Day 267 August 2nd 2007, Would you like fish with that? - Semporna - Diving at Sipadan

It was a good job that we visited Sibuan and Mabul first as Sipadan just blows them away. On entering the water from the dive boat you are instantly surrounded by thousands of fish, there are large green sea turtle everywhere and its not long before you see reef sharks. The reason for all the large fish is that after the reefs shown in the picture above there is a 600m vertical drop off. Looking up at the surface from 30m on our first dive the wall looked ominous, with just blue below I was sticking pretty close to the wall. Below: part of the old resort, now abandoned after the government closed them all down to protect the reef.

The Island with the exception of one beach is now closed to the public, the old resort building are still here and the army seem to be using them now. The army presence is the result of an armed raid in 2000 by Philippine gunmen. There are now soldiers stationed on nearly all the islands.

Below: One of the guys from the dive boat and a monitor lizard he seemed to be on first name terms with.


Aside from the turtles swimming about you would come across them resting on shelves in the wall, some of the reef sharks were also taking naps. The photos below were taken by one of the other divers with us.


There were quite a few reef sharks, some sleeping while others would appear out of the blue and follow us along the wall. The third dive of the day was by far the best at Barracuda Point. Here there are large shoals of Barracuda perhaps several hundred fish. Aside from the main attraction there were shoals of Jack Fish, some Giant Travelley and thousands of reef fish. All in all incredible.

Highlights: Perhaps the most amazing dive we have ever done

Day 266 August 1st 2007, Artificial reef - Semporna - Diving at Mabul

The island of Mabul is home to a large luxury resort, in front of the resort they have built an artificial reef. No coral but some amazing fish including, Giant Cuttle Fish, Crocodile fish and Frog Fish not to mention lots of Lion Fish. Great fun swimming round the structures, almost like flying. After an hours rest we did our first drift dive, very good fun you just get in the current and off you go, its like being on a theme park ride but underwater.

The last dive of the day was a navigation dive, we needed to do this to finish off our Advanced PADI Open water course. It will probably also stop a few underwater arguments between me and Buddy ;-)

Highlights: The artificial reef was great fun

Day 265 July 31st 2007, Tropical Island Diving - Semporna - Diving at Sibuan

Five minutes in a boat and the grime of Semporna is left far behind you, instead a group of tropical reef fringed islands presents itself. There are about 20 islands within 30mins by boat with 4 to 5 making up the most popular dive sites. Above: View from the boat of Sibuan

No one officially lives on Sibuan, there is an arm base and a small settlement of Philippine refugees. The army tolerate the refugees and it seems even look after them, the result a lot of extra kids fathered by the soldiers. You can walk round the whole island in about 10 minutes so the kids really don't have a lot to do, they are very friendly and love looking at photos of themselves on the camera.

We did 3 dives today from the island, the first to 30m to see some pygmy sea horses living in a sea fan. The other 2 dives were over some very nice reefs close to the shore. Below: Shelley relaxing between dives.


Highlights: Fantastic visibility for the dives

Day 264 July 30th 2007, Luxury seaside town - Kinabatanan River to Semporna


After 6 hours on a non air conditioned bus we were relieved in the charming town of Semporna. The gateway to some of the best diving in the world wasn't quite the sea side town we had expected. Pretty much every building looks run down, the street drains are broken, there is rubbish piled up on street corners and you don't have to wait long to see a rat.

Perhaps because of all the rubbish or the rats, there are some huge monitor lizards here, we saw one which looked more like a crocodile it was so big. Locals were throwing stones at it to try and deter it from eating the puppies of a stray dog. By Western and probably even Malaysian standards this place is a complete dump, the locals though seem happy enough and are very friendly. The upside to all of this is that accommodation is very cheap, a double hotel room costs about 5 pounds.

Highlights: Getting off that damn bus

Day 263 July 29th 2007, Jungle Friends - Kinabatangan River

With a 5:30AM wakeup call the river was still shrouded in mist as we headed up stream half asleep. The water level much higher after last nights rain. I had slept pretty well but Shelley, who is not too keen on the bugs hardly slept a wink. After seeing a few monkeys and some hornbills, we set off after brekafast for a 3 hour return hike to an oxbow lake.



With all the rain the path was more like a river in some places, it was tricky not to let any water in through the top of our wellies. The afternoon cruise was pretty quiet, perhaps due to it being much sunnier today, we were certinaly very lucky yesterday to see what we did.

Another night hike followed dinner, this time our guide decided to bring a scorpion back to the lodge.

Highlights: Surviving the scorpion encounter

Day 262 July 28th 2007, Jungle Buglies - Sepilok to Kinabatangan River


Catching a taxi south to our next destination saved us the hassle of a 3 hour mini bus and then bus journey. The saved time allowed us to once again visit the Orang Utan sanctuary and see the morning feeding. Arriving after about an hour at a roadside cafe we meet with our jungle tour guide and the rest of the guests who would be sharing the lodge with us over the next couple of days. Another hour in a mini bus and we arrived on the shore of the Kingabatangan River. Above: The lodge as seen from the river.


The river with its muddy brown water flowed slowly passed and as we crossed by boat, giant logs and up rooted trees drifted past like large crocodiles. We had gone for the budget option for our jungle visit, this meant our hut on stilts had plenty of ventilation, the shower room especially. With the edge of the jungle only a few meters away the air was always filled with the sound of insects and birds.


The lodge itself has a 5,000 volt perimeter fence to keep out the pygmy elephants. From what I could gather from one of the guides a heard had been through here before the fence and caused havoc. The guide was particularly wary of the elephants "if you wrong them, they will get you, maybe even generations later, they remember you"

Early evening we set off on our boat trip, no sooner had we set off the rain started and after a few minutes I might as well have gone for a swim in the river fully clothed. It was worth it though as a few minutes later we saw a large male Ornag Utan in one of the trees, close to the river bank. From his size he was about 20 years old, a rare and lucky sighting. Being dusk there were plenty of other monkeys around including the very strange looking Proboscis Monkey. The clip below is from the website just linked to and the photo is from wikipedia.

Following dinner we set off into the jungle for a short night time hike, we didn't quite see the variety of insects we saw in Peru, but our guide did manage to find a very impressive scorpion and the bugs I photographed below are quite interesting, the look a bit like wizards with a cape and hat.


Highlights: I always like being in the jungle and seeing the wild Orang Utan was very exciting

Day 261 July 27th 2007, Rehab - Kota Kinabalu to Sepilok

After a 5 hour bus journey we arrived in Sepilok, well at the junctionof the main road and the road to Sepilok. Luckily a friendly local gave us a lift to our hotel / jungle lodge. The lodge a 5 minute walk from the Sepilok Orang Utan rehabilitation center.

Once wide spread throughout South East Asia the Orang Utan can now only be found in small populations across Sumatra and Borneo. Its not difficult to see why, on route all we could see in every direction was palm oil plantations which, have replaced the native rainforest. With a diet consisting of over 200 food plants there is no way these great apes can survive outside their environment.


Perhaps our closest relative the Orang Utan shares 94.6% of its DNA with humans. The name Ornag Utan translates to "Man of the Forest" At the rehabilitation center you get the chance to see released Orang Utan's in the first stage of release. Many are brought to the center as babies, cared for by humans until they can start to fend for themselves.

Rehab works as follows:

1. Young Orang Utan is rescued from the wild after being abandoned by its mother
2. They are looked after much like human babies until they can start fending for themselves
3. They are then moved to cages on the outskirts of a protected rainforest reserve next to the center
4. They are released from the cages and slowly adjust to their new environment, returning to the center each night
5. A set of feeding platforms in the forest gradually leads the Orang Utans away from the center. Some stay close to the center, others come and go and some disappear off into the forest

The only part of the rehab you see is the first feeding platform where all these pictures were taken, unlike other apes the Ornag Utan doesn't have a tail, therefore it has to walk or climb through the trees as it cant jump like a monkey. As you can see from the photos these guys are remarkable agile.

Highlights: Watching the graceful antics of such a rare animal in the wild

Day 260 July 26th 2007, Free Shower - Kota Kinabalu

After a day of booking hotels, jungle lodges and hotels I have no idea wether its the high or low tourist season here. One thing for sure is that its the rainy season. After sending back our lunch (ants in the bread) we took refuge from the weather in one of the towns many internet cafes.

Highlights: Free outdoor shower

Day 259 July 25th 2007, Zzzzzzzzzzzz - Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu


We managed to catch a couple of hours sleep on the flight and luckily arriving blurry eyed at our hotel they could see how tired we were and let us have the room early. After a few hours of catching up on some Zzzzzzzzzzz we started to plan our trip around Malaysian Borneo. The town of Kota Kinabalu isn't anywhere exciting but provides an excellent gateway to Eastern Malaysian Borneo.

A few interesting facts I came across on Borneo:

Its the 3rd largest Island in the world

Originally called Borneo by the Dutch, today the island is split between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

Malaysian Borneo is split into 2 districts, Sabah and Sarawak, we would be spending our time exploring Sabah.

Highlights: A hotel that lets you check in early

Day 258 July 24th 2007, Naughty Monkeys - Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur


After spending three days lounging around the resort we took a boat trip out top explore some of the other islands in the archipelago. First stop a rainforest covered island complete with lake.


The forest is inhabited by some over friendly monkeys and some large monitor lizards. One of which was so large we thought it was a crocodile. With a constant supply of tourists and their lunches, the monkeys have become quite aggressive, the very sound of a plastic bag is enough to turn them into very bad monkeys. So much so they had to put up the following sign.


Next on the tour we visited some sea eagles, much less aggressive than the monkeys. It was very impressive to watch them fishing.


Before heading back to the resort we stopped off on a white sand fringed island, again inhabited by monkeys, that's right bad monkeys. They would wait for people to go into the sea before trying to make off with their possessions.


Catching an evening flight we arrived in Kuala Lumpur at about 10PM, our flight to Kota Kinabalu was tomorrow at 4AM, hardly worth getting a hotel for a few hours so we decided to stay at the airport. After trying to sleep on some of the seats we decided to visit the only gourmet restaurant still open, Burger King. Aside from the airport staff we must have been the only people there.


Highlights: Those naughty monkeys

Day 257 July 23rd 2007, Taking it easy - Langkawi

After all the champagne and chocolate cake last night we were off to a slow start today, there is plenty to do on Langkawi but we opted to just lounge around the pool and beach. Above: the view from the apartment over the lake (pond) Below: one of the views from the resort to the beach.

Much of the discussion now in on the wedding, I put forward my best and creative suggestions all of which were dismissed instantly. I had what I thought were good ideas for the seating plan, such as having a table for all the people called Mike and putting all the people with beards together ;-)

Highlights: Relaxing by the sea

Day 256 July 22nd 2007, Happy Birthday Will You Marry Me? - Langkawi


I think that as Shelley brought me a bookmark for my last Birthday she was pretty happy with the chocolates I brought her from the airport last night. But given that for the last week I wouldn't let her look in my rucksack she was convinced I had another Birthday present in there.


After waiting all day we took some Birthday Champagne down to the beach as the sunset. As we were both sitting on the beach I had to ask Shelley to stand up so I could get down on one knee and ask her to Marry me.


As you can see from the photo the answer was YES. I had been thinking about the proposal so much I didn't think to book anywhere nice for dinner, oops. So we ended up in the hotel bar, Shelley scaring the barman with an emotion outburst of tears of joy, the poor guy didn't know where to look but quickly got us another bottle of champagne.


After much champagne we headed back to our chalet by the beach, the resort is quite large and the staff use golf buggies to get around. Full of champagne confidence Shelley decided to flag one down (think hold up), with only one seat spare Shelley declared that as her Fiance I should run behind. All I heard as Shelley whizzed of down the track was "do you know I'm engaged?" "look at my beautiful ring" Despite what Shelley may tell you the driver didn't keep slowing down so I could keep up.

Highlights: Having a Wonderful Fiance

Day 255 July 21st 2007, From the city to the Beach - Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi


You can't come to Kuala Lumpur without visiting the Petronas towers. If you don't like queues I think you can. We had to queue up for over 2 hours to get one of the free tickets they give out each day to visit the skybridge between the two towers on the 41st floor. Go to the KL Tower you get a much better view with no queues and its higher than the skybridge.


Eventually getting a ticket we were allocated a time of 2:30PM giving us plenty of time to continue our walking tour of the city. Today taking in the Chinese district, this included the market above which smelt worse than it looked. In one of the Taoist temples we found this rather striking dragon.


When we got our turn to visit the skybridge is was quite impressive, you get the place pretty much to yourself, only a few visitors go up at a time and being the weekend the offices were empty.


Some facts about the towers:

At 452m the towers were the tallest building in the world between 1998 and 2004

The tower has 88 stories and 76 lifts

Today in fact the Burj Dubai became the tallest building in the World. At over 800m it dwarf es the Petronas towers, relegating it to 4th place.

There is a council which is responsible for the tallest building rankings

A tall building can be ranked in one of 4 categories (Pinnacle Height/Spire height, Highest occupied floor, Roof Height, Pinnacle Height)

It all sounds a bit like the largest Buddha story.


After about a week of exploring 2 of Asia's busiest city's we set of for the beach. Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands, located off the West coast of the peninsular, we were staying on the largest of the islands Pulau Langkawi. After a short flight we arrived in time for the sunset.


Highlights: Arriving at the beautiful beach resort in Langkawi

Day 254 July 20th 2007, British, Indian, Chinese and of Course Malaysian - Kuala Lumpur


The jet lag is now getting beyond a joke, however a solution to break the cycle is at hand. To visit the Petronas Towers you have to arrive early in the morning to get a ticket. However as we found out 9AM wasn't quite early enough. So after a quick stop at Starbucks , located in a designer mall below the towers (we could have still been in Hong Kong) As I have given up caffeine I was on the orange juice. After reading an article in a magazine, prompted by my old boss who has also given up caffeine, I decided I was addicted to the stuff and have given it up. Probably just as well as I have enough trouble getting to sleep before 5AM at the moment as it is.


Guide book in hand we set off on a tour of the city and its many districts. These include the Colonial, the Indian and the Chinese districts not to forget of course the Malay areas. First stop was the Colonial area, 2007 is the 50th anniversary of when Britain handed back control of Malaysia to Malaysia. In the top photo is where the handover took place, an old cricket green complete with elitist drinking establishment in the form of a mock Tudor building.

It is probably worth listing a brief summary of how Malaysia as it is today came about.

1400s - Founding of Malacca by Parameswara.
1409 - Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho arrives in Malacca.
1511 - Malacca falls to the Portuguese.
1641 - The Dutch take Malacca from the Portuguese
1786 - The British occupy Penang.
1819 - British occupy Singapore.
1824 - Anglo-Dutch Treaty carves up Malay world into colonial spheres: Dutch cede Malacca to British and keeps Riau.
1826 - Singapore, Malacca Penang and Province Wellesley become Straits Settlements under British control.
1840s - The importance of tin increases, bringing an influx of Chinese tin miners to the western coast.
1841 - James Brooke established as Rajah of Sarawak.
1914-18 - World War I.
1941-45 - Japanese conquest and occupation.
1945 - British reoccupy Malaya.
1946 -Malayan Union scheme introduced but is opposed, formation of United Malay National Organisation (Umno); Sarawak and British North Borneo become Crown colonies.
1948 - Malayan Union scheme abandoned; Federation of Malaya inaugurated.
1948-60 -Communist uprising - The Emergency.
1952 - Municipal elections in Kuala Lumpur; Umno and Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) parties cooperate.
1953 - Alliance coalition comprising Umno, MCA and Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) formed.
1955 - First general elections in the peninsula; landslide win for the Alliance.
1956 - Tunku Abdul Rahman leads Merdeka Mission to London to negotiate for independence.
1957 -Malaya becomes independent, and the Union Jack is lowered for the last time

As a result of its history Malaysia is a complete mix of cultures but is a Muslim country, across from the cricket ground a better example of architecture to reflect this can be seen. The city as a whole isn't as modern as the Petronas towers would have you think.


On the outskirts of town in some of the Malay districts you can still find wooden stilted houses. Amongst the houses we found an awakening night market, including one stall selling Siamese fighting fish. Apparently its a popular sport here.

Highlights: Exploring Britain's colonial history

Day 253 July 19th 2007, A Country of 2 Halves - Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


We hadn't originally planned to visit Malaysia, but feeling as though we hadn't seen as much wildlife as we would have liked on this trip we decided to visit Borneo. Malaysia is split between the peninsular and the Island of Borneo. The capital Kuala Lumpur, our first stop is on the peninsular.

Highlights: Malaysian food