Borneo; the mountains and the monkeys

Our diving days were cut short when I got ill (I never knew sun stroke and a little beer could be so unpleasant!), so we headed north through Sabah to visit the ginger monkeys of the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. Now I've never been much of a fan of apes/monkeys of any kind, but since sponsoring an orang utan for Nick we've been saying that we must visit one of the sanctuaries in Borneo. Nothing could have prepared me for how cute the orang utans are. You hike along walkways through the forest to sit and wait for the feeding time. We went in the afternoon in the hope of avoiding the coach parties that visit in the morning. It was quite quiet when we got there and there wasn't an orang utan in site. Feeding time came and the food was put out and still no action, everybody was just hanging around watching the long cables that snake off in both directions through the trees. After what felt like an age, the cable on our left started bouncing and along came a rather small and skinny orange bag of bones and muscle. Terry Pratchet once likened the orang utan to a collection of rubber bands; strong, stretchy, and very very bendy. They are so flexible and strong, that the little ones cartwheel from hands to feet as a means of travelling along the cables. They can hang by their feet, fold over and stick their heads though their legs and keep their hands free for eating. They eat, fight, play just like kids, all very very cute. We watched the orang utans for about an hour before they were scared off by the macaques. These are small aggressive monkeys that have to be shooed away from the people as they have been known to bite and scratch.

After visiting the sanctuary we moved on the stay at the base of Mount Kinabalu. Now we didn't have enough time or inclination to climb to the top, but we did wanted to do some of the walks in the surrounding park. When we arrived at the hotel in the afternoon it was cloudy but the views south across the hilly peaks of Borneo were amazing. Just mile upon mile of uninterrupted forest. It wasn't until the morning however, that we got a brief glimpse of the top of Mount Kinabalu before it disappeared in the clouds again. Although it's not that high and supposed to be an easy climb, it's quite dramatic to look at. It's bare, grey rocky peak is a 95% incline so it just seems to rocket up out of the surrounding forest. Seeing the peak has made us both determined to go back there and take the time to climb it.

We left Mount Kinabalu and travelled by bus to Sabah's capital of Kota Kinabalu. This must have been the most hair-raising bus ride I have ever taken. For 70% of the time we driving up and down along the narrow ridges of the peaks, and our bus had definitely seen better days. The engine alternated between coughing its way up the hills, and squealing its way down. We could hear the brakes struggling as we leaned out of precipitous drops round bends. As the journey went on the smell of burning clutch got stronger and stronger. It was quite a relief to make it down to flat ground. Saying that, as stressful as the journey was, it took us through some spectacular countryside. We were on the only road across Sabah and the views are spectacular. It was a refreshing change to see unspoilt rain forest unlike the miles and miles of palm plantation that run along the east coast. It is sad to see that so much natural habitat has been destroyed.

All in all, Borneo was a really amazing place to visit. Apart from the beauty of the forests and wildlife, and the picture postcard perfect island beaches, all the people that we met there were really cool. It's not often that you go to a place and you can speak highly of the tourists but it seems like it's a certain type of person that makes their way to Borneo. Everybody was very like minded and more interested in appreciating the natural stuff rather than just looking for a good party. It's a very easy place to make friends.

For the last bit of our holiday, we had decided to head up to the Cameron Highlands on peninsular Malaysia. I've been wanting to go there for a while but always get distracted with the diving. The Cameron Highlands are a band of hills that run up through northern Malaysia. They have been popular with the Brits for a long time and in places can even have an 'old English village' feel to them and there's even an old red phone box. The highlands have cooler temperatures than everywhere else in Malaysia and are the agricultural centre of the country. There are vegetable and strawberry farms everywhere and cactus gardens and flower markets line the roads. Cameron Highlands most famous export however, is tea. When you head off down quiet side roads you find yourself travelling through the most beautiful manicured tea plantations. This would definitely be my first choice of places to live in Asia, it's a shame they don't really need teachers like in Thailand.
We spent our days either hiking or exploring on a moped. We stopped for tea and scones each day and filled up on some of the best Indian food I've ever had for nearly every meal. I can't wait to go back. Next time I'll just have to remember to take more clothes, I got so cold at night I had to sleep in a jumper!