Blogs from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 5

On 1 February 2014 we flew direct from Bali to Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Looking out of the plane's window I saw uninterrupted hills covered in trees for miles and miles, not a road or a building, just the occasional river. We flew on Air Asia which is a budget airline, but no complaints. On arrival in Kota Kinabula we headed for our hotel with trepidation as many of the reviews on Trip Advisor painted a grim picture. (Daya Hotel, a Best Western, but 'not as you would know it' as the saying goes!) We were, however, pleasantly surprised by our room which, although it does not have a window, is plenty large enough and has been recently refurbished and does have the all important air conditioning, a good shower and plenty ... read more

Gaya Island - more rain! We hadn’t realised it was still the monsoon season in the rain forest. Lovely temperature (30+ degrees), great resort but wet! The three days of on and off rain had some interest – the best was being greeted with a scream from Mrs F just before heading off to breakfast on the first morning (didn’t have Mrs F as a screamer!), she was visited by a monkey and family in the villa doorway – they were just monkeying around though!... read more

Geo: 5.97814, 116.076I 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 ... read more

More on Life in Kaohsiung. We enjoy the haircuts. $600 NT or $20 gets you a shampoo followed by a 15-20 minute scalp massage, then a cut, another shampoo with a mini massage, and finally styling. The whole process takes an hour and makes you feel like a hundred bucks. Or, you can opt for a $100NT or $3 quick cut at the Carrefour Malls. Our scooters get 85 miles a gallon in the city, costs $8 for an oil change every 1000K without an appointment and done in 15 minutes. Local Health Care: 3 levels of health care (regular -100 -150NT or $5 to see a doctor ), public ( slightly better - 500NT or $16), and then VIP (English treatment, then we pay $1000NT or $33 CAD). We thought we would get to know ... read more

Sunday 29th We take a short taxi ride to the coach station in plenty of time for the departure. We're not taking any chances of not getting on. We bought our tickets three days ago and were the first to do so. So bearing in mind they could give us any seats, they have incredably given us two seats in different rows! Luckily a local swaps one seat and we are seated one behind the other for the 7 hour trip. Before we leave the local Medicine man gets on and tries to sell us his Nutmeg Balm which is good for itching, vomiting, pregnancy and ear ache! We decide that as good as it might be we're not suffering from any of those. The trip takes the full seven hours as the driver seems to ... read more