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So, now I've got that off my chest, back to our travels. We have been busier than ever this past 11 months, taking in Dubai, Tokyo, Kyoto, Abu Dhabi (twice), Maldives, Shanghai, Ha Noi, Ha Long, Da Nang (where we had to run away from Typhoon Haiyan) Singapore, Siem Reap (and Angkor Wat, a bucket-list destination) Luang Prabang and Vientiane (Laos) Bangkok (numerous times) Hua Hin (again) KL (lots) Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in Malaysian Borneo. Closer to home, we visited Warsaw and Milan and have made a few trips back to Blighty for family occasions.
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So many destinations it is hard to know where to begin. Malaysia continues to excite and delight us with the variety of its culture, food and wildlife. Mrs d2t had always wanted to see orang utans in the wild, so we plotted a course to Malaysian Borneo as the most accessible and cheapest way to catch a glimpse of these fascinating, laid-back relatives. There are very frequent flights from KL to Kota Kinabalu which just happens to have an excellent Hyatt Regency. From KK, Air Asia operates a very cheap service to Sandakan in the east. We caught the 7am flight out of KK to be sure to arrive at Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre for breakfast (their's, not ours). From Sandakan airport it is possible to pick up a taxi and negotiate a very reasonable rate to retain your car and driver for the day. Ours agreed to take us wherever we wanted from our arrival at 7:45 'till our return to Sandakan airport at 6pm for only MYR190 (about $60). He probably felt he'd made a killing, we felt safe. It is possible to see properly-wild orangs in Borneo but not without a pretty uncomfortable trek through jungle with quite a lot of hazards. Even at tame Sepilok you have to put on anti-leech socks if you leave the boardwalk. It may seem a little sad to describe meeting these fantastic creatures in a setting where there is no barrier between us and them as underwhelming but they aren't the most lively animals in the woods. In fact they seem downright lazy. Interestingly, our orangs made no attempt to chase away a large macaque who came to nick all their bananas.
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What delighted us far more and provided a much more vivid experience was the support act. A few miles from Sepilok, at Labuk Bay is a sanctuary for Proboscis Monkeys. It was founded on land that had been bought, like so much of Borneo, for clearance and oil palm planting. The owner fell in love with the monkeys and so we have the opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the most beautiful and also strangest-looking monkeys ever to inhabit our amazing planet.
Known to the locals as "orang belanda" or "dutchman" on account of their resemblance to early Dutch colonists in these parts (big nose, big belly) and unique to the island ecosystem of Borneo, these wonderful animals exhibit all the usual social hierarchical behaviour of apes the world over. It is easy to spot the alpha-male (who spookily reminds me of Bob De Niro) and there is a huge group of beta-males who hang together with a hangdog expression. The cute little babies have blue faces and cling to their mothers' fur scanning the horizon anxiously. We watched with fascination as one mother was clearly weaning her offspring, allowing a little breast then pulling back and giving a taste of the fruit and bread from the organised feeding. We were treated to a full-on territorial threat display from the "first wife" who ran across the boardwalk in front of us slapping her palms loudly on the boards as she ran. Then, to cap it off, a mating right in front of us as the alpha male took his post-prandial treat.