This video can also be viewed on Busabout's YouTube Channel: Busabout TV. Watch and enjoy...any feedback on the videos would be great...KaPOW!
http://www.youtube.com/user/gdog146#p/a/u/0/sjzNJL7lyHQ
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Friday, 26 August 2011
Borneo: The good (sunbathing days), the bad (-ass rapids) and the ugly (man-eating fish).
Firstly, I apologize for the delayed update but between crazy river rafting, monkey sightings and the very strenuous job of evenly sunning ourselves I just didn't have time. But, as I sit in my POD (this will be explained later) in Kuala Lumpur I find myself with some time and a handful of entertaining stories to divulge.
So, on arriving back in Kota Kinabalu from our 3 very challenging days on Survivor Island we decided that making it back onto mainland required a treat of some sort, so, naturally, we went out in search of food. With full bellies topped off with apparently the best cheese cake Michele has ever eaten we watched another glorious sunset and headed back to the lodge for some much needed rest and relaxation caused by the tasks of eating and balancing hammocks.
We finally had an opportunity to sleep in as our day trip pick up was only at 2pm. After eating breakfast we found some time to squeeze in another cheese cake and a quick round of shopping before heading out on a 2 hour bus ride to get to the river where we were to enjoy a cruise through the jungle.
We saw some proboscis monkeys, more lizards and bugs galore but something still seemed to be missing from our pleasant river cruise. After much pondering we finally found what these Saffas were short on...drinks!! Now, when you travel you will learn many new things on a daily basis. The very hard lesson we had to learn out there in the middle of the jungle on a murky river was this: It is not universally known that a successful river cruise is achieved best when serving alcohol on board. Now, who would have thought? So, there we were, in the jungle, on a river looking for monkeys with nothing to blame our ridiculous behaviour on. What were we to do? We were sober, the monkeys were camera shy and we had no excuse for secretly filming our fellow travellers as if they were wild animals...the best cover we had for our behaviour was to put on Aussie accents. Once this was achieved our behaviour seemed to be acceptable...
After some adventurous filming on the river it was time to do what seems to have become our number one priority since barely surviving survivor island....EAT!! After hopping back in the boat for a night time cruise to see some fire flies light up the mangrove forest we were back in the bus and on our way back to KK.
The next day consisted of a cultural village near the city where we spent some time being educated about the aboriginal head hunting tribes of Sabah Borneo and a trip to the Urang-Utan sanctuary to spend some time with the most human like of all monkey. We were told that they were 96.4% like humans which I disagree with as I know a lot of humans that would up that percentage. The cultural tour started off with sampling the different stages of the brewing process of traditional rice wine...needless to say we instantly loved this village and will recommend it to everyone. All in all a greatly educational day which officially crossed off one of two days in the month we planned on being sophisticated backpackers. Well, as sophisticated as learning how to make Traditional Malaysian rice wine can be.
It was time for our America friends to join our adventure which meant that it was time for our White Water Rafting day. Now, being the brave souls who defeated the monstrous eight legged guest in our survivor island shelter we were ready and excited for the experience. We got on a bus travelled three hours to reach a train used by the locals to get to the small village on the river where we would start our rafting. After surviving the sweet sweet aromas of chicken shit given off by the village we were ready to get into the water but before this could happen our river guide, King Kong, had to give us the safety briefing. Nothing on earth can create the kind of fear we experienced (even as the seasoned-eight-legged-guest-killing-warriors we were) than a safety briefing which lasted 20 minutes, seemed very serious, with a lot of instruction on what to do WHEN falling into the rapids and, due to the English accent of your guide, all you could understand was “safety briefing”, “don't panic” and “Let's go”. So there we were, fully briefed and knowing less than what we started with. Now by this time Michele had almost peed her pants, Jessica was hyperventilating and even the American's were silenced (Yes, it's possible). We now realized the smell in the village was, in fact, not from the chickens but from the many travellers who had soiled themselves at this exact moment in there adventure. After crossing the first set of rapids, which apparently weren't rapids but some rough water, we came to a still patch in the river. At this point we were told to get into the water (which was murky and in the middle of the Borneo jungle) to show our guide what we had learned in the briefing. This swim would have been better used to clean out our fear induced soiled underwear as we had no clue as to how we could survive being thrown out of the boat or even worse being trapped under a capsized boat while in the rapids. After our dismal survival performance we agreed, as a team, upon one thing and one thing only: Stay in the boat by any means possible. Secretly we had also accepted that, had the boat capsized, we were all well and truly screwed.
Our rule of staying in the boat was a success as we made it through several stretches of large rapids without meeting death by water covered rocks. By this point a few of us had developed the kind of arrogance that comes with being an eight-legged-monster-killing-rapid-riding-warrior. David, my American accomplice, and I decided that it was time we proved ourselves as men. We agreed to take on King Kong's challenge to swim through a stretch of smaller rapids using the safety information we had learned. Needless to say we managed to prove ourselves...as nothing more than stupid. Swallowing gallons of infested jungle water we dragged ourselves coughing and spluttering back into the boat, having our egos stroked and boasting of our conquest of rapids no bigger than a Maltese Poodle...ah yes, the picture of true manliness!
After the long trip home us Saffas agreed that we had officially done more physical exercise than the entire nation of Taiwan and thus deserved an outdoor massage of every kind on offer. About 2 and a half hours later we dragged ourselves back to the lodge and went to bed.
Due to sheer exhaustion from the previous days activities we (Saffas and Americans) agreed that it was the perfect day to hop on a boat which would take us to one of the many islands around Borneo for some snorkelling and sunshine. Now, before you class us as lazy I will have you know that working on an even tan on a tropical island can build up quite a sweat and, therefore, shall be classed as physically strenuous labour. The island waters were also home to some ferocious man eating fish that would get their toothless jaws on anyone who got to close.
After a full day on the beautiful island of Sappi we headed back for some shopping and a final meal together with David and Michele as our time on the Island had come to an end. We wished them well on there trip back to Taiwan as we went off to bed to get some rest in before our flight to Kuala Lumpur....
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Borneo Video....
First video blog of the trip is up....Check it out on my YouTube Channel @ http://www.youtube.com/user/gdog146?feature=mhee
Saturday, 20 August 2011
The hardships of survivor island.
It's 8am as we drag ourselves and our freakishly large backpacks out the door of the lodge we are staying in. We shuffle into our bus. Pick up some fellow travelers (an Italian couple) and off we go on a 2 hour trip to the harbour to catch the boat to survivor Island.
Approaching the our destination I had thoughts of them throwing our bags overboard and telling us to swim to the Island but having luck on our side for once, much has changed since the now famous Pulau Tiga was the Island home of a group a people fighting to win immunity and be the ultimate survivor. We got dropped on the jetty had our bags lifted off the boat for us and made our way to 'camp'. Instead of putting up our shelter we had the difficult task of figuring out the correct combination of switches to work the air conditioner. once we had overcome our first challenge we headed to 'Tribal Council' or Survivor Bar as the locals call it for some much needed refreshments after our hard labouring. After a short wander around camp and a delicious Malaysian buffet we were off to the volcanic mud baths.
Now, I would like to say we trekked through treacherous jungles going where very few men have gone before but that would be a slight over exaggeration of our 20 minute walk through the jungle on a man made path. The mud baths were...well...interesting at first but after a few minutes we just couldn't get enough of it. We gave into our animal instincts and splashed, sloshed and simmered in the mud for a while. Rumour has it this mud has properties that can turn back time on your body clock so we would like it to be known that your beloved Saffas are all 21 again....we have already booked our next visit.
Returning to camp looking like a rare tribe coming from the darkest corners of the jungle we washed ourselves off in the warm tropical waters. Once squeaky clean and feeling our 21 year old selves the shocking realization that some things had not changed on survivor island hit us like a scooter in Taiwan (out of nowhere with a family of five on it)!!! Having eaten at 1:00pm it was now 3:30pm and we were hungry but no food was to be served on the Island till 7pm!!! After much discussion about food rations we came up with the best solution we could...siestas in hammocks...a challenge we were willing to accept.
Finally dinner time!! Having spent some time with our fellow Italian travelers we got into a discussion about our plans to head to Italy which was great as these discussions were promptly followed by an invitation to their historic town and a home cooked Italian meal by an authentic Italian...Perfetto!!
Sunrise over the jungle meant it was morning but more importantly....time for breakfast. Ready and well fed we discussed trekking through the jungle with our Italian friends...as it was raining this discussion continued until lunch. We ate again and after the rain had stopped it left us free to trek all the way to our trusted hammocks for a mid afternoon siesta. Now before you judge us, the jungle trekking did eventually happen but the original tribe of five had narrowed down to 2 brave survivors. Michele and I bravely trekked 2km into the jungle before the sun started going down so we turned around and made our way out not for fear of the dark but rather the fear of missing out on the third and final meal time of the day. These survivors needed their food.
Our last night in our 'shelter' was met with some unpleasant guests one of which had eight legs and had taken residence on Jessica's tooth brush. Now for those who know me well, you will have a good idea of how the rest of this story goes. For those who don't know me well here it is: I didn't scream like a girl or jump around looking for bug spray...I bravely stepped fourth and met my enemy with my bare hands, won the war and saved the day....the end!!
After a good nights sleep we had breakfast, took some pictures and hopped on the boat to get back to mainland....we had officially been voted off the island due to our misuse of 'Tribal Council', our advanced bravery in dealing with eight-legged guests and lack of overall ability to function more than 10 meters away from our hammocks....
Approaching the our destination I had thoughts of them throwing our bags overboard and telling us to swim to the Island but having luck on our side for once, much has changed since the now famous Pulau Tiga was the Island home of a group a people fighting to win immunity and be the ultimate survivor. We got dropped on the jetty had our bags lifted off the boat for us and made our way to 'camp'. Instead of putting up our shelter we had the difficult task of figuring out the correct combination of switches to work the air conditioner. once we had overcome our first challenge we headed to 'Tribal Council' or Survivor Bar as the locals call it for some much needed refreshments after our hard labouring. After a short wander around camp and a delicious Malaysian buffet we were off to the volcanic mud baths.
Now, I would like to say we trekked through treacherous jungles going where very few men have gone before but that would be a slight over exaggeration of our 20 minute walk through the jungle on a man made path. The mud baths were...well...interesting at first but after a few minutes we just couldn't get enough of it. We gave into our animal instincts and splashed, sloshed and simmered in the mud for a while. Rumour has it this mud has properties that can turn back time on your body clock so we would like it to be known that your beloved Saffas are all 21 again....we have already booked our next visit.
Returning to camp looking like a rare tribe coming from the darkest corners of the jungle we washed ourselves off in the warm tropical waters. Once squeaky clean and feeling our 21 year old selves the shocking realization that some things had not changed on survivor island hit us like a scooter in Taiwan (out of nowhere with a family of five on it)!!! Having eaten at 1:00pm it was now 3:30pm and we were hungry but no food was to be served on the Island till 7pm!!! After much discussion about food rations we came up with the best solution we could...siestas in hammocks...a challenge we were willing to accept.
Finally dinner time!! Having spent some time with our fellow Italian travelers we got into a discussion about our plans to head to Italy which was great as these discussions were promptly followed by an invitation to their historic town and a home cooked Italian meal by an authentic Italian...Perfetto!!
Sunrise over the jungle meant it was morning but more importantly....time for breakfast. Ready and well fed we discussed trekking through the jungle with our Italian friends...as it was raining this discussion continued until lunch. We ate again and after the rain had stopped it left us free to trek all the way to our trusted hammocks for a mid afternoon siesta. Now before you judge us, the jungle trekking did eventually happen but the original tribe of five had narrowed down to 2 brave survivors. Michele and I bravely trekked 2km into the jungle before the sun started going down so we turned around and made our way out not for fear of the dark but rather the fear of missing out on the third and final meal time of the day. These survivors needed their food.
Our last night in our 'shelter' was met with some unpleasant guests one of which had eight legs and had taken residence on Jessica's tooth brush. Now for those who know me well, you will have a good idea of how the rest of this story goes. For those who don't know me well here it is: I didn't scream like a girl or jump around looking for bug spray...I bravely stepped fourth and met my enemy with my bare hands, won the war and saved the day....the end!!
After a good nights sleep we had breakfast, took some pictures and hopped on the boat to get back to mainland....we had officially been voted off the island due to our misuse of 'Tribal Council', our advanced bravery in dealing with eight-legged guests and lack of overall ability to function more than 10 meters away from our hammocks....
Volcanic Mud Baths
Friday, 19 August 2011
The adventure begins...
So after a great time in Taiwan me and my two fellow Saffas, Jessica Blomefield and Michele Paris, have finally left in search of more adventure across the seas. These adventurous desires have brought us to Borneo and this is where we will start the most epic adventure of the Saffa Stories...for now.
After a quick flight (which, being us, we made just in time) we landed in beautiful Borneo. As we were flying over the Island the excitement already started setting in as we could see the diverse landscape under the wing of the plane. I was slowly trying to pinpoint where we would be having our numerous adventures on the island. As our feet touched Borneo soil we instantly fell in love with the unpolluted atmosphere (as apposed to Taiwan's) and the shear beauty in the immediate scenery.
We hopped on a little bus and after a few minutes arrived at our little hostel. Now, I must take a moment here to tell anyone coming to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo on a budget...Lavender Lodge is the place to be. I was greeted by name at the door and kindly shown to our super awesome room. We were very happy little Saffas!!
After dropping off our stuff we headed out to explore the city. We had a good meal, great foot reflexology massages while looking at the sea and mountains and an ice cream to top it all off....all in a days hard work.
Hitting the sack early as the excitement started to build for the next day....heading out to Pulau Tiga, or famously known as the Survivor island....where Season 1 took place. Lets hope we can survive Survivor island and bring back some pictures to inspire you to Out wit, Out play and Out last....
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