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Published: September 8th 2011
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We woke up early in the morning to catch the plane from Perth. We almost missed it. But we got on - just. It was so boring on the plane and all the Asian people kept on staring at me and wondering if I had dyed my hair. When we finally landed it was really squashy getting out of the plane. But, when I got out I wanted to go back in because I felt like
I was going to fry out there in that heat. When we entered into the airport I knew I was in another country because it smelt funny and the toilets were squatters with no toilet paper or flush. We took a really dodgy bus to KL which seemed to go twice the speed limit and lean on the corners. Kuala Lumpur (KL) was a lot different to any city I have experienced in Australia mainly because there were people trying to sell stuff in the middle of the road and people driving motor bikes on the footpath. We found accommodation which was obviously meant to be posh because there were elevators and the receptionist was in a suit and had brushed and combed his hair.There
were flush toilets with paper too! http://www.travelblog.org/pix/icons/24x24/smile.png
The next day it was really hot in the concrete jungle. Dad got a professional hair cut for 2 bucks at a barbers which included a massage. http://www.travelblog.org/pix/icons/24x24/smile.png . We got some food (roti canai - one of my favourites) from a stall for lunch then we looked around the city. There were a lot of cool cars. I saw a Ferrari, a Bently, and a Porche. The next day we got up early again to go on another plane to Kota Kinabalu (KK), which is in Sabah, Borneo. We stayed at Borneo backpackers and went to the night market (pasar malam). Dad's tooth broke so he had it pulled out. IT WAS MASSIVE.
The next morning we left KK and caught a taxi to Mount Kinabalu national park - Malaysia's first world heritage site. On the drive, we saw Mount Kinabalu - IT WAS MASSIVE!!!!! . Then we realised that the one we saw was just a small one, as Mount Kinabalu loomed behind in the mist, IT WAS MASSIVER!!!!!!!!!. We arrived at the mountain rest house. It was so cool, and we even found some gold there!!!. The next day we
With Miss Malaysia
Our guide Younis is wearing a wig got up early again to start our walk up KINABALU (4000m above sea level)http://www.travelblog.org/pix/icons/24x24/smile_confused_green.png . We were given a guide, his name was Younis.http://www.travelblog.org/pix/icons/24x24/smile_confused_green.png Mount Kinabalu was so hard to climb. It is just up up up up up up up up up for hours until we reached the hostel (Gunting Lagadan) which is about two thirds of the way up the mountain. We got to sleep there, but it was a really expensive place compared to others in Malaysia. It was about 12 Ringgit for a cup of tea. The next morning we had to get up at 1 am (actually some of us didn't get up because we hadn't got to sleep) to climb to the summit of Mt.KINABALU.http://www.travelblog.org/pix/icons/24x24/smile_confused_green.png . We slaved up to the top. Ash spewed and dad pooed, but we finally made it just on sunrise. At the top it was really rocky and Ash and I mostly slept through the sunrise as we were so exhausted from lack of sleep and air. On the way down we met Miss Malaysia and saw the donkey ears rocks. We finally arrived back at the hostel. We ate breakfast there then it was time to keep going
down the mountain. On the way down we saw a mossy dog. I don't remember that much because I was in a trance the rest of the way from lack of sleep. When we were finally at the bottom of KINABALU http://www.travelblog.org/pix/icons/24x24/smile_confused_green.png. we ate lunch and returned to our hostel. I slept and slept and slept and slept and slept and slept and slept and slept and slept some more. We had a rest afternoon at the hostel and it poured rain.
The next day Younis collected us and drove us to Poring hot springs. There were many small spas, but only a few of them worked. Ash and I found a small concrete water slide and had a go. It was mad. All the kids on it were crazy. People were running up the slide while you go down, people were climbing up and jumping in half way and people jumped on you while you were going down. Meanwhile, the life guards were smoking and looking the other way. After the hot springs we went to see the rafflaisia flower. It was MASSIVE. And It looked a little bit like a mushroom. It is the biggest flower in
the world. Then Yuonis drove us to the fish massage in Kampong Luantin. You just stand in the water and fish tickle your feet and legs by eating the dead skin off your legs. After this we drove to Sabah Tea plantation. It was pouring down rain now. We drank some tea. It was windy and cold when we left. Younis dropped us off at a hotel in Ranau. It was awsome, Ash and I had our own room and TV, we got to watch Avatar again!. The next day we waited at a bus stop and waited stop and waited stop and waited stop and waited stop and waited for 3 hours and the buses kept going past as they were full of people who were 'balik kampong' (returning home for Hari Raya, the Malay equivalent to Christmas). So in the end we took private transport. And we wished we hadn't. The driver was so expensive and it was like he was trying to scare us. He was overtaking on double lines speeding up over bumps, speaking on his mobile, smoking non stop, and pretty much touching the cars infront of us. Then he told us he had only
Rafflesia
World's biggest flower had 3 hours sleep the night before! When we finally reached Sandakan it was like normal again. People selling stuff in the middle of roads and people driving motor bikes on the foot path. I tried to talk to some people in Malay bahasa but they looked at me like I was a weirdo. We found another backpacker hostel with a family room. Outside, it was so busy because of Hari Raya and there were fireworks going off every where. The next day we went on a full day tour with a guide named Byron. First he took us to the Australian war memorial. There were a lot of old digging machines and furnaces and lots of sad stories about the Australian and British Prisoners of War (POWS). Next we went to the Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary. We got to see them eating and playing on the ropes. On one of the walks an orangutan with a baby came walking past on the hand rail - right past us!. Next we went to the Rainforest Discovery Centre. We went on a canopy walk and saw some birds, including the Back Hornbill. It was hard getting up and down the stairs because
our legs were sore from climbing Mount KINABALU . After that, we went on a cruise up the Kinabatangan River in a small motor boat. We saw some proboscis monkeys (monkeys with big noses and bellies) and some Macaque monkeys as well. We returned to KK on a 6 hour bus ride.
We spent the next day on Manukan Island. You get there by speedboat. We went for a jungle trek and did some snorkelling.
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Rose
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Borneo
Thanks for those great stories Jarrah! I feel like I was there with you! Amazing....