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July 12th 2010

Published: July 12th 2010

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The Journey

Merdeka Square

Colonial District, Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - June 19 - 24

Arriving late in the evening in Kuala Lumpur was a familiar experience; as soon as we got off the bus we were attacked by taxi drivers who assured us they were our only source to get into the city center. Naturally they were lying and we quickly found a local bus at a fraction of the taxi cost. Kuala Lumpur is like many other capital cities; dirty, busy and full of shops, restaurants and hawkers. There really is not too much to do in KL, other than shop and see the landmark Petronas Towers. Once the worlds tallest buildings, they dominate the KL skyline and were our first destination once we set about exploring the city. We managed to get onto the Sky Bridge by pleading with the guides even though we did not have any tickets. And we are certainly glad we did. The view was breathtaking and really showcased the architecture of the contemporary towers. As nice as the towers are during the day, they truly come alive at night when they are lit up. After several hours and nearly 100 photos we finally left Kuala Lumpur City Center

Palau Mabul

for our tiny little room in the Chinatown district.

Mabul & Sipidan, Malaysia - June 25-30

We had been hearing from many travelers that one of the best dive sites in the world is Sipidan, so we decided to splurge and see it for ourselves. At first we were a bit apprehensive to be spending way over our budget, but after our first dive we were set at ease. On our very first dive in Mabul we were greeted by huge turtles, several eels and even a tiny pigmy seahorse. We had already gotten our money’s worth and we had yet to dive Sipidan. On our second day we scheduled three dives, one of them being a sunset dive and another below an abandoned oil rig. During these two dives we saw some unique marine life, including the psychedelic mandarin fish and Mantis Shrimp that can throw a punch with the force of a .22 calibre gun! (it's punch is thought to be the fastest movement in the natural world)...I’m sure if John was still with us he would have found a way to aggravate the shrimp enough to show off his force! Since we started diving

Turtles

we had really wanted to see turtles and now there were so many that Dan literally almost collided with one.

Our accommodations at the Billabong home stay were simple and included a fan room in a water bungalow, shared bathrooms, bucket showers and rice for lunch and dinner. Other then diving there is absolutely nothing to do on the island of Mabul. We spent the evenings swapping stories and movies with other travelers and occasionally splurging on a beer each. One of the days between dives we decided to explore the island, which consisted of several dive shops, one store, a bar, one beautiful resort and countless kids. Seeing as there is nothing to do on the island we were not surprised that kids far outnumbered adults.

Before we knew it our last day arrived and it was finally time to dive Sipidan. For many weeks now I had been hearing that there are lots of sharks around the island, and I was a bit apprehensive to say the least. Luckily on the boat ride from Mabul to Spidan, we came across a pod of dolphins! After seeing these beautiful creatures I was no longer nervous about the

Petronas Towers

dive, just excited. The three dives were truly spectacular and one of the highlights of our entire trip. We saw countless white tip, black tip and reef sharks, even more turtles (on one dive we counted nearly 40), a school of barracudas, eels, trigger fish and even a nemo family. I was definitely disappointed that the dives were over. I had fallen in love with diving all over again!
After three impressive days in Mabul we were off to Indonesia via a night in the KL airport. Little did we know one of the most gruelling weeks of this trip was ahead...

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