Where's Borneo?

Kuching, Mulu National Park, Semporna, Mabul, Sukau, Kota Kinabalu, MALAYSIAN BORNEO; 24 May - 8 June 2011

Borneo sounded exotic, so I decided to go. Although that decision was made in ignorance (I knew next to nothing about Borneo), it turned out to be an inspired one. After deciding to go, I then learnt a few things about Borneo: it is the world's third largest island; the largest chunk is part of Indonesia with the rest being the tiny, oil rich state of Brunei and two semi-autonomous Malaysian states - Sarawak and Sabah. I decided to stick with Malaysian Borneo, with a week in each state.

During my two weeks I saw an amazing range of animals: monkeys (long tail and proboscis), bats, snakes, dolphins, a wide variety of birds (including hornbills, kingfishers, eagles, oriental darters), crazy insects (including a hammerhead worm),

sharks, turtles, octopus (and so much more incredible marine life during two days of scuba diving around the world class islands of Mabul and Sipidan - a highlight of my entire travels to date), and Borneo's most famous wild residents - orang-utans. I failed to see the elusive Pygmy Elephant, but coming across its footprints in the wild on the banks of the Kinabatangan river was surprisingly exciting.

Apart from all the animals above, Borneo is also famous for its leeches. I found many of these bloodsuckers on my legs during a sweaty two day trek in Mulu National Park up to The Pinnacles. Giving some blood to the thirsty little feckers was a price worth paying to see the unique, jagged rock formations.

While most of my time in Borneo was spent in national parks and wildlife areas, I started and ended in its two main cities: the wonderful Kuching, which means "cat" and hence the city is full of cat statues;

and Kota Kinabalu, where I finished my trip with a great, cheap meal of fish and squid.

I loved my time in Borneo, with its cheap, tasty food (once you avoid the bizarrely omnipresent KFC outlets!), its friendly and not pushy locals and its natural beauty. Borneo will rank highly when I list my favourite places at the end of my travels.