Day one of this trip was a huge travel day, but by 3pm I was in Sandakar, Borneo, meeting Sarah, our tour guide for the next 9 days, and sizing up the rest of the group. There are 29 people on the bus this time, and it looks as though I might be the only solo traveller.

Usually, I fly with no checked luggage and 2 carryon bags. For the first time, Malaysian airlines weighed my carryon. I was over 7 kegs, so I checked in my little suitcase. In the rush, I forgot to check if it was locked.

Imagine my relief when I got it back at the airport, when I saw that the lock was open but absolutely nothing had been messed with. Fortunate Frogdancer strikes again!

Some locals that I saw from the bus window when we came into town.

After I found my room and settled in, I decided to go for a walk. I bumped into a group of 3 couples who were travelling together, and so I joined them. Over drinks in a rooftop bar, they said they were part of a group of 6 couples who met when their kids were preschoolers.
They go travelling together, years after their kids have grown up and gone. This time, half of them wanted to see Borneo.

This is a predominantly Muslim place. Borneo is an island split into 3. We’ll be travelling in the part owned by Malaysia.

As were were walking along the harbour front, one of us saw a monitor lizard at the water’s edge. You can see its tongue, helpfully silhouetted against a piece of rubbish.
Sadly,Sandakan is very dirty. My room looks out across the harbour front, which would be lovely except for all the litter floating around in it. You wouldn’t want to eat at the local KFC. As we walked past it, the smell from the drains outside was absolutely putrid.

I haven’t seen a single dog, which isn’t surprising, given the high Muslim population. But there are cats. Not as many os in Zanzibar, but they’re here.

We went walking around. We went into a shop or two, but there was nothing I wanted to buy.

We ended up by the water again to have dinner. Sarah had recommended a place called Bistro 88, which served beer and good noodles. Dinner was $4 Australian, and I think the beers were $3 each. As a non-beer drinker, this will be another alcohol-free holiday for me. The wine here only came by the bottle and was $57 AUS.

When I got back, there was a guitar player down in the square below, singing loudly. Luckily, he sounded good, because I needed to sleep. There’s only a 2 hour time difference, but it was a long day. I drifted off with his voice in my ears…
Tomorrow – orangutans!

Dad joke of the day: