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Brunei - 12/13 January (Sunday/Monday)
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Brunei International Airport is getting a major renovation requiring considerable effort in just getting out of it. We followed our noses only to end up in the transit lounge, with stairs down (only to restrooms & prayer rooms), up (only to a cafe), and the path back (to the airplane). There were no signs to the exit or anyone to ask. Finally I took the plunge and went through a door saying 'Zone B and C pass holders only' - which was indeed the correct door to take. Then, there were three queues - Brunei passports, ASEAN passports, and other. After 30 minutes in the 'other' queue, I got to the officer who informed me that I needed to purchase a visa on arrival and I needed to queue up across the other side of the hall for that. Once I got to the front of that queue (shorter, but behind a tour group), the officer told me that I needed $B5 for a transit visa and wouldn't accept my Malaysian or AUD or credit card (which I had thought that they were going to) so I had to duck over to a currency converter booth; luckily I didn't have to queue up yet again. All up it was a very frustrating first impression but I was delighted that the hotel driver, Mohammed, had waited for me; he gave me a quick city tour of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, or 'BSB', on the way to the hotel. The sky was a heavy grey and the gardens very lush.
After checking that the WiFi was under control, I went out for a very cheap dinner at a sparsely populated night market and ended up chatting to a French contractor, Laurent, and finding out his impressions of Brunei. Then a quick look around town; I struck up a conversation with a Angela, an English woman who was out doing the same. There were some very grand buildings - mosques, monuments, hotels; but also some grand vacant lots or derelict signs of construction. There were hardly any people around but regular booming chanting of prayers from the mosques' impressively powerful PA systems. We walked around the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, then around to the river - including walking out a boardwalk and past some of the buildings of the water village - here, houses, schools, and whole communities are constructed on piers over the river - it reminded me a bit of the lake village in the second Hobbit movie (which it predates by more than a millenium). The river was buzzing with a whole lot of long, narrow speedboats, some of which swarmed up to offer us a lift, as well as a few small ships. It was quite a struggle to orient myself & work out which way was downstream. We finished with a coffee at the main wharf where I nearly left behind my Wadaiko Rindo jacket.
The next morning I checked out the Kianggeh Market, which was a bit scruffy (like most of the scrawny cats there) but pretty interesting to walk around. I took a free city tour provided by the hotel - only 45 minutes (including a petrol stop - I think it was about 30c/litre) and no stops, or commentary, either for me or the 10 or so Chinese businessmen on board; but it was a good look-around, particularly of Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque. Back at the hotel I struck up a conversation with a sleepy Chinese girl and we had a coffee, but she seemed a little bit overly - interested, I guess, and with suspicion I made a quick exit for some quick sightseeing at the Royal Regalia building - which had some pretty interesting history of Brunei, some fantastic artworks - and it was out of the rain.
With the weather clearing I decided to try to walk to the mosque that we saw on the bus tour, using a tourist map as a guide - unfortunately it was a bit out-of-proportion and it was tricky to judge the distances, landmarks and directions, and nearing the hospital I reckoned that time was starting to run a little low... and the rain was starting. A local gave me directions in halting English which I dutifully followed despite being pretty sure he was wrong (though checking Google Maps now, looks like he was spot-on, but if I had have followed my nose I still would have been OK - it would've been a bit longer but I would've found the mosque).
I grabbed a quick lunch on the way back, at the market food court, in between downpours, but had to leave half of it because they'd taken a while to cook it and I had a plane to catch. I grabbed my bags at the hotel and availed myself of the courtesy minibus back to the airport. There were a couple of traffic jams and I thought the driver was cheering us up with a jaunty whistle - it turned out to be his mobile notifications; this little tune was everywhere during my next couple of weeks.
And then- another test of patience. I put my suitcase through the screening machine, only to find that the Royal Brunei check in desks, labelled 'Web check-in' and 'Business', neither of which applied to me, nor had any staff. I could see another Royal Brunei desk across in another section of counters so I walked out of my section, but that was for first class(?) so I went back and scanned my luggage a second time, taking the security guards' suggestion to wait a few minutes. Then the check-in staff arrived, and with a wave to the security guards I headed back to the dreaded departure lounge. The coffee lounge (WiFi broken) were charging 50c more for a coffee than what I had in $B but they let me make up the difference with an Australian 50c coin. And then - I was off on my 20-minute hop (cruising altitude only 4000m) to Kota Kinabalu.
So, Brunei certainly kept me entertained for the best part of a day but it wasn't overly exhilarating and perhaps it'd be a good idea to visit it after the airport is back up and running.
Kota Kinabalu, pre-tour, 13/14 January
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| From Borneo 2014 |
After dinner at a local cafe/restaurant (with one of my future tour-mates, Jane, sitting across at the next table, though we didn't actually meet until the following night), I headed downtown, and wound up in an amazing network of night markets, with crowds of people enjoying dinner as well as buying produce (just mind your head amongst the overhanding power cords!); it was very fresh & vibrant. I also cut through a large shopping mall which was very busy, for around 9pm on a Monday night. Half of one floor appeared to consist solely of smartphone retailers which was slightly bizarre, as they all basically had the same handful of products, and they all seemed to be doing good business. Incidentally, my back-of-the-envelope calculations showed that prices for gadgets were around the same as what I pay at home; I understand that average wages are a lot lower in Sabah so consumers are paying a higher proportion of their income for technology.
The next morning I walked around town some more, to the Tourism office, then up to the Signal Hill lookout. It was warm & a little humid so the climb was a nice little workout. A bunch of tourist brochures had recommended the Monsopiad Cultural Village, supposedly a short taxi ride away - turned out to be a bit more of a hike and I was disappointed to see that I was the day's first visitor. Nevertheless, the staff/cast jumped into action and performed their traditional music & dances for me, and when it came to the audience participation bits, there wasn't anywhere to hide...! We also had a torrential downpour to contend with. The guys there did a great job but altogether, as an attraction, it didn't quite do it for me, especially as it required a dedicated taxi driver for the morning (which worked out to be around $60 - it was apparently a Muslim holiday that day, not sure if this affected the price), though there appear to be tour or bus options as well, and it was good to see a bit more of KK and chat to Mohammed (a different one), the driver.
Mohammed dropped me back at the Sabah Museum, which was fairly grand, and another good opportunity to learn a lot more about Borneo, Malaysia and Sabah; Emma from the tour, who I was also yet to meet, was there too. The Science wing was closed (not that there were any signs, just an assistant saying 'blackout, blackout!') and there were also gardens with signs up saying 'closed', but only once you'd walked some distance to them. So, with some frustrations, the museum was still worth visiting. WiFi makes up for a few other deficiencies. I used the map to determine that there was a footpath straight back down to the main road, rather than having to backtrack a fair way to use the main entrance/exit... but when I followed the path it lead to a canal, with a bridge that was heavily barred. And spiked. And another downpour hit. I backtracked a little and found a road that was roughly parallel, but it lead to a fortress-like gate. Both of these exits seemed to have previously been in use as they had derelict ticket offices(?) adjacent. The roadway's gate invited some creative approaches but in the end I decided that attempts to scale it would be fraught, so I skirted further around the museum - where a huge downpour had me marooned under the eaves for nearly an hour. Finally, and still determined to find a better exit, I headed up past the Islamic Museum and was delighted to find the way out. Time to head back & clean up to meet my tourmates!
Intrepid Tour "Sabah Adventure", 14-25 January
Night 1, Day 2, Night 2
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Next morning we met Jacobien & Mauritz from the Netherlands, and Sara and Dean from the UK and jumped into our 2 minibuses (quite comfy, we probably would've fit in one but it would've been a minor squeeze for the journey ahead). We stopped at the Signal Hill lookout again, then stopped for some durian, and encountered some significant flooding which choked up the traffic a little bit, but we were able to get through. I expect that the locals are somewhat used to regular floods and were prepared to a degree, but it's still quite a hassle when water starts flowing through the house.
Our first destination was a 'homestay', quite a common sight in Sabah - it's sort of a small scale B&B where you can participate in the local domestic activities. The rooms were a little spartan but the accommodation was in the process of being extended - so lots of bare wires everywhere and the newly laid kitchen floor was treacherously slippery. We were invited to help prepare our lunch which was apparently a traditional chicken curry; we also prepared rice from the seeds. George nearly lost one of his shoes courtesy of a household dog but it was eventually retrieved. Those of us that had been in Sabah for a short while had plenty of energy and were keen to go out exploring, while those that had arrived overnight... not so much. In the end a few of us walked the few hundred metres to look at the river - it looked like there was a derelict picnic area. Also there were a few of the farm cats and dogs that had been caged up and didn't seem at all happy about it.
In the evening we had a performance from the traditional dancers & musicians - teenage relatives of Mr Robert, the proprietor, who did a great job. The main dancer also had a gorgeous singing voice and after the performance there was a 'meet & greet' where they got to practice their English with us and a few of them showed some proficiency with my uke.
Next morning Mr Robert's son Bob lead us up the hill to show us rubber being tapped. All up it was a pretty quiet but interesting enough start to the tour, and good to start to get to know some of the others in our group.
Day 3, Night 3
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Manuel suggested that we take a small detour to the Kundasang War Memorial and it was good to learn a little about the experiences of Australian and other solidiers who were Japanese Prisoners of War in World War 2. We then lunched at a nearby restaurant and Jane & I tried the green syrupy iced desserts - yum!
We proceeded into Kinabalu Park and unloaded into Grace Hostel; very comfy but spartan in a couple of respects - the hot water was intermittent and things were generally a little bit mouldy, a result of its location up in the misty atmosphere; anything left out would eventually become rather damp. Some of us went for a walk in the Botanical Garden which were well worth a look, before enjoying a buffet dinner and a fairly early night before the exertions of the coming couple of days.
Days 4 -5
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| From Borneo 2014 |
All the while of course, the porters were carrying all sorts of provisions past, including bags of fruit, sacks of rice, even gas cylinders, attached to a backpack with a forehead strap. It looked like they were working hard but were still amazingly light on their feet. Halfway up I picked up a piece of litter to find it was a note reading "Marius G..." with a phone number and possibly the name of a town. Mysterious...
The last section was a struggle as everything just seemed difficult, I made it to a small lodge and felt very disappointed to realise that I needed to continue on further to the one we were staying at, even though it was probably only another 150m. With much relief I joined my tourmates (George & Dean were still climbing) on the balcony to enjoy the brilliant views but I could feel I was zonked, while the others were happily relaxing. I took my bag upstairs & felt I needed to sit still for a bit... then lie down... then throw up. My mind lost all alertness and when people spoke to me, I was aware of it, but could barely grunt in return. I tried a Panadol and threw it straight back up. All symptoms of altitude sickness - specifically, migraine & nausea; I think I overheated in the last section, and next time(?) I would monitor myself for this a lot better; also the snacks I'd taken were at the junk-food end of the spectrum and maybe I'd take more specific sports drinks etc.
In a way I was relieved that my knees, which I'd jarred a couple of months earlier and which still weren't quite as springy as I'd like, had made it through fine, and even with a very sore head I wasn't feeling dizzy or disoriented. I also had some terrific words of support from my tourmates and the guides.
After an hour or two I felt quite somewhat alert again but still very green and I couldn't face dinner. While trying to sleep I had had a massive cramp in both legs too, but I managed some good rest and joined the others for their 2am breakfast before they headed up to the summit for dawn. By this stage I was wondering whether I'd recovered enough to attempt the climb, but not having had any food was a big concern; I knew that I'd still need lots of energy which was impossible if I couldn't hold anything down, so I resigned myself to seeing the others off under a big full moon (ideal conditions for the 5 of them that were able to continue) and went back to bed.
I stirred just before dawn, and with thoughts of solidarity with the climbers, I got up to see how things looked from the balcony - it was an amazing & rather stunning sight to be so high above everything (except the moon and the summit) as the sun began to reach across the horizon. I rushed back upstairs to grab my shoes for a quick excursion outside (and to let Dean & George know that they really should peek through the curtains) and made it across the icy path to a lookout where the astonishing spectacle of the dawn made all the discomfort worthwhile.
I woke from another nap when the successful summiteers (amazing job, guys!) arrived back down for a second breakfast. Jane for one reported that the final climb had been "brutal" and that I'd made the right decision to give it a miss this time; it sounded like only about half of all those attempting the climb made it up but it was great to see that just about everyone that I had met the day before, had been successful. I tried a sip of tea but still couldn't keep it down, but I felt fine to walk down.
A few of us had hired walking sticks and these were very handy on the descent, just taking the edge off the constant impacts on the knees. About a third of the way down I threw up for the tenth (& final!) time; this seemed to make the guides a little concerned and one of them kept a close eye on me for the rest of the descent, although I progressively felt more comfortable.
At the buffet, the rest of the gang tucked into a late lunch - I managed some tea and a gulp of softdrink, and during the drive to our hostel the others reported that I was looking a lot better. That night, although I still didn't feel hungry, I tucked into a small plate of chips - my first food since lunch the day before.
En route to the Poring Hot Springs we passed through a police checkpoint, luckily we weren't heading the other way (as our drivers would shortly need to do) as the queue banked up for many kilometres in that direction. We had enough time for a quick dip in the hot baths - sort of like a spa but without bubbles, a strong sulphur smell to the water, and baths that could sort-of fit 3 people.
Day 6, Night 6
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Late in the day we met some Kiwis who had attempted to climb Mt Kinabalu but had had to turn back just above Laban Rata as the rain had set in making the path impassible.
After dinner, the proprietor, Sweetie, encouraged Manuel and myself into a bit of a jam session - I really should work up an international singalong repertoire - and shouted us some drinks while requesting a bunch of her favourite songs and telling us to support all her family's businesses (bottled water, coffee), as the others in the group drifted off.
Day 7, Night 7
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| From Borneo 2014 |
In the late afternoon the rain stopped for a while & we headed out for a river cruise - and spotted a small herd of Borneo Pygmy Elephants - very cool! The elephants seemed to enjoy the visit, almost posing for pictures. The rain returned shortly after and cut short our cruise. It was warm enough that getting a bit wet wasn't a problem so my flimsy poncho worked really well.
We went on a night walk and tried to spot some wildlife by torchlight but most creatures seemed to be sensibly taking refuge from the weather, the best we could manage was a civet.
Day 8, Night 8
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Next stop - the Gomantong Caves, from which swiftlet nests are harvested for birds nest soup - whoever came up with the marketing campaign must be commended as it sounds anything but appealing, plus the effort required to get the nests is considerable. The cave is sort of a big underground hall in a hill that pops up out of nowhere, full of weird bugs, bats and an acrid atmosphere - fascinating for the likes of any Attenboroughs out there but not really that pleasant to be inside for any length of time. It was also a first introduction to having to buy a 'camera ticket', not too expensive but a tad annoying.
Next up - a longish drive to Sandakan. We got there late afternoon as many of the tourism places were closing (I peeked inside the war museum but there were people playing table tennis inside) but I had a quick walk around town before a harbourside dinner with the group. Being back in a hotel was nice despite the slight smell of mould, and the keycards and internet both being a bit frustrating.
Day 9, Night 9
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| From Borneo 2014 |
The ride out to the turtle islands (specifically Selingaan Island) wasn't too bumpy but did result in a broken steering rod on the outboards (fixed with string) and with a lifebuoy nearly landing on Jacobien's head. It was fun to sing some Turtles songs (Happy Together & Elenore) in my head. It was a stereotypical tropical island with comfy accommodation, nice beaches for snorkelling (though the water was murky) and a small military base. The rain had eased to occasional drizzle & I circumnavigated the island in a leisurely half-an-hour or so, and found some treasure! Amongst the shells, gravel and driftwood on the beach, an old coin glinted at me, it was a little corroded but we eventually worked out it was a 1950 Malaya 20 cent piece. It was nice to chat with a few of the other tourists there and see some of the monitor lizards - a couple of metres long - sunbathing.
After dinner we watched a video and saw a small exhibition about the turtles, and then settled in with some parlour games to wait for a turtle to come ashore to lay her eggs. The turtles didn't make us wait for too long - there was a sighting a little after 10pm and we all rushed out to see her last few eggs drop; and then we crossed to the other beach to see some hatchlings madly dash towards the Sulu Sea.
Day 10, Night 10
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| From Borneo 2014 |
All of us took up the option to visit the newly opened Sun Bear Conservation Centre, which was great - the sun bears were a little bit shy but we could see them OK through a telescope; and the staff were terrific - very enthusiastic and engaging.
After lunch we caught the afternoon feeding back at the Orang Utan sanctuary, and this time a bunch of orang utans braved the rain and gave us a few good photo opportunities. Their agility over the ropes and through the trees made my wonky shoulders wince and their humanoid antics is just a little bit unnerving, I find! I did feel sorry for all the animals that aren't cute enough to get their own conservation centres...
The rain had eased and we walked the kilometre or so back to our nearby BnB which was very fresh and comfortable. It had already been a long day and perfect to settle in for some songwriting (being in such a tropical location, I was working out a bit of a Belafonte feel). A few of us joined Manuel on a short walk to the Rainforest Discovery Centre to try to see some gliding squirrels, just before dusk, and this was a fantastic experience - the misty atmosphere through the cool but steamy forest valley lead to some amazing Hollywood effects; it was very calm & peaceful even with some of the nocturnal creatures starting to stir. The RDC was a fantastic facility in that the walkways blended superbly into the forest; I felt very safe and comfortable but immersed into the jungle. We spotted a few gliding squirrels as it got dark.
Meantime a drama was developing - one of our group had misplaced their passport, so the logistics of how they could get back home (police reports, appointments with consulates, getting to embassies, changing flights, obtaining medicines that were about to run out) were being sketched out. This put a dampener on the whole group - we were all keen to help but not much could be done. On top of that it had been a very long day so it was a pretty quiet evening! Our group was generally quite early to bed anyway - I had sort of expected that a group like ours would tend to sit up late chatting (a month earlier I'd gone away with some friends, and I was the one that first disappear around midnight, the rest would chat through to dawn) but we had lots of good quality time during the day, and I had the company of some friendly bugs for my late evening cuppa and a bonus bit of songwriting.
Day 11, Night 11
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Our last activity for the tour was a stop at the Sandakan War Memorial Park which had a few mementos and a lot of information about the horrors of World War II. The park was on the site of a former POW camp, and the prisoners had been charged with building and maintaining a nearby airfield - which I can only assume is now Sandakan Airport - our next stop. We were taking the 30 minute flight (cruising at 7000m) back to KK to avoid a 7 hour bus ride, but with an early arrival for discounted check-in and all the normal fussing about after landing, it felt like it didn't make a huge difference but then again, we'd probably all had enough of busses. Sandakan airport was a fairly miserable place, long overdue for renovation; and when we landed we found that the old terminal of KK was a little rough and ready as well, unlike the glistening terminal from when I first arrived.
Our hotel was 20 minutes or so along the coast, with a slightly muddy beach (& quite a bit of rubbish at first, but this was cleaned up the next day). It was our last night together as a tour group and we had a terrific farewell dinner - and I was surprised to get a birthday cake (a couple of days early but much appreciated)! It'd been a great group; everyone had got into the spirit of things and it'd been terrific to have some fascinating conversations during the tour. Thanks everyone!
Day 12, post tour
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Sapi Island seems to be set up just for day trippers, and we only had time for a quick swim in the warm water before one of the guides found us on the beach to tell us our parasailing boat was ready. It was great fun, and quite relaxing - a very mild adrenaline rush perhaps. We transferred straight from the parasailing boat onto our transfer to the larger Manukan island, which has a small resort on it. Emma & I enjoyed swimming and a very elegant late lunch with delightful staff - if you want to enjoy a beach holiday in KK, this might be the place to head.
Back in town we had thought about walking back to find a bus to our hotel but it was too hot so a taxi was a better option. We arrived in time to watch the Australian Open Womens Final before enjoying dinner. It sounded like there was quite a party happening at the neighboring hotel but I think it didn't take too long to get to sleep.
Sunday 26 January
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| From Borneo 2014 |
It was great to get a few messages from home. Emma & I had thought about celebrating Australia Day - a bit of a challenge being a fair way out of town (Emma thought there was an Australian bar somewhere but no-one seemed to know about it). From our hotel I walked up to the local market and stores but couldn't find a bottle shop - still fun to explore the area by myself and chat with the locals. For the rest of the afternoon I settled in to watch the great final of the Australian Open tennis which was quite a nice way to celebrate Australia Day. It had been quite hot all day and when a strong breeze blew up later in the evening I found it quite relaxing to sit out on the beach & strum a few of my favourite Brass Traps songs - then the wind stopped fairly suddenly and for the first time on the trip I was discovered by the mozzies. Up until then, I had plenty of tourmates to act as decoys.
Monday - last day!
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| From Borneo 2014 |
As much as that should've been a warning, it looked like the scrub was thinning out so I continued up, past a big crater (I suspect from a large tree that had toppled) only to see that the summit was a large rock with quite sheer sides, certainly it was beyond my capacity to climb. It was adding to my complex of not quite making it to the top of things... on the way back I chatted to a part-year-resident who said that the island has spiritual significance for the locals; again I hope I didn't break any taboos!
After breakfast I borrowed one of the hotel's canoes for another short adventure and had a delightful morning circumnavigating the two closest islands, including the one I'd tried to climb. I went ashore at the other, smaller, island, and managed to climb it! OK, it was only about a quarter as high as the earlier one, but I'll claim it as a success. It was a lot of fun canoeing around for a couple of hours, even with a bit of wind and a few good waves that I could almost canoe-surf.
After lunch & farewelling Emma, it was off to the airport - it had been a great trip but I was ready for home. For once I think my bags were lighter on the return; I had gone with the theory of taking some items of my less pristine luggage so as items got waterlogged or mouldy I could just throw them out, and this worked really well. Terminal 1 was again a model of efficiency, Brunei airport was again a slight test of patience, but the pre-dawn flying back into Melbourne was absolutely stunning.
Wrap-up
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| From Borneo 2014 |
Ideas for next time (maybe I'll do the other Intrepid tour from Kuching?):
- Train ride
- Padas river rafting
- Climb Mt Kinabalu!
- Maybe visit Gaya Island
- See a Rafflesia
- Go to the Rainforest Music Festival - thanks Manuel for the tip
Terimah Kasih!
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