For the last 3 days have stayed at the Nature Lodge on Sungai Kinabatangan river in Sabah. I was a little unsure about how much I would enjoy this as I am not typically the 'in touch with nature' type...I absolutely loved it!!

We stayed in wood huts right on the river and each day had 6am boat ride down the river, a 3 hour trek into the jungle and an hour or so night trek. During the stay we came across a couple of Orang Utan, lots, maybe 7 or 8, pygmy elephants including a tiny baby...and considering there are only supposed to be around 200 in Borneo as a whole we did really well!, proboscis monkeys (ones with the big bulbus nose), long and short tailed macaques and loads of beautiful birds and less beautiful insects.

It was a great experience to be out there in the middle of nowhere so close to these wonderful animals in their natural habitat. Met lots of great, interesting people there too. I realised that my pocket digital camera is not really designed for photographing wildlife so I will be getting a few shots off the budding pros who brought their DSRL's with huge lenses...Rob you would have had a ball!!

After this experience I really would like to go to Africa on a jungle trek or safari. Will think about doing this next year and may invest some time and money in a good camera. Its so exciting!!

Over the last few days I think I have developed a bit of an ear infection...cant seem to pressure balance my ears and they are really sore. Having spoken to a few of the locals they have recommended against doing the mountain climb as the loss of pressure up there could make things quite painful and potentially dangerous. This being the case I have decided to head to Bangkok tomorrow. Will involve a flight to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Thailand but at least when I get there I will be able to stay a few nights before heading off to Australia.

Off to search the internet now for a great last minute deal on a hotel in Bangkok...thinking of going upmarket for a few nights of luxuary...again!!! Haha! It seems to be a few nights backpacking followed be a few nights luxuray at the moment...I like it this way!!