Why visit Borneo?
Borneo! Heard of it? I’m sure you have… I had also heard of it… But had never considered travelling there… I don’t know why – maybe it seemed too magical, too far away, too cumbersome to plan… Or maybe just that it seemed too good and strange to be true – dark, ancient, mysterious with all those stories of head-hunting Dayak tribesmen in the rainforests… And you can cast aspersions on the breadth of my friends’ circle, but, frankly, I hadn’t met anyone who had been there…
And then, we decided to travel there… What I saw there astounded me… Pardon me if I tend to get a little garrulous while showing off my new-found knowledge… 😉
Borneo is a giant rugged island in South East Asia, shared by believe it or not, 3 countries – Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei! It is a land of pristine beaches and an ancient rainforest famous for its biodiversity.
The origin of the name Brunei was probably derived in ancient times from the Sanskrit word meaning either “ocean” or the mythological Varuna, the Hindu god of the ocean. The Indonesian natives called it Kalimantan, which was again possibly derived from the Sanskrit word Kalamanthana, meaning “burning weather island” (to describe its hot and humid tropical weather). With the European contact in the 16th century, the name Borneo emerged and stuck on…
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The Borneo rainforest is one of the oldest in the world – 140 million years old – with about thousands of species of flowering plants, tree, mammals and birds. Of course, it is one of the few remaining natural habitats for the endangered Bornean orangutan and an important refuge for many endemic forest species, including the Borneo elephant, the eastern Sumatran rhinoceros, the Bornean clouded leopard, the Hose’s palm civet and the Dayak fruit bat.
This is a land of jaw-dropping natural beauty, mountains, beaches, rainforests and wildlife (some of which are only found here). Not to forget, a rare and unique culture and a bloody history that dates back in time to the 4th century and possibly earlier… It is a land of stories and legend… And best of all, it is a land very seldom-visited, waiting for you to explore… The Orangutans are waiting for you… So are the shy pygmy elephants… And the most surprising part is that this hidden gem is very accessible – barely an hour or so by flight from the aviation hub of Kuala Lumpur. That means you can combine this with a short city-capsule in Kuala Lumpur or a colonial experience in Malacca or even a beach escapade in Langkawi.
This is as Beyonder as it gets… Come with us… Come and walk the wild side…
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Borneo Experiences
october, 2024
Best places to visit in Borneo
The bustling town of Kota Kinabalu, capital of Malaysia’s Sabah state, boasts of the rainforests around, markets and beaches. It is also the entrance to the Kinabalu National Park which has the famous 4,095m-high Mount Kinabalu.
”More(+)” The more laid-back and less visited the city of Sandakan, where modern life co-exists with its rich colonial past. It is also the base for visiting the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and the Gomantong Cave The orangutan Rehabilitation center in Sepilok where rescued or injured Orangutans is rehabilitated and then gradually re-introduced to the wild. Gomantong cave, an awe-inspiring study in thriving micro-eco-systems. ”Less(-)”
Must have experiences in Borneo
- Meeting with the head-hunting and other tribes
- Spotting the Proboscis monkey and the Pygmy elephants
- Living in stilted cottages connected by raised wooden pathways in the middle of deep jungle
- Spending time with the orangutans in the rehab camp in Sepilok
- Exploring the Gomantong cave and understanding the nature of micro eco-systems
- For the adventurous, maybe climbing the famous Mount Kinabalu
- Walking on rope-bridges over the tops of trees in the jungle
Things to note
Come Beyonder to Borneo and experience nature and culture in its most pristine form while immersing yourself in a land where nature and culture co-existed seamlessly
Contact us to create a customized Borneo itinerary for your self
What our Travellers Say
The trip overall was a quite nice and enriching experience. Cambodia as a country with its different culture as well as the epic nature of the monuments that we witnessed left us awestruck. The guide was quite helpful and was knowledgeable too. The hotel facility was decent and was in a nice locality that had good access to Pub Street, Airport, as well as restaurants for lunch/dinner…
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We would surely visit other places too through Beyonder as you did hand hold us throughout the entire process of the trip unlike other travel agents that forget the client once the money is paid.
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We traveled to North Vietnam for 7 days. While I was using such services for the first time… It was A truly different and a very satisfying holiday Experience. The travel notes and customised itenary, as per our Plan, gave a very positive sense, even during the planning stage.