The mandatory itinerary stuff first:
KK -> BSB
BSB -> Miri
Miri -> Mulu -> Miri (That was a bit inefficient)
Miri -> Kuching (As there is a direct plane to Kuching from Miri)
So, Kota Kinabalu (KK) it was for the first stop in Malaysian Borneo as this was already set before entering the Philippines (the mandatory onward-ticket-out for the 21 days free visa). I really should learn from previous experiences but for some reason it just does not sink in... In case of international flights it might be better just to fly to major cities and then hop to smaller ones (although KK is not that small... It might be Borneo but you wouldn't say that...but I digress) then trying to make a nice continuous loop...It just does not work that way for flights.
Anyway, got into serious indecisive mode upon arrival... do or do not the mountain? go or go not to Sulawesi/Flores? Go to the east of Sabah? (Sandakan,...). The end result was that I basically didn't do anything at all in KK for 3 days... And KK is not exactly a city where you do not want to do anything for 3 days...Yes there were some activities (basically night markets and some - no offence intended - horrendous live performances...I am just not the biggest fan of Chinese-like poppy music, ie a drum-computer with some saccharine singing) in preparation for Chinese New Year but that was it.
So for the first time the end-of-the-trip syndrome kicked in, just because of boredom. Mind you, the mountain can be done economically if you skip the over night (100 Euros for a non-heated dorm on the mountain) but this is out of my fitness league. So after 3 days of pure nothingness I called it a day and took the 2 ferries-way to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB, Brunei) via the duty free island of Labuan... As, it is so close so why not include another country...sometimes logic is far off as obviously that country is much more painful for the wallet than any mountain.
No more motorbikes in this mini oil-sultanate (well, I did not see any), only cars that run on stuff cheaper than water ($0.3 or something for a liter of diesel). The stop at Labuan was not of a lot of use to me as you cannot bring in duty free cigarettes into Brunei...You can -as a tourist- bring in 2L of alcohol (and that is the only alcohol you will have in this rather devout country) but in theory no cheap cancer...well, I managed to sneak in 3 packs, on advice of a duty-free-shop-guy (who obviously still wanted to sell me stuff)... "If you open them you should be fine" Anyway, got them in.
As far as I know, there are 2 dorm-spots in BSB, but obviously (Chinese New Year) these were fully booked so had to take the cheapest private room at KH Soon rest house (23 Euros or something - very big rooms I have to say but that was it...but close to the bus station and above a travel agent). I did create a couch surfing account before I left... probably should have used it...but well, haven't yet.
Because any logic was gone by now (and because I felt I really really needed to do something) I checked out the tour thingys with the travel agent just below my place. Well, the girl at the tourist information was the sweetest ever but my spine started to shivver when she started: "only US $100 for this most popular (the one I was thinking to do - Ulu Temburong National Park: "the most pristine rainforest of the island") DAY-tour" "but B$175 (US$140 or so) if there are no other people" sigh - and there were not a lot of people here...although all the beds in the sleeping hall were fully booked. Long story short, I sucked it up and gave her the money, hoping I would get something back. And wouldn't you know, the next morning -when waiting for the first boat to kick off the tour - another guy shows up so our (not mine any more) guide told me I just had to go the office after the tourist stuff for my B$45 (or so).
Well, turns out that office is closed on Saturday afternoon, and already booked my bus ticket to Miri, Sarawak for the next morning (at the same travel agent).After the initial frustration about this B$45 refund, did not start to spam every travel site but send the agency (part of Borneo guide) a mail explaining my disappointment in that matter and wouldn't you know: the girl and her boss (I think) went to see me the following morning at the bus stop with their sincere apologies and the refund... made me feel all mushy inside... and an apology mail of Borneo guide as well... so could leave BSB with a good feeling. A yes, the day tour: well.. nice canopy walk (45m) and all but still not worth US$100, maybe $30-40 but not more.
During my stay in BSB I was also heavily involved in mail exchanges (next time I will bring some kind of mobile device with me as it gets very tiring to find internet café's... in all the countries the same thing: free wifi everywhere but if you want to use the lobby computer -assuming there is one, not always the case- you have to pay) with a guy in Mulu to negotiate prices to do the pinnacles track (met an Italian guy in Vietnam who told me about it and convinced me). Tha very long (and tiring) round of money talk...in the end I arranged everything with Mulu park headquarters. I so hate this advanced booking but I met other tourists who just went there but could not do their thing as there were no empty slots left.. The thing is: to get there you have to fly (boat should be possible but much longer and more expensive, afterwards I heard that you can do it overland as well but nobody exactly knows how to do it) so did not want to arrive in Mulu for nothing.
By now I had accepted the fact that Borneo is expensive (compared to the previous countries)...food is cheap (even in BSB) and good (gotta love Indian influence...mmm roti canai for breakfast), accommodation is doable (excluding Brunei, but you just get less for your Ringgit), transport is fine as well... but activities (and that is why you are here) will hurt your wallet...
So. The BSB-Miri bus (and border crossing) were straightforward, spent one night there and then with the smallest plane I was ever in: Mulu. Before I did anything at all I had already spent 200 Euro ++ (plane, the 3D2N pinnacle and some cave booking... they do love to list prices -especially in restaurants/food stalls- as "++", never sure how much it really is but food is still cheap so whatever).
Anyway. The cheapest deal (turns out you could do it cheaper...but by now I did not care any more) to do the pinnacly thing also meant you had to carry and to take care of your own food which meant: 3 (well, more like 2) days of instant salty noodles (yuck) and crackers with some chocolate. Well, in case you are interested: http://www.mulupark.com/htm/forest_activities/index.htm or http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303998-d2103294-Reviews-The_Pinnacles_Trail-Miri_Miri_District_Sarawak.html
They advertise it as "high adventure, high risk". In my opinion, they are not kidding. All I can say is that I am happy I made it back in one piece (more or less - only some black toes and some bruises and scratches). I felt the painnacles for more than 1 week and they had a major impact on the last part of this trip (basically I am already at day 77, at the last stop... should really update this blogging thing sooner but getting very lazy at it...so if you think it is all a bit chaotic, well... so do I!). Anyway, Mulu park really saved my Borneo experience and I recommend it to anyone who wants to visit Sarawak. Still a shame though I did not see the Bat-exodus at deer cave...tried twice but twice it started to rain around 5pm...no bugs during rainforest rain so no bats (should be quite spectacular though, 2-3 millions of bats flying out -what used to be the biggest cave until the one in Vietnam (Paradise cave) was discovered... but this one definitely looks bigger).
So after Mulu back to Miri, as the initial plan was to take a bus from Miri to Kuching. But I did not feel for a 16 hours bus ride (could hardly bend my knees upon return) so chose the lazy way by plane...(I should have flown from Mulu straight to Kuching but ticket was already booked). For the record: Air Asia is not by default cheap! Although it is perfectly fine to book a flight only 2-3 days in advance in the Philippines, this is not the case with Air Asia...you really should book 1-2 weeks in advance for a very economical ticket. So again, burnt some more money in Borneo and paid 80 Euro's to fly to Kuching with Malaysian Airways (Air Asia was already at 100 EUR ++).
On my last night in Miri had an unexpected (they always are) beer night with some folks who stayed at the same place...also that is not very cheap in Muslim Malaysia and the following night again in Kuching (hey, it was my existence celebration day). The latter one really hurt so no touristy things in Kuching for 2 days. On the last day I visited Bako national park (the mandatory thing to do when in Kuching)... guess it is better to stay at the park for a few days to really explore the park but I was running out of time...at least I saw the nose-monkey as up to that point I only saw some snakes and insects (spectacular ones though) on the island. As was the case for the flight to Kuching, had to book a flight with Malaysia as Air Asia was again ridiculously expensive...so again around 80 Euro's to get to...Singapore (well, yes...might as well include the other mini but super expensive state)
Because any logic was gone by now (and because I felt I really really needed to do something) I checked out the tour thingys with the travel agent just below my place. Well, the girl at the tourist information was the sweetest ever but my spine started to shivver when she started: "only US $100 for this most popular (the one I was thinking to do - Ulu Temburong National Park: "the most pristine rainforest of the island") DAY-tour" "but B$175 (US$140 or so) if there are no other people" sigh - and there were not a lot of people here...although all the beds in the sleeping hall were fully booked. Long story short, I sucked it up and gave her the money, hoping I would get something back. And wouldn't you know, the next morning -when waiting for the first boat to kick off the tour - another guy shows up so our (not mine any more) guide told me I just had to go the office after the tourist stuff for my B$45 (or so).
Well, turns out that office is closed on Saturday afternoon, and already booked my bus ticket to Miri, Sarawak for the next morning (at the same travel agent).After the initial frustration about this B$45 refund, did not start to spam every travel site but send the agency (part of Borneo guide) a mail explaining my disappointment in that matter and wouldn't you know: the girl and her boss (I think) went to see me the following morning at the bus stop with their sincere apologies and the refund... made me feel all mushy inside... and an apology mail of Borneo guide as well... so could leave BSB with a good feeling. A yes, the day tour: well.. nice canopy walk (45m) and all but still not worth US$100, maybe $30-40 but not more.
During my stay in BSB I was also heavily involved in mail exchanges (next time I will bring some kind of mobile device with me as it gets very tiring to find internet café's... in all the countries the same thing: free wifi everywhere but if you want to use the lobby computer -assuming there is one, not always the case- you have to pay) with a guy in Mulu to negotiate prices to do the pinnacles track (met an Italian guy in Vietnam who told me about it and convinced me). Tha very long (and tiring) round of money talk...in the end I arranged everything with Mulu park headquarters. I so hate this advanced booking but I met other tourists who just went there but could not do their thing as there were no empty slots left.. The thing is: to get there you have to fly (boat should be possible but much longer and more expensive, afterwards I heard that you can do it overland as well but nobody exactly knows how to do it) so did not want to arrive in Mulu for nothing.
By now I had accepted the fact that Borneo is expensive (compared to the previous countries)...food is cheap (even in BSB) and good (gotta love Indian influence...mmm roti canai for breakfast), accommodation is doable (excluding Brunei, but you just get less for your Ringgit), transport is fine as well... but activities (and that is why you are here) will hurt your wallet...
So. The BSB-Miri bus (and border crossing) were straightforward, spent one night there and then with the smallest plane I was ever in: Mulu. Before I did anything at all I had already spent 200 Euro ++ (plane, the 3D2N pinnacle and some cave booking... they do love to list prices -especially in restaurants/food stalls- as "++", never sure how much it really is but food is still cheap so whatever).
Anyway. The cheapest deal (turns out you could do it cheaper...but by now I did not care any more) to do the pinnacly thing also meant you had to carry and to take care of your own food which meant: 3 (well, more like 2) days of instant salty noodles (yuck) and crackers with some chocolate. Well, in case you are interested: http://www.mulupark.com/htm/forest_activities/index.htm or http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303998-d2103294-Reviews-The_Pinnacles_Trail-Miri_Miri_District_Sarawak.html
They advertise it as "high adventure, high risk". In my opinion, they are not kidding. All I can say is that I am happy I made it back in one piece (more or less - only some black toes and some bruises and scratches). I felt the painnacles for more than 1 week and they had a major impact on the last part of this trip (basically I am already at day 77, at the last stop... should really update this blogging thing sooner but getting very lazy at it...so if you think it is all a bit chaotic, well... so do I!). Anyway, Mulu park really saved my Borneo experience and I recommend it to anyone who wants to visit Sarawak. Still a shame though I did not see the Bat-exodus at deer cave...tried twice but twice it started to rain around 5pm...no bugs during rainforest rain so no bats (should be quite spectacular though, 2-3 millions of bats flying out -what used to be the biggest cave until the one in Vietnam (Paradise cave) was discovered... but this one definitely looks bigger).
So after Mulu back to Miri, as the initial plan was to take a bus from Miri to Kuching. But I did not feel for a 16 hours bus ride (could hardly bend my knees upon return) so chose the lazy way by plane...(I should have flown from Mulu straight to Kuching but ticket was already booked). For the record: Air Asia is not by default cheap! Although it is perfectly fine to book a flight only 2-3 days in advance in the Philippines, this is not the case with Air Asia...you really should book 1-2 weeks in advance for a very economical ticket. So again, burnt some more money in Borneo and paid 80 Euro's to fly to Kuching with Malaysian Airways (Air Asia was already at 100 EUR ++).
On my last night in Miri had an unexpected (they always are) beer night with some folks who stayed at the same place...also that is not very cheap in Muslim Malaysia and the following night again in Kuching (hey, it was my existence celebration day). The latter one really hurt so no touristy things in Kuching for 2 days. On the last day I visited Bako national park (the mandatory thing to do when in Kuching)... guess it is better to stay at the park for a few days to really explore the park but I was running out of time...at least I saw the nose-monkey as up to that point I only saw some snakes and insects (spectacular ones though) on the island. As was the case for the flight to Kuching, had to book a flight with Malaysia as Air Asia was again ridiculously expensive...so again around 80 Euro's to get to...Singapore (well, yes...might as well include the other mini but super expensive state)
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