It was time to meet our next add ons for our trip, my mum and sister.
Mother had kindly pre booked everything through an agency called Sticky Rice travel so all we had to do was get a flight to Kuala Lumpur and the rest would be done for us, quite a change of our usual personally planned itineraries.
To start the trip with a bang and before our tour began in Borneo we stayed in one of the nicer hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Traders.
Traders is well known for its amazing location and stunning rooftop pool/bar- Sky Bar. It hit the mark on both counts. With the entire building overlooking the Petronas Twin Towers the views did not disappoint from any floor of the hotel.
Even as a backpacker on a budget I would suggest maybe splashing out on this place at £70 for the cosmopolitan experience.
After two days of adjusting to the time difference (my mum and sister), eating everything we saw at the buffet (me and greg) and venturing out to the towers and china town. It was then time to fly to Sabah and begin our Sticky Rice tour.
Touching down in Sabah after a great flight with Malaysian Air we were greeted by a man named Eddie who would be our driver for the trip. After a couple hours drive we were taken to Sepilok Nature Resort and shown to our chalets, yes, chalets. We really were flashpacking.
After gawking at the two floor house we hopped in the Eddie mobil and went to the orangutan project in Sepilok. You walk around this huge rainforest with boardwalks all along it and look out for orngutans.
The best time to see them is obviously feeding time and we got amazingly close to them, from the workers reactions we got too close to one particular male who cornered us on the boardwalk and wouldn’t let us pass.
Greg swears as he went passed him he stroked his leg so we really were up close and personal with these amazing ginger creatures. The centre also has a nursery where you can view them from behind glass, similar to a zoo. It was great fun watching the baby orangutans play fighting so make sure you go there after feeding time.
The afternoon was spent relaxing in hammocks drinking milkshakes.
Around the area where we stayed there is not only an orangutan sanctuary but also a sun bear. This is worth a visit as they are amazing animals that shimmy high up in the trees.
Then it was a long journey to Kinabatangan river lodge which could only be accessed by a boat. After a 2 hour speedboat we arrived to beautiful guitars and cool towels to wipe out sweaty faces. There were 19 staff their to greet us with beaming smiles.
After meeting the staff and having a much needed coffee we were shown to our rooms.
I can’t describe how incredible our rooms were, I have never seen a room like it. Everything was so beautifully decorated and the best bit, an outdoor shower.
Continue reading (incl. Pics) at: Monkey and Mouse Adventures: Flashpacking in Borneo
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