My journey into Sabah, on the island of
Borneo, was a long one. I woke at 3:30am in Kuta, Bali and flew to
Singapore. I had to convince the security guards to let me into the
airport. No one had told me you need your ticket conformation to get
in. I watched the sunrise over Bali from the plane. I could see the
volcano mountains on Bali and Rinjani on Lombok. (I climbed that
bastard!) Once in Singapore, to took the train into the city and
camped out at Lau Pa Sat Food Market for 5 hours. When I arrived,
the place was almost empty, but as lunch time rolled around, all of
the worker from the financial district descended for their feeding
time. The place was packed! The variety of food sold in the market
was fascinating: Indian, Korean, Malay, Chinese, Western, rice, soup,
kebabs, noodles, the list is endless. It got so full that a lady
asked if she could share my table with me. She was a lovely Indian
lady and we talked about my travels through India and what I'd
thought of the country. She mentioned that her husband was a
novelist and that he'd recently published his first novel, that it
was set in India and would I be interested in reading it. I said
'sure' and she went back to her office to get a copy. (A week later
I started the book on a long bus ride but didn't make it through the
first 100 pages. You know what listening to an Indian speak English
as a second language is like? This book was like reading that
conversation. I left it in Kota Kinabalu (KK), maybe someone with
more patience than me will pick it up.) Eventually, I ate my own
lunch in the market and then headed across the causeway, into
Malaysia. My flight from Johor
Bahru was delayed by
three hours, due to inclement weather in (KK). By the time I arrived
in KK at 2:30am, I'd been travelling in 3 countries in the past
24hours. Suffice to say, I was exhausted. Thank goodness for the
kindness of CouchSurfers. My host, Solene, met me at the airport
(despite the ridiculous hour) and we headed to her apartment in
Beverly Hills. :) During the day that I spent in KK I went
snorkeling on and walked the circumference of Mamutik Island, had
fresh fish dinner with two other CS'ers (a local from KK and a
traveller from Charlotte, NC), we had shesha on the pier and finished
the evening with pedicures and foot scrubs! The next morning I
headed to the bus station for my 7 hour bus to Sepilok, home of the
infamous Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. The morning I went
to the Centre was overcast and rainy, the boardwalk was stuffed with
shutter happy tourists and only two orangutangs came to the feeding
platforms. While they were fascinating to watch, I can't say I'd go
back again, or recommend it to someone else. All was not lost
though, my guesthouse was able to arrange a river/jungle tour for me!
The bus picked us up in Sandakan and away we sped, to the
Kinabatagan River and it's surrounding jungle! It was a wonderful 3
day/2 night adventure. We went on 2 morning and 2 afternoon river
cruises, 2 night walks in the jungle and an afternoon jungle walk to
an oxbow lake. We saw wild orangutangs up close, hanging out in a
fig tree, munching away at his breakfast. There were Probiscuis
Monkeys with their long wagging noses, macaques, snakes, an alligator
and countless hornbills and other birds. On the night walks we saw
sleeping Kingfishers and two small jungle cats! And on the afternoon
jungle walk, we became covered in MUD! The lodge had gumboots you
could rent, $3.50 for the three days, but I opted to go in my
trainers and deal with the consequences. :) By the end, my shoes
looked like they were made of mud. Thankfully they dried out in time
for me to climb Kinabalu!
Once
again I was climbing in the dark with a faulty flashlight, not enough
warm clothing and the end was not in sight. At least I wasn't
hungry this time! :D The climb up Kinabalu was tough, at 4,095
meters, the summit is COLD and shrouded in a cloud when we were
there, so it was wet as well and there was no chance of watching the
sunrise. Pity, as that's why we were up there at such a god awful
time of day. Still, at least we made it! One of the most impressive
parts of the hike was knowing that everything in the lodge and the
materials for the lodge itself, are all brought up on foot! Now I
understand why food and accommodation on the mountain is so
expensive. And the food was fabulous! We had four buffet meals,
each with a large selection of dishes. Crazy. Although I signed up
for the hike on my own, I met a fellow Canadian, two Italians and a
Frenchman to share the cost of a guide and hike with. We had a good
time together and we were the first ones down the mountain on the
second day! We were pretty proud of ourselves.
I spent my last
few days in KK, recovering from the hike and catching up on
Internets, journal writing, sleep, and just relaxing. Today I
boarded a plane for Penang, but we were diverted to the island of
Langkawi first, because the weather in Penang was not conducive to
landing a plan. While the plane re-fueled we weren't allowed to
de-board. :( They received news that the weather had improved in
Penang, so we took off and landed safely at our intended destination.
And here I was think I'd gotten a free ride to Langkawi. Oh well.
I'm in Penang for a few days and then I'm boarding a train for
Bangkok! Twenty-two hours on a train, it should be interesting....
No comments:
Post a Comment