Sandakan - On the northern tip of Borneo

Wild telephone lines

Apartment blocks

No need for washing dryers here - always high 90s' and dry
Sandakan is a pretty little town right on the northern part of Borneo. Here you will find the famous sepilok orangutan rehabilitation center and other interesting nature discoveries. The town itself is still as it was in the 1950's except for the brand new high rising Sheraton Hotel which is a sort of island of western "civilization" here. As everywhere the Malay people are super friendly - but it seems that here they are even more friendlier. Eddie and I are greeted by virtually everybody - people in cars, on the street in restaurants - where do we come from? And wow: we are tall!
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A room with a view II

Sheraton in Sandakan - 23 floor
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A room with a view

Le Medridien in Kota Kinabalu
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The North Borneo Railway


The engine runs on wood


Everywhere children waving as the train passes villages

How do you like my new hat?
In the early 1900s' the britsh build a railway at this part of Borneo and nowadays on Saturday the steam locomotive is taking tourists from Kota Kinabalu to  Papar and return. It was an excellent quite colonial train voyage through the jungle and mangrove forests.
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An afternoon at pulau manukan


Not bad for $1.00
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The day I renamed Zomoto in something much better...


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No Durian!

The Durian is a Borneo fruit that smells like used gym socks - but taste like ripe Mango... Everywhere it is sold here - however seldom you can bring it inside a shop, restaurant or a bus.
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Niah National Park

Crossing the croc invested river

millipede

Boardwalk in the cave
Sun Cave

We did a daytrip from Miri to the Niah Caves. Here you will find thousands of Swifts nesting on the ceiling (a pity that there nests are being "harvested" for bird nest soup - not sure whether I enjoy that by the way) and bats flying around while producing sonar sounds. In the caves it is pitch dark so you need a torch light to get along. In the light you can see trizillions of bugs flying around you - so better not watch to closely and be happy for your ample usage of DEET (50%).
Because we were the only visitors it was also quite silent (except for the birds and bats that is) The humidity was even higher then in Bako Park so we were soaked when leaving the cave.
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Borneo butterflies


Borneo must be butterfly paradise - I never saw so many varieties of Butterflies as here in the jungle while walking around. All colors, sizes and patterns. I guess if I wasn't dripping of DEET they would sit on my shoulders while I am admiring them...
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A day in Bako National Park

Nice boat ride on the South Chinese Ocean

Safety First!

proboscis monkey

an other proboscis monkey

Humidity 1000%

Jungle Trail

Huge trees and Ferns

On the beach

Nice rocks

Baby boar

Mangroves (Bako in Malay)

Colorful rocks
The proboscis monkey or Orang Blanda (Dutch Ape) in Malay is named for his big nose and belly - so Eddie blended in very easily today :-). he only lives in Borneo and here in Bako Park you can find him if you are lucky - and lucky we were :-)
Bako means Mangrove and it is full with wild life and a super real jungle with simmering temperatures, huge ferns, lots of termites and streams and the occasional Salt water Croc. We spend a full day here and with all the jungle sounds and bright colors it was like we were walking in a David Attenborough nature episode. Which was actually true. Eddie tried the nibble fish whom eat dead skin cells are a common in sallow pools here and luckily all his fingers are still accounted for...
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At the Kuching Orchid Garden







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A day in Cat city





Durian Fruit



Kuching (Cat city) is a big city in the southern part of Borneo. It is the middle of the Jungle - but buzzling - almost 600.000 people live here. The river divides the city in two - so sometimes you need to ferry to go to the other side. Every weekend farmers come to the market to bring their produce and you can find many exotic fruits (Durian!), fish and veggies. We start our Borneo adventure here and the weather is always the same (high 90's) - the nice thing of visiting Kuching in December is that it is low tourist season and things are very quiet :-)
People are very friendly here and because English is a official language communicating is very easy indeed. The biggest ethnic group are Iban, next Chinese, Malay and many others. So it is a peacefull mix of all kinds of religions, customs and cuisines...
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The day I got an ear toilet - really!

Dr. Wong Clinic on the down left corner.

Ear Toilet?

First satay...
So we managed to arrive in Kuching, Malayisa after a long flight to Kuala Lumpur and a connection flight to Kuching. Unfortunately, my ears couldn't cope with all the pressure differences and my right ear just clogged up with ear wax... Luckily there was dr Wong and he used a sort of water vacuum cleaner to remove the wax and everything was fine again.The fee? only €25 :-)
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Gary Chaw

Maybe nice to meet him while we are in KL?...
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Malaysia weather forecast: high 90s' - meanwhile in Finland...

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Ready for vacation - Malaysia here we come :-)

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The day I was wearing Marijns' sun glasses

Hmmm... I am not sure if they are right for me - Jeroen did seem to like them though...
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My desert island discs

While I was in London the day before yesterday I bought a nice book about the Desert Island BBC Radio series (since 1942). The idea is simple - people are asked which (8) discs/tracks they would like to take with them if they would be castaway on a desert island. In the late 1950s' people also could choose a book (next to the bible/Koran or what have you and the complete works of Shakespeare) and a luxury item.
While I am reading the choices of famous people througout the ages, I naturally was wonderering: Which discs would I choice? Now because I am quiet a "Spotiphile" - I am thinking in Spotify tracks and not in ancient discs...
Here is my list (and here you can listen to the tracks on Spotify):
(best music track EVER)
(because I will...)
(when I feel gloomy)
(the grass is greener on the other side...)

)
(to feel the plants around me)
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Hmmm...

Look what I found on my bed this morning!
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