Things to Do on Asia's Biggest Island

Photo credit: Wikimedia

Borneo is so big that you may not even consider it an island. When you think of an island, you think of a piece of land you could traverse in an hour or two. A place with a population you could probably greet in its entirety in not much more than a day. But not all beautiful islands are small. Just look at Greenland, which you may not even have known is technically an island!

Greenland is the biggest island in the word. But Borneo isn’t far behind at all, nabbing third place only just behind New Guinea. It’s the biggest island in all of Asia, and is owned jointly by three countries. Most of the territory is Indonesian, but much of it also belongs to Brunei and Malaysia. Thankfully, this geopolitical splitting won’t hamper you if you plan to visit and explore the island!

Climb Mount Kinabalu
So not only is Borneo the biggest island in Asia, it can also boast one of the tallest mountains in the world in Mt Kinabalu. It’s listed as one of the World Heritage Sites. And you know that if there’s a World Heritage Site where you’re going, you need to go check it out! Kinabalu is beautifully varied from top to bottom. And despite being so tall, it’s also famous for being one of the easiest mountains to climb in the world. If you don’t feel quite up to the task of climbing mountains, you can always explore the surrounding area, which makes up the Kinabalu National Park. This park is also a World Heritage Site, so you can’t lose, really!

Hang out with orangutans 
Who doesn’t want to hang out with animals? Human beings love to spend time with some furry friends. Why do you think people go all the way to Japan to hang out at cat cafés? But if you’re going somewhere exotic, then you want to spend time with exotic animals. There are many orangutan sanctuaries here where you can volunteer, help feed and look after these endangered friends of ours. If you want to do something a little different on your vacation, you should volunteer with orangutans. 
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Explore the Gomantong Caves
One of Borneo’s unforgettable highlights is the Gomantong Caves. Many people hold misconceptions about exploring caves in other countries. They may think it’s an unmonitored and, thus, unsafe activity that only crazy people take part in. But the Gomantong Caves are looked after by local institutions because it works as a great nature reserve. There are hundreds of thousands of bats here. There are also several exotic birds that hang out here!