Borneo March 2010

Day 1: Kota Kinabalu - Sitipang - Long Pa Sia

It was time to take it to the open road. A short flight to the town of Kota Kinabalu was all it took. Before we knew it, we were standing in front of our bikes, ready to rock and roll.

Throttle? Check. Brakes? Check. Butt fit on seat? Check.

It was the first road adventure of many I hope. Here I was, in Borneo Malaysia, ready to face whatever the open road would bring.

Finally time to take off, the feeling was indescribable. The first stretch was a 150 kilometre warm up to Sipitang. Here, the first rest stop and lunch break was set up. As I ate, I thought to myself how happy I was to have signed up for this dirt biking bonanza with Tristan Park.

Excited to start off again, lunch was basically gulped down. Not soon enough, we riders set off for another 20 km before hitting a turn off into the logging trail.

This is where it gets really interesting: rough riding. What awaited us ahead was 80 km of loosely graveled (pebbled) road to Long Pa Sia. It was to be the most challenging segment of the trip. No stroll in the park here!

For a while, I stayed behind, as the more confidant riders led the way. Dust galore lowered visibility by almost 80%. You really had to depend on the front rider for trail tips based on faith, and on one’s skills. (I hoped all that practice at Tristan Park done months before was enough!) Stepping out of the fear, it was almost like riding on air since the road could not be seen, covered with a thick layer of stirred dust.

At a point, huge logging trucks dominated the narrow road, which added that much more danger and thrill to the already nerve-wrecking ride. Here, with trucks on full load stirring up a massive smoke screen of dust, visibility drops to almost zero, and one’s ninja senses take over.

After hours of tough riding that was jittery, seriously hardcore, slow and requiring glamorous bike control, I finally got the hang of things and decided to overtake and lead the pack. As a front rider, I discovered a whole new set of challenges.

First thing I noticed that from taking directions from the lead, I now became the road watcher. Alert levels increased tenfold and I found myself praying that there would be no surprises. Depending on my audio senses, I knew that stray dogs dominated the public realm.

What seemed like a never-ending challenge, rest was indeed welcomed when we finally reached Long Pa Sia in a thankfully uneventful journey. It is here that we’ll stay put for the night.

One of the highlights of a road trip are the stopovers. It is when we can mingle with the locals and really get to know the land and it’s cultures. Over a cool cup of local beverage, I got chatting with one of the more knowledgeable villagers, who was kind enough to give me his time.

He brought me back to the old days when Long Pa Sia cradled tribesmen who hunted with blowpipes. Today, village folks use the banal guns as the plant poison once used for blowpipes no longer held its potency due to logging activities over the years.

He also managed to bring in a few stories of WWII and how the tribesmen aided the British soldiers ambush Japanese forces. From there, he ended with tales of how as a child, he and his friends would walk from Long Pa Sia to Sipitang for their PSLE exams. This, what seems like the walk of hell, took seven days. And we’re not even talking about the return trip!

A simple yet nutritious meal ensued with some great banter with the other riders sent us off to a much-needed doze in houses of kind villagers. I could easily get use to this homestay business…

 

 

 

Day 2: Long Pa Sia - Tenom

Ahhh yes… early mornings in a village setting is like nothing else in this world. Fresh village air, rustic sounds of the simpler life… No regrets!

Time for breakfast!

Today, we will ride from Long Pa Sia to Tenom, another town that’s endearingly called the “Kopi Town”. Sounds promising already. Nothing like a traditional cup of coffee on a great adventure holiday. I couldn’t wait!

First we had to take the 80 km graveled road back to the beginning of the turn off. Then, it would take another 100 km on road, passing the Maliau Basin.

This bit allowed me to get use to my bike more and getting on-road made it easier to enjoy the view more. It was also a time to enjoy the thrill of speed as the most scenic part of the trip was yet to come. As well, I hadn’t forgotten my coffee, so the faster I got there, the longer I’ll have to sit back and sip to my heart’s contentment.

We reached Tenom as the day started to settle in for the evening unwinding. Of course I got my coffee. Dinner followed. And then it was time to just kick back and enjoy the night breeze.

 

 

Day 3: Tenom - Keningau - Waterfall - Ranau - Mount Kinabalu - Hotel

We left Tenom early in the morning, heading towards Mount Kinabalu. This section of the journey will total around 200 km. We enjoyed the morning ride that was greatly contributed by the crisp, cool air. That in turn contributed to the general fresh and relaxed feeling while cruising. It made riding so easy.

We managed to cruise pass Keningau slightly pass noon. Incredibly, we spotted a sign that read, Mahua Waterfall. It would have been foolish to ignore what this meant.

I think the Mahua Waterfall will start a ritual for us to always make a detour and jump into any waterfall whenever we see one. The “right time, right place” was staring us in the face. The hottest time of day and the fact that we were till in the lowlands made jumping into the cool waterfall a religious experience.

The journey towards Ranau was hilly and winding, and the air remained cool even though the afternoon surrounded us. The scenic offerings were endless: huge mountains, paddy fields, cows and scattering of villages around the foot of the mountain. Then it was hard to miss houses built next to a stream; quite dreamy, really.

I must admit, it was only until I made this road trip that I realized how beautiful Borneo is.

When we reach Ranau, it was slight pass 3pm. We were so hungry, we almost cleaned up the entire kitchen of the coffee shop we stopped at. Ranau is only a 10-minute ride away from the foot of Mount Kinabalu. We quickly hit the road again after a satisfying meal.

The next great road section? The ride up the mountain. As the winding road bent left and right upwards, it led us closer and closer to the mountain itself; the face of Mount Kinabalu itself played peek-a-boo with us as we followed the bends.

Every right turn we made brought us face-to-face with the mountain, but with every turn left, it disappeared, until we came round another corner of the hill to find her smiling at us again.

As we hit the 1,000-metre mark, the air continued to get chillier. Add to that, it also rained at certain stretches. We paid an entrance fee to get to the base.

The road became tighter and super windy; halfway through the climb, it rained so heavily, visibility dropped to almost zero. By now, the freezing cold rain started to seep through our raincoats, running freezing streaks down our bodies and legs, and stopping at our riding boots.

When we almost reached the base, the rain subsided. With that relief, another surprise followed. The clouds up there were so thick, it was a miracle we saw anything!

We stopped at the gate, the place where climbers embark on their cold journey up to the peak. The only thing I remembered going through my mind was how I would not even try that climb even if they paid me!

Soon, we decided to head back down to the mid section of the mountain and spend the night.

Dinner on the mountain? How could we not? We had a delicious local meal at the alfresco area of a restaurant that overlooked mountainous silhouettes. In the dark, you could see the lights of houses scattered all over the mountains. Nature that surrounded the restaurant gave us a peaceful feeling and its isolation and quiet ambience gave us the opportunity to settle down and achieve inner calm. It was magical.

 

Day 4: Mount Kinabalu - Kota Kinabalu city

Leaving the mountainous region was rough. It would have been nice to stay awhile. But we had to head back to Kota Kinabalu city. The mostly downward slope ride met mostly windy paths. As we rode, we could see Mount Kinabalu waving, biding us goodbye. In my heart, I told her that we would come back to visit her again.

Around 500 metres above sea level – halfway down from the top – we hit cloud central as we were engulfed so thickly, visibility was reduced to only 10 metres at most.

It was a 100-km ride from the mountain to the city. Just before we started to lose sight of Mount Kinabalu forever, we stopped several times to take a good look at her. Naturally, photos galore made its appearance.

When Mount Kinabalu finally left our line of sight for good, an increasing number of traffic lights started to greet us. Yup, we were back to reality, reaching the hustle and bustle of the city.

It was an awesome trip no doubt. There was so much, however, we didn’t have the chance to see during this trip, especially the Maliau Basin (more famously known as The Lost World).

So we will get back to our drawing board and draft out another trip soon. Perhaps we’ll find a way to see it all then. A mental note taken as we flew back to good ol’ Singapore.