We were so happy to finally reach Malaysia again after all the trouble we have had these past few days. Little did we know......
First objective was to collect our money from the western union since we were more or less skint. We just made the bank before it closed. After refueling we wanted to catch a bus to Sandikan where we would be going to see the Orangutan rehabilitation centre. Unfortunately, our luck had not yet picked up and there were no more buses for the day. We were told to catch a bus to somewhere called 'Batu 32', which was the half-way checkpoint for buses to Sandikan and Kota Kinabalu (that's where we head next).
But when we got to Batu 32, occompanied by a hilarious middle aged Malaysian woman who was also heading for Sandikan, we were hit with the fact that the last bus had already departed. This however wasn't the bad news. We also found out that there was no accomodation available in the area and we were basically stranded! We had to sleep at this road side market on the hard wooden floor, with the Malaysian woman no less. It was the perfect end to a unperfect day. Thank god for our sleeping bags!
We were up at the crack of dawn, since we had trouble sleeping anyway and got aboard the 6am bus to Sandikan. We dropped our bags at a near-by restaurant and got fed and showered whilst we were there. It was a short walk to the Orangutan sanctuary and cost 30 malaysian ringit, to enter. We watched a short documentary before going to see the kings of the swingers but it was not what we were expecting, at all. To be honest, I think it was the biggest let down in all of my 9 months of travelling. We saw 3 Orangutans from a distance, horded by loads of tourists, and that was it. We expected to see the babies or even be able to get pictures with them. No such luck.
To make the day a little more worth our while, we went on a trek through the surrounding rainforest within the conservation area. Being the rebels from Sheffield that we are, we diverted off the signed pathway and went for a good jungle exploration. We saw loads of wild monkeys, some very interesting insects, a snake, and most memorable, a bunch of friggin leeches. The first one got spotted sucking away at Majs boob and I had to pull the little demon off. It stretched to about 5 times its own length before coming free. After that, we just kept finding them on us. 2 on my legs, 2 on the back of Maj's shorts. And I even found one about an hour later whilst on the bus, down my shorts!
The ride to KK (Kota Kinabalu) took us past Kinabalu Mt. So the scenery was fantastic. Hopefully KK would give us a change of luck.
Sandikan Photo Link:
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