Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia

We took the bus from Medan Selera to Kota Kinabalu (took about 5 hours) which was pretty painless. You get water on the bus, which is comparable to a nice greyhound bus, as well as entertainment (random malaysian movies playing on a large screen at the front of the bus). The bus also stops at a place for lunch at the middle of the journey, where you can get all kinds of snacks (prawn crackers!).

Kinabatangan River, Borneo, Malaysia

SO MUCH WILDLIFE! We stayed at the Nature Lodge Kinabatangan, which took care of everything including pickup in Sepilok and dropoff as well arranging for tickets to Kota Kinabalu. The Nature Lodge is run sort of like a summer camp; a loud bell is used to signify meals and activities. You can also rent most things that you need from them. Our itinerary on the Kinabatangan river basically consisted of doing everything possible to spot some wildlife.

Sepilok, Borneo, Malaysia

After a terrible tout situation in Lombok (don't let anyone touch your luggage! and walk away from the port toward the town to find a legitimate taxi stand) and a surprise international airport fee (you have to pay $10 to leave Indonesia) at Lombok airport, we finally arrived in Sandakan where we saw orangutans!