I have now been on the island of Borneo for three FANTASTIC days! For those of you who do not know where or what Borneo is, let me explain. Malaysia is split into two parts, the most known part is west Malaysia, containing Kuala Lumpur it is the southern peninsular running due south of Thailand. But there is another part to Malaysia, a much more back to basics, where tribal customs are alive and well. This is the eastern peninsula of Malaysia and it makes up a large portion of the island Borneo. Borneo itself contains three different countries. On its' west 
coast is eastern Malaysia, with the small Islamic country of Brunei, consisting of 380,000 people- and absolutely no alcohol-, wedged into the middle of the coastline separating the two Malaysian states, Saba (north), and Sarawak (south). Then the east and southern most regions of Borneo is Indonesian. So Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia all come together in peace to make up this beautiful island full of wildlife, rolling hills, steep mountains, and tribesman. It really is getting back to nature here!
coast is eastern Malaysia, with the small Islamic country of Brunei, consisting of 380,000 people- and absolutely no alcohol-, wedged into the middle of the coastline separating the two Malaysian states, Saba (north), and Sarawak (south). Then the east and southern most regions of Borneo is Indonesian. So Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia all come together in peace to make up this beautiful island full of wildlife, rolling hills, steep mountains, and tribesman. It really is getting back to nature here!BAKO NATIONAL PARK
I flew here from JB and landed in Kutching. This is a little city/town consisting of a strong Chinese population sitting in the most southern part of Malaysia in Borneo. From here, I will work my way north. But first, I went East, to the shore!! As there is not much happening in Kutching I wanted to get out and start seeing the real Borneo. I went to the National Park, Bako, to get started. I met 2, and then 2 more, friends in my Kutching hostel the night before found out that we were all going to Bako the next day. We were able to share a boat ride out to the National Park together and split the cost :) It is not an island, but a peninsula and a 30 min. boat ride is required to get past the mangrove, crocodile infested waters. At the end of this trip you step out of 
the boat onto a pretty beach with a mountain across the water in the background view as you look out into the open ocean. The 5 of us were feeling so lucky to be here it was surreal and exciting as hell. 3 of us rented a room together for the 
night, while the other 2 were just planning on doing a day trip. The three that stayed were myself, Franc (Dutch, 67) and Alena (Cheq, 34). The two who spent the day with us were Anita (Taiwan, mid-20's) and Michelle (Scottish, 26). We met back up with them the next night once back in Kutching. The 5 of us had a blast that first day. We went on a 6 hour hike 
around the park, stopping for the view points and beaches. The wildlife highlight of the day had to be seeing the wild monkeys swing from tree to tree all around us. We didn't see much else in terms of wildlife on this first day. We were exhausted by the end of those 6 hours hiking in the blazing sun and awful heat! We finished up our hike around 5 and had refreshing drinks at the 'cafe' (much more of a porch with a few drinks being 
sold out of a fridge). Here we watched the local monkeys literally steel junk food! No, they didn't want 
any one's healthy food, no fruit and veg for them. But instead they used their honed skills to grab bags of cookies and chips, as well as cans 
of soda, right off of people's tables only 2 feet from our faces.
the boat onto a pretty beach with a mountain across the water in the background view as you look out into the open ocean. The 5 of us were feeling so lucky to be here it was surreal and exciting as hell. 3 of us rented a room together for the 
night, while the other 2 were just planning on doing a day trip. The three that stayed were myself, Franc (Dutch, 67) and Alena (Cheq, 34). The two who spent the day with us were Anita (Taiwan, mid-20's) and Michelle (Scottish, 26). We met back up with them the next night once back in Kutching. The 5 of us had a blast that first day. We went on a 6 hour hike 
around the park, stopping for the view points and beaches. The wildlife highlight of the day had to be seeing the wild monkeys swing from tree to tree all around us. We didn't see much else in terms of wildlife on this first day. We were exhausted by the end of those 6 hours hiking in the blazing sun and awful heat! We finished up our hike around 5 and had refreshing drinks at the 'cafe' (much more of a porch with a few drinks being 
sold out of a fridge). Here we watched the local monkeys literally steel junk food! No, they didn't want 
any one's healthy food, no fruit and veg for them. But instead they used their honed skills to grab bags of cookies and chips, as well as cans 
of soda, right off of people's tables only 2 feet from our faces. Our two day companions had to leave to catch their boat back to the mainland where they could then catch their hour long bus ride back into Kutching. The three of us remaining were planning on going on a guided night walk. But as we waved the other two goodbye, took our much needed showers and ate some dinner, exhaustion hit us with full force and we decided to trade the night walk in for a few drinks of whiskey sitting casually on the cafe porch and sharing travel stories. As we found out later by another who went on the walk, we did not miss anything. YES! They didn't see a single nocturnal animal on the nightwalk. We sipped 
our whiskey and watched a fantastic lightning storm that went on for hours! A much better choice :) Somewhere in the middle of the storm, inspiration set in and we found the strength to get up from our table where we had set up camp since dinner and walk out to the beach where I was able to capture some amazing images of the lightning storm! I particularly like this one, on the right, of 
Heaven, Earth, and Hell! We still turned in early and listening to the sounds of jungle, we all three fell into deep and peaceful sleeps!
our whiskey and watched a fantastic lightning storm that went on for hours! A much better choice :) Somewhere in the middle of the storm, inspiration set in and we found the strength to get up from our table where we had set up camp since dinner and walk out to the beach where I was able to capture some amazing images of the lightning storm! I particularly like this one, on the right, of 
Heaven, Earth, and Hell! We still turned in early and listening to the sounds of jungle, we all three fell into deep and peaceful sleeps!There had been talk of waking early in the morning to do some Tai Chi or
Yoga, but this, like the nightwalk, never happened. We slept in, woke up to wild boars grazing outside our door, had a relaxing breakfast and then took off for an easier day of hiking; which really just took us to a beach where 
we went for a wonderful swim before returning to the jetty. We did see some cool wildlife on this shorter hike though. We saw the much more rare Probiscus Monkeys, and iguana, snakes, crabs, lizards, butterflies, and a scorpion! We caught our boat and bus ride back to Kutching, met up with our 2 companions from the previous day, 
added in some new friends of 
theirs and went for a massive meal!
Yoga, but this, like the nightwalk, never happened. We slept in, woke up to wild boars grazing outside our door, had a relaxing breakfast and then took off for an easier day of hiking; which really just took us to a beach where 
we went for a wonderful swim before returning to the jetty. We did see some cool wildlife on this shorter hike though. We saw the much more rare Probiscus Monkeys, and iguana, snakes, crabs, lizards, butterflies, and a scorpion! We caught our boat and bus ride back to Kutching, met up with our 2 companions from the previous day, 
added in some new friends of 
theirs and went for a massive meal!
Oh did we eat! For 17MYR (about US$4.80) we had an all you can eat buffet, Chinese style. Where you select your food raw, and take it back to your table where you cook it on an open fire, kind of like fondue. This buffet was complete with ice cream for dessert. You don't even want to know what it looks like when 8 backpackers can eat as much as they want for that price. Nor can you imagine how many times we went back for ice cream after already eating huge dinners. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But needless to say, we have bottomless pits for stomachs. Tomorrow, Michelle, Alena, and I will move inland and start to see the rainforests and tribesman of Borneo!
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