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Friday, May 8th
Today was another day filled with preparation. This is why we avoid planning ahead. You end up spending tons of time preparing. It easier to just pitch up and arrange things as you go.
In this case, however, we had no choice. Space on Mt Kinabalu is very limited and you can't get a climbing permit without accommodation so we had to book early. This meant emailing back and forth to find a date and price that we could live with. It's the most expensive bunk-beds in the world but we have no choice. You wanna play, you gotta pay...
We also needed to lighten our bags. They have mysteriously grown heavier and heavier as we've been traveling (and after walking all over KL at night with those heavy packs we were
very motivated to lose some weight). We bought a collapsible duffel-bag and stashed all our "extras" in the store room. We'll be back here in eight days.
We're heading to Taman Negara the next day. The Lonely Planet describes it this way: "A buzzing, leach-infested mass of primary forest over 130 million years old". Very exciting! We can't wait.
Geographically we haven't
moved an hour later in time but in practice we have (we think it's so that all of Malaysia is in the same time zone). This means that it only gets light around 7am and dark around 8pm. This messes with our biorhythm. Since coming to Malaysia we've been struggling to fall asleep before midnight. We'll have to try our best to get some sleep because we've got a full day's travel ahead of us.
Today's highlights:
1. You guessed it... Indian food!
2. Sorting out our accommodation for Mt Kinabalu.
Saturday, May 9th
We woke early, grabbed a quick breakfast, packed our last few things, then headed to the bus. Living like this has become normal for us and it's really hard to imagine going back to a "normal" life.
When we paid for the bus tickets we didn't get a receipt because they come pick us up at the hotel. Once we got to the bus agency, however, they asked for it. Talita did her thing and soon we were on the bus heading north-east.
Three hours later we arrived in Kuala Tembeling where we had two hours to kill. We had lunch and
played with two addorable kittens and their attention-loving mom. It's insanely hot here. Just sitting on our butts and playing with the kittens had us sweating.
Last night we'd forgotten to get cash and apparently there's not a single ATM in Kuala Tembeling or anywhere near Taman Negara. We're just hoping they accept MasterCard or Visa. We've still got some emergency US$ so we'll have to exchange that if we can. We prayed that everything would be alright then got on a small boat for the three hour ride to Kuala Tahan, a small town across the river from Taman Negara.
The boat ride was awesome! This was more like what we'd hoped that dreaded slow-boat in Laos would be like. We cruised up the river, called Sungai Tembeling, thick impenetrable jungle on both sides. It was truly beautiful.
We arrived in Kuala Tahan, sweating like crazy and pretty much cashless. No ATM, no credit card facilities anywhere. We found a hotel that would change our dollars but only for customers and at a fee. Their rooms were a little expensive (and only had air-con, no fan) so we took turns walking around looking for alternatives. Every
other place was either full or only had bunk beds. We decided to stay the night. Lucky for us there's an inexpensive local bus to Jerantut, the nearest town with an ATM. It's almost two-thirds of the way back to KL but we have no other choice. We'll have to go the next morning. The manager of the hotel was kind enough to let us stay and only pay him when we return.
Exhausted from the heat we dumped our (considerably lighter) packs and hopped in the shower. After lying down for 10mins our stomachs chased us out of the room in search of dinner. We found a nice floating restaurant on the river and enjoyed a few cokes and some noodles with the last of our cash. During dinner it started raining cats & dogs. The last thing we expected today was to feel chilly, but there we were, sitting in the drizzle that was blowing in under the roof, feeling chilly. Also, they say that if it rains the leaches come out in force. Good thing we're not in the jungle tomorrow.
When the rain subsided a little we escaped to our hotel. We'll be up
early tomorrow so we'll try to get enough sleep.
Today's highlights:
1. The cruise up the river.
2. Finding a room.
To Leon and Melinda, our almost-gypsy friends, may you thoroughly enjoy your three weeks holiday in Europe. May God bless you and keep you and may you grow closer and closer until you are bonded for life. We love you.
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