We certainly didn't. In fact, we didn't even know that's where we were going until we landed there. I had made our reservations for a trip to a resort in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia a few months ago and had put it out of my mind until we were leaving. Then we had a trip from heck to Malaysia and ended up getting stuck over night in Hong Kong, so I really didn't have time for my normal guide book research/reading. The overnight in Hong Kong turned out fine after Kenny scored a 5 star hotel and tickets to Disney out of the deal, but it cut into a day relaxing in what turned out to be paradise. The resort was gorgeous and was attached to a rehabilitation center for orphaned orangutans. We learned that Borneo is home to almost 90% of the world's orangutans. The beach, jungles, mountains and sunsets were some of the most gorgeous we've ever seen. We also found out that Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is divided into three countries - Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei (again, couldn't have found that country on a map if my life depended on it). Other than the Amazon, Borneo is the oldest rainforest in the world.
After the awful trek to Borneo, we figured it couldn't get worse for the trip home.....wrong. We made it back to Hong Kong with no problem, took off for Beijing and thought we were about half way home when the captain came on and said we'd actually just been flying in circles for the last 30 minutes due to thunderstorms in Beijing which had closed the airport. We were turning around and heading back to Hong Kong. After much confusion and a complete lack of organization on the airline's and hotel's part, we ended up at a hotel around 12:30 in the morning and then had to be back at the airport around 10am. Anyway, 36 hours after beginning our journey we were safely home and we had made some new friends along the way including a Russian woman with her two daughters who had been stranded for two days and had very limited English. They made our trip home seem like a breeze.
Unexpected trip to Disney
Elvis has entered Borneo
The sunsets were amazing
We found out Dominic loved chicken satay
We already knew that Luc loved dessert
Katie - one of the orphaned orangutans at the rehabilitation center attached to our hotel
Warming up to the beach
All in
First teppanyaki experience for the boys
Treated to a view of Mount Kinabalu on the way to the airport
Future pilots
New friend, Sophia. Thank goodness for new friends who helped pass our time stranded at the airport.
FINALLY he gave up
1 comment:
Looks like a great trip. Let me know when Alaska is on the list of places you all want to visit. Our house is wide open. Until then, my family is vicariously traveling the world with you.
Andrew Berkoski
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