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Today we went to Mari Mari Culture Village, the bus picked us up around 9:00 o’clock and the journey took 30 min. The local guide welcomed us and walked with us the whole day. Mari Mari is a village with five different authentic houses which represents five tribes from Sabah. You visit the houses and learn about the history and about how they lived. To get in to the village you have to cross a suspension bridge over a small river, they must love suspension bridges here. They are everywhere. We think it’s fun because we don’t have those back home in Sweden. The sun was shining and the park was beautiful and blossoming. It was a very hot day and thankfully we got to try both drinks and food from the tribes. During our visit they had a role play and to get into one area the leader of the tribe wanted to meet our group leader. So first we had to decide who was going to be the leader so we could be allowed to enter the area. The leader of the tribe called our leader to a meeting and they went through a ceremony and when they accept each other the group was allowed to enter their home. They thought us to use a blowpipe which was both for hunting and killing, back in the days this tribe was very violent and if you would meet them in the forest they would certainly kill you. Luckily for us we were accepted.

The water in Kota Kinabalu have been very sunny and hot the last week so when we heard that we were going to Mantanani Island we were very happy. It is pretty far from the city, you will go by car for 2 hours and then you switched to boat for 1 hour. Today there were no tour guides to join us so our task was to interfere with the guests and talked to them and make sure they had a good time. Luckily for us the group was 5 friends from Singapore and very easy to talk to. We understand them and they understand us. When we talked to them it appeared that one girl had been to Sweden for 6 months and one guy had been to Finland to work for 6 months. Once again we notice how small the world are. The first journey with the car was a bit bumpy and along the road we passed both cows and goats that was walking or resting on the road. Fun to watch from the car window. When we arrived to the jetty of Mantanani Island we took the speedboat to the island. It went really fast and it felt good to have the wind in our hair and smell the sea. The weather condition was good so the sea was pretty calm. Which made the boat ride less bumpy.

Both of us use to fish when we were kids but now it was years ago. So we looked forward to get out of the city and fishing and visit Manukan Island. We met up with the group and the guide outside Klagan hotel at 9 o’clock. We went to Marina Jetty which is inside a big resort. It was really beautiful and brought our minds to Europe. Our guide Luq told us that inside the resort they have a golf court, a tennis court, a cinema and their own beach, basically everything you need.

This week we started our familiarization-trip. Tee Chung was planning our trip and asked us which tour that Amazing Borneo Tours offers we like to go on the most. We are both adventures and like challenges. Hanna have never done a rafting before but Josefine had once when she was traveling in Australia a few years ago. So we told Tee that we were interested in trying rafting. So our first day on the fam-trip was rafting! We started around 8:30 from Kota Kinabalu and the drive to Kiulu River took us 1 hour and 45 minutes. To join us there was a Singapore family that also liked adventures and wanted to try the easiest rafting. The parents told us that they had tried rafting before in Australia and really liked it. But that was before they had their kids. We small talked the whole journey and they were interested in us and to know more about the Malaysian lifestyle. Our guide Luq is very good with the guest and are more than happy to tell them how everything works in Sabah.

We started in the early morning from KK and went with bus towards Kinabalu Park. The winding roads took us to our first stop on the way, Nabalu, a small village with a local market. Nabalu is a great place to take photos with the magnificent Mount Kinabalu in the background, but unfortunately it was cloudy when we were there. But we still got an amazing view over the valleys and a bit of the mountain, its special feeling to stand on the edge of the platform and look out over the flourishing landscape. As we mention before Nabalu has a small local market with handicrafts, fruits and souvenirs. Hanna is a big fan of fruit and bought fresh pineapple from one of the stalls. The fruit and vegetables grow in the local area and therefor the taste is as fresh as it could be.

After two weeks in the city we were longing to get some sand between our toes and to cool off in the water. We went out to Borneo Reef World for snorkeling and sea-walking. You don’t have to go far to get here, only 20 minutes boat ride from Kota Kinabalu city. When we first heard about Borneo Reef World we didn’t know what it was but we understood quickly that it’s a pontoon just nearby a few islands. When we arrived we got welcomed but the crew and they told us about the pontoon and what they do. The main reason is to protect the reef and also educate the visitors. The pontoon has facilitates like toilets, showers and changing rooms. We were lucky that the group we went with was the only group that day, the crew told us that the pontoon is capable to take up to 500 people at the same time. Our group was only 6 people including us and that gave it a very luxury feeling to have the place and the staff just to our self. It felt like the pontoon was ours!

Borneo Reef World is the largest Reef Pontoon in South East Asia. For those who want adventure in a safe environment, I suggest you to go to Borneo Reef World and enjoy Para-sailing, Snorkeling, Underwater Observatory, and also Ocean Walker or as known as Sea Walking.

Sogit ritual being held at Timpohon Gate. 'Sogit' is a traditional "cooling compensation" ritual performed by a shaman to appease the anger of the spiritual world & restore balance.

As of 14th April 2015, we have already entered into the dry season of the year, with little or no rain, and it is good news to know that you will enjoy a good weather climb and the chances of summit closure is near minimum.

In this digital age, a hand-written snail mail is something we all can appreciate. What more if its posted from 3,289m above sea level, near the summit of Mount Kinabalu? That's way better than magnet souvenirs!