ADNEC - Rat Pack June 8th

Borneo

A couple of years ago, my friend, Amanda and I were very inspired by a children’s charity and, looking at their website, spotted the Great China Walk, along the wall, which we did, raised lots of money and unexpectedly, thoroughly enjoyed the week. Subsequently, somewhere along the line, the two of us have got it into our heads that we are “adventure travellers”, Busy working mums too so these opportunities don’t come round so often, but last month the much-planned trip to Borneo finally came around. We’d mentioned it to friends and they to friends of friends, and a group of ten – eight expat women from Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, a lone chap from England and Geoffrey, our guide.

We travelled to the Malaysian state of Sabah in the north-west of the island - a nine and a half hour flight from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, and a further two and a half hour local flight the next day. Borneo is the third largest island in the world. Greenland and Papua New Guinea are the other two. It is in fact owned by three countries; The states of Sabah and Sarawak are part of the Federation of Malaysia; between them is the Sultanate of Brunei; and the remainder of the island is Kalimantan – part of Indonesia.

The focus of our trip was to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in the region. Mt. Kinabalu is the tallest mountain, which is a mountain and not a volcano, between the Himalayas and New Guinea.

It is a well trodden route up the mountain through cloud forest, and for us coming from Dubai,really very different; lush jungle forest leading up to alpine forest. There’s no point rushing up to the Lodge as once you get there, there’s nothing to do except eat and wait for the morning. So we took it at a leisurely and enjoyed the view,
the pitcher plants and the orchids. It is one winding trail up the mountain through the trees, sometimes stepped, mostly not. Just 6km, it is well punctuated with rest stops, toilets and water stations. Each km gets steadily steeper and as much as we really did enjoy the first five hours, (we took our time), after the last, in pouring rain, we were happy to see the Lodge, at 11000ft. I was really surprised how well-established the facilities are. The lodge (taking up to 120 people) had a big communal restaurant area. After a small hiccough sorting out our accommodation, the eight girls squeezed into the “vip suite” and enjoyed the luxuries of a radiator, and an en suite bathroom with a flushing toilet! Having years ago trekked in Nepal, I had much lower expectations.
 
We were woken at two am and piled on layers of warm clothing, hats and gloves, …cups of tea, and then we set off to do the last 3000ft by the light of our head torches under a sky peppered with stars. The first hour was more of the same but steeper, and the layers were soon peeled off!

Then at 12,000 ft we came to the granite and thereafter, its ropes and scrambling… in the dark. Pulling myself up on ropes, trying to find somewhere to put my feet, in pitch black but for torch light, whilst imagining goodness knows what sheer drops either side….was not my idea of a great way to spend the next hour and I rapidly went off the whole concept of being an adventure traveller.
 
It was scary stuff for a few of us, whilst others found it to be a buzz. Lissa, who’s never walked anywhere for more than three hours other than when shopping.. ;-), met me at the next station saying, “That was fun! Best bit so far!” And we had some very fit girls with us who just blasted straight up there. Not so keen on mountain climbing in the dark, but all in all, I think this is a pretty easy mountain to climb… as mountains go.

We reached the summit and saw the sun rise – a fabulous view; way above the clouds. I stopped on the summit plateau and didn’t attempt the final peak – Amanda and I huddled together waiting for the sun to come around, looking out at the view and breaking out the Kendal Mint Cake!

Coming down was so much easier; had a I known how easy I wouldn’t have worried so much about going up! I think it was the dark that made it worse. Breakfast at the Lodge and then the long trail down – tough on your knees. We all took about three days to start walking normally again once we were down!

Back to Rose Cabin at the foot of the mountain – again, much nicer than I expected. All the rooms have a back door and a terrace and the mountain is the view. This was the view from our terrace at 6am the next morning. Definitely, good to have done!

The Chinese family who run the hotel were very helpful – and the meals were delicious. Warm shower and a kettle in your room ; again, a lot is about
 
expectations but I was very impressed. I steeled myself for cockroaches, mossies and spiders and didn’t see any! Although, Geoffrey and Scott found some impressive bugs in the gardens – fantastic rhinocerous beetle, and some huge moths!
 
The next day we went to a Government run natural spa and rested achy legs in the icy water. It was set in a pretty garden – very different to Dubai for us – very relaxing. Lowland walks were a good start to the following morning. We found beautiful orchids and enjoyed the sounds of the forest. Then back to KL. We had an afternoon to kill and Lissa had discovered Six Senses Spa with a special offer on a hot stone massage. After our Six Senses Spa event in Dubai (no connection) the month before it seemed like fate… We all thoroughly enjoyed the treatment; hotly recommended! Lissa is something of an expert on spas. Her stories of long weekend spa packages in Bali were beginning to sound very attractive….

We took another flight to Sandakan, to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre to see these wonderful animals at close range. The centre offers visitors a rare chance to see young orang-utans, which have been taken from the wild, being allowed to roam in their natural environment with little interference from man.

The twice daily feedings help these youngsters grow into mature animals and return to the forests.
 
We quietly watched them morning and afternoon – it was an inspiring place, where they’re doing great work, and inevitably we both came away having “adopted” a baby orangutan.
 
The region also boasts a primate sanctuary and Selingen Island, a turtle sanctuary. We would love to return for a family holiday (Sabah Hotel, 3*, is the best hotel in the town and would be fine for a family base) and take the boys. It is a long haul from Dubai but maybe…. If you’re already in that region, I think it is certainly worth a visit.

Jane, May 2005