Borneo 2026 – 13. Return From The Rain Forest

It was another hot and sunny morning. After a cooked breakfast at 7 am in The Abai Jungle Lodge on Kinabatangan River, we took the boat to Sandakan at 9 am.

The boats with 9 passengers and two crew, all wearing life jackets, sped along the wide and calm Kinabatangan River with brown water, slowing down only when passing a village. The river reaches the sea after 47 kms. and the boat arrived at the Sandakan Company Jetty one and a half hours after leaving the Abai Jungle Lodge.

The Jetty had huge fish tanks with big, colourful fish in them.

We walked through the water village next to the jetty.

Sandakan’s water villages or kampungs on stilts are concentrated along the coastal areas. The most famous, accessible stilt village is Kampung Buli Sim Sim. It is the original 1879 settlement from which modern Sandakan grew, now featuring a mix of wooden houses on the water and concrete walkways.

People in Borneo live in stilt houses primarily for practical survival, environmental adaptation, and community structure. Elevating homes protects against frequent river and coastal flooding, keeps the living space ventilated in a humid climate, and provides a safe buffer from tropical insects, snakes, and wild animals. Being over the water provides immediate access to marine life for food and their livelihoods.

We drove to Sandakan past another Chinese temple and an attractive roundabout to a restaurant close to the airport for lunch.

The garden of the restaurant had Jack Fruit and coconut trees.

Jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as 55 kg (120 pounds) in weight, 90 cm (35 inches) in length, and 50 cm (20 inches) in diameter. A mature jackfruit tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year. It is a multiple fruit composed of hundreds of individual flowers; the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit are eaten in addition to the ripened fruit.

From Sandakan Airport, we took an AirAsia Flight to Kota Kinabalu. From the aeroplane, we had another look at the rain forest and the Kinabatagan River below.

We drove to the Horizon Hotel from the Kota Kinabalu Airport. The sunset that last evening in Borneo was spectacular. We drove to a seaside restaurant for a farewell dinner.