We get up at 5am at the Kinabatangan sunshine lodge. Our guide had kindly offered to take us on the river earlier due to us flying back to Kota Kinabulu at 10:30am. This turns out to be a great bonus. Sun just starting to rise and no other cruises out yet. There is a mist in the trees, with a fine wisp over the water. Swallows dive catching the bugs on the water. Monkeys are all along the trees by the riverside. We see more species - Silver Langers and Orange Langers. We see another blue yellow Kingfisher and a beautiful stock bell kingfisher. Our guide points out a small crocodile lying in the mud. This is swiftly replaced by a 5 metre beast sitting below an overhang. We are shown a large male Proboscis that the guide tells us has become the leader of the silver Langer's here. That is why there are now orange langers.
After a breakfast of noodle's, we get out of the boat back to the Jeep to head to Sandakan airport. The airport is tiny and not much else to do but sit and wait for our flight.
Getting to Kota Kinabulu, I am glad to touch down after our twin prop flight. We head to the Borneo backpackers. We should have come here first. Very well organised. Good WiFi, a bar, organised trips. Borneo needs a better network of information and if following the lonely planet it can be disappointing. We move into a full dorm and go downstairs to the bar. We meet the tourism office who are showing a film on Borneo this evening. They relate to our experiences and know that many places do not yet understand the backpacker market or how to improve a travellers experience. Our trip to Mulu National Park is screwed as the trip to the pinnacles only runs twice a week, but the website doesn't mention this. The trip would have involved 3 days hiking, going to the world's largest cavern to see bats fly out, a swim near a waterfall and a 2500 metre climb to see staggering views and limestone formations. Without the pinnacles its really just to see the cavern and some jungle trails. With more flights to get there, we decide to bale on Borneo. With colds and my ear causing me grief after diving we've had enough. We book up for Laos and am looking forward to chilling in a Buddhist country.
We watch an old film. "Martin Johnson's last film - Borneo". A fascinating documentary on an early expedition to Borneo. We drink a few tigers at the hostel and go for a pizza for ease and air con. We call it a night and crash out at the dorm. The room is incredibly warm and no sign of the air con controller.