The Journeys ... The Current Trip

So, yeah, we have been in Borneo (Malaysia) for a while now. And frankly, we haven't had the best time so far.

First, there is the riding. In Indonesia, we have cycled over 2'0000 kilometers and climbed dozens of mountains. Never during that time did either of us have serious motivation problems. It always felt like it was worth the effort. Unfortunately, so far, it isn't that way in Sabah - the eastern part of Malaysian Borneo.
Palm oil is big business in Asia...it's the 'green' solution to the green house problem. This means that 60% of Sabah's rain forest has been cut down and replaced with palm oil plantations. As a result, that is what we ride through every day. For hours. For hundreds of kilometers. Without an end in sight. A fellow cyclists calls it 'the green tunnel of Borneo'. Additionally to the boredom caused by the scenery, the road also goes over hundreds of 'annoying hills'. Hills that are long enough and steep enough to loose all momentum and rhythm while at the same time not being long enough to give sort of an achievement for having climbed them. And then there's the heat. And then there are the dogs.

We have toyed with the idea of leaving Sabah again immediately. However, the geographic location of Borneo doesn't give us too many options and both the Philippines and Eastern Kalimantan (Indonesia) would seriously jeopardize our 'route around the monsoon'. So, we decided to stick it out.

We did have some good experiences, but they were all off the bike. We spent some time on the Kinabatangan, one of Borneo's longest rivers and a place were you could actually still find some rain forest and some animals. That was nice and relaxing. We also spend a night with birds nest collectors at Madai, which gave us a nice insight into their lives and culture. And hardships, to be quite honest. We camped twice, which was nice. It's a pretty cool feeling to be camping wild in Borneo.

Now, we are at the foot of Mt Kinabalu (see picture) in Ranau. We've been here for over a week. It's a nice little town. However, the town is not really the reason why we stayed here so long. First, it was an utter lack of motivation. After 500 kilometers in palm oil plantation hell, we simply didn't feel like riding anymore. And we didn't want to force it, lest we'd start hating riding. After a few days, when motivation started coming back, we hit a bit of a problem overseas. It's a long story. Let's just say, the outcome is that the possibility to ride all the way to Switzerland is now financially not possible anymore. :

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving. Eventually. Maybe. Instead of heading to Kota Kinabalu, we're staying inland and will ride southwest that way. It's less touristy in there, there's no need for us to go to KK and there's the Sabah Agricultural Research Center at Tenom, which we'd like to visit. (There will be some plant pictures coming your way, Andrea.). From there it'll be over the Crocker Ranger down to the coast and into Brunei. All of this will be accompanied by Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, which begins on August 19th.

For those who haven't seen them, there are new photos in the gallery.

I hope, the next time I'll write, I'll be a bit more cheerful. Thanks for bearing with me.
Adrian