The best way of experiencing the rainforests of Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia two-and-a-half times the size of the British Isles, and of getting close to nature there is to jump on a boat.

Luxury tours put eastern Sabah on Borneo's ecotourist map. Malaysian state hopes to divert visitors from Kota Kinabalu to rainforest.

When army medic Jack Tredrea parachuted into the cloud-covered jungle of East Borneo in March 1945, he carried maps, guns, grenades and a cyanide pill. "We were issued with an L pill — L for ...