Kota Kinabulu - rest and relaxation.

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After an interesting 6 hour bus trip which circled the very impressive slopes of Mt Kinabulu we arrived in Kota Kinabulu, the capital of Sabah. It appealed to us immediately, maybe because of it's setting on the ocean, but it also seemed a fairly relaxed place. Forgetting that it was the beginning of the long May Day weekend (we've lost track of time) I hadn't prebooked a room and we had trouble finding anywhere to stay. Eventually we ended up in a newly opened lodge on the corner of Beach Street and overlooking a big open air entertainment/ restaurant area. The room a bed and nothing else - we had no space at all and the bathroom was down the corridor. However it was very clean and because it had no windows very quiet (and dark- we slept in every morning whilst we were there). Doing our usual wander to try and orientate ourselves we wandered around the neighbourhood we decided to spend a few days there. The next few days were spent doing very little - sleeping and reading. That evening we ate at the night markets - very busy as they consisted of rows and rows of tables covered in a pall of smoke from the BBQ's at each end where, after choosing your fish, lobster, crabs and prawns (absolutely enormous tiger prawns) they were cooked. It was a cheaper version of the Sandakan restaurant and much more fun. You helped yourself to whatever you wanted to eat with your fish and paid at the end. Still not cheap though.
We have since discovered that the average wage in Malaysia is not much less than Australian wages which explains why the prices are dearer then we were expecting. There are still a lot of people earning hardly any money as in other Asian countries and they must really find it a struggle to survive as the cost of living is so high. However the Government pays for all school fees, books and uniforms until the end of high school and it costs only 1RM to go tho hospital, or about 10RM for a week if you need to stay. Everybody we spoke to seem very happy with their government leaders.
The heat hadn't eased and it was oppressive. All the locals are complaining of the weather as well and we read in the paper that they were hoping the heatwave would break soon I have never had perspiration running off me in rivulets as I have had in Borneo. We sat on the esplanade whilst eating icecream and talking to a group of teenage boys before going back to the cool of our mini room.
The next day we organized a tour to the Keduh markets, 2 hours north and also onwards to the Tip of Borneo (another couple of hours further north) to visit a Rungus Longhouse village. Although the guide books say you can do all these trips independently (though we could have gone to the markets on our own) all the villages are now tied up in packages with tour companies. We have actually found many mistakes in the guide books, all relating to costs of attractions and tours - all much higher than mentioned though room prices etc still seem current. The local companies now seem to have monopolies and have put prices up because of it. There were complaints about it by their own local tourists. That evening we discovered that the entertainment area next to where we were staying had 2 jugs of scotch and soda for 38RM so that was a good enough reason to stay close to 'home' that evening. It was a nice area with good recorded music and popular. We enjoyed our first alcohol since leaving home but didn't repeat the experience as next day we found a cafe with the best mango smoothies we have ever tasted and decided to enjoy them whilst they lasted.
The next day was long! A great day with a great guide but we covered a lot of miles. Sarge (our guide) bought his wife along for the trip. He was widely traveled as he worked for the Government in a pretty high position and decided to take his state pension after 27 years. However boredom set in and he bought himself a taxi and set up a tour guide business with his son., He does a lot of work with Australians as his English is very good. He also is very knowledgeable about world affairs and had a witty personality. He dropped us off at the market gates in Keta Bulud and left us to explore on our own. We have seen so many Asian markets I guess we are a bit blasé about them - I think it would take a pretty special market to really impress us.
Back into his car and we set off to the Rungus Longhouse village. It was only a small longhouse - we plan to see more around Kuching but was great to see none the less. It was made in the traditional style but many aren't now as they are a real fire danger. All the families live on the main verandah where the young men also sleep. The women and girls sleep and cook in rooms off the verandah, though part of the house structure. As they use fires in these little rooms it is easy to see why they burn down easily. Some of the older houses can be up to 100 doorways long (each doorway means one families private area ) but the government has now banned new homes being longer then 25 doors. Another interesting initiative of the ruling government is to offer free water tanks to everybody and the countryside is dotted with bright blue plastic tanks. A great 'in your face' advertising campaign as well as the government party colours are bright blue. After lunch at the village we spent time at a drum making village and watched some of the local men hand beating the metal drums. I spent some time talking to the family living in the house pictured. There were around 10 people on the tiny verandah including a man who worked at McDonald's in KK home visiting his very young wife who was still at school.
The 'Tip of Borneo' beckoned and it waqs great to see and smell the sea again. A big wide bay and very similar to Cape Hillsborough near Mackay. In fact a lot of the county in Borneo (except the palm oil plantations of which there are many) is similar to Nth Qld. We had a great day but were pleased to get back to KK at the end of it!
The following day we moved into the Pantai Hotel just down the road as it had a lot more space for the extra couple of dollars and we spent the next couple of days very quietly reading before wandering down to the night markets on the riverside for a meal once again. A great atmosphere but very smoky from all the BBQ's set up. It amazes here that so many of the local people seem to eat all their meals out - the streets come alive with family groups every night socializing together. It's great to see. We feel very much at home here - too much so I think as the whole place is not really giving us any real sense of culture shock or different experience- I guess that's because of our year in China. India should offer a totally different buzz when we go there in a month or so. However we have really enjoyed KK - we spent plenty of time doing not much of anything - I had a another great massage and reflexology session and both of us are a lot more relaxed than we were a fortnight ago. If it wasn't so hot it would be perfect - I am however sporting quite a tan - the first in a long time. Sometimes though I think it would be great to wake up to bit of Toowoomba's current chill. and of course we are missing everybody from home. Tomorrow we are on the move again andhave a long day travelling to Brunei - two ferry trips with a couple of hours between them to fill in.

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Photos

baskets at the markets for covering food
These are made from woven palm leaves

Market mania!
There were obviously bargains at this market stall.

Another house in the village
This tiny house had 10 people on the verandah, which is half the floor area onf the house. They were cooking dinner on the verandah as well. The rest is for sleeping in

House at the Tip of Borneo
The children who lived here were selling shells to make a little bit of money - our guide said endangered species are often for sale. They eat the fish inside them first.

Local food for sale at the market
I was unable to find out what it was!

Kota Kinabulu evening food stalls
The smoke from the BBQ's was very thick

Seafood for dinner
The prawns were enormous!