Borneo - Sepilok and Kota Kinabalu

It's time for another map update. You can see the route we took from Guilin to Hong Kong, down to Northern Thailand before travelling further south to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and finally east to Borneo. Apparently we've travelled 21,692km so far!

Our four days in Sepilok were very relaxing. The bus from Semporna took about five hours. We stayed at the Forest Edge resort and had our own chalet. It was over our budget but definitely worth it. On Monday we visited the famous orangutan rehabilitation centre. They take care of orphaned, injured or displaced orangutans and rehabilitate them so they can return to the Kabili-Sepilok Forest. They’re wonderful animals and it was a privilege to see them so close in such a spacious environment.

A sun bear conservation centre has also just opened up next door. Unfortunately the sun bear is almost extinct in Borneo. Again the staff do great work rehabilitating and preparing them for life back in the wild.

The next day we took a day tour to Sakau. En route we visited the Goamantong Cave. It’s the largest cave in Sabah and home to thousands of bats. If you like cockroaches and bat poo you will definitely enjoy this attraction. You have been warned.

That afternoon we travelled on a small boat to the Kinbatangan River, home to the Proboscis Monkey.

We also saw dozens of regular monkeys climbing through trees and playing together as well as parents carrying newborns and grooming them. It was really cute.

On our final day we went to the Rainforest Discovery Centre and took one of the walking trails.

The bus to our next stop Kota Kinabalu was going to take eight hours. It was worth paying just a little bit more to fly it in forty five minutes. Thank you Air Asia for the cheap tickets. KK is Sabah’s capital, and it’s a built up town with plenty of shops, restaurants etc. although nothing as grand as Kuala Lumpur.

Many people visit to climb Mount Kinabalu a two day trip involving eight hours of uphill walking, a couple of hours sleep, followed by another four hours of uphill walking in time for sunrise. It’s not a cheap trip and a few people we’ve ran into didn’t have great visibility which kind of defeats the purpose. Another few were sent back down the mountain as it was deemed too dangerous. I'm afraid we weren't feeling adventurous enough but maybe another time! Instead we took a day trip to Kinabalu Park. You can see the mountain in the picture below.

Our time in Malaysia has now come to an end. Borneo has a lot to offer and I'm really glad we stuck this on the trip last minute. Suze if you're reading thank you for the advice! We are spending the next three weeks in Indonesia. We take a plane in a couple of hours south to Bali. One of my best friends is meeting us there and I can't wait to catch up.