Last day in Borneo

Hi all for the last time in Borneo,

We finally got to sleep about 2.30am last night. At 5am we were woken by the call to prayer but thankfully we then slept again until 9. We had breakfast and then set off to the Kota Kinabalu ferry terminal. 

Here we bought tickets to two islands in the Taman Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. We hopped on a little boat and were first taken to Sapi Island. The weather was bright and beautiful and made the water look gorgeous. We enjoyed a swim and saw some cool fish before going for a quick walk. It was cool and relaxing having a swim. Our trip has been pretty busy so it was nice to unwind a bit for the day. 

At 1pm we boarded our next boat and headed to Manukan Island. Bigger than Sapi, the beach was more spread out so we liked this beach a bit better as we had more space. Again we went for a bit of a walk, and we even saw some remnants from World War II on the main walkway as well as a water monitor. Then we saw a family from Melbourne who we’ve basically followed the whole trip. They were on my flight over from Melbourne and have been at every place we stayed except Kinabatangan River - hilarious!

We enjoyed a nice view of Kota Kinabalu before heading back to the pier for our boat back. The two trips prior to this had been pretty easy, but this part was confusing. An approaching thunderstorm was looming so lots of people were trying to board boats. We eventually found which one was ours and had a much rougher ride back to KK due to the wind picking up. We were treated to a thunder and lightning show too! As we arrived, the sky was so dark grey we thought it would pour. But luckily it didn’t rain on our walk back to the hotel. We really enjoyed the islands, but we enjoyed Brunei better yesterday as there were no tourists. Today was much busier everywhere!

Now we we are in our room freshening up and beginning to pack. Tonight we are planning on having one last dinner together before hopefully getting an early night. We have to wake at 2am for our 5.35am flight to Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur - yuck!!

We have had such a fantastic time here in Borneo. I would strongly recommend coming here soon if you are interested, because unfortunately the attitude of many people in the world is that our planet’s resources are disposable, and due to that, many of the experiences we had here probably won’t be there to be experienced one day soon. We have seen and done so many incredible things on this trip and even though I was already environmentally aware, it has opened my eyes even more so to the little things we can all do to help the environment/planet and subsequently all the other living things that call it home. Tiny little things can make a huge difference. Even today when we had an ice cream on our walk back, I decided from now on I will always get a cone instead of a cup to save the waste. I’m also going to research thoroughly when I get home which brands at home use sustainable palm oil. We need to save the orangutans and their habitat!!

I’ve really appreciated learning about Australia’s war history here, and the challenge of climbing Mt Kinabalu was huge but also hugely rewarding. I’ve loved being here with Mum and making some more memories together as well. Brunei was a spur of the moment great trip too. 

Thank you as always for reading along, I look forward to blogging again on my trip to the USA and Caribbean in December/January!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Day trip to Brunei

Hi everyone,

Last night we had our final dinner with the tour group. The sunset walking to the restaurant was magnificent, but unfortunately the service at the restaurant was quite the contrary. Our meals took hours, mine wasn’t very nice, and then they tried to make Mum and I pay for three extra drinks. Alas, we still had a good time. Ned even treated us to him singing some karaoke (he was really good!) and then they got Stacey up on stage because it was her birthday. The poor thing was made to drink beer from a funnel, but then they brought her a cake too. 

Then we headed home to bed. Up at 5am, we met Sue from our tour in reception at 5.20 and the three of us got a taxi together to the airport to head to Brunei. Sue was on a Royal Brunei flight, and we were on the earlier Air Asia flight. 

Why Brunei? Why not! You know us - we love a good “off the beaten path” adventure. The less we know about a place, the more exciting the adventure becomes. We heard Sue saying she was going to Brunei for a few days, and when we realised the flights were cheap we couldn’t resist a sneaky day trip. The flight time is shorter than Melbourne to Adelaide (25 minutes - the seatbelt sign went off and five minutes later they announced we were beginning our descent!) so you can visit in one day and check out the capital pretty easily. 

We have been pleasantly surprised with Air Asia this trip. Both our flights have been on time, and today we even had a whole row to ourselves!

On arrival we purchased our visas, the process was much easier than what was detailed online and they were only $20 each. We did get asked a few times “just one day?” which I think must be a bit of a weird concept to people here. 

We caught the bus into Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei Darussalam (the country’s full name - meaning “Brunei, the abode of peace”). After a quick stop at the tourist information centre to get s map and avoid a morning rain shower, we set off on the heritage trail walk. We found out that around 500,000 people live in Brunei and around 80,000 of them reside in Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB). Formerly known as Bandar Brunei, BSB had its name changed by the sultan in 1970 in honour of his father. The sultan’s family have been in power here over the last 600 years, but during this time the country has experienced a civil war and was also under British control for a time. During World War II, Japan occupied Brunei until the Australians liberated Brunei in 1945. In 1984 Brunei gained its independence from the UK, but then joined the commonwealth so still share a close tie with them. 

As we set off on our walk we looked at the waterfront where we could see the sultan’s palace. Supposedly it has 1800 rooms (including around 250 bathrooms - I struggle enough keeping one clean!!) and is the largest palace in the world. Brunei is an extremely wealthy country due to its plentiful oil supply. Thankfully this means the jungle here is relatively untouched, and it also means that everything here is mostly beautiful, clean and well maintained.

As we approached the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque there were heaps of gardeners maintaining the nearby gardens. They were immaculate and lovely. We walked over to and entered the mosque. Built in 1958, it’s named after the current sultan’s father and was built during his reign. It’s BSB’s most famous landmark and is topped with a pure gold dome, and also has a boat out the front commemorating the 1400th anniversary of the Qu’ran. The inside of the mosque was very beautiful, but we had to wear a cloak and a head scarf so we got hot very quickly. 

Once outside, we could hear music. We asked the guard at the mosque what it was, and he said it was practice for the sultan’s birthday next Monday 15th July. We wandered over to the field where it was taking place and were able to sit in a grandstand and watch, listen to and enjoy the performance.  Turns out this is where independence of Brunei was proclaimed on January 1st, 1984. The band were excellent and we really enjoyed the precision with which the military sections of the parade marched. About 1/3 of them were women too which was awesome. They even played “happy birthday” and gave three cheers! I was proud of myself too as I had correctly guessed that the “73” signs all over the place were about the sultan turning 73. 

After seeing the monument for the name change of the city, we then headed to the Brunei History Centre. Here we read about documents pertaining to Brunei ceding part of its territory to Sarawak, the other state of Malaysia on Borneo in return for providing military support. For this reason, Brunei is actually split into two parts and is like a Sarawak sandwich with a bit of Malaysia wedged in between!

We also saw a stone tablet replica detailing the history of the kings here, as well as reading about how Brunei was a strategic stopping point for many making journeys across the world to China and other places nearby, and about Brunei’s constitution. 

Next we headed to the Royal Regalia Museum, which like everything else in Brunei was free to visit. Because the country is so rich, all the tourist attractions here are free to enjoy which is amazing. They’re so well maintained and presented too. 

While most things were closed in the middle of the day for prayers, the museum remained open and we spent a great 1.5 hours learning about the sultan. He seems like a very personable leader, who involves himself in sport, starting new community programs and has helped the country mostly progress during his so far 52 year reign. He has, however, made headlines this year for further enforcing sharia law here and controversially tightening the rules in April of this year. 

We saw a chariot, weaponry and many gifts from leaders of other countries. We even saw John Howard’s signature on the APEC summit plaque commemorating the summit held here in the year 2000. Apparently Brunei is a tax free country, and sometimes the sultan even deposits money into everyone in the country’s bank accounts! It’s also reported that he himself owns over 7000 cars (whaaaat!) and is one of the richest men in the world. 

Then we continued through the streets until we reached a shopping mall and had some yummy noodles and rice for lunch as well as some watermelon. 

Next on the agenda was a trip across the river to Kampong Ayer, the world’s biggest water village on stilts made up of 42 villages joined together by wooden walkways. It has been inhabited for over 1000 years and is the “original Brunei”. The walkways freaked us out as there were no railings. I’ve no idea how people with small children living here ever let them out of their sight!! 

Getting across the river was easy and cheap. For $1 per person we were whizzed across to the tourist centre where we climbed an observation for a great view of the area. I noticed the contrast here of the dilapidated water village houses with the sultan’s lavish palace in the background. We spent about an hour walking around. Despite being on stilts, the water villages had many amenities that “regular” towns have - we saw a fire station, a police station, a mosque and a school. Apparently there is even a petrol station! As well, we saw prawn crackers being made and some very colourful houses. The only downside was seeing lots of plastic rubbish in the river which broke my heart a little bit. I hope it goes nowhere near the turtles...

At this point the sun had come out from behind the clouds and we ran out of water. Luckily for us, men in boats approached every now and then touting a ride back to BSB. We paid $2 each for a scenic journey past the relatively new RIPAHS bridge, named after the sultan’s wife, and then back to the main jetty. 

From here we caught a bus to the Jame Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque, the largest one in Brunei in terms of capacity which can hold up to 4500 worshippers at a time. We had missed the cutoff for going in completely, but we took in the beautiful exterior of the mosque and had a peak inside. There are 29 golden domes to commemorate the fact that the current sultan is the 29th sultan, and we had a laugh at the private escalator the sultan uses to get into the mosque. 

We then walked over to a market the tourist information had recommended, but it was pretty disappointing as it was full of food that had been sitting in their heat for goodness knows how long. At this point the buses had stopped running without us realising, but we had a case of “right place, right time”. A lady who was a passenger in a ride share called us over and told us to hop in as no buses were coming. Her driver drove us into the city for $2 each. His name was Dave and we chatted for most of the ride. 

Our last couple of hours here were spent enjoying an iced coffee, then a very cheap and yummy dinner. We had one last wander around the mosque and gardens at night enjoying the lights and the beautifully eerie call to prayer. I find it really depends on the person calling, and the guy tonight was good. After that it was time to go, and Dave the ride share driver from earlier picked us up and drove us to the airport (for half the price of a taxi) for our 12.30am flight back to Kota Kinabalu with Royal Brunei. We were the last flight out for the night. The positive we got the emergency exit row, the negative was the queue for immigration took twice as long as the flight!!

It’s been a big day. I’ve done 31,000 steps and have now been awake for 21 hours, but it’s definitely been worth it. I’m so glad we visited and learned so much about Brunei. The streets are very well pedestrianised and clean, everything is well maintained, and it was super quiet with plenty to do at the same time. Not one person all day was rude to us. In fact, people smiled and waved at us, asked where we were from, shook our hands and thanked us for visiting. But now I’m off to bed - it’s 2am!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Sandakan Memorial Park

Hello all,

After a good sleep last night, we felt refreshed and enjoyed breakfast this morning at our resort as well as a walk along the boardwalks. It was beautiful with the lake and jungle right there. 

Then we boarded our bus and stopped at the Sandakan Memorial Park. Formerly a British experimental farm on which crops were grown, this was the site of the Sandakan POW camp, the starting point of the death marches, and it is now looked after by the RSL and the Australian government - very well I should add. The park was very clean and well organised, with free wifi in the info centre so you could download an app the Australian government have made containing information, photos and interviews with survivors of the death marches. It was very emotive but extremely worthwhile downloading and visiting the park. 

The park is near/on the way to the airport because it is right near where the Japanese had the POWs constructing an airstrip. Throughout our walk we saw an old excavator and a boiler, and we learned of the little acts of sabotage many POWs committed to slow down the progress at the camp, such as filling the excavator with sand so that it stopped working, but pretending for weeks that it could be fixed. 

Then we entered a small building with information and displays, and followed a path past it to the memorial where services are held every Anzac Day. This memorial is on the site of the “big tree” and was part of the Australian section of the camp. The tree was huge, and survivors of the death march said it was a symbol of strength and resilience to those at the camp because it always stood tall even in terrible weather and conditions. While in the past it was surrounded by the different areas of the camp, aside from the memorial park it is now surrounded by housing blocks. 

As I mentioned the day we visited Kundasang War Memorial, due to the incoming threat of the encroaching allies, the Japanese decided to move all “healthy” POWs. Their intention was to move them to Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) and they got the local people to construct a path through the jungle that would be the death march route. The locals didn’t want to help the Japanese, and not knowing what the path was intended to be used for, they made it quite rough. The Japanese then set fire to the POW camp on 29th May 1945. Those unable to march were left behind to die. 

There were little acts of defiance by the Australians all the way through. Upon arriving at the camp, the camp commander Hoshijima gathered the prisoners and said the lieutenant needed to sign a contract saying they now served the Japanese army, no one would escape and that the soldiers would shoot anyone trying to escape. The lieutenant refused to sign on behalf of all the soldiers and instead, all soldiers were made to sign for themselves. Apparently there were many “Ned Kelly”, “Don Bradman” and “Bob Menzies” signatures. As well, an underground group had parts sent in to build a radio so they could listen to the BBC news and relay it to other prisoners. Eventually they were caught and some of these men were sent to prison in Singapore. Ironically, this saved their lives as they were spared the doomed fate of marching to Ranau. Some soldiers were sent in 1943 to a different camp where many died. In the app, a survivor of that camp said the last post was played every time someone died, and that it took him years to be able to even listen to the last post. 

As I mentioned in my post last week, Sandakan and the death marches were little known to me which I am embarrassed about. In the app, those interviewed suggested that the reason this part of Australia’s wartime history is not as widely known as the likes of Kokoda, Gallipoli could be for two reasons - 1) Kokoda, Gallipoli etc also had mass casualties, but many also came home to recount the horrors of war. Only six returned from Sandakan. 2) Incorrect information was sent to Australia stating that no one was left in the Sandakan POW camp, at a time when 1000 prisoners were still left. Due to this miscommunication, a planned rescue attempt never went ahead, and these men then either died at the camp or on the death marches. It could be that the government were embarrassed due to this mistake and perhaps didn’t speak of these events as much as others because they didn’t want to enrage the public. 

As the need by the Japanese for the airstrip became more and more urgent, the conditions these soldiers were subjected to worsened more and more. Many horrific torture methods that I won’t derail here were used. While over 8000 Australian prisoners of war of the Japanese were killed during the war, nearly 1/4 of them died just in Sandakan. Like I mentioned last week, these men will be in my thoughts every Anzac Day from now on as well as those involved in more widely known battles/events of Australia’s war history. I hope that in writing this blog I’ve made some more people aware of the atrocities that occurred here. 

After visiting the park, we headed to Sandakan airport and boarded our plane back to Kota Kinabalu as a group. The flight was so quick - only 45 minutes! It’s Stacey from our tour’s birthday today so we embarrassed her by singing happy birthday on the plane. Once back in KK, Mum and I went and swapped some money into Brunei dollars for tomorrow and now we are having a rest before our farewell dinner. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Sepilok

Hello all,

This morning, Sam knocked on our door and told us she had found some baby turtles outside who had lost their way. With the help of some Australian kids, we collected the turtles and released them on the beach. 

We caught the boat back and it was very rough and very wet. Then we got the bus to Sepilok for 45 minutes. 

Sepilok is home to the world famous Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, and that was our first stop. Here they rehabilitate orphaned orangutans found in the wild. There have been 760 orangutans rehabilitated here since it began in 1964. 66% of those rehabilitated have been successfully released into the wild. 

We headed to the viewing platform for the 9am feed, but no orangutans came. This is actually a great thing, because it means that they are self reliant and don’t rely on the centre for food. Instead we headed to the outdoor nursery and sat for ages watching the young orangutans being hyper!! They were so funny. They swung, fought and at one point, two younger ones gathered around an older one as if it was explaining something. They share 96.4% of our DNA, and it makes sense why once you watch them. They’re so like us. 

At the start of their lives, orangutan’s mothers teach them how to climb, what to eat and more. Aside from this stage of their lives, they’re solitary animals. The only other time they really socialise is when eating fruit in the same trees. The reason they’re critically endangered is because they’re the largest tree dwelling animal in the world, so the fact that trees have been cleared to make space for palm oil plantations has completely destroyed much of their natural habitat. They can’t live on the ground as they’re then threatened by parasites. Another reason for their critically endangered status is that once females can reproduce, they will probably only have two children during their lifetime. 

The centre closed over lunchtime at 11 so we then went to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. Like orangutans and many other animals, the Bornean sun bear is critically endangered. Sadly, many of these bears have been kept as pets so are too reliant on humans by the time they are taken in by the centre. This means they can’t be rehabilitated and reintroduced back into the wild. That’s the ultimate goal of both centres so it’s very sad when it can’t be achieved. 

The Sun Bear Centre opened in 2008. The Bornean Sun Bear is the world’s smallest bear, and the second most endangered bear behind the panda. Amazingly, they can climb extremely high up trees using their very sharp claws. They, like orangutans, build nests in trees to sleep in. They also have a 25cm long tongue, to make it easy to extract insects and honey. Winnie the Pooh would be a fan!!

It started to pour at this point, but this was a good thing because the bears became more active. We saw many of them climbing trees at this point which was wonderful. We spared a thought for the orangutans at this point though because they hate the rain!!

After a quick lunch at the cafeteria with Sam, we went back to the orangutan centre. We watched a video about orangutans and then headed back into the park. We lucked out this time - we followed an orangutan down the pathway as he led us and other tourists down the path. He kept looking back at us as if playing a game!!

Then we headed to the feeding platform, and this time two orangutans came and ate. It was amazing watching them sit together and eat. They’re so beautiful. I hope through efforts like those at this park their population can grow again. It would be such a shame to lose them forever. 

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and checked in. It’s a beautiful jungle resort with a lake, a pool and walking trails. Mum and I had a quick swim before heading out to do the canopy walk at the Rainforest Discovery Centre. Here we saw flying squirrels emerge from their little holes and fly (like sugar gliders) from tree to tree. 

We had a yummy dinner and now I’m off to bed. After a big day and hardly any sleep last night I’m exhausted!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox