Paradise these days is finding yourself in a place where your smart phone does not work and where better to disconnect than in one of Sabah's last remaining virgin rainforests, as Yeoh Siew Hoon discovers.

Morning mist over Danum Valley

Paradise these days is going on holiday in a place where your smart phone does not work. So it was when I went to Danum Valley in Sabah over the Easter weekend.

Danum Valley is one of Sabah's last remaining virgin rainforests – it was declared a conservation area in 1980, a recommendation first put forth by a World Wildlife Fund-sponsored expedition back in 1976. In 1996, it was further gazetted as a Protection Forest Reserve which means logging and other commercial exploitative activities are banned.

Thank goodness otherwise this would now be just another palm oil plantation. At 43,800 hectares, the area is "bigger than Singapore", as we were repeatedly reminded by the folks who work at Borneo Nature Tours, which runs the Danum Valley Lodge, the only accommodation inside the reserve.

The network coverage disappears somewhere along the 70km road between Lahad Datu, the palm oil capital of Malaysia and the world, and Danum Valley. Within an hour, just as the birdsong gets louder as the closer we get to the edge of Danum, my Blackberry starts going silent.

Bliss.

Left: Trekking in Danum

The morning air is fresh. It's like being in an oxygen tank. No need to pay to be hooked up to oxygen bottles at airports. We spot a cobra crossing the road. The driver seems nonplussed about it, so we pretend to be too. Who wants to be singled out as an urban wimp?

Trees everywhere, tall ones, fat ones, skinny ones, ones with lots of honey pots hanging on them.

It's a pretty good road and despite the driver's jokes about how were we enjoying the back massage, it was a fairly comfortable drive with intermittent stops to take photographs.

After a while, your senses adjust to the sensurround of the rainforests and you understand why animals, if allowed to be free, are the more privileged of life on Earth.

Above us, an eagle serpent soars.

Unlike them, we need housing. The Danum Valley Lodge, which is 15 years old, is newly-renovated. It blends well into the environment. Comprising 31 rooms in all – made up of individual chalets and adjoining suites, the lodge is as luxurious as you'd want in this kind of environment. The suites we've been given are spacious and have a bath on the balcony which overlooks the river and rainforests.

I am not sure about how appropriate having a bath in the forest is – there's been a drought and the river is bone dry. But the view sure beats the Ritz-Carlton in Singapore anytime.

Danum Valley Lodge

Our first day begins with a slide show to introduce us to the flora and fauna of the valley. Some time is spent talking about leeches, snakes and scorpions – but I think that's just to add to the drama. After all, that's what you are paying for when you come to as remote a place as Danum – a non-sanitised authentic rainforest experience where you are the visitor, not the animals.

On the way out to our first trek in the early afternoon, we meet King, a 37-year-old orang utan who obviously feels so at home at the lodge that he occasionally pops in for a meal and sleep. This, being the first time I have seen an orang utan in the wild, is a moment to record – and we all do.

King slips down from the tree effortlessly and sits down among us, chomping on his fruits. He seems oblivious to the human spectators. But our guide, Calixtus, tells us he's rather shy. He rarely looks up at us, just sits there like an old man, chewing and spitting out the pips. Occasionally, he scratches himself.

Two research assistants are on his trail and will record his every move for the next few days.

King resting on his perch

Tired of our attention, he saunters away and finds a tree to rest. We are told he will build a nest for the night at the lodge.

We start off on our trek and overhead, we see the Red Leaf Monkey or Maroon Langurs at play. You can see why they are called that – their hair is bright red and they look like they are wearing masks on their faces. Reminds me of Zorro.

It's an easy trek, almost like a walk in a giant park. I think they just want to ease us urbanites into the experience. Most guests stay for three days and there are many treks of varying degrees of difficulties to choose from – so you can be a super-fit mountain climber or a slow walker to enjoy Danum.

The treks are also very well-maintained and in areas where it could get slippery, wooden planks help you get a grip on things.

Calix points out to us the various birds – plenty of hornbills here – and insects but for me, unlike Sukau, Danum is more about the rainforest experience than the wildlife spotting.

Calix on the canopy walk

If you want to tick off the animals you see, then Sukau's probably better because you see more wildlife and up close because of the Kinabatangan river. Development in the area is also forcing the animals into a narrow corridor.

Danum is so vast and spread out and the animals have plenty of room to roam and you're just a speck in the big scheme of things. For the serious bird-watchers though – there was a family from Hong Kong who had some heavy-duty bird-watching equipment – it's perfect especially during fruiting season between May and July but one needs patience, Calix tells us.

The morning canopy walk is probably the best time to see and listen to the birds. Amid the mist and up there among the tree tops, you hear the symphony of the forest. Woodpeckers drilling, the bulbul bird singing, hornbills cawing – it's music to the ears.

We did three treks that day, the most challenging being the Coffin Trail up to the viewpoint. It's merely 1.23km but takes couple of hours because of the 300 metre elevation.

What impressed me most about Danum are the trees – from the Seraya to the Ebony to the Oba (which produces the indigo dye for fabrics). To me, they are the kings of the forests, standing tall and majestic, and giving protection to all and sundry. Sometimes, they get overtaken by the parasitic Ficus trees which completely strangle their host with their "tentacles".

Standing next to the tree, you feel like a dwarf. It also means you are closer to the tiger leeches which position themselves on the top of leaves, ready to pounce when they sense body heat in the vicinity. They are creepy, and speedy. I felt one jump on my hand and Calix immediately flicked it away. He's a seasoned leech-flicker. He tells us that because of the drought, the leech problem is not as severe. Leeches only come out to play when it's wet. We were to get our wish fulfilled sooner than we knew.

Lush and green

Back on the Coffin Trail, we reach an ancient burial site. Old bones, remnants of coffins and burial jars can be seen – carbon-dating put their age at around 300 years old, said Calix.

The biggest coffin belonged to the local chief – in it is a blowpipe made of ironwood which has stood the test of time.

The view from the top takes away what's left of your breath. The only sign of human existence is our lodge in the distance.

On the way back, we spot a stick insect. It was trying very hard to be invisible.

That afternoon, we did two more treks – the Hornbill and Sapa Belandal trails. And we still had the night walk to look forward to. In the evening, it rained and by the time we went for our night walk, the frogs, which had been hiding for the past few months, were out in full throat.

 That night, the first big thunderstorm of the season arrives. The skies open up and down came a deluge of rain that the valley hadn't seen for a while. I thought about King in his nest, getting wet, as I slept in my king-size bed.

Left: Monitor lizard, one of Danum's many inhabitants

I am woken up by the call of the gibbons. The hornbills didn't sound as active this morning – Calix said the rains must have shut them up. An even heavier morning mist shrouds the rainforests. We set off for our 7am walk, properly armed against leeches. "They'll be out in force today," said Calix.

Walking in the rainforest after a thunderstorm is one of the most invigorating experiences. The forest floor is dense with dead leaves of all sizes and shades. The leaves are dripping with dew and the morning light makes them translucent. The trees soar high and disappear into the mist where you just see the silhouettes of their leaves and branches.

In all, we spot four more orang utans in the wild – Calix told us there are about 50 of them in the valley, which doesn't sound a lot. We heard one squeal as he got stung by bees – a relatively common hazard for the beasts, apparently.

We see quite a few orang utan nests and some of them are perched rather precariously at the end of thin branches.

Apparently, the apes choose that spot to be safe from their only predator, the clouded leopard. When the cat walks on the branch towards the nest, the orang utan feels the movement and swings away. These days though, the clouded leopard is an endangered species.

 We didn't see much other wildlife other than birds, insects, lizards and millipedes. I remember the voice of a young English girl in the lodge one night, as she sat smoking with her friends, "Why do you want to go out and see creepy crawlies?"

Right: In full bloom

This was after we had returned from a night walk. Armed with umbrellas and torches, we walked through the trail, trying to spot creatures of the night.

There's something special about being in virgin rainforest in the dark of the night where the only light you see are from the eyes of creepy crawlies and not your mobile phone, as smart as it may be.

Photos by Yeoh Siew Hoon

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com. Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at the cafe for travel insiders.

WIT 2010: October 19-22 SUNTEC Singapore ~ www.webintravel.com