Sabah Orchid Tour Day 4 - Oct 3 2009

Day 4 started with breakfast at the cafeteria just down the hill from park HQ. There was an issue with the breakfast vouchers but once that was sorted out we sat down to a buffet breakfast. Many of the servings had gone cold as it was quite chilly that morning. After breakfast, we each collected and paid RM30 for our packed lunches, then drove up to the Timpohon gate to walk up the summit trail. Mist all around, I knew it was going to be a wet day!


Misty morning, taken from just outside the park cafeteria.

The Timpohon trail is a very busy trail as it is the main trail used by climbers who trek up to Laban Rata for the night and the summit the next morning (they start at 2AM to catch the sunrise at the summit). Many also choose to just climb a quarter of the way and return. A registered park guide is compulsory for climbs to the summit. Along the way, we crossed paths with many porters, guides and their chargers. Some of the porters were carrying 10kg bags of rice, eggs, water and other supplies. Silent and focused, they trudged along at a slow and steady pace never once looking up for us to greet them. The muscles on their calves were huge!

Walking sticks can be bought at the park souvenir shop as well as the restaurant’s snack shop. Rattan ones are RM18. Sturdy ones made of tree branches are much cheaper, at only RM3 but they are sold out fast.

Word of the day, RAIN! So much rain fell that it was a wonder we could take any photos at all! The rain eased up just long enough for me to take off my raincoat and walk more comfortably. I pitied the others who had to walk in the “portable plastic saunas”. Those ponchos are not as easy to get on and off like a proper raincoat, which buttons up the front.


The first orchid we saw, an Eria.

The first orchid we saw on the trail was an Eria species. It was a good sign as we found more species flowering further along the trail. Apparently it was Coelogyne season as we found a number of species blooming.


The first waterfall we passed. The water must be freezing cold.

The Timpohon trail is an easy trail to do because no special climbing equipment is needed if you intend to climb to the top of the mountain. However, an overnight stay is required at Laban Rata and every year thousands sign up to do the climb. This means space is limited and advance bookings are necessary. It costs about RM700 per person to do the summit climb, lodging included. The air gets thinner the higher you go and the temperature plus wind chill can make things difficult. This is the main reason why the climb may be tough for many, because of the cold and the drop in oxygen levels, not because the trail is particularly strenuous.




Many orchids, particularly coelogynes such as the ones above were in flower.

We saw more orchids but the rain would not let up. Snapped some pictures but soon had to keep my SLR tucked away as water was getting onto the lens barrel, not a good thing! Shot with my pocket cam the rest of the way (a less expensive piece of equipment to risk getting water-logged).


This is Bulbophyllum catenarium.


And this is Bulbophyllum anguiliferum.

Two of the most interesting orchids we saw were two small Bulbophyllums, Bulbophyllum catenarium and Bulbophyllum anguiliferum. These have small pseudobulbs and a short creeping rhizome. B. catenarium has striking yellow flowers while B. anguiliferum has flowers larger than its leaves.


A porter carrying a heavy water barrel.

We stopped for lunch around 12:30pm at a rest stop but the stench from a nearby outhouse was unbearable so I moved on in searched of a better spot. 12:40pm and we were unpacking our packed lunches in a shelter further up. No nauseating smell here so everyone settled down to eat.

Our RM30 packed lunches contained 2 sliced sandwiches with cheese and turkey (or was it chicken?). No tomato, no lettuce, no mayo, no chilli or tomato sauce or anything else. They were so dry and bland we had to force ourselves to chew and swallow. Along with the sandwiches were a spring roll, an egg, a piece of fried chicken, a 500ml bottle of mineral water and a can of Sprite. An egg can only taste like an egg, but I can offer no comments on the spring roll as I got two eggs and no roll. No one had anything good to say about the packed lunch which was probably overpriced by RM20.  And, apparently no one was hungry enough to clear up their packs although I don’t know about that Gary, he’s a living food disposal machine! He probably weighs only 60 kilos too! : )


Put an extra egg in there and it’ll be too obscene to publish. : P


Note the tiny piece of over-fried chicken thigh on the right. More like pigeon-thigh!

It was a very wet day to be walking up a mountain photographing orchids. Wet as it was we met many other climbers. This was a seriously popular trail! Some climbers were wearing only sandals and one in particular, flip flops! Ponchos on almost the entire time and by the time we got to about the 2350M elevation mark, my hands were starting to freeze. We walked passed the TM comm tower branch-off and went further up a bit more before deciding to call it a day. It was getting too cold and the day was growing old. Plus, the orchids were getting harder to spot as we had come to an area with big, tall trees and the gems were all high up in the canopy.


Hobbits on a mission! Rain or shine!

On the return journey, Maxine was far ahead of everyone else but once I caught up with her, I mowed my way down at a speed that astonished myself. I was passing by groups of people and going down steps like a hurricane was behind me. With the rain pouring down, the trail got very muddy, slippery and dangerous so I took caution going over certain parts.

The last stretch just before the slope back up the gate, my momentum was broken by a small group of friends helping one of their own who looked dehydrated, tired and extremely weak in the legs. She appeared like she could use a stretcher, poor thing. I believe I overheard “Not what I had in mind…” from one of them too. Please make sure you know what you’re getting yourselves into or know your own limits before attempting the summit trail folks! Anyway, their guide and porter let me by and I began to run up the steps just because I had so much adrenaline rushing in my system. Halfway up, the guide raced by me but I overtook him again just before the gate. The time was about 3:00pm and it was still raining.

There were many groups of young people waiting for their friends, or waiting for their transports at the gate area. I was glad to leave that noisy chaotic scene and head back to the car. Changed into a clean t-shirt, reclined the seat and just laid back to relax while my heart found its regular rhythm again. Not long after that, the rest of the group arrived and we all drove back to the Nepenthes Lodge.

After showering, I took the opportunity to drive down to Kundasang town about 7km away to pick up some batteries for myself and Mary. It was 5:00pm, the sky had cleared up and the evening sun was out. The valleys to the south were bathed in beautiful hues of orange, yellow and red. It was so pretty and I felt relaxed and happy. Happy to be away from work, happy to be traveling with good company, happy to be surrounded by nature and happy to just be there.


Mount Kinabalu, as viewed from Kundasang town in the evening.

When I first visited Sabah in 2008, I noticed that there were many road side stalls selling grilled wings. On my previous trips, I had come to know which ones sold the best tasting BBQ wings and I couldn’t resist stopping by to get some. Grilled wings are much cheaper in Sabah than in Sarawak. They are RM1.20 each (at time of visit) while in Kuching, they go for RM1.80 to RM2 each. I wanted everyone else to have a taste so I got 40 wings, 4 per person. A lady who just got off a tour bus was quite alarmed when the seller started bagging my wings, she tried to push me aside (how rude!) to get an order in. I don’t know, maybe she was too transfixed on my large order on the grill that she completely missed the rows of skewered wings hanging right in front of her.


Grilled wings! Yum!

So it was back to the park. I had to pay my entrance fee of RM3 again to get in as the entrance ticket is only good for a particular day. It’s RM15 for foreign visitors. Malaysia practices this segmented fee system not to discriminate against foreign visitors but rather, to encourage locals to visit and appreciate local attractions. They would never want to pop by if they had to pay regular price because they can go hiking in a jungle in their backyard at anytime! School kids in uniform often get in for free at many places and senior citizens (foreign or local) pay a much reduced price. If you are a college student, it is a good idea to carry your student ID with you as students (not in uniform) often are given discounted rates too.

Met the rest of the group having tea at the park restaurant and got them all to meet over at our unit in the living hall to dig into the wings. Good stuff! It was one of the rare moments where we all actually sat down together instead of being dispersed doing our own thing or in separate units when off the trails. Some off days are nice when traveling, just to sit back, relax and share an interesting conversation and get to know everyone better.

At about 6:30pm, we filed into the park restaurant for dinner. We ordered some interesting local Sabah dishes and had a good meal. I do think the night chef does a better job than the day chef. My table bought me dinner so thank you guys! After that, I accompanied Jeong to the HQ for her to place a phone call back to her relatives in Korea. It was the harvest festival and in Malaysia, we were also celebrating the Moon Cake festival. Unfortunately, we couldn’t work out how to place a call using her calling card.

To cap the evening, we went down to the AV room to view a short but interesting video on Kinabalu Park. It was RM2 each. Then we spent a moment to discuss the itinerary for Day 5 (Poring and Kundasang War Memorial) and it was back to the rooms. I promised Jeong I’d join her to watch the Korean drama, “The Iron Empress” over at her unit at 8:30PM but I only watched part of it before saying goodnight as I was too tired to continue.

Do visit my Day 4 Flickr photoset here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarawaklens/sets/72157622564623923/

Cheerio!

Sabah Orchid Tour Day 3 - Oct 2 2009

I know that if I don’t sit down and force myself to write this then I’ll probably never finish it. I don’t  really remember what we did or where we went on Day 3 and need to refer my photos to jog my memory. It’s only been a month but it really feels like it was several months ago. Our itinerary was jam packed almost every single day, up early and off into the trails for the rest of the day, then dinner and sleep, rinse and repeat.

I had a lot of fun this trip but if I were to do it again, I'll do it differently this time. A slower pace and a much tighter travel budget as this trip took quite a bit out of me moo-wise.


Getting ready to check out of my room at 1 City

I got up at about 5:30am that morning, to pack my stuff as I was checking out of 1 City to meet with the rest of the group at the Hyatt parking lot across the street. We were to head off to Kinabalu Park that morning. The plan was to ferry 6 in the Innova and 4 in the Unser, folding the backseats up to make luggage space. A moment of frantic shuffling and a plastic piece came flying off someone’s suitcase. When the bags were all loaded in, we were off!

For this entire trip, I was the lead driver and this would be my third time driving up to Kinabalu Park. It’s an easy drive and very scenic along the way. I had actually hoped to just be a passenger this time as I was never able to appreciate the passing scenery the previous two times I was here, being the only one who could drive. No biggie, this was a new group and I enjoyed getting them lost. : P Along the way, we made a quick stop to pick up some juicy sweet mangosteens. This is my favorite local fruit, cooling and full of vitamins. There were rambutans and durians on sale too but I’m not a fan of either as they’re considered ‘heaty’ fruits, loaded with sugar and will get you sick in no time.

We arrived at the park around 11am. We were to meet Mr. Henry Ansow Gunsalam who served as John and Peter’s guide on previous trips. He’s the resident expert on pitcher plants and maintains a beautiful mountain garden of Nepenthes plants over at Mesilau Nature Reserve.


Tom Yam fried rice with seafood. I think this was RM15, serving for two.

When we arrived, our cabins were not ready yet so we parked the cars and hung out at the restaurant. Hungry, myself and Gary ordered a big plate of Tom Yam fried rice with seafood for two. The others opted for cheesecakes and coffee. The time was 11.30am, cool and misty. It felt very good to be up in the mountains, fresh air and greenery all around. But the mist was a hint that a wet day was ahead of us.

At noon, we were greeted by Mr. Ansow, a soft spoken man with years of experience in his field of work (conservation, pitcher plants etc.) who then took us down to the locked shade house. Many rare species such as Nepenthes rajah and various slipper orchids are kept in here. We would not have been able to gain access without Ansow’s help and permission so I’m very grateful for that.


Our guide, Mr. Ansow on the left, pointing out interesting plants to the group.

The locked area is located next to the Kinabalu Park Botanic Garden. We spent about 50 minutes here photographing orchids and pitcher plants. Many were in bloom and one particular species caught my eye, an Ascocentron gokusingii according to its ID tag. The flowers were a light shade of blue, a rare color in orchids.


Ascocentron gokusingii, per ID tag.


Nepenthes rajah, one of the largest species of pitcher plants in the world. The pitchers pictured here are less than half of the maximum size.


Paphiopedilum dayanum in bloom.

From the locked area, we were taken on a tour in the botanic garden. The entrance fee is RM5 per person.


Coelogyne species, lots in flower at the time.


A Jewel Orchid, probably an Anoectochilus.


Everyone scrambling to put their ponchos on. It was a wet day but worse was yet to come (Day 4).


The mist moved in and lingered while we searched for Corybas.


Can you spot the perfectly camouflaged cicada?

After about 15 minutes of exploring, the rain started to fall. Mist was moving in from all around and the temperature dropped. Everyone pulled out their plastic ponchos and pocketed their cameras. The weather was determined to make it hard for us to photograph anything. It was an enjoyable walk and I also noticed some jewel orchids growing by the trails which I’d missed the previous visit. Ansow then took us off trail in search of Corybas, also known as Helmet Orchids, but all we found were a flock of very angry and annoyed birds squawking at us. They were probably Drogons though I didn’t get a good look.


Shifting our bags into Nepenthes Lodge.

By 3pm, we were out of the garden and waiting to check into our rooms. Sleeping arrangements were quickly determined and we all moved in. The cabins are called Nepenthes Lodge and there are a few units here (each building houses two semi detached units). We rented 3.The rooms are comfortable enough but it does get quite chilly at night. There are two levels, the top floor is where the bathroom and rooms are located while the ground floor has a spacious living room, kitchen and small toilet. There are sofas, a dining table and a TV with some satellite channels (but no English news channel) . Electric kettle, complimentary tea, coffee and Milo and a small fridge can be found in the kitchen. Two bedrooms in each unit, a master bedroom with a queen sized bed and another room with two twin beds. There is also a barbeque pit just outside the kitchen.


Rooms at Nepenthes Lodge. Looks good but the plumbing is problematic, either too much or too little hot water. The toilet in our unit wouldn’t flush properly but this was fixed the next day.

It is not cheap to stay in one of these units. Ever since handling of park accommodation was handed over to the luxury hotel group, Sutera Sanctuary, the room rates in a wooden cabin with leaky gutters have gone up sky high. For 4 nights stay within Kinabalu Park (2 at Kinabalu Park HQ area and 2 at Mesilau), we each paid a total of about RM1000. That’s per person ya. I really think it was a bad idea to hand over management of park accommodation to a luxury hotel group. This is a national park, not a luxury resort. The facilities do not reflect the prices paid either. Those wanting to stay outside the park may do so as there are many chalets, cabins and resorts here. However, over at Mesilau it can be a bother to drive to and from the park if you’re staying outside as steep gradients are involved.

After off-loading our bags, we set off again to do one of the easier trails nearby. We intended to look for Paphiopedilum orchids which some in the group had seen growing abundantly some years ago. Now, I was actually here in March and I tried in vain searching for the plants so I knew we were in for a rude shock. The orchids which used to grow in great numbers here were all gone. They had either been stripped by poachers, stolen by thieves or died due to excessive human intervention. It was plain to see that many people had passed through the area, creating clear-cut paths crisscrossing the undergrowth.

We continued on along the trail just as the rain started to fall again and descended to an elevation where it was just warm enough for tiny leeches to survive. I consider leeches a great nuisance when hiking or trekking in the jungle. The wounds continue to bleed for a while and may continue to itch for days. Not all have this reaction but I do! I remember being bitten once and it itched for a nearly a week.


A peloric form of Arundina graminifolia.

Tiger leeches are a whole different story. They do not inject an anaesthetic when they bite and this results in a painful wound. They are recognizable by a thin yellow-green stripe running the length of the body. Tiger leeches are found in the more remote jungles of Sabah and Sarawak. I carried a bottle of Minyak Cap Kapak or “Axe Brand Oil” with me to deal with the leeches. It contains camphor, eucalyptus oil, menthol and other oils which would kill a leech foolish enough to latch itself onto me. Just dab a few drops on the bugger and watch it fall off. In the days to come, this oil proved very useful. An alternative, and less overpowering oil, is to use mosquito repellent containing citronella.

We got back into our cabins just before dark and freshened up for dinner. That evening, while I was sitting in the living hall the phone suddenly rang and a lady asked if she had rung up reception. Naturally I said no, I told her she had rung up a private lodge/room. So she hung up and a few minutes later the phone rang again. Same person. I told her she had rung up the Nepenthes lodge and then the laughter rolled. It turned out to be Rita, calling to ask when we’d all be meeting for dinner.


Bamboo orchids, Arundina graminifolia, form a neat and beautiful row just outside the park restaurant.

We finished off the night by going for a nice dinner at the restaurant a short walk away from our lodges. Even though it was a stone’s throw away, I chose to drive cause I was tired of walking, especially since a steep incline was involved. Soon the others packed into the other car too as nobody wanted to walk anymore it seemed. Back from dinner, we took some photos of moths outside the cabin and then called it a night.


Leave the porch lights on and you’ll find many moths of all shapes and colors just outside your door.

The plan for the next day was to do the Timpohon Summit Trail. We’d be having our lunch out on the trail so we ordered packed lunches at an exorbitant RM30 each to be collected the next morning. At RM30 I was expecting something really nice but what we got the next day requires its own paragraph in my next instalment! As usual, head to my Flickr photoset to view the rest of the pictures. Cheerio!

Sabah Orchid Tour Day 2 Part 2 - Oct 1 2009

Here's part 2 of Day Two.

Apparently, there is now a direct flight service from Kuching to Mulu! For return tickets direct from Kuching to Mulu and then from Mulu-Miri-Kuching, I paid a total of only RM343. That used to be how much it cost for a return flight from Miri to Mulu! A deal too good to pass up.

Part 2 of Day Two
Lunch at Gunung Emas

Lunch stop at Gunung Emas and enjoying the view out on the verandah.

Cool fresh air and breathtaking scenery.
So we left Kipandi at around lunch time. It had been a most enjoyable visit but there was more to come! Tony had arranged for Linus (the park manager) to serve as our guide up the mountain. First, we drove to a rest stop called Gunung Emas for lunch. Tony had recommended the deer meat dish here so we got that. Gary got some fried rice noodles and I believe Peter and the ladies got fried rice. Beautiful scenery from the back of the restaurant. We sat out on the verandah overlooking sweeping valleys. The air was cool and fresh and we were about 1600m above sea level. Lunch was served and the deer meat was pretty tasty, fried with shallots, leek and ginger and served with white rice. Up in the mountains, I noticed that drinks were never served with ice, even though it really wasn’t that cold. I like ice with my cold drinks to help dilute the sweetness.

Deer meat stir fried with leek, ginger and fried rice noodles (right).
Orchid paradise

Orchids are abundant in the mossy forest

Coelogyne radioferens on the left and Bulbophyllum catenarium
Once everyone was satisfied and full, we proceeded up the mountain to a small national park/forest reserve nestled somewhere in the middle of the jungle. Linus took us into the forest trails here and my jaw dropped at the amount of orchids and epiphytes on the trees. At first, I thought the park staff had gathered them from nearby jungles and planted them there, tying them to trees or planting them among the leaf litter on the ground but no, everything was natural! Coelogynes, Bulbophyllums, Dendrobiums and terrestrials, it was something I’d never imagine before. There were orchids on tree trunks, on the ground, on the tree tops, at the base of trees, left, right, front, back, center, above and below. It was orchid paradise! And being a protected park, the plants should have at least some level of protection from poachers. Sadly however, I was told that most if not all of the rarer species such as paphs in the area have long been stripped away.
We spent quite a long while just enjoying the beauty of the surroundings. Places like this really need to be preserved for all future generations to see and appreciate. Kids these days spend way too much time indoors and when they do get out of the house it’s into an indoor place again like the mall or the cinema. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but kids need to realize how important it is to have green and healthy forests, preserved and unspoiled because they serve as vital green lungs to our ever expanding cities. Not to mention the amazing diversity in such natural places.
Who knows, the cure to cancer may go down with the last tree to make way for monoculture crops such as oil palm. Besides being extremely unsightly, oil palm plantations also displace countless species of wild animals and wipe out beautiful and rare plant species such as orchids. I believe that even if we all stopped buying oil palm products the march will still continue because palm oil is traded on the market and production of bio-diesel is becoming more significant. However, someone mentioned that oil palm is going through a phase like what all previous monocultures went through before it, cocoa, rubber, pepper etc. One day there will be so much surplus that people will start replacing their oil palms with other crops.
Well back to the park. We also saw a yellow Spathoglottis species flowering along the roadside. Beautiful flower with a small lip, Gary did mention its name to me but I can’t remember it (not kimbaliana). Also saw a lot of Nepenthes tentaculata, the type found here have more squat pitchers compared to those I came across in Kuching. It was quite heartening to see how quickly the yellow Spathoglottis and the N. tentaculata colonized some disturbed forest patches. Baby plants were springing up everywhere.

Nepenthes tentaculata and Spathoglottis sp. have colonized some of the open disturbed areas.
We also learned about the medicinal uses of a common kerangas (heath forest) shrub with purple flowers. Name escapes me, sorry. Traditionally, the leaves are used to cure small wounds. Take the leaves and crush to a paste and smear on cuts and light wounds to stop the bleeding and dry it up. The unopened buds of the flowers can be chewed on and the juice swallowed (but not the pulp) to relieve minor stomaches or diarrhea.
We also had the pleasure of photographing a most beautiful mini bulbo, Bulbophyllum lohokii which we were told has a very limited distribution area. It was a very eye popping experience, finding the explosion of species diversity in the mossy forests of Mt. Alab. It was well worth the drive.
Giant Tiger Orchid
We left close to sunset, stopping by a village house by the main road to take photos of a huge clump of Grammatophyllum speciosum on the way back. This thing had multiple spikes and as we all walked over to try and take photos of it, the house and plant owner came out to greet the party. “Lima ringgit satu gambar,” he told me. He wanted RM5 per photo. Yes, that’s per photo, not per person. That must be how he got enough funds to build that handsome new house next to his old one. haha Anyway, Peter had the best deal of all, he had a video camera! At 30 frames per second, he must have had like RM45 000 worth of photos the five minutes he spent in there hahaha!
Some of us walked further down the road to look at some dragon fruit plants. Some were flowering and in fruit but no one was around. We made a quick retreat back to the car after discovering dogs had been actively fertilizing the area.
We arrived back in the city past sun down. I was actually quite concerned about leaving early and arriving before dark as I hate driving at night with all the lights from on-coming cars giving me a hard time. Thank goodness by the time night fell, we had driven into the well-lit city roads.
Once we parked the cars at the guest parking lot of the Hyatt, I headed back to 1 City Hotel just nearby to check into my new room. I had requested a room on a different floor and with two twin beds for the night. Why two twin beds? Well, one to put my stuff on, lay out clothes etc and the other to pass out on.

The new twin room I requested, free of cigarette smoke, good!
It was quite a tiring day but we had another event to attend to. Tony Lamb had told us that the Sabah Minister of Tourism, Dato Tengku Adlin had invited us out to dinner at a seafood restaurant at a place called Kampung Nelayan (Fishermen’s Village). So soon as we all showered and changed, we were on the road again but this time, driven in a 40 seater tour coach with a tour guide to accompany us.

Extremely tasty fresh shrimp and a cultural show at Kampung Nelayan
Dinner was very good. First course, fresh prawns (or shrimp if you will), still alive and swimming in their tanks scooped out and dunked into hot water and served immediately to us. Wooooweeee shrimp doesn’t taste better than this! Many more courses followed including a particularly tasty one was stuffed chicken meat. There were three kinds of stuffing that I tasted, I believe one was shrimp. Yum! There was also a dish called sayur Sabah or Sabah vege. It’s kinda like asparagus but with a tougher texture. Dessert was a very simple but very tasty serving of coconut pudding scooped out of fresh coconuts and served in bowls. We were told it’s easy to make, just take a fresh coconut, take the water and mix in some custard powder or agar powder, cook and then let sit till cool. Refrigerate before serving. Absolutely delicious. Good food, good company, great atmosphere and a wonderful host who was very concerned about our needs. Thank you very much! It was a perfect end to a very satisfying day.
Do check out my Flickr site for the complete Day Two photoset:
Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarawaklens/sets/72157622405809543/

Sabah Orchid Tour Day 2 Part 1 - Oct 1 2009

An interrupted rest
After Tony’s talk the night before, I hit the sack soon after a quick shower back at the hotel. Unfortunately, I only got about 3 hours of sleep before a choking cigarette smell woke me up. The entire room reeked of second hand smoke and I felt like I had just had a bowlful of cigarette ash for supper.

The inside of my mouth and throat felt really dry and bitter from breathing this toxic air. It was past midnight and I contemplated switching rooms but then I thought if some asshole’s been smoking out in the corridors then the other rooms would most definitely be reeking as well. So I got up and opened the windows and switched off the aircond to let in some fresh air. This did alleviate the problem somewhat so I settled back in to sleep.


1 City Hotel

Not a half hour in and I awoke to a tickling sensation across my face and then I felt some creepy crawly in my hair! I bolted up and turned a light on, it was a freaking cockroach the size of a 747! Apparently it had got in through the opened windows. In the moment, I grabbed the closest thing to me to crush it, a soft fluffy pillow. :P The little bugger got away scratch free and I spent the rest of the night awake and fidgeting about. The slightest sensation such as that from the comforter tassels shot me right up brushing franticly at invisible roaches.

Anyway, I managed to fall asleep for about 10 minutes when that little bugger scrambled across my face AGAIN! Geez what was it after? This time I was ready and squashed it flat with my bare hands. I didn’t care if it was dirty, I was quite determined to make sure it didn’t live to race across another hotel guest’s face! I even crushed and dislocated its head to be sure before leaving it atop the toilet cistern to show housekeeping the next day (not the hotel’s fault though as I believe it got in when I opened the windows).

Well, you know what they say about roaches, they’ve been around for millions of years and no amount of crushing can truly kill them. It was gone the next morning, no trace of it wherever I looked!

 
Someone’s missing a leg. ;P

So back to the smoke problem, because I had to close the windows, the cigarette smoke was back and how time flies when you’re squashing roaches, it was nearly 3AM! I turned on the TV and Band of Brothers was on so I watched that till I fell asleep an hour or so later. Got up again at 6AM and was out the door by 7AM to request for a new room on a different floor which the hotel staff politely obliged (they apologized for the smell and roach too). So I really only had about 4 hours of sleep time the entire night. I was a walking zombie came breakfast time.

Breakfast – roti canai telur
I ran into half of the group out for morning coffee on my way to the bank. We all then went to the 24 hour mamak food joint right across from my hotel and everyone had roti canai telur (Indian flat bread with egg). Everyone seemed to enjoy theirs but having had much better fare elsewhere, I thought the roti was too dry and very bland. Everyone cleaned up their plates except me, with more than half left over. Were you guys really that hungry or are did my taste buds go all wonky after inhaling all that polluted air the night before?
Next thing to do, pick up our rentals at the airport so we all set off in three taxis.


Burning fuel
After burning a litre or so of fuel taking the cars for a spin, I suddenly realized I had a Garmin Etrex Vista hCX GPS with a super sensitive receiver and preloaded maps for the whole of Sabah complete with topography maps and ice maker in my bag! With the GPS it was easy to drive all the way up right to the doorstep of Kipandi.

Kipandi  Butterfly Park
The drive up to Kipandi is a pretty nice and scenic drive in the direction of Penampang and Tambunan. It’s not too difficult to drive there if you have a GPS telling you which way to turn but even without one, once you’ve been up there, it’s unlikely you’ll forget the way the second time.
After passing rolling hills to our left and right, sweeping valleys, sloping roads and steep gradients, we finally arrived at Kipandi! Everyone took out their cameras and started snapping away at the tiniest thing that moved (bees and wasps) and the commonest of Borneo orchids (Arundina) out on the parking area even before paying the requisite entrance fee of RM20 per person. Tony and the Kipandi crew were already waiting for us up at the reception area.

Kipandi is a really nice place to visit if you’re into insects and species orchids. There’s a small collection of Hoya, Nepenthes and Aeschynanthus (lipstick plant) species as well.

Tony first introduced us to a unique local fruit very popular in Sabah, buah tarap (Tarap fruit, Artocarpus species). I have only ever tasted this fruit once during my previous trip to Sabah as my mom  loves it and bought a whole fruit hoping I’d help her finish it. I didn’t like it one bit then and I didn’t like it this time either.


Tony Lamb introducing buah tarap to the group.

 
Digging in! In a few minutes almost the entire fruit’s gone.

This fruit has a very strong pungent odor, smells like kerosene to me. I call it the kerosene fruit. It’s supposed to taste heavenly but it tasted more like wet cotton with syrup. Now I don’t know about you but cotton isn’t very tasty to me. Everyone else in the group disagreed however, and pretty soon the freshly split fruit on the table was reduced to only skin and seeds. “Yum, tastes like chicken!” said someone (ever notice how everything new tastes like chicken?). “Oooh, this tastes like papaya and bourbon!” said another. “Wow! It’s like eating cake with all the icing minus the calories!” exclaimed one other. However, the over-the-top remark of the day was this - “This is so good I just farted and nobody noticed!” A bit inappropriate when you’re standing around in a circle of 11.

I made up all of the above remarks of course, harhar!. ;P I simply guessed what they each were thinking while sampling (or devouring!) the stinky fruit.


Short introduction and welcome note from Dr. Steven Chew.

We were then given a short introduction by Dr. Steven Chew, the resident entomologist who then took us up the insect museum. Very impressive collection of butterflies of various species from Sabah and across the seas. Stick insects, beetles, roaches, you name it! He then took us into the butterfly garden and we saw a number of very colorful and beautiful large specimens gliding through the air. One came into to land on a nearby vine to lay its eggs. We saw one particularly interesting caterpillar, a big fat thing with soft rubbery hairs sticking out of its body.


A tour of the insect museum.

 
Big soft and rubbery caterpillar.

In the butterfly garden were also some interesting plants. One in particular, botanic name escapes me, looks like a cross between an aroid and a pandan. It flowers at the very base of the plant and produces flowers which stink like fresh droppings of a monkey. Its main pollinator are bugs that are attracted to such a stench.

Fascinating wild orchids

Besides the insect collection, Kipandi also features a large collection of wild orchids mostly collected from deforested areas (logging, development, plantation etc.). The garden here is very well cared for, the blood and sweat of one Linus (he gave me his card but I misplaced it) whom I understand is the manager of the place.

The shade houses feature all kinds of orchids from the smallest Bulbophyllum species to giant Grammatophyllum species. We were also in luck as it was Coelogyne season, specifically C. radioferens and C. dayana (or is it C. pulverula now?).

The way the garden is laid out also gave me a lot of ideas how to redo my own orchid house. They had tree fern trunks driven into the ground and aroids, ferns and other ground plants to help keep the soil together around the trunks. On the trunks were orchids of all kinds and the cool and misty mountain weather really helps to keep the plants in good condition.

Please hop over to my Flickr page to view the photos taken at Kipandi. I think words cannot do justice to the beauty of some of the species found in bloom there. I will let the pictures do the talking.
Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarawaklens/sets/72157622405809543/
(flickr pro account expired, pictures in above set no longer accessible)

Day Two to be continued in Part 2.

Sabah Orchid Tour Day 1 - Sep 30 2009

September 30th 2009

Don’t know why but whenever I’m on the eve of flying off somewhere, I usually have trouble sleeping. I guess it’s the anticipation. Even if it’s just flying off to a nearby place (I define nearby as less than 2 hours flight time) like Singapore or KL or in this case, Kota Kinabalu. I had very little sleep the night before my flight to KK from KCH. I was to join a group of 10 for an orchid tour through Sabah. I call it Nature Tour now as we saw a lot more than just wild orchids.

This tour's been in the works for quite a while. Back in 2008 if I remember correctly, I got an email about a trip being put together to Sabah and Sarawak to look for orchids in 2009.

The Tour 2009 was to visit Mt. Kinabalu Park, Mesilau, Poring, Kipandi, Orchids de Villa and Long Pasia in Sabah. It would then move on to Sarawak (Mulu National Park and Kuching). I booked myself a return ticket on Malaysia Airlines KCH-BKI returning on the 13th but then I realized I won’t be able to join the trip to Long Pasia so I bought a new ticket from BKI-KCH, leaving the one on the 13th unused. Thank goodness I got my tickets early and cheap however, RM50 per leg, nett!

Kota Kinabalu Day One

1 City Hotel

I got into KK at around 11am. Went straight to 1 City Hotel where I had reserved a standard room. Quite a pleasant surprise this hotel was, not much to look at on the outside but the rooms looked and felt at least 3 stars. Large LCD TV with satellite channels, big comfy king-sized bed with no shortage of pillows and clean towels, carpeting, free-flowing hot water and the icing on the cake, unlimited use of the free wifi! All for just RM98 per night.

First thing I do in hotels is to check the sheets. Mine had some stubborn stains in them so I had housekeeping put in a new sheet immediately. Friendly staff here.

Meeting the rest of the group

All done, I headed out to the Hyatt hotel less than a block away where the rest of the group would be staying. Most arrived in KK a couple days or so earlier than we did so they had time to mingle and get to know each other.

I’m trying to remember what we did after meeting up in the lobby… oh right, off we all went to Yummy Chicken, a food joint serving all kinds of local dishes from fried noodles to fried chicken to tom yam. We all ordered the ginger chicken which was pretty good and fresh fruit juices. We then split up the cost by 9.

Borneo Books and Texas Grill

To while the afternoon away, we went to Borneo Books. The new Malesian Orchid Journal Vol 4 is out. No idea what we all did between then and dinner, data’s all missing from my archives. We had dinner at a place called Texas Grill right across the street from the Hyatt and most of us ordered nasi lemak (yes of all things!) which turned out pretty good. Then, just short of falling flat on my face nose in my dish due to the sheer weight of my eyelids, we got up and headed back to the hotel where we then met Tony Lamb, who gave us a short but insightful mini presentation about orchids and the flora of Mount Kinabalu. It was enjoyable indeed, even if my eye lids felt like lead. When the presentation was done, I nearly passed out on the floor as I was that tired (very little sleep before the early flight from Kuching).

Orchids – a bottomless pit

Mr. Tony Lamb mentioned that night that the orchid hobby (specifically wild orchids) being a bottomless pit. Well, I’ve hit the bottom of the pit fortunately so my wallet can at least breathe a little easier. I’ve stopped buying plants completely but have not lost interest in them. I love photographing them and have taken thousands of photos since 2007. Even if I was still new to keeping orchids compared to everyone else, I didn’t feel out of place as everyone’s very down to earth and we all got along very well! Not an easy thing to do, putting together a tour for 10 but thankfully we didn’t have to leave anyone by the roadside for being too opinionated. haha

In actual fact, not too much happened on Day 1. I just like to be wordy and show off my three-finger typing skill that “blazes” ahead at 53.97 words per minute (I’m typing in a public space). Next, Day 2 at Kipandi and Mt. Alab.

Here are some pictures from Day 1. As usual, for clearer photos, head to my Flickr site.



Taken from the plane, I believe the mountains in the distance are part of Mulu National Park.



My room at 1 City Inn, nice and clean with a big comfy bed. Conveniently located and free wifi too!



Iced lemon tea served in what looks like a honey jar.



For lunch, almost all of us went with the ginger chicken served in this beautiful piece of china which some in our party attempted to buy on our second visit to this place.