interesting....

I left KK the next morning and got the bus to Kinabalu National Park, where I intended to climb Mt Kilabalu. However, when I arrived there, having not booked it in KK, it was fully booked for the following day. So I had a bit of a walk around the park anyway, they had a lot of walking trails around the mountain, and would maybe do it the day after. That evening I went for dinner with the girl staying in my dorm, Emma. Whilst eating we were invited to join a big group of locals that were staying in our hostel, who were having drinks and a barbeque. We went over after we'd eaten and it turned out to be quite a laugh, they were all playing ukeleles (those mini guitars) and after a few drinks everyone was singing along. I went to bed and left Emma with one of the guys who she ended up kissing! 

So the next morning I woke up (really cold - it was a lot cooler up by the mountains) and decided that I might be a bit hungover to climb the mountain anyway, and I didn't really want to hang around another day to wait to do it as there was nothing else to do there. Emma was getting the bus to Sandakan to see the orangutans, so I decided to go with her. The 6 hour bus journey was not ideal, as soon as I sat down - at the back of the bus as it was the only space, I felt ill. The roads were pretty bumpy and windy, and drinking cheap wine the night before probably didn't help. When we got on there was a man throwing up in the toilet, making the bus smell lovely. I was trying desperately to not be sick, mainly as I didn't want to have to go into the disgusting toilet, but I failed. Emma was also sitting next to a little boy who was being sick, and the mum was hanging up bag of sick on the seat in front of her - lovely! So all in all not a pleasant trip! When we arrived we shared a taxi with a german couple to Sepilok where the orangutan rehabilitation centre is. The accomodation we stayed in was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest. All the buildings were wooden huts - we stayed in a dorm room. Again though there was not a lot to do around here! So we had dinner there and went to bed quite early.

The next morning we got a minibus to the orangutan place, as soon as we stepped onto the boardwalk which went around the park, we saw an orangutan, it came up really close to us and I got some good pictures - see below. At one point it came on to the boardwalk - separating the group in two, Emma was in front and I was behind - we watch as they nervously started walking faster and faster and eventually broker into a run as they were chased by the orangutan! This was hilarious to watch, but I think the other were pretty scared and shaken up! As even the tour guide looked worried and had told them to run! Somehow I think this would not be allowed in England! We went on to the feeding platform where someone brought out food and a few orangutans came around. There were also lots of little monkeys around - I think proboscis monkeys but not too sure. They were getting really close to people and seemed happy to have there photo taken.

Yesterday I arrived in Semporna where I am planning to do an open water diving course, starting tomorrow, for 3 days. Semporna isn't very nice as a place, and there not a lot going on, but hopefully the diving should be good! It's supposed to be an amazing place to dive - Sipadan, nearby, is rated as third best dive spot in the world, although you can't do the open water course there so I don't think I'll get to go unfortunately. The surrounding areas are supposedly still good though.

I've booked my flight to Bali on the 14th, won't have long there as I'm flying to Darwin on the 19th, but looking forward to relaxing on the beach and the nightlife!

Speak soon,

Julia xxx