Kent

Hikes, Walks, and Nature in Southeast Asia

May 11, 2026

Apart from my sojourn in Western Australia, the balance of my 3 ^1/2 month winter trip to Asia was spent largely in Malaysia, book-ended by a cruise from Taiwan to Singapore and a final week in Bali, all of which gave me some opportunity for walking and hiking in an environment quite alien to my desert home. This blog post is presented in chronological order, which is roughly geographically north to south. To keep this blog post to a manageable size, I have intentionally restricted it (with one or two exceptions) to only those photos I took on my various walks and hikes.

The Cruise: Taipei to Singapore

Twenty years since my last cruise, I thought it finally time for another. A one way 14-day cruise in early December fit the bill, stopping in several countries I had not yet visited. In addition to the Taiwan and Singapore ports of embarkation and debarkation, these included: Hong Kong, the Philippines, Brunei, and Malaysian Borneo, the last of which I would return to 3 months later. Unfortunately, a major drawback on any large ship cruise is that, apart from snorkeling, the port itineraries are not designed for an active traveler. Hence, I headed out on my own more than once.

View of Taipei with **Taipei 101** far left, taken on a traverse of Elephant Mountain

Another view of Taipei from the Elephant Mountain Traverse. I chose my hotel, the **Grand Hyatt**, as it was within easy walking distance of this popular mountain (hill, actually).

Bucolic trail on Elephant Mountain. There were MANY stairs to gain 200m of elevation on this short loop hike.

Muara & Tanjung Batu beaches loop, Brunei Darussalam. Not being particularly interested in the cultural tour options this day, I chose to walk a lovely 10km loop from the bus stop.

My other walking excursions, in Hong Kong and Pattaya, Thailand, while enjoyable, yielded no interesting photos. So here I fast forward to the port of debarkation, Singapore, where I subsequently stayed five nights.

Botanic Garden view, Singapore. I spent an enjoyable morning wandering here during my visit to this city-state. Like most of coastal SE Asia, the combination of high temps and humidity made afternoons outside limited to the hotel swimming pool.

A banana flower, Singapore Botanic Garden (SBG)

The Evolution Path in SBG. The park was actually quite hilly: 200m elevation gain over only 7km.

Marina Bay view, Singapore. Despite appearances here, my 12km walk around the bay included significant elevation gain.

Another view of Marina Bay, including the **Gardens by the Bay** and the iconic Marina Sands hotel on the left here. I regret not returning another morning to visit the popular **Gardens**.

Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo

Skipping ahead almost 2 months, in February I flew from Western Australia to Kuala Lumpur (KL) to begin a 3-week visit to both peninsular Malaysia and Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. Apart from a couple of extra days in KL at the start, this trip comprised 2 group nature/cultural excursions with the Australian company, Intrepid.

Perdana Botanic Garden vista, Kuala Lumpur. For decades the botanic garden had been a park, and still contained numerous vestiges from that operation.

Orchid menagerie, Perdana Botanic Garden. By design, my hotel was a convenient 7 minute walk to the botanic garden. My 7km walk had over 260m elevation gain, quite impressive for a city!

Leaving KL, our group made a several hour drive to Penang Island where we started our peninsular Malaysia adventure.

Beginning the ascent of Penang Hill before dawn, Penang Island

Dawn over George Town, Penang, from the Penang Hill Heritage Trail.

Funicular tracks, Penang Hill Heritage Trail. Most tourists took this mode up the hill. I, instead, climbed more than 700m (over only 3km) for the resulting views. . .

View from the top, Penang Hill. Needless to see, no other **Intrepid** clients joined me for this early morning workout. And yes, I chose the funicular to descend!

With giant cassava leaves in the Ulu Muda rainforest in Kedah. We spent two nights at a The Earth Lodge, a rustic ecolodge, certainly the highlight of this trip.

A Lanternfly in the Ulu Muda forest. I’m not sure if this is the same species devastating vineyards in the Eastern US.

The Vagabond Hiker posing with a giant ficus in Ulu Muda

Bukit Labu cave, Ulu Muda forest. Our guide (and ecolodge owner) had discovered this cave some years prior and has been monitoring the species calling it home.

Lunch stop along a stream in the Ulu Muda forest

Leaving the Earth Lodge, Ulu Muda forest. Boats are the only way to access this remote area.

Boardwalk path in the **Cameron Highlands Montane Park**. Several of us took the Parit Falls loop nature walk here. At an elevation of more than 1400m, this area, known for its tea plantations and formerly a British Hill Station, was much cooler (and wetter) than the rest of Peninsular Malaysia we visited.

Another species of pitcher plant, Cameron Highlands

After returning to KL, a couple of us flew to Borneo the following day for another Intrepid group trip.

Pygmy Elephant, Kinabatangan River, Borneo. As one can see, “pygmy” is a relative term. Three river cruises from this jungle lodge gave us an opportunity to see lots of wildlife, including orangutans.

Sunset Point, Manukan Island, Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. We stayed one night at a resort here. Thankfully, outside of day-tripper hours, the island was quiet. An hour walk in the early morning was a great way to appreciate it.

For what was by far the most interesting hike I did in Borneo, climbing Mount Kinabalu, see my recent post.

Bali, Indonesia

Wrapping up my 3^1/2 month winter trip to southeast Asia and Australia, I spent a week relaxing and sightseeing in Bali, where I had only ever changed planes before.

Jungle near Leke Leke Waterfall, on a short hike I took as part of a private day trip organized by the Ubud resort where I stayed.

Leke Leke waterfall. Mid-morning I had it all to myself.

Small bract Sanchezia near Leke Leke waterfall

Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, Bali. This wildly popular spot among the Instragram crowd was beautiful nonetheless. Nor was it crowded at the end of the rainy season when I was there. (Australians generally visit during the dry season that coincides with the Austral winter).

View of the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, another short walk I took during this day trip from Ubud, the cultural center of Bali.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces from the restaurant where I had lunch. Absolutely gorgeous!

Boats along Sanur Beach. After a few days I relocated from Ubud to a posh resort at the south end of Sanur Beach.

Temple along the Sanur Beach promenade. It was possible to walk more than 4km one way along the beach promenade.

Sanur Beach view. Particularly in the mornings it was not very crowded and the chill vibe provided a great way to end my winter trip.

A note on vertical photo widths: I noticed while perusing an old blog post of mine, that an update to the WordPress Block Editor changed its default settings so that all vertical photos appear full width. This has retroactively affected every blog post of mine, making them difficult to see on a PC or tablet as well as enlarging many to the point of pixilation due to the compressed resolution I intentionally use on my blog site. This WordPress update to my knowledge has had no adverse impact for viewing on phones (though on phones the landscape photos appear small - I do recommend using a tablet or PC). The only solution I could find is to manually force the width of the vertical photos to what I originally intended. With 127 blog posts this laborious task will take a while...

I have returned to Italy for the remainder of the spring and early summer before heading to Madagascar for two weeks. Although currently staying in Trentino near Lago di Garda, I do promise two blog posts from the regions of Tuscany and Abruzzo, a major change of scene from my usual northern Italian adventures! Stay tuned,

The Vagabond Hiker

Hikes and Walks in Western Australia

March 18, 2026

Returning to Australia after a nine-year hiatus, I chose to base myself in one of the two remaining states that I had not yet visited, Western Australia (WA). Over 7 weeks I did several hikes in the nearby Perth Hills, numerous local bushland walks, as well as three hikes on a road trip excursion to the wine-growing region of Margaret River to the south. Finally, I flew to Adelaide in South Australia to watch some tennis, and enjoy a couple of walks in that city, which I took the liberty to include in this post.

Local Walks

From my base in Queenspark, in the southern suburbs of Perth, I had direct access to some local bushland for walking. Perhaps 4-5 mornings a week when I had no great motivation for hiking would find me walking either here, or in nearby Canning River Park, which had the great advantage of being only a couple of minutes’ drive to either of the supermarkets I frequented.

Bushland balcony view from my apartment in Queenspark

Mr and Mrs Galah from my balcony (zoom), drying their wings on a rare rainy day

Queenspark bushland pond. Note the viewing platform on the far left.

The artistic Queenspark bushland viewing platform

Snakebush in flower, Queenspark bushland

A rather poor photo of Candlestick Banksia. The austral spring would have been much better for wildflowers, most of which by midsummer were but distant memories.

Dawn from my balcony, overlooking the local park adjacent to the bushland

Canning River park view from one of the bridges

Rainbow lorikeets in the early morning at Canning River Park

Compacted feather-flower, Canning River park

Hikes in the Perth Hills

A major advantage of my location in Queenspark was the easy access to numerous trails in the Perth Hills just to the east. The closest was a 20-minute drive, and all the following photos were on hikes no farther than 40 minutes from my apartment. Most were between 8 and 12 km with 300 to 400 m elevation gain — perfect for some morning cardio before the temperature became too excessive.

A rock eating a tree, Helena River loop, Kalamunda & Beelu National Parks

Pink mulla mulla (*Ptilotus exaltatus*), looking a lot like feather dusters to me, Helena River loop

View towards the Ellis Brook Falls. The falls were completely dry by this point in the summer.

Panorama towards Perth in Lesmurdie Falls National Park. Along with the adjacent Mundy Regional Park, this was the nearest park in the Perth Hills and I did several different loop hikes here.

Lesmurdie Falls, actually still flowing a bit in the high summer

Lesmurdie Falls plateau vista with eucalyptus

Landscape with grass-tree gum, Kattamorda Track and Lion’s Lookout loop, Korung National Park

*Fuscia grivellia*, Korung National Park

A typical forest path, Korung National Park

A panorama on the Kattamorda Track and Lion’s Lookout loop

Adelaide, South Australia

Obviously not Western Australia, but the tennis fan in me could not resist three days at the Adelaide tournament. About 2100 km from Perth, Adelaide is the nearest city. (Indeed, Perth is considered the most remote city in the world). Some early morning walks along the Torrens River were definitely in order.

Torrens River heading downstream (East) from my hotel, Adelaide

The Torrens River, upstream (West) from my hotel. I fortunately left early to beat the Saturday 8 AM Park Run crowds.

Margaret River

Seven weeks in Western Australia wouldn’t have been complete without at least one road trip, and a three day excursion to the secluded south-west Australia wine growing region of Margaret River was mine.

Approaching the beach and dunes, Boranup Beach Loop, Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park. Here the Indian Ocean is exhibiting lovely shades of blue.

Boranup Beach with kelp. For the most part I had the entire beach to myself this mid-week day.

Cowarawup Bay, Ngari Capes Marine Park, on the Cape-to-Cape Track. My hike was to and from Wilyabrup Cliffs, 15 km round trip

Ghost trees along the Margaret River. A portion of my walk was in the Wooditjup National Park. Another early morning start allowed me to beat the 8 AM Saturday Park Run.

Well, I made it back to the UK from Malaysia on a 14-hour non-stop flight from Kuala Lumpur. A few days here and then onward to Utah for some warm and dry weather. Enjoy the spring wildflowers,

The Vagabond Hiker

Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

March 6, 2026

With a few extra days scheduled into my Borneo trip, Malaysia’s highest mountain beckoned. Mount Kinabalu (4095 m), located in Sabah State in Malaysian Borneo, is the highest mountain between Papua New Guinea and northern Myanmar. Additionally, it is the 20th most prominent peak in the world, just nudging Mt Rainier in Washington State out of the top 20. The Kinabalu massif consists of numerous summits, shown in the photo below, the highest of which is Low’s Peak, the destination for all commercial climbers.

Mount Kinabalu Peaks Map. Can you spot any on my park entrance photo at the top of this post? They do vary some from the different angle.

The popularity of Mount Kinabalu has necessitated a well-regulated system of climbing. Climbers must be accompanied by accredited guides at all times, mostly due to the risk of experiencing altitude sickness. A minimum of two days is required, with a mandatory overnight rest stop midway up the mountain at Panalaban “basecamp.” The number of permits is limited to about 180, the number of beds in several dorm-style accommodations at Panalaban, 6.5 km distance from Timpohon Gate, the usual start point. While that may seem a short way, it is a steep 1400 m ascent (from 1850 m altitude to 3250 m above sea level) that requires on average 5 hours to complete. An alpine start from Panalaban the second morning is timed to enable one to see sunrise from near the summit, another 800 m ascent of often very steep climbing over another 3 km distance. After enjoying the views, climbers generally stop for a rest back at Panalaban, and then continue their descent to the trailhead on day 2. A second night staying at Panalaban is another option. Refer to the highly schematic summit trail map below.

Mount Kinabalu Trail Map. Provided by *Borneo Calling*, the agency that expertly handled my logistics.

Mt Kinabalu was my first proper mountain climb since the two day ascent of Mt Toubkal, Morocco in 2023 and the three day ascent of Punta Rossa della Grivola in the Italian Alps in 2022. Achieving the summit of Mt Kinabalu – and returning to the trailhead – in two days proved a real test of my endurance. My journey began in Kota Kinabalu (KK) with a 6.30 AM hotel pickup and 2 hour transfer to Mount Kinabalu National Park. We received our climbing permit tags and got a short van transfer to Timpohon Gate where the climb started.

For this post, with one exception the photos are arranged in increasing altitude, NOT chronological order.

Carson Falls through the foliage, at the lowest point on the trail. It’s all up from here!

The Summit Trail through the forest near the trailhead

My guide, Freendy, leading the way. He has 25 years’ experience guiding on Mt Kinabalu.

The rocky trail heading into the mist. Clouds and low-level fog generally increase as the day progresses. Note the water pipes supplying the shelters with toilets along the path and the park buildings near the entrance.

A Krummholz promontory. Photo taken on the descent.

Pendant Hut, where I stayed the night, a small portion of the Panalaban Basecamp complex. Accommodation included two meals and an early morning snack. Photo taken from *Borneo Calling*.

Ascent route up the face on day 2 is denoted by the white rope zig-zagging up the right side here. Taken on descent (as it was dark on ascent!)

The day 2 ascent route here features steps with rails and a viewing platform. Taken on descent.

Mountain orchid (possibly *Coelogyne papillosa*). I had little energy for botanizing, but I thought this orchid, common for a section of the Summit Trail, was worth the effort.

The Vagabond Hiker on Low’s Peak summit with moon. Freendy was a great guide, but photographer, not so much.

Dawn on the descent from Low’s Peak. Note the white rope used as a guide. The red light on the right side is likely a ship offshore of KK.

While the 2200 m (7200 ft) ascent of Mount Kinabalu was certainly tough, due more to the steepness and uneven terrain than the altitude, the descent if anything was more challenging. Trekking poles were absolutely required and even two days later as I write this blog from my KK hotel room, my quads and calves are still sore. Nevertheless, not only was it a great experience connecting with other climbers, chatting with my guide, and communing with nature, the climb certainly gave a sense of accomplishment and is one I will never forget.

Like many of the photos above, this entire post has been published out of chronological order. Still to come are two posts from my winter trip, Hikes & Walks in Western Australia and Hikes, Walks & Nature of Southeast Asia. Tomorrow I continue on to Bali for 8 days of R&R before returning to the UK. And who knows, maybe a couple of hikes?

The Vagabond Hiker