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Published: August 29th 2017
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Geo: 5.97814, 116.076
I think when people think of Borneo they think of an exotic island populated by palm fringed beaches and monkeys - this reputation is well deserved. I can't speak for the whole of the island, but from what I've seen, this island is incredibly beautiful and welcoming. Kota Kinabalu itself is a fairly compact beach city with one of the best varieties of restaurants I've seen, some shopping malls, Christmas songs (still strange to hear in 30 degrees!) and lots of beaches.
Day one here was spent updating my blog and other adminy things; not a quick process when everyone in the hostel is so friendly and I'm unable to talk and type. Reason #1 for why I love staying in hostels (the free coffee comes a close second!). Finally after finishing all this and teaching two British solicitors how to use a coffee machine (apparently in life you reach a certain level when your secretary presses the button for you and you become incapable), said guys and I headed out to find a floating mosque. However, none of us had actually bothered to check where we were supposed to be going, so we ended up going via a
slum area with street kids who would beg for money to a mosque that had a small pond but was in no way floating. Still, we ventured in, downed our gowns and explored. It was a nice mosque but not what we wanted. So then, unable to figure out the bus system we spent 2 hours trying to find our way back to town via the wet markets which were selling every kind of fresh fish available. We procured one for our dinner, named it Fred (we're original like that!) and ate it with rice and spices overlooking the sea- delicious! We topped off the evening by watching the Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace game. Luckily they were Middlesbrough supporters so there was none of the usual MK Dons comments!
Yesterday we actually did some research and found the floating mosque. Once there we again wore our gowns so that our head and bodies were fully covered; the workers kept giving me purple clothing, I think they understood me! We had a short tour and then took a pedalo around the mosque for an hour. I know it seems like I'm visiting a lot of mosques but most of the things
to do here- Mt Kinabalu and the orangutang rehabilitation center to name the most famous, are at least a 6hour drive/1 hour flight away and I've decided that I've travelled enough and need some relaxing time. I actually tried to take a train into the rainforest but the times meant that it would have taken me 3 days to do a 126km return journey- suddenly national rail doesn't look too bad! We then again had a bus fail so walked the 8km back to the city in the midday heat passing by local families bbqing on the beach, newly built sky rises and the floating Filipino slum houses that are apparently so poor that they're lawless. Tired and very sweaty we spent the afternoon drinking far too many cups of coffee and playing a really fun Pakistani card game that I'll try to remember how to play and teach people. Last night we went for a massage which was very much needed but also very surreal. The masseuses spent the hour singing to us- total eclipse of the heart being a favorite!
Today I went island hopping with a guy from Taiwan which was great fun! We headed out to
Sapi which is a tiny island with a rainforest, palm trees, beautiful coral and great snorkeling but very territorial fish that enjoyed biting me. We saw a large Komodo dragon/iguana kind of thing- it was huge, looked vaguely like a dinosaur, had a long, thin blue tongue and moved very slowly. Any ideas?! In the afternoon we took a boat to Manukan; a larger island with more rainforest but which was also more touristy. The white sandy beaches were beautiful but unfortunately, similarly to the Philippines, the coral has been destroyed by people touching it so, consequently, there weren't so many fish here. On the bright side, this meant that there were also none of the biting kind! Speedboats took us around the islands and we came back to the mainland in the middle of the daily 3pm-5pm thunderstorm. We got a bit nervous when the captain made everyone wear life jackets and then proceeded to do a lot of tight turns at high speed in the strong wind and driving rain- added a bit of excitement to the day! Despite using suntan lotion I am now resembling a lobster (with fish bites) right now- looks like unfortunately years of
living in Asia hasn't changed my inability to be in sun.
Speaking both English and Chinese today helped me remember a lot of the words I'd forgotten which is great timing as tomorrow I'm heading back to the best city in the world- Hangzhou. It's been the most amazing 6 weeks; I've met so many fantastic people, heard some inspiring stories and seen more than I could have ever imagined. I'm looking forward to spending the next week riding around west lake and hanging out with friends and old students before heading home for Christmas! I'm hoping that the snow will have left Hangzhou by tomorrow and that the temperature will have increased by 20 degrees, so that my shorts/flip flop ensemble that I'll be landing in won't be too uncomfortable! Wishful thinking I fear!
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