Sunday 23^rd, we finished work and walked down to meet our taxi driver, Mr Chen, who was taking us to the airport to catch our flight to Kota Kinabalu.  

It was with excitement as this was a long weekend extended by and extra day as we had taken our long service leave.  Arriving at the airport we went through to domestic departures.  Kota Kinabalu is on Borneo but is part of Eastern Malaysia.  We arrived at our hotel around midnight and checked in.  Citidel Express is a new hotel.  The room was very small, only enough room to walk around the foot of the bed and sideways alongside the bed.  It was very clean and adequate as we were intending on being out all day and back only to sleep.

Monday and we were up early looking for breakfast and finding the Information Centre.  We found a great place to have a cold drink after walking along the waterfront.  The view out was of the islands.  From here we found Borneo Travel and booked a day island hopping for Tuesday.  The rest of Monday we wandered around and explored some of the city ending up at the Esplanade in an Irish Bar  overlooking the water and watching the sun go down.

As we were being picked up at 8.30 on Tuesday morning we decided to have breakfast at the hotel.  The taxi took us down to Jesselton Peir to catch a water taxi across to Mamutik Island.  

This is the third of three islands in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park.  This was said to be the least popular island as it was smaller than the others but still very good for snorkelling.  Wayne had hired a pair of flippers and a mask for this purpose.  I intended to paddle in the water and enjoy looking at the fish near the shore.  Some were swimming around but obviously Wayne was going to see more. 

We arranged with our hotel to hire a car for Wednesday and this turned out to be a great way to see another part of the area.  The car was a Proton Saga, brand new!  We left our hotel at around 8 am heading towards the Rafflesia Centre in the hope of being able to see a Rafflesia flower.  We used our GPS as we weren’t entirely sure of the way and only had a small map that was included in a Insight Pocket Guide of Sabah.  Luckily we did use the GPS as the signage in Malaysia leaves a lot to be desired.  Yes they do have signs but often they are on or past the intersections.  Even with the GPS we still managed to miss the turnoff and were often told “route recalculation”.  We drove through the Crocker Range which was very pretty.  Lots of greenery and flowers.  The Rafflesia Centre was open and when asked if there were any flowers blooming were told there was one 3 days old.  We paid for a guide to show us and followed him a short ride and then walked down a steep bank for around 10 minutes.

On the way he showed us the vine that the rafflesia takes over, buds that were growing and finally the flower.  I was not prepared for it to be so red.  For a parasite it was quite beautiful.

From here we drove onto Keningau thinking this would be a good place to stop for lunch.  Driving around we didn’t see anything that looked remotely apetising so decided to carryon to Tenom which proved to be a wise choice.  We had ginger beef and chicken cashew with rice for lunch at a kopitian.  We also bought some deep fried banana fritters were yummy.  We were hoping the Fat Choi Coffee Showroom would be open.  This was being optimistic as it was a public holiday.  We tried to take a different route back but couldn’t find the turn off so headed back to Keningau to take the coastal route back to Kota Kinabalu.  Dinner tonight was at a very local restoran – kwey teow and beef redang.  Having enjoyed the freedom of driving ourselves around we arranged to have the car an extra day.

Thursday we were up and ready to roll for a drive to Mt Kinabalu National Park where we could wander around and observe the flora and fauna. 

 We found many orchids; beautiful birds, amazing insects and butterflies while walking in cool temperatures.   The view of the mountain on the way was spectacular and we managed to get a photo of it without out its hat of clouds. 

We also decided to splurge and have lunch inside the park area.  Not cheap but very nice.  The drive back to Kota Kinabalu was again very pretty winding down the mountain through valleys and villages.  Not really sure of the way we followed a taxi that seemed to be going back but lost him as he buzzed off into the distance and had to rely on the signs.  We took a different route back into the city along the coast and past the floating mosque and pretty wetlands for fishing and bird watching.  Back to our room for a shower and freshen up before we went out looking for dinner.  One good thing about our small room was that we were not inclined to spend much time in there except for sleeping.  The Espanade has a number of choices for meals at varying prices and choices of restaurants offering a variety of foods.

Friday, we packed our bags and headed down to reception to check out.  We were flying back to Kuala Lumpur having had a refreshing and relaxing break but still managing to fit a lot into our time away. 

Back to work and looking forward to our next weekend away.

We booked our tickets to go to Laos, then the next day they had a special and the tickets were half the price.  But never mind we were happy to go.  Just before leaving I decided to check the tickets and found that I had unintentionally booked express boarding and hot seats as well as hold luggage for coming home.  All extra costs!  OOOPss.  Was good though as we were the first ones onto the plane and had plenty of legroom.  The seats were also in the first row so it allowed us also to be one of the first off.  We had plenty of reading material to keep us busy during the flight.

Approaching Vientiane, we could watch the Mekong wend its way along.  It was rather lovely to see.  The river is so brown and murky looking, but you could see how people use it for the everyday business.  Whether that be 
fishing, washing clothes, bathing or playing in the mud.

Going through customs at Vientiane was a breeze.  We had to do a visa on arrival which was actually the fast way through.  Then it was off outside to get a taxi to take us to our hotel.  We had booked one that was in between the river and the main town area.  It was very convenient.  The room was lovely except for the view out was of the neighbouring building which appeared to be flats of some sort.

After a short rest we were off to walk and explore and to look for some dinner.  We had 2 nights in Vientiane and another one on our way back home.  There was plenty to see and do.  We walked along the Mekong, visited the night market, 

temples, walked past the Palace, found the famous arch, found many statues and lots of other interesting things to see.  

One side of a temple now used as a Museum. 

Wayne in front of the museum.  It was stunning from the front.

Fierce creatures protecting the  temple museum.

Statues down one side of the temple museum.

We found stupa used as a roundabout.

Looking directly at the Victory  Gate  (Patuxai).  The concrete for this arch was donated by the US to be used for a runway!

Looking away from the city after climbing to the 7th floor for the view.

Wayne chatting to a monk who wanted to practice his English.

Monks were everywhere.

Looking directly towards the Arch.

The World Peace Gong.  Didn't look interesting from this side - except for the reflection in the water.

This is the other side of the
gong

Life is never dull when you are walking about in a strange country.  We could have hired bikes but we prefer to walk as you get more of a feel for a place.  We found a lovely restaurant for a meal that is run by homeless children.  The food and service was exceptional.  it was so nice that on our return we also ate there.

We flew up to Luang Prabang and had booked a guest house there with a bungalow overlooking the Nam Khan River.  We had a little balcony where we could sit out and watch the river life...boats going up and down, people fishing, children playing in the mud, having their daily baths as well as bird and insect life. 

This place was a little oasis to stay at.  We had 4 nights booked here and it was so lovely and relaxing and worthwhile.   It was a 15 minute walk into town but they had a shuttle service into town and you then had to negotiate a tuk tuk to bring you back.  Luckily the people had told us how much we should expect to pay as the drivers started asking twice the price.  A tuk tuk is a motorbike with a trailer attached to carry passengers.  Some of them are quite elaborate and decorated.   Out trip cost 20000 kip, which sounds a lot but in NZ dollars is it is about $3.00.  The ride back was about 10 minutes.

The view from our balcony where we ate breakfast each morning.

Each morning we had breakfast on our balcony.  I ate mango pancakes and Wayne had a cheese omelette and we finished it off with Lao Coffee.  We enjoyed the coffee so much we had to buy some to bring back into Malaysia.  We bought this from the local morning market.   

Wandering through the local markets is always a treat.  We see some unexpected things.  This time we saw wasp larvae, we thought it was bees at first until we read in a little locally produced book that they were wasps and that they are a much treasured delicacy.  I am not sure that I want to eat them at all.

One of the days we went for an elephant trek, a jungle walk and a swim (well Wayne swam) in some waterfalls.  

The jungle trek was great but very hot.  Our guide took lots of photos for us which was good.  We had lunch at the end of the elephant trek which consisted of fried rice with pork.  We had been trekking for an hour and a half and the meal was still hot.  They wrap it in banana leaves and I guess this works to keep it hot.  We had to cross many bridges over the fast flowing river.

Wayne enjoyed the swim in the waterfalls; he even dropped off the tyre swing into the water, much to the amusement of the locals.

Laos has so many temples that we only visited a few.  

Haw Kam which is situated int he grounds of the  former Royal Palace but is now a museum.

Van Xieng Toung, the oldest monastery in Luang Prabang

We got talking to some monks that wanted to practice their English.  A lot of them are there because the family can’t afford to feed them.  They still have to be educated and this only happens when the family has enough money to pay for it.  Such a different lifestyle to what we are used to.  Their saffron coloured clothing is so bright compared to all their surroundings.

A house boat....the only way was up some steps and we were curious on how they would get their motor bikes up the steep steps.

We climbed up to the top of  Phou Si passing many buddas while we climbed over 300 steps.  the view from the top was worth as was watching the sun go down,

A typical scene on our walk to and from town.

Colourful flags hanging from an umbrella.

Snakae wine for sale along the riverfront.

We had plenty of time to take photos as we wandered around the town.  Luang Prabang is so laid back and beautiful.  It seems that nothing is too much trouble.  I enjoyed our meals as they don’t use chilli in them very often...so it was relatively easy for me to get a meal that I could eat.  we ate at many different restaurants but our favourite in Luang Prabag would have to be Lao Lao BBQ Gardens.  This is where you have a small bbq at your table and you cook the thinly sliced meat on a small raised plate and cook the vegetables in a stock surrounding the small bbq.  It was yummy as and cheap as too.  We were going to walk back to our bungalow but it was raining so we took the tuk tuk.

Not only do tuk tuks carry passengers they also care heavy loads.

We had fun at the night market just looking and buying a couple of little mementos for us.  It is hard to bargain with them as to us the prices are already cheap.  Some of the things that they sell in the markets are beautifully made by these clever people.  We did buy a handmade book with recycled paper pages to put our photos into.  They bring their stuff down and set up the market each night. 

As we  cae down the hill we saw the night market setting up with the wat in the background.

As the night went on it got busier and busier.

We had to have a Lao coffee before returning back to our bungalow.

After our interesting and relaxing holiday it was back to work on Wednesday. And now it is time to start saving your our next holiday.


Below are some candid shots of insects, butterflies and flowers.