Two mature gentlemen go on a trip (part 2)

After enjoying the casino city of Macau and especially the old Portuguese part of the city, we leave China and fly on to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah.

Sabah and neighboring Sarawak are among the 13 states that make up Malaysia. Together with the small sultanate of Brunei and the Indonesian Kalimantan, they form the large island of Borneo. After Greenland and Australia, Borneo is the largest island in the world.

The flight from Macau to Kota Kinabalu takes about 2½ hours. We have booked a hotel in advance and from the airport we arrive at our destination fairly quickly.

Even with more than 600 thousand inhabitants, it is not exactly a place where you stumble over Western tourists. You go to this part of the world for the beautiful nature. By the way, a trip on your own is easy to do. There are plenty of transport options and the price level is also acceptable and comparable to Thailand. You will find hotels in all price ranges.

If you are a lover of fish then come there is plenty to do. Walking through the market you will be amazed at the quantities of super fresh fish that are displayed and there is no shortage of shellfish either.

If you want to enjoy the wonderful nature, a trip by boat to the small islands off the coast is a nice trip.

Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia and is also known as Negeri di bawah bayu; The land under the wind. Before being part of Malaysia, Sabah was a British overseas colony known as North Borneo.

After a few days in Sabah we fly within 1½ hours to Kuching, the capital of the other Malaysian state of Sarawak. The city is more modern in design than Kota Kinabalu and has some special architectural structures, where the footbridge over the river and the adjacent government building catch the eye.

Bako National Park

To admire the overwhelming nature up close, we book a day trip to the Bako National Park, located about 35 kilometers from Kuching. At half past eight we are picked up on time at our hotel. A 45 minute drive takes us to the fishing village of Bako to board a boat to the park headquarters.

Bako is Sarawak's oldest national park. The 16 square kilometers of primary forest is home to seven different ecosystems; beach vegetation, cliff vegetation, mangrove, peat swamp forests, heath forest and grassland. Constant erosion over millions of years has turned the coastline into a unique geographical landmark. Cliff faces, sandstone structures and pristine sandy beaches dot the area.

There are quite a few animals living in the wild. You will come across many long-tailed monkeys (macaques) that roam everywhere and whose genes are very similar to those of humans. You will also find another monkey species that has been given the name 'silver leaf' because of its silver-colored belly. And not to forget the proboscis or proboscis monkey, which is also jokingly called Urang Belanda with a reference to us Dutch because of their large imposing nose. Proboscis monkeys are only found on Borneo and live near water. In the Bako park you will find them in the mangrove forests on the coast.

A number of monkeys have become so used to people that they almost sit on your table to get some of the food. The wild pig is not shy either and takes little notice of the visitors present. The many species of birds hate the sunlight and to see them you have to be there early in the morning.

After fully enjoying the immensely beautiful nature of Sabah and Sarawak, the journey continues towards Brunei.

Looking back at our first experiences, we can conclude that the people of Borneo are very friendly and helpful. Something you don't see in many countries these days. The population also behaves very correctly in traffic.

Of course we hope that we will have the same positive experience in Brunei, where smoking and alcohol are not allowed. In doing so, we assume that we are most likely to be received in audience by the sultan. And who knows, we may see the harem women in person. You will hear from us.