borneo

Entries Are Listed Chronologically, Newest to Oldest

Where have we been?

Despite our best efforts, we’ve once again fallen into a pattern of not writing any new posts. This is due both to the fact that we’ve been spending all our times on boats—hence, no internet—and a more fundamental shift in our lifestyle. When we first set off some eighteen months ago, it was for the trip of a lifetime. And while this has turned out to be just that and more, after so long on the road, we’ve stopped looking at this as a mere trip, and more our new life.

Thursday October 11, 2007

Living and Diving in Semporna

Since we’re not traveling, our day-to-day routine has become pretty consistent. As such, we haven’t had much to say on our blog as we are diving everyday and our routine doesn’t change much, not to mention we’re pretty tired at the end of the day so working up the energy to write a new blog post seems a gargantuan feat.

Thursday February 1, 2007

Semporna Revisited

Semporna: Philippine children—homeless refugees—begging for food; too-loud karaoke machines; stray dogs in the streets, not all of them living; a fish-odored wet market; muslim women with heads hidden in scarves; monitor lizards lurking in the pond-cum-trash-dump out back the main street; and, of course, world class diving.

Sunday December 10, 2006

Diving at Pulau Sipadan

As Mike, our Divemaster, along with the other four divers in our group began descending, I looked around and realized Kai was not following. Oh shit, what’s going on, I thought. I added some air to my BCD, returned to the surface, and saw Kai swimming madly towards the boat.

Monday July 31, 2006

The Borneo Highlands

Riding in the back of a Toyota pick-up truck headed back to Kuching, the rugged mountains—densely covered by lush, green vegetation—grow ever smaller behind us. The wind whips dust in our faces as we bounce along the paved, pot-hole laden road.

Thursday July 13, 2006

Semporna

We’ve made it to Semporna. There’s not much to Semporna, but we’ll be basing here to dive Pulau Sipidan- reputed to be one of the top dive destinations in the world.

Tuesday July 11, 2006

Bako National Park and Why There Are No Snakes in Borneo

There are no snakes in Borneo. Or, that’s what Julie kept telling herself anyway as we neared Bako National Park on the island of Borneo. We sped along in a little riverboat, at the mouth of the South China Sea, aiming for a tiny patch of sand just visible in the distance—the entry point for the park.

Monday July 3, 2006

Kuching

Usually if you say the word Borneo to someone they imagine rainforest. Then they think of things that live in rainforests like monkeys or big snakes. Cannibals even. What they don’t think of is a charming city with white buildings and green parks built along a slow, winding river. That’s because they’ve never heard of Kuching. Of course, neither had we before we got here.

Sunday June 25, 2006