Borneo and KL

Flying with Malaysian Airlines I arrived with my husband, 2 adult sons and my sister into Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, Borneo) and stayed 4 nights, we took a boat trip out to the islands which are visible from the town (booked on the harbour). Definitely worth taking our snorkels as we encountered many species of coral and marine life, and two black tipped reef sharks made it even more exciting (if a little worrying). We hired a car and drove up to Mount Kinabalu national park, the scenery on the journey was spectacular and a four hour trek around the base was as much exercise as I could manage (I was glad I hadn’t booked the climb to the top).

We then took a short flight to Mulu national park which is just into Sarawak quite close to the Brunei boarder. Here we stayed at the National Park Headquarters in lodge type accommodation. There are many caves to visit (some of the largest in the world) and after trekking to these we got to sit outside at dusk and watch millions of bats leave on their daily hunting expeditions making amazing shapes in the evening sky. This region lived up to the ‘rainforest’ name and most days we had long downpours at some parts of the day and night. As the area was full of board-walked trails and hanging bridges the trekking was not too strenuous but certainly hot, damp and humid. We saw strange and exotic species of insects with a few birds, lizards and a lovely green snake for variety. As this area is only reached by river or by plane we really felt like we had experienced something special. On the flight to KL it was fascinating to see the rainforest and tropical islands from the air.

We had visited KL a few years previous but still were blown away by the Petronas twin towers. Here we had booked the Renaissance Hotel as I though a bit of 5* at the end of our adventure may be very welcome. It certainly was, and the outdoor pool on the 3rd floor was superb in the heat and humidity of the city. Traffic in KL can get grid-locked at rush hours or in the downpours so using the monorail really is the best policy. The night-markets are crazy but great fun and we came home loaded down with shoes, handbags and sunglasses (well my sister and I did).

Malaysia is a real mix of cultures and we found the people very welcoming and friendly. You can try such a variety of eating experiences with Chinese and Indian the most common. The people are very trustworthy as we found out when leaving our expensive camera at one café and returning 2 hours later to be re-united with it and the same with a backpack (we are a bit forgetful on holiday). If you like tropical islands, wildlife and snorkelling as well as diverse Eastern cultures then you must try Malaysia.