Borneo trip

Malaysian Borneo was awesome. I stayed in one province, called Sabah. My three activites there were 1) climbing Mount Kinabalu 2) Uncle Tan's Wildlife Adventure on the Kinabatang river, and 3) Scuba Diving at Mabul.

All were awesome, but being home I have definitely lost my inspiration for blogging. So in brief here are my recommendations:

DEFINITELY climb Mount Kinabalu. Do so with Jungle Jack Backpackers. You will NOT regret it. It was amazing. I am very anal planner, and Jack's lack of an official website concerned me, but he's fantastic and has it all under control once you get there. Seriously though Jack offers such amazing service, hugely personal touch, and for so much cheaper than anywhere else. It really was a total gem found while travelling.

Amazing view of the mountain from Jungle Jack's.

Got to the peak around 5:30am to catch the sunrise

Totally worth it.

aaahhhh

Uncle Tan's was neat, lotsa cute critters. The website makes you think it'll be extremely hardcore, but it was really a very relaxed schedule. No shower though so we were all pretty grimey by the end. We didn't see as many animals as I'd hoped, and I hear that Sarawack is the place to go for animal sightings at Bako Park. If only I had more time!

Finally diving at Mabul was AMAZING. Currently, there is a travel warning agaisnt non-essential travel to the east coast of Sabah. However, I felt totally safe on Mabul. All night boat activity is cancelled, and the military patrolled at night with big scary guns, so I didn't feel like anyone was going to successfully come and get it. No one did! The diving was so fantastic, I saw a ton of turtles, rays, a shark, beautiful cuttlefish, and so much other stuff. The resort, Scuba Junkie, was extremely snazzy and posh. They have a dorm in Semporna too, but if you can afford it absolutely splurge for the Mabul spot. It's a thousand times nicer and more comfortable. I didn't manage to get a permit to dive Sipadan, the world famous spot, and while I was super bummed about that, I still had an amazing time. 

Anyways a short but sweet vacation, super fun, and Malaysians are very sweet and all speak English. There is some staring and men do catcall, which I really hate, but what can you do. Many women complimented my hair and touched it, so that's always fun. I would definitely recommend this as a travel destination, especially the mountain and the diving!