BGray
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(Member) (Topic Starter)
Hi everyone, just back from the pioneering first departure on JY's new Borneo tour, with Singapore add-on!  The verdict?  It was terrific!  I know Jaya is writing a day-by-day account of the tour, but I thought I'd write a review in my usual style, focusing on different aspects of the tour so that our reviews should complement each other!  I know Taffy and some others are keen to hear how we got on in advance of the June departure so here goes...

The first few days in Kota Kinabalu were not very exciting to be honest - and I suppose this was in part due to the fact that we were all so excited about the possibility of seeing orang utans and other wildlife in the coming days.  Whilst based in KK we visited a couple of markets, Kinabalu National Park (a good experience of being in a rainforest but we didn't really see much by way of wildlife) and the Poring Hot Springs (the canopy walk was worth doing - but be warned, it is a fairly hard uphill slog over rough ground in the stifling heat and you have to walk along four very narrow and wobbly suspension bridges!  No one went into the springs, as they are not very appealing but on the upside we did see a rafflesia plant - the world's largest flower!).  We travelled through some amazingly lush countryside and saw some spectacular views, including a clear view of Mount Kinabalu.  

Things stepped up a gear when we went to Sandakan - we had a wonderful time at Sepilok and saw the nursery where the young orangutans play and also a number of other orangs in the jungle area of the park.  It was also great to visit the sun bear sanctuary.  The next day marked the beginning of our three day stay at the lodges, deep in the heart of the rainforest.  We had a truly wonderful time - we had five river safaris and we were delighted to spot six sightings of orangs, high up in the canopy, as well as loads of proboscis monkeys and macaques - and finally, we were incredibly lucky to have three sightings of the wonderful pygmy elephants - including a family crossing the river!  This was the icing on the cake and we were all thrilled.

After our time in the jungle, we returned to KK and on our final full day, we took the steam train ride.  Unfortunately the train broke down half way and we returned early - we still had time for the tiffin lunch and the company gave us a 50% refund, which many of us used to have a massage in the hotel and had enough left over for a few drinks or souvenirs as well!  Then we said goodbye to eight of the group, who returned home with Erica, our excellent tour manager.  The remaining fourteen of us went on to enjoy a three day add-on in Singapore and what a wonderful time we had!  Some of the group had been there before, whilst others like me, had not.  I was very impressed - it is a big, modern city with some amazing architecture and there are so many things to see and do - we were spoiled for choice!  A few of us had asked Erica if some additional excursions could be arranged, over and above the one included excursion and two optionals offered by JY.  She kindly liaised with Buffalo Tours, the local agents and they organised a great programme for us and I did all the tours on offer, including the night safari at the zoo, breakfast with the orangutans (fantastic!), a visit to the Gardens by the Bay (a must see experience) and a trip to Sentosa Island (Butterfly Park and Aquarium).  It was a marvellous end to a great tour.  

The hotels were all very good although the service in the restaurant in Sandakan was very slow.  The lodges were wonderful - the bedrooms had varished wooden floors and panelled walls and were very comfortable.  They didn't have air-con, but had efficient fans, whilst all the hotels had air-con.  The food was excellent throughout the tour, except for the farewell meal which had too much shellfish for our taste!  The food in Malaysia has strong Chinese and Indian influences but it wasn't too spicy.  Beer was generally cheap; however wine was expensive and both were expensive in Singapore - meals were generally much more expensive there too.  The weather was typical for the tropics - on a couple of days we had thunderstorms with torrential rain (thankfully we were on the bus at the time!); mostly the weather was fine, sunny with cloudy periods and occasional showers.  Bring a poncho if you have one (you can also buy them in the markets there) and an umbrella if you are doing the Singapore add-on.  It is too hot and humid for rain jackets!

Some final tips - after all the discussion, there was no real need for leech socks!!  Perhaps we were lucky, but we didn't encounter any.  Most people got a few mossie bites - be diligent in applying DEET as if you miss any areas of skin, you can be guaranteed that the little blighters will find them!  It was hot (c. 28-35C throughout) and very humid (up to 99% humidity at times!) - especially in the jungle and we got used to feeling sweaty!  As someone who finds heat and humidity draining, I coped reasonably well and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the tour.  It is very easy to get dehydrated - so I recommend that you bring a couple of large boxes of Dioralyte with you - I generally used about three sachets a day to help me keep well.  A couple of people had mild stomach upsets for a day, but no one missed out on anything as a result.  

Finally, don't expect to get amazing photos of the wildlife!  We all got some reasonable pics but it was challenging for a number of reasons.  Firstly, the humidity slows down cameras so that there will be times when they are slow to focus and at times, they may refuse to focus at all (for those who take their photography seriously, DSLR cameras generally performed better than compact or bridge cameras).  Secondly, the orangutans tend to stay at the very tops of the trees, so they are far away (you need a good zoom and bring binoculars if you have them) and you are shooting into the sky/sun so they can look shadowy.  The foliage is very thick so it can be difficult to see them.  They also tend to sit with their backs to the river, keeping an eye on the jungle rather than us!  So rather than obsessing about getting the perfect shot, we focused more on enjoying the experience of seeing them in the wild.   

So all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this tour and seeing so many orangutans in different settings was wonderful.  Singapore was just as special, for me at least, and I urge you to do the add-on if you can.  I hope you find this review helpful and I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

All the best,

Bob

Julia
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Bob,

Welcome back - I'm delighted to hear that you had a terrific time.

As always, I have forwarded your comments on to the wider Just You team.

Kindest regards,

Julia

jonah
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Bob

Welcome back.  A great balanced review as always and I am glad you had a wonderful trip with so many memorable sights and experiences.

Best wishes

Chris

Bosuncat
(Member)
Excellent review Bob!  Glad you didn't need the leech socks!  😃
nixon
  • (Member)
(Member)
Welcome home Bob,

Great write up, sounds as if it was a action packed tour, sometimes we have to live the experience rather than collect photographic evidence. Sounds as if you had a great time in Singapore. Thanks for taking the time and effort to get a review up so quick for those going out soon.

Cindy

TimH
  • (Member)
(Member)
Thanks for the review Bob, I'm off on the next trip 2 weeks today, at least I won't need to worry about leech socks
Taffy
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Bob

Thanks for the review, been waiting for you to return from your travels to hear how you got on. So glad you enjoyed your holiday and didn't require the leech socks in the end!!! Am hoping the wobbly bridges aren't too high up as I'm not a fan of heights!!

Have already got some dioralyte but might get some more if you needed 3 sachets a day to cope with the humidity. 

Fingers crossed we get to see the pigmy elephants, along with all the other wonderful wildlife. 

Thanks again for the review,

Taffy.

Toni2909
(Member)
Wow!! Thanks so much for the great review. I am so glad you all had such a wonderful time and this makes me even more excited about my trip in November. It seems that I have chosen two winners for this year (cruising in Croatia and this one)

Can you tell me about wifi connections and the electrical sockets, please? Also, how much and what kind of currency you recommend (I'm not doing the add-on, sadly)?

Toni

Taffy
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Bob

Forgot to ask what happened about your luggage in the end? Did you need a small bag for your stay in the lodges or where you able to take your suitcase with you?

Also I just wanted to check about dress code as I don't wish to offend any of the locals. Do we need to keep our shoulders covered or were sleeveless tops acceptable? I believe it will be Ramadan whilst we are there so want to be especially sure I respect the local customs. 

I'll probably be asking loads of questions over the next couple of weeks as I get ready for my holiday ?

Taffy.

SarahS
(Member)
Glad to hear your trip went so well. Where to next?
Julie White
(Member)
Wow Bob,

Fantastic review. I go on the 16th, with Taffy, so I am really excited now.

Good tip about the poncho.

In the end did you need a separate bag for the lodges or could you take you suitcase

Many thanks again and welcome back Julie

Kezzer46
(Member)
Hi Bob,

What a fantastic review... Sounds like you all had a wonderful time. However I am a little disappointed that there are no leech stories!! :)

Kerry

lesley07
(Member)
Hi Bob

Glad to hear that everything went well on this trip after your experiences earlier this year. Not a trip that appeals to me and your review has confirmed this!

Regards

Lesley

BGray
  • (Member) (Topic Starter)
(Member) (Topic Starter)
Hi everyone, many thanks for all your lovely replies!  I forgot to mention the luggage situation for the lodges and electrical sockets - blame that on writing the review just a couple of hours after I got home - I had been travelling for exactly 24 hours!

This is one tour where you don't have to worry about plug adapters - most of the hotels/lodges have UK-style three pin sockets and those that didn't, had the multi-purpose international style.  However, if you want to be sure - and just in case any of the hotels are changed - you could bring an adapter for safety's sake but I don't think you'd need it.  Taffy, the suspension bridges were high up in the canopy - don't look down!!  The view wasn't really great, so if you struggle with heights or aren't great walking over rough ground, I'd suggest you might want to give the walk a miss.

Regarding the luggage for the lodges - Erica explained that she had just received notification the week before we left that overnight bags would be needed; when she queried this, they relented and said it would be ok for us to bring our suitcases if we wished.  In the end, I'd say about a third of the group used overnight bags, while the rest brought their cases.  There isn't a lot of room for luggage on the boats, which is why they probably requested the overnight bags.  I had brought one just in case it was needed (as had most of the others) but I was glad to have my luggage with me.  I can see how the confusion arose - JY use Buffalo Tours as their local agents (they are an excellent company and have offices throughout SE Asia), who in turn use S.I Tours as their agents for the lodges (as S.I. actually own the lodges and provide guides while there), who use a company called Seagull  to provide the boat transport to the lodges - so in all, four companies are involved!

I've already mentioned Erica Hadju, who was an excellent tour manager - always in good humour and enthusiastic, well organised and helpful.  Our local guides in KK were ok, not brilliant, but Leo at the lodges was superb.  We had Iris from Buffalo tours as our main guide while in Singapore and she looked after us very well and all transfers went very smoothly.

Money was straightforward - in Malaysia, they use the ringgit (about 5 to the £) and you could exchange money at the hotel in KK - it wasn't a great rate, however, so you may prefer to change money at a bureau or at the airport - your TM will help with this.  It was easy to exchange sterling, euro and US dollars so I'd bring sterling for convenience.  If you are running short, there is an ATM in the hotel in Sandakan.  There were no exchange facilities at the lodges, but as they were full board, you only need a little for drinks etc.  The hotel in Singapore changed money and there were also banks and money exchange outlets nearby.  Again, no problem exchanging sterling, euro or US dollars.  Wifi was available at the hotel in KK and again in Sandakan, but there was none at the lodges (and virtually no mobile coverage there either).  The hotel in Singapore charged for wifi, which is common practice there.

As far as I remember some of the ladies wore sleeveless tops and we all wore shorts or cropped trousers.  If you are concerned that things might be more conservative during Ramadan, then perhaps you should wear tops with shoulders covered, but I don't think it would be a problem.  Malaysia doesn't seem to be a strict Muslim country and around 1/3 of the population are Christian.  None of the hotels or restaurants in either Borneo or Singapore served pork.  We ate at a number of Chinese restaurants and many of the non-Chinese meals were also heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine.  Rice is served virtually at all meals and most of our included meals were served on a lazy susan.  There is a good Italian restaurant near the hotel in KK - turn left on leaving the hotel and it is about three blocks away on the left hand side.  The Chinese restaurant opposite the hotel was ok but more like a takeaway with cheap tables to eat at!

Keep the questions coming!

Cheers,

Bob

AbbaDave
(Member)
Hi Bob

what a fantastic review, it was lovely meeting you and all the other travelling companions who all gelled so well, it was a truly wonderful tour, lots of coach travel but worth it, I thought the Tip of Borneo was a long way to go for what it was in a small cramped coach but I believe this may change to a bigger coach by the time the next group go, i'm glad i'm not the only one with out of focused pics as my bridge camera struggled with the humidity, it was a pleasure to visit Sepilog and I agree that the farewell dinner wasn't up to much just too much fish for me i'm afraid, the food in the jungle was fantastic, buffet style and plenty for fussy eaters like me

all the hotels had wifi except the lodges in the jungle so when you return to kk you can catch up there, I tool Malaysian currency about £300 which was more than enough with all the gifts I bought too especially orangs 7 of them and 3 prosposus monkeys oh and a small sun bear and so many fridge magnets

Singapore was amazing and the Gardens by the Bay are a must whether your into gardens or not, breakfast was the orangs was wonderful too at the zoo but i'd not bother with the night safari

i'm sure i'll add more when my mind has recovered from that long flight home

all the best

Dave

Hils
  • (Member)
(Member)
'Julie White' wrote:

Wow Bob,

Fantastic review.  I go on the 16th, with Taffy, so I am really excited now.

Good tip about the poncho.

In the end did you need a separate bag for the lodges or could you take you suitcase

Many thanks again and welcome back Julie

Hi Calm Air Pal!

I too am just back from Borneo - fantastic trip - and guess what, if you do the Add-On and the Breakfast with the orangs at Singapore Zoo, you actually see a polar bear!!!

Are you still coming to Namibia in October, or are they making you actually do some work now?!

Cheers,

Hils

Hils
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Bob,

Excellent review - as always. I'm most impressed that you managed to do it so quickly - I was still half asleep and I probably got home earlier than you!

Many thanks for your company. It was great to see you again.

Bring on Chile!

Cheers,

Hils

Hils
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi all future Borneo-ites!

Just to add to Bob's wonderful review, a few words on the money changing situation. I personally took US dollars to change, but they were happy with sterling. In KK the Horizon Hotel's rate was not wonderful, but if you turn left out of the hotel, cross the road, there were at least 2 money changers there. In Singapore, again the Furama rate was not great, but the shopping mall directly across from the main door of the hotel, had loads of money changers - make sure that they are "Authorised" changers, and that they display their rates.

If I think of anything else, or you have any more questions that Bob has not answered, please get in touch.

Cheers,

Hils

Taffy
  • (Member)
(Member)
Thanks Bob for answering my questions. No doubt I will be back with more before departure day!!

Taffy

Jaya
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Bob

I have just posted my day by day review. Your review is great and covers most things so hopefully between us we should have covered everything.

Jaya