Borneo – Beaches

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

On Tuesday morning we woke up exhausted from our climb to the peak of Mt. Kinabalu, but determined to make the most of the day.

After a tasty breakfast at Mile 36 Lodge, we got back into the rental car and headed a few miles down the road to the Kundasang World War II memorial. The memorial was built in 1962 to commemorate the 2,428 Australian and British prisoners who died during World War II at the Sandakan POW Camp and the casualties resulting from the forced death marches from Sandakan to Ranau.

The memorial was made up of a number of separate gardens, each commemorating the fallen soldiers and civilians from each country involved.

After spending about 30 to 45 minutes at the memorial, we continued down the road to visit the Poring Hot Springs and to take a canopy walk in the surrounding jungle.

The hot springs were unbelievably stinky, but served as the perfect remedy for our aching muscles from our hike the day before.

Relaxed from our dip in the hot springs we made our into the jungle for the canopy walk. Even though we didn’t see much wildlife, the canopy walk was pretty cool because gives a unique perspective of the jungle from more than 130 feet above the ground.

When we finished the canopy walk it was already early afternoon and we needed to start making our way back to the coastal city of Kota Kinabalu.

The drive took most of the afternoon and by the time we had checked into the Dreamtel Hotel, finished returning the car and getting ready for the evening it was already time for drinks and dinner.

We set out to explore the town and settled for drinks on the waterfront promenade before making our way to the nearby night market food stalls for dinner.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

We woke up early, but our day got off to a slow start because we spent an enjoyable and leisurely three hours eating breakfast and chatting in the hotel restaurant.

Full of good food and relaxed from our long breakfast we decided to head out to Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, which is made up of a chain of islands just off the coast from Kota Kinabalu.

It’s about a 20 minute speed boat ride out to the islands and they are absolutely beautiful. We ended up spending all afternoon swimming, laying on the beach and having a couple of beers.

After having such an enjoyable afternoon, we decided we would return the following morning to spend all day hanging out on the beach and snorkeling.

Once back in Kota Kinabalu we returned to the waterfront promenade for drinks before making our way to El Centro Bar & Grill where we ate dinner and participated in ex-pat trivia night.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Our last full day with John and Jude was spent back at Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park hanging on the beach and snorkeling with the fish.

After a few hours we decided it would be fun to take a quick boat ride out into the bay and take a shot at para-sailing. First Tarynne and I went for a sail, and then I went up a second time for a spin with Johnny.

Once down in the boat we cruised back to the beach and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

In the evening we packed our bags for the next morning and then headed out to Chilli Vanilla for dinner and then out to Corner Bar for late evening drinks.