Tiara Labuan Hotel & Service Apartments

... laguuni. Toinen Brunein paakaupunkia hallitseva elementti ovat Brunein sulttaanin isokokoiset kuvat, joita on kaytannossa joka paikassa yhdessa Brunein lippujen kanssa. Ainakaan kaupungilla kavellessa ei jaa epaselvaksi kuka on kingi taalla. Huolimatta Brunein varallisuudesta, mitaan varsinaista okymeininkia kaupungilla ei huomaa. Autot ovat kohtullisen kokoisia ja lukuunottamatta muutamaa isohkoa toimisto/pankki/hallintorakennusta kaupunki ...

... hut not each mattress), crucially, however, there were also mosquito nets! The food that evening was amazing and after a really good intro into the history and geography of the area we set off in boats (with life jackets!) on a hunt for wildlife. That evening we spotted wild cats, an owl, a sleeping kingfisher and a baby crocodile! We were woken at 6am for the first trip of the following day, the river was magical as we puttered down it ...

We flew Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau and past over the top of Borneo. The Island was lush green and we flew over huge areas of jungle, massive palm plantations and tiny villages. We expected to be arriving in a primitive airport of a tiny backwater and so were in for a surprise. Both our guidebooks said that the airport was 3-5 km out of town. We arrived at a modern concrete airport about 20 km out of town and arranged for a taxi trip to Tawau. We were driven along a ...

Palau Sipadan and the Seaventures rig Well, Sipadan lived up to its reputation as a top 10 dive site and what an amazing few days. We were picked up from our digs at the Dragon Inn and taken to the harbour for our transfer. This tiny guy that can't have been older than 9 took my 24KG pack and carried it to the boat (photo on Flickr soon).. Just as we got settled for the 30 minute ride we were given disclaimers to sign... the reason for this would become obvious soon enough ...

... at all. And, it is funny to think that I had no intention of going to Malaysia at the beginning of my trip - I certainly didn't think I would be arriving there in October (I only went because the visa was free). And, I can't quite remember when I finally decided I would go to Borneo, but it wasn't too long before I actually ended up going. And, who knew I would be an advanced scuba diver by the end of it all? It's just funny how it all works out.

So yeah.. best diving eeeever! Soooo sooo good. I figured I was going to have a good dive, when, not having even descended into the water, I could see a turtle floating just under me in the water... and then a shark! That was pretty much a small glimpse of what was to come in the amaaazing dives I had today. First diving spot (all of these around Sipadan Island) was Barracuda Point. We went in and ...

Wir haben Amat im Auto richtung Tawau mitgenommen. Er wohnt mit der muslimischen Familie seiner Frau Lina in der Nähe. Auf dem Weg besuchten wir den eindrücklichen Madai Wasserfall. Er hat uns zum Essen bei sich in sein Haus eingeladen. Es war sehr spannend eine muslimische Familie kennen zu lernen. Sie waren absolut herzlich, es gab viel zu Essen (ähnlich wie in der Slowakei) und Philippe hat lange mit der Mama des Hauses ...

Wir sind wieder von Malua zurück. Mit einem Binokular ausgerüstet hat Philippe die an Wurzeln verwachsenen in Symbiose lebenden Pilze analysiert. Mein Part war jeweils 10 Mini-Wurzelspitzen-Proben mit Pinzetten in Ethanol zu befördern. Die DNA Analyse wird dann in Zürich durchgeführt. Immer mehr wird mir bewusst, dass die Zeit hier bald zu Ende geht. Es wird mir schwer fallen mich von all den wundersamen Tieren und Pflanzen, sowie den freundlichen Menschen zu trennen. Auf ...

Nur einige Bemerkungen zu den Fotos: Vergangene Woche kamen die Malua guys nach Danum Valley um Früchte verschiedener Bäume zu sammeln. Dafür schiessen sie mit einer Schleuder ein Gewicht verbunden mit einer Schnur über einen Ast. Mit Hilfe der Schnur werden so die Äste geschüttelt, damit der Baum die Früchte fallen lässt. Weiter Fotos sind von einem night walk und wieder weitere sind von der Wanderung zum Purut Wasserfall. Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass 12 km ...

... a beautiful owl. Our final destination was the island of Sipidan; time for some messing about in the water. Absolutely fantastic. More fish than you can shake a stick at, swimming over and around a huge reef. The was a big drop-off and down in the depths we saw reef sharks lurking. My fins were attacked by a fat ugly trigger fish (I think I got in it's way - shame no one tells you they can be quite ...