Welcome to the last full week in Malaysia. I started the week in Kota Kinabalu, flew to Mulu on Tuesday morning for three nights and then flew to the beach resort on Penang Island for four nights.
I have fallen in love with Borneo. The people, food and vibe are so wonderfully welcoming. I especially enjoyed my three nights in Mulu which is home to Gudung Mulu National Park where I spent some time hiking. I remember learning about Borneo in social studies way back in grade school. I recall stories about the wilds of Borneo including pygmies and head hunters. When I was sharing these school memories with locals I met they had a quizzical look in response. They responded that those days are in the past. I was safe in my rainforest adventures.
I realized this week that, in my travels on this adventure, I will circumnavigate the globe for the first time. I will be flying to Heathrow (London England) on August 17 and returning to Canada on September 12 through Dublin, Ireland.
I forgot to mention two great service experiences I had in the Kuching International Airport in the last update.
- The first experience was when I was going through security to get to the gate. The security officer looked at my ticket and advised me that I should come back later. She mentioned that there a lack of services once I went past immigration. I heeded her advice!
- The second experience was when I was looking for safe water to refill my water bottle. When I was unable to find a dispenser I approached the airport information desk to get help. The staff member acknowledged there was a lack of dispensers. She then took my empty bottle and disappeared to refill the bottle with water. Totally unexpected and greatly appreciated.
Every day is full of magical moments!
Kota Kinabalu (KK)
We left last week's update with my late evening arrival in Kota Kinabalu. I was less enamoured with this city than the other Malaysian cities I visited. I spent Sunday morning exploring the seaside by walking. While the city had the requisite infrastructure, there was a distinctive unpleasant smell when walking by the sea. There was far less sidewalks along the sea that was more common in the other cities. I was somewhat relieved I was unable to find a hotel of my liking on the waterfront. I know I would have been disappointed given what I learned through my walking. I did capture a couple photos from my walk.
I was very happy with my hotel - The Palace Hotel. The hotel had recently completed renovations so everything was brand new - western style amenities. The staff were great. Cynthia in reception was magnificent. The first room I was assigned had a cigarette smoke smell - odd for non-smoking hotel. Cynthia immediately relocated me in a new room including a queen size bed (original booking was for twin beds based on availability).
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| View from KK shoreline |
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KK is the affectionate abbreviation used for the
city's name. |
KK City Mosque
A key destination for my Sunday morning walk was KK's largest mosque - Kota Kinabalu City Mosque. The mosque can accommodate up to 12,000 people and is sitting on a man made lagoon. This photo is the extent of my mosque visit. Each mosque does have an amazing interior. Unfortunately, I can only 'oh and ah' so many times before I become numb. I have had the same experience with churches.
Northern Most Tip of Borneo
On Sunday morning I discovered you could venture to the northern most tip of Borneo. What a totally appealing idea. While my preference was to join a tour to avoid the travel, I was unable to find anything available at the last minute. I then had the great idea that I would rent a car and drive. Fun idea at the last moment when you have zero idea about renting a car in Borneo. God bless all those people who blog about their experiences. I found a car rental company with good reviews so I applied online. What I learned is that my rental car could be delivered to my hotel on Monday morning and, if I returned by 5 pm, someone would be available to retrieve the car. Another shout out to my little brother for his help in getting my new driver's license to me at the Kuala Lumpur hotel. Remember that my license had to be replaced when my wallet was stolen on my first day in Bangkok! Special thanks to the universe for the internet and everything electronic that provides this flexibility.
The drive is about 3.5 hours each way - driving on the wrong side of the road. There were a couple times when I stopped to recheck Google Maps to ensure I was on the right track. The northern most tip of Borneo does show up in Google Maps as a separate destination. I have had previous experiences where Google Maps was inaccurate. Be more of an adventure than planned if that happened in this instance. Paved road the entire distance; however the condition of the road in the last 4 kilometres had me second guessing if I was going in the right direction.
As the following photos show, I successfully found my way to my destination. BTW I carry a power bank with me should I need an emergency power supply for my phone. Was helpful on this trip to keep the phone adequately charged.
The universe was extremely benevolent on this trip. There happened to be a family (mother, son, daughter and daughter-in-law) taking photos at the signpost by the two seas. They had driven 6 hours to reach the point. Always opportunities to be reminded of my blessings and to be humbled by other's experiences. They agreed to take my photo. They also suggested an action shot for more interest and fun.
I was blessed with rain free day (during rainy season) for the entire day which was a blessing given the seven hours of driving plus the vistas I got at my destination. I will need to return to Borneo as I omitted visiting Mount Kinabalu which is the highest peak on Borneo.
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| Globe monument from the front |
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| If you look closely you will see this point on the globe |
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| If you're interested in distances |
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Converging seas - South China Sea is an active area
for the various world navies! |
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| Road leading to the point - now a walkway |
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| View from the point looking south |
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| View from the point |
Car Rental Experience
Like I mentioned above, I had this most amazing car rental experience. My rental car was this silver Perodua Axia which had a one litre engine (that was truly tested a few hills in each direction). Please meet AJ (Ajwad), the car rental agent who delivered and picked up the car on Monday. Car rental was about $35 Cdn including insurance plus a $35 deposit.
When AJ dropped by the hotel to pick up the car, he brought a couple friends from the car rental company. They asked if they could video my testimonial about my car rental experience. I think I provided the sound bite they were looking for when I shared that this experience was better than what I had experienced in Canada. I received a WhatsApp message with a link to the TikTok video clip that was my testimonial. I am now immortalized on TikTok - for better or for worse. Enjoy the clip!
David's Car Rental Testimonial on TikTok
Gudung Mulu National Park
Tuesday morning involved a short Grab (think Uber) ride to the airport for the flight to Mulu. For some reason, my travels to Mulu represented going into the wilds of Borneo. Very exciting! We were blessed with a relatively clear day for the flight as you can see from the photos below. I flew on MASwings - affiliated with Malaysian Airlines (airline services Borneo). Hard to believe we were served a small snack and drink on this 90 minute flight. We are now into turboprop planes that seat 68 people.
Marriott Mulu
Welcome to my five star hotel in the wilds of Borneo, complete with a swimming pool. The hotel was designed with the idea that the rooms would be without Wifi. Go figure how that enhances the wilderness experience! Hotel experience was extraordinary! Rooms were first class, staff were wonderfully supportive and the shuttle service from the hotel to the National Park (2.6 km distance) was greatly appreciated. I accidentally discovered the hotel also provided airport shuttle service. I phoned the hotel the day prior to arriving to advise I was arriving prior to check in time. During the call, I was advised there was a shuttle service to greet me when I arrived. Yes, the universe continues to shine its benevolence on me.
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| Walkway to the rooms |
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Hotel from opposite side of river. The bridge on
the right leads to the hotel. |
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| Reception from Stella Mulu Cafe |
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| Reception |
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| Entry to hotel - hotel end of the bridge |
Canopy Walk
The National Park offers a 430 m walk above the forest canopy. The canopy walk distance and type of walk structure make this walk unique in the world. The walk is about 75 metres above the forest. Only two people are allowed on walk at one time. The other rule is only four people are allowed on any of the platforms that connect the various walkways. You definitely need to be comfortable with heights and have confidence the Malaysians maintaining this structure are being vigilant. The guide was less than reassuring as he described the limitations we needed to observe. Please note the rain free experience. Would be very uncomfortable to be on this walk in the pouring rain.
BTW - Additional park activities include visiting different caves to witness bats in action, doing a night walk to see nocturnal wildlife and a 24 km hike to Mount Mulu summit.
Click here for more park info.
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| On the way to canopy walk |
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| On the way to canopy walk |
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| Base of Meranti tree |
Paku Valley Loop Walk
I decided I needed the full jungle experience which meant completing the 8 km Paku Valley Loop walk. My added bonus was the fact we had a drenching rain throughout the night prior to my walk. I've included the Meranti tree photos as we learned from our Canopy Walk guide that the vines you see on this tree will eventually encircle and kill the host tree.
The walk highlight is Paku Falls. What was unique about the falls is the two sets of waterfalls were flowing out of the cliff wall.
I saw one person, someone who worked at the park, in my 2 hour hike. A key requirement before taking off on this hike was recording your name on a giant whiteboard to help the park staff keep guests stay safe. The trail itself was relatively well marked with a few spots that were washed out with the rain. I would have definitely benefited from having my walking shoes instead of my sneakers. A few soakers but nothing too serious.
A brief note about the humidity. Yes. It's omnipresent. To remind myself of its impact, I stopped three times in the two hour hike to wring the perspiration from my t-shirt. I did change my t-shirt once the hike was over for the walk back to the hotel. Perhaps one day my body will acclimatize and I will perspire less!
Felt great to be in the jungle with the different bird sounds surrounding me in my walk. Truly peaceful!
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So many people are employed to rake
leaves throughout SE Asia |
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The vines on this tree will eventually
encircle and kill the host tree |
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| Paku Falls |
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| Paku Falls - out of cliff |
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What the trail looked like
in a good stretch! |
Stella Mulu Cafe
In the fine tradition I have adopted on this journey, I decided to eat my meals at a local restaurant. Quite conveniently there was a cafe just across the river from the hotel. I had the gift of speaking with Angeline, one half of the wife/husband team, who established the cafe over 30 years ago. In fact, they set up the first two home stays and the restaurant in the park area. The Marriott hotel was built about two years after Angeline and her husband set up their business.
The owners were both teachers who gave up teaching to become entrepreneurs. Their daughter is a teacher in KL and their two sons are engineers working offshore with Petronas - the Malaysian oil company.
Interesting story behind the cafe name. Apparently in the cafe's early days there were numerous Belgian guests who enjoyed drinking Stella Artois beer. The husband decided they should name the restaurant Stella given their patrons' familiarity with the beer being served.
I also learned that the cafe was hooked up with electricity from the grid for the first time on Wednesday. Up to then, the owners were using their own generator for electricity. Another factoid was the owners flew to Miri on the coast to do their monthly shopping and had their purchases shipped by air cargo to Mulu.
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| Please meet Mdm Angeline |
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| Marriott reception from cafe |
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| Eating area |
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| Where the fine meals are prepared and paid for |
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| Welcome to Stella Mulu Cafe |
Stella Mulu Cafe Meals
Here's the meal choices offered. Very simple menu. I choose the roti with homemade pineapple jam along with two eggs for breakfast. My dinner options were the meal set (photo below) that included chicken curry along with tree ferns and bamboo shoots as the two vegetables. I also had Mulu Laksa - was so hungry I forgot to take a photo! (Oops!) I did enjoy a glass of the homemade rice wine as well. Like many restaurants in Malaysia, beer was available however was omitted from the menu.
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| Dinner meal set - Chicken curry along with veggies |
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| Eggs and coffee for breakie |
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| Roti and homemade pineapple jam for breakie |
Interesting
On the Friday morning, my last morning in Mulu, I walked the four km to the local village located past the road leading to the park entrance and past the airport. I discovered these two pay phones on the roadside in the village. Been sometime since I saw a phone; never mind seeing a pay phone in the middle of a remote location. The two phones are entirely ornamental at this point in their existence. I did check for a dial tone!
Returning To Penang
The trip to Penang involved two flights with a layover in Kuching. I discovered I was flying with Firefly on this journey; a second regional carrier that is part of Malaysian Airlines. Everything is booked on line through Malaysian Airlines. I was able to check in on line for the first flight to Kuching, however I was required to retrieve my luggage in Kuching and check in for the Penang flight. Everyone leaving Borneo was also required to go through immigration prior to reaching security and the departure gate. The differences in procedures are all very interesting.
Concurrent with all this travel activity was the experience of being unable to recharge my phone. The phone was giving the moisture detected in the USB port warning. All very troublesome as the power indicator slowly decreases as time lapses. The imperative to having some phone power available when I got to Penang was the ability to order transportation through Grab. All worked out just fine. The phone eventually dried out allowing me to recharge at the Kuching Airport. Relief!! Note to self - time to invest in a wireless charging accessory for my future travels.
I was also blessed to have a resourceful Grab driver at the Penang International Airport. I have discovered that the pickup point identified in the Grab app may differ from where the driver stops. My driver made the extra effort to locate me. So appreciated!
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| Sunset from airplane window |
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| Sunset from airplane window |
Hotel Room View
I arrived at the hotel (Golden Sands Resort by Shangri-La) around 9:30 pm Friday night. Here is the view from my hotel room balcony I was blessed to enjoy on Saturday morning!
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| Welcome back to paradise |
Meals
I was craving the hummus and pita bread that I had on my previous visit at this hotel. Once I secured my luggage in my hotel room on Friday evening I beetled across the room to Enca restaurant to have my hummus. As the photo reveals, I was eating the hummus before I remembered to take a photo. The Malaysian meal on the left was for my dining pleasure on Saturday evening at the same roadside restaurant.
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| Hummus |
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Special Fried Kuey Teow
Noodles with egg, crispy shrimp & chicken |
Next Week
Alas, my Malaysian adventure is ending on Friday, August 11. I'm taking the train from Penang Sentral (Butterworth station) to Kuala Lumpur on August 8. Oliver at Traders Hotel mentioned the train would be an interesting way to travel. Well, I'll soon find out. I'm spending three more nights at Traders Hotel. I fly to Chennai, India on Friday morning for six nights! I've booked a room at the Park Hyatt so I'm anticipating being comfortable during my stay!
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