Wandering in Borneo

A do-it-yourself trip wandering around Borneo with a short stop in Singapore. Flight Milan - Singapore with a stopover in Amsterdam with KLM. First stop Singapore, where I stayed at the Hyatt, the only luxury hotel of the whole tour... since after that we were going to Borneo!!! Singapore is very different from the other Asian cities. It's very clean and well-kept and you have to be careful about the prohibitions. There aren't great monuments to visit; let's say it's the city of shopping and shopping centres... although it's nice to stroll through the streets of Chinatown and Little India. I recommend trying the local food, which is really excellent!!! Second stop Kuching in the Sarawak region, staying at the Hilton. Kuching was the starting base for some trips in the Sarawak region. I recommend visiting Bako National Park, perhaps staying overnight inside the park.

Here you can see very close up the proboscis monkeys found only in Borneo. Another very nice trip is the Semenggoh wildlife centre, a rehabilitation centre for orangutans. Much less known than the famous Sepilok in Sabah but far less overrun by tourists. You can really see the orangutans up close, an unforgettable experience. For anyone wanting a bit of sea, the visit to Satang Island is nice, a little island half an hour away by boat inhabited only by a few people who look after the turtles that come there to lay their eggs. Really relaxing, you end up almost alone on the island. An unmissable trip, in my view, is a visit to a typical Longhouse inhabited by the famous headhunters. We chose Batang Ai and I assure you the scenery is fabulous and the meeting with the Iban is indescribable.

Third stop Sandakan in the Sabah region, staying near Sepilok and the starting base to go and see the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. A rehabilitation centre for proboscis monkeys very similar to the orangutan one. Really very beautiful, you can see the proboscis monkeys just a few metres away and there are lots of them. Here I recommend other excursions to see the Rafflesia, the typical flowers of Borneo. Last stop Pom Pom Island, a week of relaxation on this paradise island in the Celebes Sea. Fabulous sea, beautiful corals and marine life of a thousand colours, truly a little paradise. I recommend everyone organise their trips with local tour operators; they're very safe, extremely precise and cost much less. Moreover you're more in touch with the local people. I did all the internal transfers with flights operated by Malaysia Airlines, a very reliable company.

Borneo will always stay in my heart, it's a wonderful place, with a nature that still rules supreme!!! VISIT IT!!!