Back in the city of cats- There are cat sculptures, artworks and everything cat related- even a museum- although we didn't see many of the actual furry versions in the flesh. This is the third time we've rested our weary limbs in Kuching so a chance to kick back and relax rather than pursuing more intrepid exploration. Although not generally a Starbucks girl- did find it a nice cosy spot to while away the odd half-hour and rest from the tropical heat.

Another travel day today. We'd decided not to head for the caves in Miri, instead we opted for a longer bus journey back to Kuching in Sarawak, so a good chance to try and catch up with the blog.

Here we are in Sabah Borneo We've had a great few days exploring the environs of the Kinabalu National park. Having hired a motorbike for four days to take us there and back we were able to ride between the park stations and see the different aspects of the park. We'd found a room in a hotel close to the park entrance which gave us amazing views of the surrounding area, and pitched ourselves there for the duration. Our first full day found us scaling paths cris...

Sandakan is famous for the Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary about half an hour outside the town. The first orangutan sanctuary in the world, the centre rehabilitates orphaned orang-utans and those rescued from captivity, before ultimately aiming to release them to the wild. Orangutans naturally spend a lot of developmental years with their mother learning how to survive in the wilder wider world. As the young orphans miss out on this mothering the centre staff have ...

Kota Kinabalu on the north coast of Sabah in Malaysia is often a gateway for travellers heading off to climb the famous Mt Kinabalu. We'd already decided that the three-day trek to the summit was something we were happy to miss. The town initially appeared more run down than we'd expected. Lots of residents appear to live in dirty conditions in tenement style dwellings between the various hotels. We'd noticed on the town map that there were a large number of ma...