Borneo: from jungle adventure to dive safari and an unexpected return to a weird little country
The island of Borneo. Again it was a spontaneous decision to go here. Why? Well, I've been already on Borneo, better said the weird little country Brunei, where my study friend Timo lives, but I had missed two highlights: climbing mount Kinabalu and seeing Orangutans. Especially the latter was an interesting one. After I've seen gorillas and chimpanzees in Uganda, the orangutans are the only big apes that I hadn't seen so far.
After arriving in KK (Kota Kinabalu) I took an uber to my hostel and directly tried to book the mount Kinabalu climb. I had done some research online, but it was just crazy expensive. Around 400-500 euros for a two day trek. When I arrived I tried to find a cheaper alternative. Well, it wasn't easy. It became even a question if I get a last minutes spot at all! They kept on offering me to join the group on a waiting list, but I didn't like the idea of driving out to the park, all packed for the trip, and then hear a no. I finally got a spot for the next week for around 300 euros and booked it. Now I had 5 days spare, but it seemed like there is enough to do in and around KK. Especially as Timo had decided to come over the weekend. It is only a 20 minutes flight for him and a friend of his had a big party on Saturday.
In the hostel I met a lovely girl and we decided to go to the islands around KK together the next day. We chose two islands, Mamutik and Sapi. The first because it was meant to be the most quiet island and the second as you can see big monitor lizards there.
In the evening we went for drinks to the hostel next door and somehow became a big crowd, who wanted to go to dinner together. We went to the fish market, but as they didn't sell alcohol, the group decided to go to the supermarket first. Until this challenge was conquered it was already 9pm. As I was still discussing with the agency if I can go to the mountain the next day, I decided to go back to the hostel and have a snack around there. I had diner with some girls from the hostel and when I just wanted to go to bed the group came back from the fish market. As it was clear that I wouldn't go for the mountain the next day, I joined them for karaoke. It was a fun evening with nice people, singing and later dancing.
The next morning Hannah and me got up at 8 and went to the jetty for our island trip. When we arrived on Mamutik after a short boat ride, we were a bit shocked. We found it very tourist, with lunch tables and tour groups everywhere. The little strip of beach where you should swim and snorkel was completely crowded. So we decided to take a walk around the island to look for a nicer spot. It is a tiny island and it took us around 10 minutes to get around. On the way we couldn't find a really lonely beach, but luckily already the monitor lizards. They were just hanging out on the beach! After Hannah got chased by one, we went a bit away from them. The beach we stayed at was not really nice, but ast least not too many tourists. Unfortunately snorkelling was forbidden in this part, so we went back to the busy jetty and tried to get at least a bit away from the crowd. The snorkelling was not bad, but I went out of the water quiet quickly as there was something in the water that kept on stinging me lightly.
Then we took the boat to Sapi, with a very similar picture. We had some local food for lunch and then sat on the beach. First we didn't mind too much when it started to rain, but then it got quite heavy. When we went under the tents we met three people from last night's party again. Just when we wanted to join their card game we got picked up by our boat captain. Because of the rain, we had to go back earlier. We wouldn't have minded to stay longer, especially as we got completely soaked on the boat.
The evening we wanted to go for dinner with the group again, which turned out to be difficult again (cheap, no pork, no chicken, no rice...) so we ended up in the food court of the mall. Hmm... Well, we called it an early night as Hannah and I had booked a rafting tour early the next morning.
5:30, that is really early! After a quick breakfast we got picked up by our van. I had no clue what to expect and only found out now that we would have a 2 hour car ride and then 2 hours on a train to get to the river. Our group was nice, four people from Malaysia who were a bit sore as they just came back from mount Kinabalu the day before. I slept most of the car ride, but surely not on the train ride. This became nearly the highlight of the day. It was an old second world war train, which was driving very slowly through beautiful jungle. We decided not to sit with the tourists in the back of the train, but with our guides and the locals in the first wagon. Here there were only a couple benches on the wall and a lot of space. We were lucky, today no one transported life animals :-) The best part: the big doors on both sides where open, so we had an excellent view! Time flew and we were super happy. Arriving at the starting point we got a short briefing and off we go. The six of us, two guides and two interns in one boat. The river seems to be a great place for rafting: depending on which part you do and the water level, it offers all difficulty grades there are. We did the middle to tough part. So we are all in the boat, paddling ahead and what is our guides first instruction: all in the water! The weather wasn't bad but it wasn't really hot either. Without a wetsuit I first wasn't too happy, but the water was actually not really cold. The aim of going in the water was to practice getting back into the boat. We all managed, not as gracefully as our guide, but well enough to carry on. The rafting was good fun, but the best was still to come: at one point our guide asked who wants to go bodyrafting through the next part? Hannah and I were the first ones in the water and nearly everyone joined us. So much fun! Imagine a rollercoaster in the water. The rafting was over way too soon, but we were also happy to get lunch. After lunch we had to go back the same way we came and Hannah and me again enjoyed the train ride with our guides a lot. We arrived back at the hostel quiet exhausted and after a quick dinner I went to bed early.
The next day I had planned the next highlight. After not diving for 10 years and doing my refresher on the Philippines, I decided to do some more diving this trip. I had booked two dives as I didn't want to be completely tired in the evening, as Timo would be coming over from Brunei. It was a really nice day diving around Sapi island with nice people. I really started to get annoyed about not having an underwater camera to capture the beautiful things we saw. And the Chinese divers. There were three in my diving group and two of them just kept on going up to the surface. For the non-divers: big no-no. As we were only maximum 15m deep it was not a problem, but do this at a deeper level and it is bye-bye. Luckily for me the third one in the group was an experienced diver and he went up with them so we could continue our dive.
After the dive I got my bag from the hostel and went to the hotel Timo and I had booked. Nothing fancy, but after being a cheap backpacker for a while it was great to have a room to myself (at least until Timo arrived, which was late that evening). I met with a guy from diving for watching the sunset at the waterfront. Just stunning. Then we met with Hannah and some others for dinner and then drinks. Timo arrived and met with a friend. As it was Hannah's birthday at midnight, Timo joined us at the backpacker place for one drink and a happy birthday song. The others left soon after that as they had booked diving for the next day. So Timo and I went back to his friends. I found the place (cowboy bar?!?) a bit strange and the diving caught up with me, so I went back the hotel "early".
For the next day we hadn't planned a lot, anything with salt water was not an option as Timo was still fighting with an allergy. So we just hung out and went to the malls. I really wanted either an underwater camera or waterproof housing for my normal camera. But I didn't really feel like paying 400-500 euros for a go-pro. After checking many, many stores we were finally successful. We found a cheap alternative to the go pro for only around 60 euros! The spec looked good and for this amount it is really worth trying. In the evening we met up with Timos friend and the guy from diving again for sunset at the waterfront. Not as stunning as the evening before, but still not bad. We went to dinner together and as Hannah had wished for karaoke on her birthday we made our way to a karaoke bar at the waterfront. It was nearly empty, so a lot of singing for us. A while after Hannah arrived with some friends from the hostel. It was great fun. Then we wanted to leave to the club a bit further down the road, which belongs to another friend of Timo. It was claimed to become the greatest party of the year. Glow in the dark UV party with a sexy DJane from Bangkok. And the hostel girls had come prepared. So suddenly they started a bodypainting craziness with the glow in the dark paint they had left over from the last full moon party. It became quite excessive and we only managed to get them going with the argument that they can finish their work at the party. It became a legendary party night and we left close to sunrise.
The next day was a relaxed day, luckily not too hungover. Food and drinks and some interesting conversations and then it was already time to say goodbye and Timo was off to the airport. I went to dinner with the girls from the hostel, but decided not to join them for the cinema. I did my last preparations for hiking mount Kinabalu the next day, including getting a hat and gloves from my hostel, though I still stayed at the hotel I was with Timo in over the weekend. I went back to the hotel and went to bed early, but struggled to sleep as the annoying family in the next room was unbelievably loud. In hostels it was never that loud. Around 11pm I started banging the wall and knocking on their door, but that only improved it for a very short time. Unbelievable.
The next morning I got picked up for the mount Kinabalu tour. 350 euros for a 2 day 1 night hiking trip. Just ridiculous! I got lucky and met three amazing people in the mini bus to the park: Anne from Germany, living in Bangkok; Ceri from Ireland, living in Dubai and Ross from Wales, living in Abu Dhabi. Aren't we an international group, Rotterdam is really the boring one amongst these expat destinations ;-) We got along very well and had already formed a little group when we arrived at the park. After some last preparations we met our two guides for the hike and in beautiful sunshine we started. After less than 5 minutes it started to rain. And never stopped again! The hike was beautiful, but also quite demanding as very steep. So here we are with our rain jackets and ponchos fighting our way up. After a while the three lined up behind me and followed my slow but steady pace. Some had even some breath left to sing. Although I was already breathing hard from walking up steep steps I couldn't resist to join the singing. Like this time flew by and we made it well to the hut. From 1800m up to 3200m, we were quite tired but happy. As I had gotten a last minute ticket from someone who had cancelled, me and two Swedish girls ended up sleeping in the hut next door with the locals. Overall not really a difference, the only annoying thing: you had to walk through the rain for 50m to get to dinner. In my fancy warm hiking clothes I made my way over quickly and had a very nice evening with the group. Dinner was surprisingly good and we played some card games. For a short while the rain even stopped and we could see a little bit of the mountain. We were excited and got hope for the next morning.
At 2 am we had to get up already, a quick tea and easy breakfast and we are ready to conquer the peak for sunrise. Oh no, wait, it just started to rain again. So back in the rain clothes. I was actually wearing everything I had brought with me. Basically the clothes that had kept me warm in the Canadian snow last October. Should be enough, right? Well, the ascent was awful. In complete dark and cold rain we all walked in a long line up the mountain. In better conditions this could have been an amazing walk. Up on stone walls with the help of a rope and getting steeper and steeper. We weren't sure we were allowed all the way up to the top, as at the last checkpoint there is a river to cross and if it is too high water you can't pass. I was nearly a bit disappointed when we were allowed to continue and I actually didn't notice the difference between the standard path and the river. I was already so tired and we still had one more hour to climb to the 4700m high peak. Resting was not really an option as we were already freezing. So we continued. I nearly wouldn't have made it. 50m before the peak the two Swedish girls from my room turned around. They had not enough warm clothes and their lips started to turn blue. Especially with knowing that there will be no real sunrise and no view at all because of the clouds/fog, I nearly turned around. But with the motivation of the group I fought my way up the last meters. One quick picture at the peak and we turned around. All I could think of was: get me off this mountain. I was freezing, my gloves and boots were soaked and I was so exhausted. Luckily after 30 minutes we were out of the wind and it got way better. The last half hour before the hut the rain even stopped for a bit and we got a bit of a view of the mountain and the surroundings. This must be so amazing if you have good weather! At the hut we had a second breakfast, which was again very good. The atmosphere was a bit down. Everyone was exhausted from the peak this morning and after only an hour of rest we had to go all the way down that we had climbed day one. And it obviously rained again. I didn't care that much anymore as at least it wasn't that cold anymore. Downhill we all tried to get there as quick as possible without ruining our knees. So we split up and fought our way down. Just before the gate there suddenly were 40-50 steps back up. I was so tired, I hated every one of them. At the entrance we waited for the rest of the group and then went to lunch together. Unfortunately it was the worst food we had in the two days, a sad ending. Our little group got separated into two different buses on the way back, but I was sleeping most of the time anyways. The tour operator was so nice to make a stop at my hotel from the weekend to pick up my bag and then drive me to the hostel, where I had booked two more nights. It was really nice to be back there, I met some of the old crew again as well as really nice new people. We went out for a quick pasta dinner and then it was bedtime for me.
The next morning I woke up and felt awful. Not only were my legs hurting, but I felt feverish and had a sore throat and a cough. So I stayed in bed all day. It was so sad as my hiking group was meeting up and the hostel girls were out to party again as well. The next morning I did not feel well enough to travel again and more importantly, I had not planned anything yet. Unfortunately the hostel was full and I also got a bit annoyed of the sphere there. Several people were stuck there and got frustrated about it. So I was very happy when Ceri from the hiking group offered me to come over to the apartment her work had booked for her and stay the last night with her. I went there around lunch, got a painful but good massage for my legs on the way and relaxed the afternoon at her place. She had to work, but we had agreed to meet for sunset at the hotel bar that Timo had recommended to me. The hostel girls didn't join because it was cloudy, but they really missed out! It was a beautiful sunset. Ceri and I treated ourselves with a nice dinner and some happy hour drinks. We ended that evening on her couch, watching the end of the movie Everest. At least our hike did not end as bad as the movie ;-)
The next morning we relaxed and then I took a flight over to Sandakan. I met up with Anne from the hike for a coffee, as she was just leaving Borneo via Sandakan. Good to have a quick but lovely meeting. Then I made my way to my hostel, the taxi unfortunately was a bit crappy and I was very glad when I arrived at my hostel. The evening I had a quick dinner and went to bed early as I still felt a bit sick, luckily I had the dorm to myself. My whole stay in Sandakan was a bit mixed. I felt better but not good yet, the city didn't look good either and I was a bit scared. The north eastern coast of Borneo is still on a curfew due to pirate activity and kidnapping reports. The stories from other travellers were mixed: many said it is totally safe, amongst other due to military presence. Some are scared as well. So my plan was to see how safe I feel in Sandakan and then decide how I move on.
The second day I slept in and then had lunch in front of the hostel on the waterfront. And there is the military presence: big marine boats in the water and helicopters in the air. And suddenly they started to follow a small boat and shoot in the water. It was really weird, but no one seemed worried and people just took pictures. I decided to better go back to my hostel. There I learned it was only a demonstration, a show for some American military guests. It still was weird and didn't motivate me to get out. I met some really nice people and we discussed if we go to the southern part of the coast, where there is beautiful diving, but the same situation. We all decided not to go in order to stay safe. For me the logical route was anyways to the jungle first. So the next morning I took a local minibus to Sepilok, where the Orangutan sanctuary is situated. You can do it as a day trip, but as I didn't like Sandakan anyways I decided to stay a night in Sepilok and then move on from there. Sepilok is actually not even a real town. It's the Orangutan sanctuary, a sun bear conservatory and a couple hotels/resorts. The bus arrived just before the morning feeding of the orangutans. So I put my bag in the locker and went in. We didn't have to wait long and there she was: a female orangutan with her baby. It was cute to watch her get food out of the basket and eat it. Unfortunately there were some other monkeys which made trouble and so the Orangutan left. I quickly visited the smaller orangutans which played nicely, but it felt like being in a cinema, behind glass windows. So I went out, got my bag and walked to my hostel. My hostel was really nice, it felt more like a hotel, despite the 4 bed dorm I was in. It was the perfect place to hangout, which I did for a couple hours. I went back to the Orangutans at 2pm, to be there for the 3pm feeding. I was really glad I did! There were very few people there and the Orangutans came really close. We watched a young one show off in front of us and enjoyed watching him play closeby. The feeding was a lot better than the morning as well. Still a lot of visitors, but as the other monkeys stayed away there were around 5 orangutans there. Very cute.
In the evening I booked a tour to the Kinabatang river for the next day. Good news: it only started at noon, so the next morning I still could go to the sun bear conservatory. I had heard mixed opinions about it. Some loved it as the mini bears were so cute. Some felt it was a bit like a zoo. I liked it, although it was more of a short visit. You walk on wooden paths 5-10m up in the trees and watch the bears. I got some cute pictures and then it was time to go back to the hostel, have lunch and then off with the minivan to the river.
We were 4 Dutch and 4 Germans/Swiss in the car. So weird :-) but it was a nice group. After 2 hours drive we arrived at our lodge. It was a couple of wooden huts and an open restaurant area right next to the river, no phone or internet connection anywhere. We got a snack and a short briefing about the next days. You had to be careful while eating as there were monkeys who tried to steal your food. If they came too close the staff would threaten and sometimes shoot at them with slingshots.
And then we are already on our first river cruise. We had a bigger boat than most, which meant we couldn't get as close as others, but it was more stable for taking pictures and you could stand up better. The boat ride was nice and not long until we found the first pygme elephant. Although they had been around for a couple of days it is still very special to see them. And we saw a lot. Up to the point that I got a bit bored and wanted to move on. After all I wanted to see the orangutans in wild and the proboscus monkeys (the ones with the long nose). Already on the way back we were finally lucky. One proboscus monkey in a tree. It was beautiful lit in the sun going down. And 5 minutes later: an Orangutan! We were really close, he was sitting in the tree eating the fruits and making a mess on his fur :-) Unfortunately the light was fading quickly, which made it difficult to get good pictures from it. We drove back to the lodge with a beautiful sunset and arrived in the dark. It was really nice that they had extended our 2 hour trip to nearly 3 hours as we saw so many animals on the way back.
After dinner there was still a night walk. Not everyone joined, but I got ready. With gumboots and the pants stuck into the socks I was hoping to avoid the leeches. And I got lucky. The whole fuzz we made around it for nothing. Not one person got a leech on this 1 hour walk in the jungle. The first 15 minutes were really cool. We saw a bat hanging low and a colourful kingfisher sitting there and not caring about the 20 lights shining on him. The other 45 minutes were a bit boring and I just wanted to be back. In order to protect myself from leeches, which by the way are annoying but actually don't do you any harm, I was wearing my rain jacket with the hood on. I was sweating like hell!
The next morning we got up at 5 for our morning cruise. Unfortunately it was foggy and we saw about nothing. After breakfast we started our jungle walk. We took a boat across the river and started to walk. We were happy that we could go, as we had heard that other tours hadn't gone the week before due to the elephants being close by. After only 10 minutes the bad news: our guide had found new elephant traces, so he decided we need to turn around. The walk was meant to be to a lake and so we took the boat up a small river arm towards that lake. But again: there was a tree fallen down and we couldn't get further. So our guide turned around, turned off the engine and we floated back towards the big river. It was amazing. It was really relaxed and so cool to be in the jungle with no noise.
After lunch we had quite some spare time which I spent with a very nice German couple playing Skat. A very German card game I hadn't played in years. Then the same procedure as the day before: snacks and then afternoon boat tour. Hannah, the girl I had met in Kota Kinabalu had finally made it to Kinabatangan as well, but directly ended up on another boat. We didn't see the elephants today, but a lot more proboscus monkeys. Unfortunately only one orangutan and he was hidden a bit in the trees and sleeping. Looking back I would definitely do the tour in the opposite direction: first try to see the orangutans in the wild and then go to a sanctuary for a closeup encounter.
In the evening I decided not to join the night walk again. After dinner there was a short performance of the staff with traditional music and dancing. After a bit of convincing they managed to get us all to join them. It was actually great fun and again I learned that I am not good at limbo!
The next morning we got up at 5 again for another morning cruise In the fog. And then it was time to decide where to go next. I really struggled with that. I had done the obvious things and due to the lack of internet couldn't do any research on what to do next. I was still scared about going to Semporna for diving due to the kidnapping situation. So I decided to go to the airport and fly somewhere. Once we were in the bus and I had internet again I looked up my options. Nothing good! Damn. And now? Most people wanted to take the 8-10 hour bus back to Kota Kinabalu and I decided to join them. When we arrived at the intersection with the busses the first one we saw was going to Semporna. Spontaneous as I can be I changed my mind again and joined a Swiss girl to that one. On the bus I googled a bit more on the situation. Although it was difficult to find good info on the internet I finally found a site stating the last incidents and a good assessment of the danger. It convinced me that I had made the right deciscion, the military seems to have the situation under control.
In Semporna I checked into my hostel and then went out to check on dive schools. Everyone there wants to go to Sipadan, but there are limited permits available and it is really expensive. In the end I decided to do 2 days on Mabul island and do my advanced open water PADI certification. In the evening I met the Swiss girl again and we had a good hot pot dinner. Afterwards I listened to a live band with a beer and my first studies in the advanced course book. I was really glad to leave Semporna the next morning. It was really weird, the men there were acting like they never saw a woman before. I hadn't felt that awkward before on my trip.
The next morning I was on my way to Mabul. We put our stuff at the hotel, which was a water bungalow. And off we go for the first dive. Me and a Canadian girl were the only course participants for the advanced open water PADI. We started with Peak Performance Buoyancy, where you practice your balance under water. I got very frustrated as my jacket kept on inflating and I struggled to get down. The second course was navigation. Great swimming in a square on sandy bottom. It was a bit frustrating to hear from other divers beautiful dives and we were doing exercises and didn't see anything. Luckily the third dive was a cool one. We went to a ship wreck and that was great. I struggled a bit with my balance as I had a bit too much weight with me plus wasn't allowed to use my hands too (it's a sign of a bad diver...). But it was still fun and we saw a lot of cool fishes.
Back at the hotel I realised that there was a group of 30 Chinese people staying there as well. They were so loud! I refused to get in the craziness of the first queue at the dinner buffet. I thought there surely would be enough food. Well I didn't know the Chinese. The buffet was quite raided until I went there, unbelievable.
The evening was really nice, the locals from the staff played guitar and a beatbox and were singing together.
The next day I had two more dives, the first one being a deep dive to about 30m. Going deep that far can make you feel a bit drunk and slow down your reaction. Plus colours really fade into blue and brown. I didn't feel bad, but with the exercises we made I clearly noticed how my thinking slowed down. The moment you go back up a bit, the symptoms disappear. After the exercises we still had some air left and finished the dive along a nice slope and even got a little bit of a drift. This is really nice, you can just sit there, relax and kind of watch cinema as you float along.
When we were getting ready for the next dive I realised that this is it. My last dive. I managed to negotiate with the owner and he made me a good offer for an extension. So I decided to do one more dive today in the afternoon and 2 more the next morning. But first the last dive of our course. We wanted to do a real drift dive, but our instructor already warned us that you can never plan for this as it is still nature. So as a back up plan we could do fish identification or underwater photography. I was using my new fake go pro, which wasn't working perfectly but at least produced some good photos from time to time. So when we didn't find a drift, my dive buddy got the fish identification slate and I was focussing on taking pictures.
The afternoon now was my first dive as an advanced open water diver. My instructor moved on to his next student and we were joining the normal dive group, which was basically the divemaster, me, my buddy and her boyfriend. A nice small group.
Well, to cut it short, in the end I extended two more times. In total I did about 14 dives there. They were all amazing. One under an old oil platform which is a hotel now. There was a lot of crap underneath like a toilet bowl, but also an unbelievable richness of fish and coral. We even did a night dive. Though there is still a night curfew, as long as you register with the police it is ok. It was an interesting experience to dive in complete darkness only seeing where your flashlight shines. I was really surprised how crowded it was at night underwater, so many divers! My absolute favourite dive was second wall. It was a really steep wall with amazing corals. And the best part: shortly before we went up we saw a big group of giant bumpheads. This you usually only see at Sipadan and some of the local dive guides were very jealous of us.
The evenings at the hotel were really fun. I often went with my dive instructor to the local supermarket and bought some beers. The happening at the hotel was really funny as well. The local boys were very flirty and more than one had managed to score a Chinese sugarmomma. They come over 2-3 times a year and spoil their boys with presents. This can go from i-phones to underwater cameras and dive computers to complete high end dive equipment. It was hilarious to watch. I have to admit that I was really happy when the group of 30 had left and it was not that loud and crazy anymore. A handful Chinese were still enough craziness. The last two days I shared my room with Katie, we got along very well and she convinced me to my last extension, as we then could take the night bus back to Kota Kinabalu together.
After 5 days I was ready to leave. I have to say it was amazing on Mabul. I got very quickly used to the fact that the military came over every evening, taking position on the lookout terrace of the hotel. I enjoyed the ease of life at a dive base. 2-3 dives a day, good company and some relaxing. I loved it that you could see turtles and eagle rays swim in front of the hotel at night.
The underwater world was amazing. I saw plenty of turtles, moraines, crocodile fish, lion fish, stone fish, frog fish, slugs, Nemos, baracudas, blue spotted rays, the bumpheads and many, many more. We had great visibility and I'm worried I'm getting spoiled.
And then suddenly it's over and Katie and me are on the boat back to the mainland and not long after in the overnight bus to KK. Katie wanted to go directly to mount Kinabalu national park, but as we were passing by there in the middle of the night, she decided to join me to KK and the take a bus back there in the morning. I found that a bit too much of an effort for only 1 night and so I stayed in KK. I had an early check in at 5am, slept a couple hours and was surprised to meet Alice again at breakfast. She had come back to KK for her medical exam for a visa. We spent a lazy day together, doing planning and other more or less useful things. I made the decision to visit Timo in Brunei once more. Within a couple of hours the plan was ready: the next morning I will take the ferry to Labuan and then one day later over to Brunei and spend the weekend with Timo. Then he would drive me across the border to Miri, from where I had booked a flight to Lombok, Indonesia. So one more week on Borneo.
The trip to Labuan was not really a great one. The ferry was only inside, so I was freezing on a smelly boat instead of enjoying the boat ride. Then Labuan was really boring. I walked around in the heat a bit. The next morning I wanted to rent a scooter and take the ferry in the evening. But when they told me that the last ferry leaves at around 3 (and not 6 like the internet said) I got lazy and just had a relaxed morning again. Somehow Labuan really didn't get me excited and motivated. I took another annoying ferry and shortly after Timo picked me up. We had rented a very cool Airbnb in Bandar, the capital of Brunei. We went to the amazing Japanese place we were last time and then went back to the Airbnb and enjoyed the bottle of wine I had imported from the duty free island Labuan. Quite some bureaucracy needed to bring alcohol into a dry country, I can tell you.
The next morning Timo had to go to a doctor's appointment in Bandar and I joined him. Luckily the hospital had a beautiful terrace with a small cafeteria. Looking at the ocean and a lot of green, I enjoyed breakfast and watched some movies of my psychology online course. Timo was annoyed as it took him nearly 1.5 hours, I didn't mind too much. Next we were back in his car, driving 1.5 hours back to Timos place. After lunch Timo went to work a bit (it is still Friday) and I was hanging out at his place. In the evening we went a bit to Seria town and had dinner and ended up watching a new series (timeless) on his couch. Saturday we had decided to make a little day trip. We took his car and drove into the jungle. Really amazing, at one point it was basically a one lane road with nothing but jungle around us. Shortly before the Malaysian border we reached our goal: the beginning of a walk to a waterfall. And that was exactly when it started to rain as well. We discussed a bit, but then decided we made it this far, we may as well go. We had to sign in at the police office and pay a little fee at a local house. They all looked at us a bit weirdly. We hadn't put on any hiking gear, I was wearing a skirt and my old ballerinas. But hey, it's just a 30-60 minutes walk. So off we go. First the path was very clear. Then it became a bit adventurous. We lost the path once or twice. When we arrived at another place where we had no clue where to go next, we decided that it was a beautiful walk, but enough :-) so after only one hour we were back and the policemen were smiling at us. On the way back we made a short stop at a nice boardwalk over a lake. Then it was time to go back and get ready for the party. The Norwegians had invited and the party theme was Vikings. In our improvised costumes we made it there. It was a fun evening with a bit too many Shell people and too few singles. The food was good and there was good entertainment including a leg wrestling competition. But most of the evening it was a good live band with good drinks (not aquavita!) and some dancing.
The next day we again started slow, made a backup of all my pictures at Timos computer and then we were off for Miri. Timo still had the Monday off and I was flying out from there on Tuesday.
We had dinner and drinks at Timos favourite place, the Ming cafe. I left around 10 and met a nice girl in my dorm with whom I still chatted a bit. Timo stayed a bit longer with friends but didn't make it a very long night either. The next morning we again drove into the lonely part of the country and did a nice walk to a waterfall. This time we made it, the walk was actually even a bit too easy for us, but all other hikes would have been too long. And of course it had started to rain again. After the nice walk, Timo brought me back to town and then made his way back home to Brunei. I went to a handicraft market and then for a massage. I don't like Thai massages, they are painful!
And there it is, the end of my time in Borneo. I could have still spend more time there, I have heard a lot if good things about the Kuching area. But I think I had enough of the jungle for now. Looking back I had an amazing time diving and some great jungle experiences. I didn't like that everything seemed either complicated to get there or really expensive. I never thought I would ever come back to Brunei, but here I was again :-) For now I'm exited for my next destination: Indonesia!
Sapi island, suddenly all empty as it had started to rain
Train ride with the guides to the starting point of the rafting, Beaufort
Beautiful views from the train, train from Beaufort
Diving around Sapi island. I didn't have a camera yet but foto-bombed this picture
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