Hotel Holiday Kota Kinabalu

... because they couldn't find any. Four Japanese tourists asked us where some good trails were as well and they were worried because they paid $100 each and weren't getting their money's worth. On the way out we ran into an elderly Malaysian couple who decided to take the minibus up to the park but thought it was a complete waste of time, too. I am so glad that it wasn't just me...I was worried I hadn't given the place a full chance. I am 100% sure that climbing to the summit is worth ...

... around the base of the mountain for a day. The Spaniard and I tossed around the idea of climbing the mountain in one day, but the park wouldn’t even let us.


Rumble in the Jungle
Moving on, I hitched a ride to Sandakan and met up with my first Couchsurfer in Malaysia. I could tell my host was excited to meet me because he took a 2 hour lunch break to feed me and get me settled in his house. We had been emailing since I was in China and almost ...

... We seek out some food that has some low spice options as this seems to aggravate whatever is going on for Erin. On the waterfront this is Northern Indian (we could have had Aussie BBQ but somehow it doesn't seem too popular). We are concerned that the spiciness of the food is causing Erin to get instant relux (a la my sister Elizabeth in her baby days) but even the really none spicy butter chicken is a trial. I'm starting to get really concerned but having ...

... on ce rendait la pour voir la brasserie qui fabirque le vin de ris typique a la region de tambunan. Ca semble tellement abandonner que les gens a l'acceuil ne savais meme pas si c'etait ouvert!

Depuis notre arriver a tambunan, on est devenu l'attaraction du village, probablement les 2 seuls touristes a etre passer dans le village depuis des lunes. Les gens sont tres gentils, il nous questionnes beaucoup et on a meme ete pris en photo!

... learned to swim a year ago. The second island called Manukan was also great, but we were a bit islanded out by that point. Besides, the water made me itchy for some reason and it started raining. On the boat ride home we were treated to a cool thunderstorm. It continued to pour on land. Almost every day in Borneo beautiful sunny days are interrupted by an hour or two of rain. It's quite nice really. The taxi ride home in the rain was quite informational. The ...

... complicated set up which is Borneo. Maybe a Google map in front of you would help to give you a picture...

Borneo is an Island and is Half Malaysian, named 'Malaysian Borneo'. The other half (actually more than half. More like 2 thirds), is named Kalimantan and is Indonesian. Within the Malaysian section of Borneo there are two states, named Sabah and Sarawak and in some degrees are treated like different countries, but still form ...

... that the thing had just been trying to suck the life out of me! Anyways, after that traumatic event it was time for bed for me as the morning would bring an early 6am start for our 'river cruise'! Starting this early in the morning was very beautiful with mist rising up over the rainforest and the early morning chatter of birds, although we didn't see much wildlife on this occasion, and to add to the rainforest experience the lovely monsoon showers started after ...

... served up which isn't too good. Just next door to KK is a pristine sea scattered with beautiful Islands. The best bit I didn't even realise this when we arrived and it was one of the best bits. We visited Mukitan Island and spent far too long in the sea snorkelling that we got sunburned on our back. Ok I don't know much about fish but we saw all ...

... the delicious looking night food stalls packed with lobster and calamari (though not sampling it as we had had a late lunch of pizza and were at an inelegant sufficiency). By our second night our plan was mostly developed, with our first stop - the highest peak in SE Asia - Mount Kinabalu two days away, we decided to make our getaway from the city (one of the main aims of Malaysia) the next day.