Borneo

10 days in Borneo. From Mountain to Jungle, to Island life and a few furry friends along the way.

This trip was a pretty last-minute booking. I’d taken some time off work before moving back to the UK to spend in Sydney, but after a few weeks of packing up my life and soaking up the last bits of sunshine and beach life, I started to get a bit bored. So, my housemate at the time gave me a kick up the arse to book a trip... and I did. Two weeks later, I was in Borneo. And it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

This was the first time I’d ever done an organised trip, and I booked it through Intrepid. I was a little apprehensive, worried I’d end up with a rubbish group or miss my freedom. Plus, there was a government travel warning for the part of Borneo I was heading to, so I was convinced I was going to get kidnapped by pirates. But I loved every minute of it, dodged the pirates, and met some amazing people along the way.

Sabah Adventure Itinerary

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Dusun village

Kinabalu National Park

Kinabatangan River

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

Turtle Island

Sandakan

Kota Kinabalu and Dusun Village

With some time to kill before my tour group arrived, I downloaded the Grab app and jumped in a taxi to Masjid Bandaraya, Kota Kinabalu’s iconic floating mosque. Absolutely stunning. The water surrounding it creates a perfect reflection, making the whole thing look almost surreal.

Outside, I rented traditional clothing to cover my head and shoulders. Given that it was pushing 40 degrees and 90% humidity, this quickly became less of a spiritual experience and more of a sweaty endurance test, but it still felt special to immerse myself in the culture. After walking around the landscape gardens, it was time to escape the humidity so I slipped off my shoes and headed inside to enjoy the peacefulness and calm of the prayer room.

Later, the group met back at the hotel, and within seconds of introductions, I locked eyes with another British girl, also called Sarah. We smiled, exchanged a few details about ourselves and that was it—instant bessy mates. Panic attack averted. By the time we headed out for dinner, we were already in fits of laughter, like we'd been friends for years, to the point where the rest of the group assumed we’d arrived together. Nope, just two Brits bonding over mutual first names.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes to WiFi and set off for Dusun Village, where we’d be staying with local families in a tiny village homestay. The group split into twos and threes, and luckily, Sarah and I ended up together—our homestay even had a toilet rather than a hole in the ground, so we were basically living in luxury.

That evening, we all gathered at the village hall, where our host families had cooked us an incredible dinner. After we’d eaten, they taught us how to play traditional instruments and dance. It was one of those moments of pure, unfiltered joy—the kind I hadn’t felt in a long time. Just completely in the moment, no stress, no worries, no phones. Just dancing, laughing, and soaking it all in.

That night, cocooned in my sleep sheet, I didn't sleep a wink. The bed was hard. The pillow was hard. The heat was unbearable and the dogs barked right through until the cock a doodle doos took over at dawn.

Mount Kinabulu National Park

I could write a whole page on Mount Kinabalu and the hike and share about a million photos. But I’ll try to keep it brief. You can see the mountain from Dusun Village, looming in the distance, which only made it feel more daunting as we packed up and jumped back on the bus to the national park.

By some stroke of luck, we all got upgraded to nicer rooms. Less luckily, I wasn’t with Sarah this time, which made sharing a room feel slightly more awkward. Nothing against my new roommate, but wasn't as much fun when you feel like you're now politely co-habiting with a stranger rather than giggling like school girls on a school trip.

That evening, we had dinner as a group in the lodge,. Looking up at the mountain in the dark, you could see base camp twinkling like a tiny star in the distance. It looked so far away. We got an early night, making sure everything was packed and ready for the big climb.

The six kilometre hike to base camp was a slog. No way around it. Steep, never-ending, and mostly surrounded by trees and clouds, so the views were minimal. The mile markers either gave you hope or crushed your spirit, depending on how you were feeling at that exact moment. But we entertained each other along the way and finally made it up by early afternoon. The views from Panalaban base camp were absolutely worth it.

We spent the afternoon and evening in the dining area, taking photos out on the balcony, chatting and loading up on fuel and hot chocolate, knowing we had a 1:30 a.m. wake-up call. I tried to get some sleep by 9 p.m., but it wasn’t happening. Thankfully, adrenaline does wonders.

Up at 1.30am for a quick bite and then we were off. Head torches on, poles in hand, keeping pace with our guide. Climbers have to register themselves at Sayat- Sayat Check-Point before 5.30am in order to proceed with the summit climb so we were on a time limit.

Half way up, in the baltic pitch black, on the exposed face of the mountain, all I could see was the guide rope in front of me to make sure we didn't veer off and get lost and a trail of headlamps snaking up behind like little ants. I started a wedding march as a way to keep the pace and stay focussed and forget the blistering cold winds and pure exhaustion - step-together, step-together.

And then, for a moment, I looked to my right and lit up faintly by the moonlight, I saw the edge of the summit and the towering mountain beneath. It was vast and empty and completely silent, and for that one moment, being out in the elements, with no thoughts distracting my mind, I felt like it was just me and the mountain. I'm pretty sure this is what enlightenment is. Either that or the altitude and lack of oxygen were sending me loopy. But it was special, and I’ve been trying to bottle up that feeling ever since.

Saying that, it didn't last long. My hypoglycaemia kicked in at the bottom of the last stretch, just below the summit and my hanger took over. I got stroppy with all the people that were suddenly just there, trying to get a selfie at the top. I mean how dare they. My new buddy Sarah found this hilarious and I had the piss ripped out of me for the next two days.

The hike

We made it to the top in good time which meant that we just had to sit in the deathly dark and blistering cold and wait for the sun to rise. We sheltered behind a rock to escape the howling winds and keep warm. Almost forgetting the sun was about to rise any minute, we nearly missed it trying to get warm. But I turned around and there it was, coming up, lighting up the horizon and the world beneath us. I was on top of the world. Every angle and every minute had a different hue. Red, purple, orange, yellow. i didn't want to leave.

Once we had taken a million photos and videos and the sun was finally all the way up, we started to make our decent to base camp. I fell over twice on the way down which resulted in me being in uncontrollable hysterics. I think I was a bit tired. We got back to basecamp about 9am for a second breakfast and a quick break before, yes, having to make it down the rest of the mountain (6 km) in the same day. Absolute fucking torture. Genuinely, don't think I've been so physically wrecked in my whole life.

The day after

We had dinner at the lodge again and waited for the rest of the group to make it down. One poor guy was still hiking in the dark—which is exactly why they don’t let you pass the 8,000ft checkpoint after a certain time.

Our guide stayed back to wait for him, while the rest of us headed off to the next stop—the hot springs.

Me, Sarah, and Hollie shared a room here, which was a laugh. Waking up the next morning, however, was not. My legs had fully seized up. Walking downstairs was no longer an option. I just had to let gravity take over.

We spent the day recovering—doing a treetop walk, soaking in the hot springs, lounging by the pool, and generally trying to regain some form of mobility. That evening, we went for dinner at a little roadside restaurant, where we inhaled plates of food like we hadn’t eaten in weeks.

Next stop… the jungle.