Borneo and the FINAL bus

After 8 long and crazy months and literally hundreds and hundreds of hours spent on rickety old rust bucket busses cruising along pot-holed dirt roads with suspension made of granite, it is time to say goodbye to the spine crunching machines. And if there is one thing I have learnt on this epic journey, it is that I will not miss those busses. Ever.

And of course, my final stop on the world third largest island of Borneo did not disappoint. We waited for a total of 5 hours in 40° heat while our reserved bus from Sepilok to Kinabalu flailed past us in a puff of smoke with a customary friendly wave from the driver. What a nice guy! Fortunately, when the busses did eventually arrive, they always seemed to take me somewhere breathtaking. Borneo is that kind of place - full of the text-book creating biodiversity - making every step a lesson in nature and making the observer ever more aware of the inspiring complexity of our incredible planet and ultimately its vulnerability and fragility. Borneo is a biological masterpiece, always known as the exotic lands where strange and wonderful creatures live. And this is still the case - the only change is that human life is gradually taking over. Everywhere you look are endless palm plantations, growing slowly to line the pockets of the wealthy (palm) oil men. Nevertheless, there are plenty of reserves and good causes out there designed to keep a piece of this eden for future generations - and since it is still here, Im glad have come to see and will no doubt come again in the future.

A close encounter with our friends of the forest was how I started it off. Orang-utan literally translates from Malay to "Man of the Forest" and nothing could be more appropriate. For me, its their eyes. The eyes tell a lot about a creature and the Orang-utan has wise eyes - smartened and saddened from experience and knowledge. They are smart like us, they are mischevious like us, they play like us, and if you look at some of my friends, they even look like us. A truly inspirational experience seeing them swing about with no cares and no restraints - lets just hope it stays like that. Since the Sepilok sanctuary is someway out of any urban area, I stayed in a delightful place quite literally IN the jungle. The dorm room's walls are 50% wood, 50% mosquito net - in the morning the sun streams straight through the 'wall' into your eyes. The food was amazing, the vibe was chilled and Paganakan Dii gets my vote for the coolest place (out of over 85 different ones) places I have stayed in on this trip!

It wouldn't be much of a biological paradise if it contained only the Orang-utan. So, in search of more bio-diversity delight, I headed to the Kinabatangan River for a jungle adventure. Once you eventually find the true jungle in Borneo, wow, you are certainly in it. An all-encompassing experience that gets you right up close and personal with nature at its most creative. At times I wished I was a National Geographic photographer, with giant lens and the know-how to take stunning photos. But I made do with my own equipment, lots of out of focus shots and some patience… not to mention the litres of bug spray. On a whim of sorts, I decided to stay the night, being completely ill prepared I still enjoyed it and, well, I am still alive. I ventured into the night jungle walk in shorts, socks borrowed from a girl and a pair of stolen Wellies - while others where decked in longs, anti-leech socks, fancy boots and head torches. It was a decision well made in the end, the bits and pieces we saw were amazing - hopefully some of the pictures start to bring the idea across.

And, after a brief but wonderful time in the deep jungle, it was on to Sabah's other great treasure - Mt Kinabalu. What better to end an epic round the world trip than a trek to the top of the world (well, the SE Asian world at least)? Seemed a good idea at the time, and seems a good idea now, but I assure it didn't seem it on the climb itself! It's the most accessible high mountain climb in the world, going from start point at 1500m to 4100m at the summit with no mountain climbing skills required. But don't let that fool you - it was tough, and then some! A night spent at the summit base camp (app. 3600m) and seeing the sun set from a kilometer above the cloud level made it suddenly worthwhile. Even a 2.30am start the next day, followed by a 3 hour summit climb in the dark couldn't take anything away from the view and the feeling of accomplishment and awe being at the peak for sunrise. A humbling experience and, as I thought, a perfect way to end my travels. Thanks to the Irish boys for letting me tag along, and help share some of the pain!

I don't want this blog entry to understate the sheer beauty of Borneo. It is truly staggering and is one of very few places I have been that have got the "Ill be back" sticker in my journal. I cant wait until the day I return, to see the turtles, to hunt for photos of wild orangutans, to try the white water rafting and to visit all the paradise islands. Until that day, Ill make do with the photos and the memories that I have.

And there it was, besides a rest day on the beach in Kota Kinabalu, and some long and wonderful chats with Nadia, that was it for SE Asia. I came, I saw, I stumbled and ultimately, I conquered. Thank you to all the smiling faces, the cheats, the new friends, the old friends, the beach sand, the bicycle repair shops, the rice, the tuk-tuks, the sunsets, the endless supply of buckets, the mozzies, the chang/beerlao/hanoi/saigon/angkor/tiger, the sweat, the photos and all the wonderful, irrevocable memories.