Just wanted to tell that we are glad to present our photos from Borneo in Flickr. Much awaited pictures of Orangutans, nose monkeys and all the rest of the wonders of the jungle.
And also you can enjoy this small piece of backpacking lifestyle here:
Maiku
Posted in South-East Asia, Trip
Tagged animals, Backpacking, Borneo, jungle, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, monkeys, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Kinabalu National Park, orangutan, photos, Proboscis monkey, videos
I had never felt such a fear. Maiku was behind me screaming on me GO, GO, do not be a coward! And the rain was poring so hard! So hard.
I was really terrified, I looked down and I saw a no end of the green! It was not as I expected to climb up there, it was not the safe treck I had thought, the cords were so flexible and the pathway was so small and it was just so high over the jungle! The pathway was so narrow and there were pieces of wood linked with cords to each other and a small net but nothing that makes you feel really safe, certainly if you have height fear.
Canopy walk of Mt. Kinabalu National Park
The funny part of the event is that my fear of height was understandable due to the extreme weather conditions we were in. It was a heavy seasonal rain and you couldn’t see anything in front of you. It was pouring so hard that even an umbrella couldn’t stop it but the water kept percolating TROUGH it. We were carrying bags and tried to protect the cameras and all wet and hot and humid made the walk almost unbearable.
(Actually, the scariest thing wasn’t the canopy walks but the trek itself. The steep path had turned into streams and mud was extremely slippery. There was also mud slides. I kept slipping and fell down a couple of times and got nice bruises for souvenir but luckily, we managed to get back down in one piece. Maiku adds.)
Canopy walks of Mt. Kinabalu National Park
We were on canopy walks of Mount Kinabalu, the famous sacred mountain that rises as high as 4000 m of altitude and is well know for it’s national park, a world heritage site of UNESCO.
After the walk on the 60 meters height canopies looking all over the Borneo rain forests, we were lucky to see the biggest flower in the world, the famous Rafflesia that looked like an alien plant with no roots and just stucked to a tree trunk. Its the biggest flower on Earth and a rare one to find, so rare that locals charge about 5 Euro’s per person just to go to see it after they have spotted one somewhere in the jungle. Ours wasn’t the biggest one but an intriguing discovery nerveless.
Rafflesia
Rafflesia was all red with yellowish dots and huge. It sucked and attracted all kind of flies with its smell, attracted them to their deadly fate as it seems. The biggest ones can even attract rats and squirrels to their death though it don’t eat them, they just wander there and dont get up anymore and then die. We walked into the jungle for a while until we saw it behind a wooden barrier and we were not allowed to touch it! I was so happy since it has always been Maiku’s dream to see it, and now she was jumping out of joy like a little girl.
Then we headed to the magic or at least we expected it to be magic and relaxing place, the hot springs that come from the heart of sacred mountain Kinabalu.
It wasn’t any geyser-like ponds I had expected but the water was led to big pools, tiled pools filled with hot stinking of sulfate water that is supposed to be healthy for your skin and excellent for your back pain. It was not what we expected after seeing the crows of local tourists in the pools, kids splashing around, and we were then wondering is it the water that is actually hot or wether the kids had peed in there…
The water was really hot and it smelled really on the skin even after the shower. It was relaxing though after the hard walk in the wet, wet jungle and sore muscles. But after, Maiku was really angry since I forgot to pack any change of clothes with us, and we had wear the same wet and muddy clothes and be all wet the whole 3 hours trip back to town in the bus with A/C on. Gosh it was cold!
That’s it folks from Borneo, Kota Kinabalu the city that rains like hell and flood its streets and then shine with colors and dragons every Chinese new year, not to forget that it offers an escape to the rain forests of Borneo and to amazing Sabah!
Sasi, now in Finland and missing cheap Asia!
Posted in South-East Asia, Trip
Tagged Backpacking, Borneo, canopy, jungle, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Kinabalu National Park, nature, Rafflesia, tourism, trekking, Unesco World Heritage
The ancestors believed that the mountain was sacred and that the spirits roamed the peak, but mainly they feared climbing to the peak due to never coming back. When the British conquerors arrived, they wanted to climb the mountain but the locals tried to stop them and warned them that they will stay in the jungle forever and never come back if they dare to knock on the spirits doors.
Of course, in nowadays Mount Kinabalu is still a holy place for the locals but the Brits and many other people from different nationalities climbed it and did not met any spirits of ancestors, but to experience the beauty of South East Asia’s highest peak and it’s views. A 4092 m of altitude and the experience of a lifetime, it’s a hard way up and costing, as calculated it costs like a 100 euro. Well, we were not that lucky (or stupid?) to climb to 4092 m but we surely made it to Kinabalu National Park and the Poring Hot Springs next to it.
Before I tell you about all this trekking/climbing/wild nature watching details, let me proudly share some facts. We are now in our 10th month of traveling of the trip. We have visited 17 countries and more then 60 cities. Our furthest and Southern most destination was not Australia as many of you have expected, we wished so much to make it there but since we were broke and exhausted, the need to get back to a routine life all played a major role stopping us. So the furthest point was Bali, Indonesia as you have seen in our Flickr pictures.
We have now started the way back up. Passing by the Malaysian Borneo (Maiku’s favorite destination) then heading to the KL, my favorite, and then the City of Angels aka Bangkok, which will be our last stop before we head home on 4th of February. Home to Finland!
But let’s not talk about that, there is still lots of experiences to tell and share before our journey home.
Malaysian Borneo’s biggest city is Kota Kinabalu, which means one of Air Asia’s destinations; we flew there from Jakarta and stayed at the best backpacker’s lodge ever, Kinabalu Backpackers. It was a small place run by a lovely young Chinese Malaysian couple. Borneo is magnificent, unfortunately Maiku got fever (again!) at the first 3 days which stopped most of our action – well the weather wasn’t our best friend either, this time of the year tends to be rainy. Floods!
But not to fear, nothing stopped us before and nothing will now, and so we decided to visit the jungles. I am no Tarzan but it’s worthy trying. So we took a bus ride to Sandakan, or the exact location will be Sepilok Orangutan Sactuary. Orangutans, as we discovered, are very shiny and gentle animals, it takes lots of patience to see one and be able to take close up photos of them.
We then decided to take a daily tour to meet the funniest monkeys ever, Mr. Nose Monkey and his family, the Proboscis monkeys which only exist in Borneo and live in the wild in the deep of the jungle. Guess what, we took a small boat (I had to face my water fears) and spent a great day with our expert guide Mr. Aji , tracking the lovely wild nature. All details come in Maiku’s future post, stay tuned: she will shock you!
It isn’t over here; in my next post I will share with you the experience of a lifetime, have you ever imagined me playing Tarzan, well 50 meters above ground and walking on a rope…
Sasi (Borneo,Malaysia)!
P.S: Have you seen a flower called Rafflesia? Biggest flower on the globe, pictures will be brought to you on MaikuSasi.com!
Posted in South-East Asia, Trip
Tagged animals, Borneo, jungle, Malaysia, orangutan, Proboscis monkey, Sabah, Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, South-East Asia, wildlife
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Maiku’s Photoblog
