Once you leave paradise, finding a new home is pretty difficult. At least, that’s how I felt after the beautiful underwater world in Mabul / Sipadam. Fortunately, ‘relocating’ proved to be much easier than expected.

Kuchin, a city in the south of Borneo (Malaysia), is my favorite large city of the entire trip. Gentle people, great food at hawker stands and stylish restaurants alike. And a lively bars scene, each with an interior that would make it a topspot in any major European city.

As you probably know, I’ve tried to avoid cities during this trip. Kuchin has the perfect combination of great sights and good motorbike rental, that will keep you happily driving around for days. The most obvious sights are the ‘Bako national park’, to which you’ll do the last part by boat. I’ve seen god-knows-how-many beautiful sunsets on my trip but this one surely ranks amongst the most amazing.

Other noteworthy events include inquisitive monkeys at inconvenient moments and getting woken up in the middle of the night because of the noise of a fight between two bearded pigs, and my immediate bond with big-nosed proboscis monkeys.