Day 120 – 130: Penang and Bangkok

We finally dragged ourselves away from Vincent’s Hostel in KK and got the early flight to Penang. We didn’t really have any plans for Penang, just that it was the most northern destination Air Asia fly to from KK and we knew we had to meet up with Adam in Bangkok. We didn’t venture too far around the island (the beaches aren’t anything special compared to what we have been treated to) and so just explored Georgetown for a couple of days and ate lots of excellent curry; there are loads of Indians in Penang and every other restaurant sells very tasty tandoori and naan.

We had a couple of days to kill before we were due in Bangkok. With not enough time to do Southern Thailand justice, especially as we would want to get out to the islands, we thought we might go to Kanchanaburi to see the bridge over the river Kwai. But then Adam thought that would be cool to see too when he gets here so we just went straight to Bangkok instead (although when it came to it, we did not have time to do it while Adam is here so we might have to fit it in later, anyway). Overnight trains are now our new preferred mode of transport – much more relaxing than the bus; you get loads of room, can wander about, take a pack lunch (chicken rice) and then in the evening a guy comes around and turns you seat into a bed and you can sleep for most of the journey ). Easiest 20 hours travelling we have ever done – especially when you have season 1 of Heroes loaded onto your Zen…

Our first two nights in Bankgok we stayed in a guesthouse downtown and went to Chatachuk Market with Im (my Thai friend from Newcastle Uni). It was nice to see her again and the market is indescribably enormous and a lot more upmarket than we were expecting – it certainly wasn’t a local craft market. We managed to pick up a few thing and had some excellent food (which we would never have know what it was if it weren’t for Im).

The next couple of days was a little treat we had booked for ourselves a little while ago (when we were feeling a bit tired and homesick). 2 nights in a nice 4* boutique hotel, the Siam heritage. 4* hotels aren’t all that exciting – it is still a bed and bathroom but when you have spent two months camping, then two months in hostels and budget guesthouses, then a nice hotel is absolute luxury (at them moment hot water is a luxury so we are easily pleased). Gem got her hair done, but apart from that, we spent two days relaxing by the pool and hardly left the building (and of course taking full advantage of their excellent buffet breakfast.

It was quite amusing for the taxi driver to take us from here to our hostel in the cheaper part of town… (a little note on Bangkok taxi drivers – it usually takes 4 attempts to catch one, the first guy wanted to charge us 400 baht, the second, a tuk-tuk, wanted 200, the third refused to take us and told us to get a boat; when we finally got a taxi to turn his meter on it only cost us 80 baht including tip – bloody con-merchants the lot of them (and don’t get me started on the official tourist office of Thailand!!))

Day 109 – 119: All around Sabah

We spent a couple more days than intended in Kota Kinabalu – we were staying in a nice, relaxed hostel, with some other cool people (a couple of Irish girls and an English lad who had also just arrived in Borneo). It was also a bank holiday weekend so places were pretty full up. We were also a bit lazy and let the guy who ran the hostel sort out all our bookings for us – he was pretty clued in but was enjoying his bank holiday weekend a bit much…

Any way, we spent a few days in KK; relaxing (and drinking) in the hostel; we went to the Harvest festival – traditional costumes, food, rice wine…; and then on Sunday went on a day trip down to the Padas river for some white water rafting. They drove us down to the river and then we did the last leg of the journey on a bizarre train-carriage type contraption; basically a palate on wheels, pushed by a local with a pole (this was a lot of fun). They weren’t the most adrenaline packed rapids, but it was a fun day nonetheless – we spent a suitable amount of time in the water but this was mainly self inflicted (the quieter stretches turned more into games of pirate ships than rafting).

Another day off on Monday and then on Tuesday, we started our trip proper for Borneo. We got the bus over to Sepilok, just outside Sandakan and spent the night at Sepilok Jungle Resort – a pretty basic place but it was right next to the Orang Utan rehabilitation centre. We went into the centre that afternoon for the feeding time – they feed semi-wild orang utans that they are trying to rehabilitate to fend for themselves, it is all very zoo-like but you do get a chance to see these lovely animals close up.

The next morning we went down to the Kinabatangan Nature Lodge for a three day/two night trip in the jungle. We had been booked into Uncle Tan’s, which is in all the guide books, but by all accounts the accommodation is a bit dodgy, so had to cancel that. Any way, while there we were taken on evening and early morning boat cruises to see all the primates in the trees by the river (macaques, probiscus monkeys and even wild orang utans) and even some pretty big crocs. We also went on some walks into the jungle (very muddy with some naughty leeches) which were pretty cool but didn’t see as much wildlife – this was not helped by the fact that our guide for the first night walk was blind drunk, had two flashlights that didn’t work, got lost and nearly lost an eye by walking into a tree!!!!

While there we also went out to the Gomantong caves. While this was quite impressive (apart from the bat poo and cockroaches, all over the floor which was very smelly and slippy) , it also summed up alot of what we have come across so far with Asian tourism (well Malaysia and Philippines anyway). It wasn’t cheap to get in and they had opened up a whole cave system, but the paths and walkways were so badly maintained as to be impassible and we could only get into the first cave. We came away feeling slightly underwhelmed.

From there we went down to Semporna. This was not the nicest bus ride we have taken – the driver was nice enough to stop for us but told us if we wanted to get on, we would have to sit in the isle as there were no seats. It was either this or wait 4 hours for the afternoon bus, with no guarantee of a seat, so we sat, instead for 4 hours on the hard floor of a rather bumpy bus – I say we, but some nice man from Afghanistanm was kind enough to give up his seat for Gemma for a couple of those hours. My arse was literally sore for days…

But it was worth it. Semporna itself is a total dump (sometimes nicknamed Kabul), but it is the launch point for Sipidan, where you find some of the best diving conditions in the world. You are no longer alowed to stay on the island of Sipidan as they have turned it into a conservation site. The only people who stay there are the army coast guards who are there to protect tourists from Filipino pirates!

We only spent one full day there – the diving is pretty expensive but it would have been rude not to do at least some – and it was amazing. We did three dives in the day and lost count of the number of giant turtles we saw. It is a unique place to dive because it is an oceanic island so the coral shelf drops hundreds of metres to the sea-bed. Not only turtles, there are also loads of cool fish and sharks – although we were not keen to get too close to the grey reef shark after our divemaster made a sign signifying biting neck!!!!

Not wanting to hang around Semporna for too long, we have now come back up to KK and plan to relax for a bit before we fly off to Penang on Tuesday. It has been raining quite alot here the past couple of days so I don’t think we are going to do too much more exciting things; think we have done quite enough for one week…