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Published: March 24th 2010
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Most of my time in Borneo has been spent on the beach. Up until this point I had only gone to the beach for about 8 hours total on my entire trip so I felt it was time. I am staying in Kota Kinabalu which is a city of about 500,000 people on the West Coast of the state Sabah in Borneo. The great thing about Kota Kinabalu is its proximety to activities and beaches. There is Mt. Kinabalu close by that is the highest mountain in SE Asia and there are various nature tours. However, I have chosen the beach route 100%. I am staying at the Lavendar Lodge which is a budget hotel / hostel. It has worked out really well, basic but clean, great water pressure (finally) and I have wireless in my room for the first time on the trip, YEAH. The owners are very nice and very helpful and since I came here with nothing planned it was nice to have someone to answer my questions. But unlike Singapore I have not met anyone so I have been a one man band through Borneo.
One of the main reasons why I came to Borneo was
to dive Sipadan (top 10 dive site in the world), however that has been crossed off my list due to limited diving permits (only 120 people are allowed to dive a day) and US government warnings that came out in january stating that there are kidnapping concerns on the way to the resorts in that area. A few years back some people were kidnapped on Sipadan and held hostage for five months I believe which didn't bother me but the new alert makes me nervous.
I have been doing day trips to different islands right off of the mainland. They are only about 15 minutes away by speeboat and are incredible.
Manukan Island
It had a nice long beach and small food stands and bars. I read my book and relaxed and baked in the sun. My entertainment was a group of about 10 Brits that proceeded to get obliterated at the beach bar during the 4 hours I was there. Two of the girls got in a shouting arguement with French guys and came back to the beach yelling while stumbling "if you are french go F yourself and if you are german shove it up
Amazing Water
From dock upon arrival to Manukan Island. You could see sea urchins and fish at the bottom. your bum hole"...I really dont know how the germans got roped into it but it was hilarious and I was glad they weren't Americans. Other than that I just relaxed and swam. The little beaches are gorgeous and the water is probably the clearest or as clear as any I have seen.
Sapi Island
The beach was a little smaller than Manukan and it was overcast that day which was much appreciated. We re at 5 degrees latitude here and it gets so insanely hot that it was nice to have a break. I spent most of my day reading in the shade and swimming, big change from the day before 😊
Pulau Tiga
The next couple days I signed up for an overnight trip to Pulau Tiga, which was the first location that they ever used for the show Survivor, now it is now dubbed as "Survivor Island". Pulau Tiga is known for its beach as well as mud volcano. The resort was like camp, I stayed in a cabin with an amazing view of the beach and we all had meals together in the main lodge. The food was very good, a lot of fresh seafood
and yellow watermelon which is my new favorite.
The first day I spent laying on the beach once again and reading, I think I have read 6 books at this point and I was deep into the Lost Symbol. I also decided to go snorkeling which was not a good idea. I love the water and really enjoy diving and snorkeling but I found out that doing it alone (not one other person in the water as far as the eye could see) sends me into a near panic attack. I forced myself to swim to the reef, which sadly was filled with mostly dead corals, and then I kicked and paddled as fast as I could to get back to shore. All in all, I think my snorkel rental equipment was used for 10 minutes. Live and learn.
After breakfast on the second day I decided to brave the mud volcano. You hike about 1.5 km to the site were the mud has formed into a pool and bubbles and gurgles every 5 seconds. It is supposed to make you younger and be good for the skin, not sure about that but I gave it a shot
Manukan Island
Leftovers from WW2. Assuming they were found on the beach anyway. I crawled into the large mud pit and held on to the rope to ensure I wouldnt die alone in a mud bath. The mud was much thicker than I expected. I got in up to my neck, didnt really want to put my head in, and then climbed out and hiked back down to the beach. A group of Dutch women were in the ocean cleaning off their mud so I joined right in and it took forever to get off, so so thick. Even with several trips to the ocean the mud didnt all come off until I could scrub down in the shower. The only downside to the mud was that the entire walk back I felt like I was going to lose my swimsuit bottoms due to the weight of the mud, which was very annoying.
There are some creatures that roam around the island that were interesting. Huge lizards, monkeys that will get in your cabin if you dont lock everything up, amazing butterflies and lots of bugs. I am covered in bites, no amount of deet would keep them away.
Borneo is really a beautiful place and the beaches are incredible.
School of fish
There must have been thousands and thousands of fish in this school right off of Sapi Need to download a couple more books!
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Jed
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You're way out there
Kate, I've enjoyed catching up on your travels. We never blogged and wish we did. It just felt like work sometimes. You've taken some great pics so far and sounds like you had a great eating in Singapore. Keep reading books - that's what I miss most about my island time. Lazy days are sometimes the best days. Good luck on your next stops.