Just a few stats for the geeks amongst us!
97 = No of nights away
47= No of different beds slept in
16 = no of flights
10 = no of days on motorbikes
8 = no of bus journeys
6 = no of train journeys
6 = no of boat journeys
12 = no of times we've passed through immigration
23 = no of dives
16 = minimum no of different beers drunk
3 = pairs of binned footwear
4 = packages of tat sent home
3 = days into trip that first package was sent home
8 = bottles of mozzy repellant used
7 = currencies used
6 = honeymooning upgrades/treats blagged
25 = max no of people in a 16 seated minibus
5 = max no of people seen on one moped
29 = blogs written
Funniest moments:
C = Tony's salon experience
T = Carols inability to walk after mountain climb
Most ridiculous moment:
Both = Vietnam visas
Best meal:
Both = Banyan Tree rooftop restaurant in Bangkok
Worst meal:
C = Bowl of "stew" that looked like snot and it had bits of wood in it!
T = no disasters
Sweatiest moment:
C = everyday in Borneo apart from on top of Mount Kinabalu!
T = after hitting 100 golf balls, Kota Kinabalu, Borneo
Best purchase:
C = hat and gloves for mountain climb
T = umbrella in Bangkok for 75p that's still going strong
Worst purchase:
C = Key rings for rip off price at traditional longhouse
T = "Nike" flip flops
4 = no of hours until our flight so we've got to go!
See you soon
Mr and Mrs McK xxxxxxx
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Slinging about in Singapore
Morning All,
We have spent the last couple of days wandering the sights of Singapore and I must say that after a dodgey start we have had a lovely couple of days here. Maybe it was false expectations but when we booked two first class tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore we were hoping for eight hours of comfort as we knew Singapore has a reputation for cleanliness and efficiency. The train was the first let down, it was an old and battered diesel engine pulling old and battered carriages with old and battered seats. Credit where it's due though, the air con was certainly new and man enough for the job. I know I'm not renowned for coping with extremes of temperature but I've never needed to unpack and sit in a sleeping bag for a train journey before! It was over 30 degrees outside and about -5 inside!
On arrival at Singapore the train station was old and battered too, it didn't even have an ATM so we were cashless. We both wondered if we were in the right Singapore! Once we figured everything out and got in a cab it all became clear, the train service from KL to Singapore is closing this summer and they are knocking down the station and redeveloping the land, that explains the lack of investment for at least 20 yrs.
The next morning we were up bright and breezy for a days hardcore sightseeing. The underground trains turned out to live up to expectations of supreme efficiency but as you know you don't get to see much between stops so we plumped for the ultimate mode of transport for a tourist . . . . . . . . . the open deck bus! By the end of an action packed day we had soaked up the botanical gardens, Marina Bay, Orchard Rd shopping area, had a late lunch and a couple of Singapore slings in Raffles Hotel Long Bar, before finishing on the riverside in Clarke Quay for more food and drinks.
Yesterday we took it slightly easier with a very late start followed by a wander around Chinatown, did a bit of shopping and headed back to the riverside for dinner. We have decided that cities are exhausting and we are not very good at them as all we do is look for places to eat, drink or just sit! It is only the ridiculous air con that moves us on!
Talking of moving on, we are just killing a bit of time before heading to the airport for our flight home. We have that feeling of it being an age since we touched down in Bangkok but still we can't believe that it's time to go home already. But I think we're ready to unpack for a while and cook for ourselves (for about a week anyway!) and I'm ready to finally become Mrs McKeown which, as I'm travelling on my old passport, I haven't had the homour yet! (although we have been Mr and Mrs Morris twice!).
See you all very soon indeed.
Love Mr and Mrs McK xxxxxx
We have spent the last couple of days wandering the sights of Singapore and I must say that after a dodgey start we have had a lovely couple of days here. Maybe it was false expectations but when we booked two first class tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore we were hoping for eight hours of comfort as we knew Singapore has a reputation for cleanliness and efficiency. The train was the first let down, it was an old and battered diesel engine pulling old and battered carriages with old and battered seats. Credit where it's due though, the air con was certainly new and man enough for the job. I know I'm not renowned for coping with extremes of temperature but I've never needed to unpack and sit in a sleeping bag for a train journey before! It was over 30 degrees outside and about -5 inside!
On arrival at Singapore the train station was old and battered too, it didn't even have an ATM so we were cashless. We both wondered if we were in the right Singapore! Once we figured everything out and got in a cab it all became clear, the train service from KL to Singapore is closing this summer and they are knocking down the station and redeveloping the land, that explains the lack of investment for at least 20 yrs.
The next morning we were up bright and breezy for a days hardcore sightseeing. The underground trains turned out to live up to expectations of supreme efficiency but as you know you don't get to see much between stops so we plumped for the ultimate mode of transport for a tourist . . . . . . . . . the open deck bus! By the end of an action packed day we had soaked up the botanical gardens, Marina Bay, Orchard Rd shopping area, had a late lunch and a couple of Singapore slings in Raffles Hotel Long Bar, before finishing on the riverside in Clarke Quay for more food and drinks.
Yesterday we took it slightly easier with a very late start followed by a wander around Chinatown, did a bit of shopping and headed back to the riverside for dinner. We have decided that cities are exhausting and we are not very good at them as all we do is look for places to eat, drink or just sit! It is only the ridiculous air con that moves us on!
Talking of moving on, we are just killing a bit of time before heading to the airport for our flight home. We have that feeling of it being an age since we touched down in Bangkok but still we can't believe that it's time to go home already. But I think we're ready to unpack for a while and cook for ourselves (for about a week anyway!) and I'm ready to finally become Mrs McKeown which, as I'm travelling on my old passport, I haven't had the homour yet! (although we have been Mr and Mrs Morris twice!).
See you all very soon indeed.
Love Mr and Mrs McK xxxxxx
Saturday, 15 January 2011
All Fish But No Chips
Morning All
Long time no speak but we are still here. We left you in Sandakan just over a week ago. From there we took a short flight south to Tawau, bus east to Semporna, then boat out to Sipadan Kapalai Diving Resort (SKDR), about 40km SE of Semporna.
We have just spent a truly wonderful seven days at SKDR. The whole place was built on stilts above a shallow sand and coral reef, and the nearest land was a small island about 1 mile away. As far as Carol was concerned it was paradise, and not just for the lovely buildings, scrummy food, fantastic diving or friendly staff. Her main reason for thinking this way was the complete lack of flies, mozzies, bugs and general biting mingey critters that have lunched on her regularly for the last 13 weeks.
As far as the diving was concerned, it was just the best. This area is rated in numerous publications as being one of the top 5 or 10 dive sites in the world. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site, and one of the candidates for the new seven wonders of the world. That puts it in competition with Halong Bay in Vietnam which we visited earlier on our trip. Not a bad itinery to have visited two of the potential "wonders."
There were four main dive areas. We could dive the Kapalai reef straight off a platform from the resort. This gave us corals, eels, sea horses, fish up to around a 18" long, and quite a few turtles including a giant of about 6 feet, all right on our doorstep. The second dive area around Mabul island a mile away had very similar sea life. A third site at Siamil island 40mins away was a good example of what damage is done to the reefs by over fishing. A lot of the reef was dead or dying. The biggest problem here was the lack of control on the fishing where illegal dynamite use to catch fish was destroying the reef. Even during our dive there we heard a loud blast and felt the shockwave from it's use. The look of panic on everyone's face was quite something as we all looked at each other expecting to see someones air tank exploding. Luckily the problem is being targeted and and all other sites are in great condition. Also luckily for us we only went to Siamil once. The absolute gem though was the island of Sipadan. This is a completely protected island and reef where nobody is allowed to stay on the island, and diver numbers on the reef are limited to 120 per day. The result was fabulous coral reefs, huge numbers of fish, including big uns up to 3 feet long, huge schools of circling barracuda, 50 or more turtles, and possibly >100 grey reef and white tip sharks. We did 21 dives in total over the seven days, including 10 at Sipadan. Our last dive there on our last morning was brilliant. We came across a couple of white tip sharks nosing around under a large rock before starting to get more excited about something. Before we knew it another eight had joined them and were having a right old feeding frenzy on some poor old fish hiding under the rock. All the time we were just a few feet away with a front seat David Attenborough view. I have to admit it was possible the first time on our trip that we were really sad to have to move on from a place, maybe because we are so close to the end now.
We left Borneo yesterday for a flying visit to Kuala Lumpur before heading on tomorrow to Singapore. We have got a cracking view of the Petronas twin towers from our hotel window. We've also had another flower massacre in our room with petals everywhere, plus a chocolate fondue with marsh mallows, strawberries & doughnuts for dipping, and a Bogof offer on a spa treatment. All courtesy of Libby and her e-mailing. As Carol has said before you've got to hand it to her, the girl certainly is good (Thanks loads Libs we've enjoyed all your special treats).
So tomorrow we'll be on the express train heading down the peninsula to Singapore for the very last leg of our honeymoon before flying home on Tuesday night.
Until the next time, love to all as usual.
Mr & Mrs McK Xxx
Long time no speak but we are still here. We left you in Sandakan just over a week ago. From there we took a short flight south to Tawau, bus east to Semporna, then boat out to Sipadan Kapalai Diving Resort (SKDR), about 40km SE of Semporna.
We have just spent a truly wonderful seven days at SKDR. The whole place was built on stilts above a shallow sand and coral reef, and the nearest land was a small island about 1 mile away. As far as Carol was concerned it was paradise, and not just for the lovely buildings, scrummy food, fantastic diving or friendly staff. Her main reason for thinking this way was the complete lack of flies, mozzies, bugs and general biting mingey critters that have lunched on her regularly for the last 13 weeks.
As far as the diving was concerned, it was just the best. This area is rated in numerous publications as being one of the top 5 or 10 dive sites in the world. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site, and one of the candidates for the new seven wonders of the world. That puts it in competition with Halong Bay in Vietnam which we visited earlier on our trip. Not a bad itinery to have visited two of the potential "wonders."
There were four main dive areas. We could dive the Kapalai reef straight off a platform from the resort. This gave us corals, eels, sea horses, fish up to around a 18" long, and quite a few turtles including a giant of about 6 feet, all right on our doorstep. The second dive area around Mabul island a mile away had very similar sea life. A third site at Siamil island 40mins away was a good example of what damage is done to the reefs by over fishing. A lot of the reef was dead or dying. The biggest problem here was the lack of control on the fishing where illegal dynamite use to catch fish was destroying the reef. Even during our dive there we heard a loud blast and felt the shockwave from it's use. The look of panic on everyone's face was quite something as we all looked at each other expecting to see someones air tank exploding. Luckily the problem is being targeted and and all other sites are in great condition. Also luckily for us we only went to Siamil once. The absolute gem though was the island of Sipadan. This is a completely protected island and reef where nobody is allowed to stay on the island, and diver numbers on the reef are limited to 120 per day. The result was fabulous coral reefs, huge numbers of fish, including big uns up to 3 feet long, huge schools of circling barracuda, 50 or more turtles, and possibly >100 grey reef and white tip sharks. We did 21 dives in total over the seven days, including 10 at Sipadan. Our last dive there on our last morning was brilliant. We came across a couple of white tip sharks nosing around under a large rock before starting to get more excited about something. Before we knew it another eight had joined them and were having a right old feeding frenzy on some poor old fish hiding under the rock. All the time we were just a few feet away with a front seat David Attenborough view. I have to admit it was possible the first time on our trip that we were really sad to have to move on from a place, maybe because we are so close to the end now.
We left Borneo yesterday for a flying visit to Kuala Lumpur before heading on tomorrow to Singapore. We have got a cracking view of the Petronas twin towers from our hotel window. We've also had another flower massacre in our room with petals everywhere, plus a chocolate fondue with marsh mallows, strawberries & doughnuts for dipping, and a Bogof offer on a spa treatment. All courtesy of Libby and her e-mailing. As Carol has said before you've got to hand it to her, the girl certainly is good (Thanks loads Libs we've enjoyed all your special treats).
So tomorrow we'll be on the express train heading down the peninsula to Singapore for the very last leg of our honeymoon before flying home on Tuesday night.
Until the next time, love to all as usual.
Mr & Mrs McK Xxx
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Going Ape
Morning Everybody.
Before we start just a quick description of our new year celebrations. We went to our hotel bar (i still couldn't walk much further!) at about 9.30pm where a four piece band were playing various Whitney, Mariah and Lady GaGa numbers. Then a troop of Ladyboys came on and had a boogie and mimed a couple more numbers, as they got more and more into it they were demanding more and more audience participation and Tonys arm appeared around my shoulder and his grip got tighter and tighter!
We arrived in Sandakan with the promise that it is the gateway to Borneos most abundant wildlife and we have not been let down. On Sunday we left Sandakan for a two day trip to the Kinabatangan River, on the way we visited Gomantong Cave which was home to a few million bats and swifts, and absolutely stank. There were massive mounds of bat and bird poo everywhere, even on the walkways which was unfortunate for the girl that fell over - cue tears of humiliation! We took a boat trip down the Kinabatangan River during the afternoon and into the evening to try and spot the wildlife that usually head to the water before turning in for the night. We saw big snakes and monitor lizards both of which are next to impossible to spot to the untrained eye. Hornbills and eagles were flying overhead while the long tailed and pig tailed macaques and proboscis monkeys fooled around in the trees on the riverbank. All of this was pretty amazing to see in the wild at such close proximity but did not compare to what happened next. Just as the light was starting to fade and we were heading back downriver to our lodge a few of us spotted the familiar silhouette of an ape moving from tree to tree but this fella was moving slowly and not jumping like the others do. It took just a nano second before someone called out Orang-Utan Cue oohs and aahs a'la bonfire night, especially when we saw a couple more and one of them had a baby! We sat and watched them for a good 20 minutes or so until they moved on and it really was absolutely amazing to see such rarely seen animals in the wild.
Our planned night time trek was cancelled which was a real shame. Apparently the elephants had decided to use our path turning it into a right old quagmire.
The next morning we took another boat trip but headed in the opposite direction down the Kinabatangan river in search of more wildlife, specifically the Asian pigmy elephants that had been seen in the area a couple of days previously. Sadly we were not that lucky and they had obviously moved on but we did see a pile of elephant poo! We were treated to more tree top gymnastic displays by the Proboscis monkeys though. They have become our favourites for their devil may care attitude of travel. There's no stopping them when moving through the tree tops and coming to the end of a branch. Without pausing they just launch themselves into the air, all four limbs spread eagled in the sure fire knowledge that at least one of their hands or feet will find a grip. This did sometimes result in a lot of branch bending on landing, but the monkeys never lost their grip and always came springing back up on the rebound. A short trek around an oxbow lake and then back down the river in the company of more hornbills, eagles and monkeys, but no Orang-Utans, completed the trip back to the lodge.
After lunch we departed the lodge for Sepilok Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre (SOURC) where we checked in to their jungle resort. The SOURC covers more than 40 square km and has numerous hiking trails for strolling through the rain forest. This centre is similar to the one we saw in Sarawak where they rehabilitate injured and orphaned baby orang-utans and then release them into the semi-wild but continue to provide food in case any of them need it. We arrived too late for that afternoons feeding time but were up bright and early the following day. As we strolled along one of the trails to a feeding platform we noticed one Orang-Utan sitting in a tree above us. As we stood there watching, she slid down a rope above our head and we noticed a little orange baby clinging to her for all it was worth. These two were then joined by a third Orang-Utan on the feeding platform. It was quite amusing watching the scores of macaques inching towards them but not being quite brave enough to join them on the feeding platform, probably because if they got too close the orang-utan swung his fists! After 20-30 minutes one of the Orang-Utans got up and moved to a nearby tree. This was the signal for the twenty or thirty macaques to move in and start grabbing what they could, and it was just as entertaining watching them as it was the Orang-Utans. The mother and baby stayed in sight in the distance for ages while she fed herself and her baby then in the blink of an eye they were gone. After the last couple of days we have now seen for ourselves that they really are the kings of the swingers.
Today we have been to the other tourist spots of the Sandakan area including the memorial park of the WWII prisoner of war camp and finding an English tea room complete with croquet lawn where we had cucumber sandwiches, scones and English breakfast tea.
Tomorrow we are heading to Kapalai dive resort near Sipidan Island which is said to be one of the top ten places to dive in the world. We have six days there with unlimited dives and we cannot wait to get back in the water.
More on that another time.
Love to all, Mr & Mrs McK xxx
Before we start just a quick description of our new year celebrations. We went to our hotel bar (i still couldn't walk much further!) at about 9.30pm where a four piece band were playing various Whitney, Mariah and Lady GaGa numbers. Then a troop of Ladyboys came on and had a boogie and mimed a couple more numbers, as they got more and more into it they were demanding more and more audience participation and Tonys arm appeared around my shoulder and his grip got tighter and tighter!
We arrived in Sandakan with the promise that it is the gateway to Borneos most abundant wildlife and we have not been let down. On Sunday we left Sandakan for a two day trip to the Kinabatangan River, on the way we visited Gomantong Cave which was home to a few million bats and swifts, and absolutely stank. There were massive mounds of bat and bird poo everywhere, even on the walkways which was unfortunate for the girl that fell over - cue tears of humiliation! We took a boat trip down the Kinabatangan River during the afternoon and into the evening to try and spot the wildlife that usually head to the water before turning in for the night. We saw big snakes and monitor lizards both of which are next to impossible to spot to the untrained eye. Hornbills and eagles were flying overhead while the long tailed and pig tailed macaques and proboscis monkeys fooled around in the trees on the riverbank. All of this was pretty amazing to see in the wild at such close proximity but did not compare to what happened next. Just as the light was starting to fade and we were heading back downriver to our lodge a few of us spotted the familiar silhouette of an ape moving from tree to tree but this fella was moving slowly and not jumping like the others do. It took just a nano second before someone called out Orang-Utan Cue oohs and aahs a'la bonfire night, especially when we saw a couple more and one of them had a baby! We sat and watched them for a good 20 minutes or so until they moved on and it really was absolutely amazing to see such rarely seen animals in the wild.
Our planned night time trek was cancelled which was a real shame. Apparently the elephants had decided to use our path turning it into a right old quagmire.
The next morning we took another boat trip but headed in the opposite direction down the Kinabatangan river in search of more wildlife, specifically the Asian pigmy elephants that had been seen in the area a couple of days previously. Sadly we were not that lucky and they had obviously moved on but we did see a pile of elephant poo! We were treated to more tree top gymnastic displays by the Proboscis monkeys though. They have become our favourites for their devil may care attitude of travel. There's no stopping them when moving through the tree tops and coming to the end of a branch. Without pausing they just launch themselves into the air, all four limbs spread eagled in the sure fire knowledge that at least one of their hands or feet will find a grip. This did sometimes result in a lot of branch bending on landing, but the monkeys never lost their grip and always came springing back up on the rebound. A short trek around an oxbow lake and then back down the river in the company of more hornbills, eagles and monkeys, but no Orang-Utans, completed the trip back to the lodge.
After lunch we departed the lodge for Sepilok Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre (SOURC) where we checked in to their jungle resort. The SOURC covers more than 40 square km and has numerous hiking trails for strolling through the rain forest. This centre is similar to the one we saw in Sarawak where they rehabilitate injured and orphaned baby orang-utans and then release them into the semi-wild but continue to provide food in case any of them need it. We arrived too late for that afternoons feeding time but were up bright and early the following day. As we strolled along one of the trails to a feeding platform we noticed one Orang-Utan sitting in a tree above us. As we stood there watching, she slid down a rope above our head and we noticed a little orange baby clinging to her for all it was worth. These two were then joined by a third Orang-Utan on the feeding platform. It was quite amusing watching the scores of macaques inching towards them but not being quite brave enough to join them on the feeding platform, probably because if they got too close the orang-utan swung his fists! After 20-30 minutes one of the Orang-Utans got up and moved to a nearby tree. This was the signal for the twenty or thirty macaques to move in and start grabbing what they could, and it was just as entertaining watching them as it was the Orang-Utans. The mother and baby stayed in sight in the distance for ages while she fed herself and her baby then in the blink of an eye they were gone. After the last couple of days we have now seen for ourselves that they really are the kings of the swingers.
Today we have been to the other tourist spots of the Sandakan area including the memorial park of the WWII prisoner of war camp and finding an English tea room complete with croquet lawn where we had cucumber sandwiches, scones and English breakfast tea.
Tomorrow we are heading to Kapalai dive resort near Sipidan Island which is said to be one of the top ten places to dive in the world. We have six days there with unlimited dives and we cannot wait to get back in the water.
More on that another time.
Love to all, Mr & Mrs McK xxx
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