Better Late Than Never
Trip Start
Nov 05, 2008
1
27
Trip End
Jun 23, 2009
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Sunday, October 11, 2009
About 6 months overdue, I will attempt to recount the final few weeks of my Asian invasion in Malaysia this past June. After leaving China behind, but excited to meet up with Courtney again, I arranged a flight to London from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and then back to Boston, so I loosely planned 3 weeks in Sabah, the smaller Malaysian province on Borneo. Sabah, known for its dense jungles, rare wildlife, palm oil plantations, scuba diving, and picturesque beaches was my last Asian destination and three weeks definitely wasn't enough, so of course I have to go back sometime. I began in the capital of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu where I was shocked to see heavily armed security at the airport, which one would rarely see in China. The locals in Sabah were extremely friendly, many of them spoke English fluently, and hitchhiking was even easier than in Laos.
KK
Kota Kinabalu, called KK and renamed after the hyped up Mount Kinabalu nearby is a compact, bustling city with delicious seafood (had it every night for dinner) and a few tourist sites. My days were spent at the beaches, at the Harvest Festival, and digging for information about the famous Mount Kinabalu. Almost every young tourist was curious why it costs so much to climb the mountain and how to spend as little as possible and still climb it. As the highest peak in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu is not worth the 600 RM (about $170) to climb the mountain, but if you are keen on conquering the 13,000ft, it’s worth doing some research before going to not get ripped off. Sabah Parks makes a killing from naïve tourists shelling out cash for the mountain and other attractions such as Turtle Islands National Park. The cost to climb the mountain is much less for locals, but most of them can’t even afford it anyways. The locals seem content with their jobs with the majority working in the palm oil industry. In fact, while hitchhiking in Lahad Datu, I was picked up by a woman driving home from her job at one of the plantations, so I talked to her about it for a couple of hours. She informed me that it was her first time picking up a hitchhiker, but she acted as though it was a daily routine, chatting it up and pointing out tourist spots along the way. Anyways, I did end up taking a bus to Kinabalu with a Hungarian and Spaniard and we hiked the trails around the base of the mountain for a day. The Spaniard and I tossed around the idea of climbing the mountain in one day, but the park wouldn’t even let us.
Rumble in the Jungle
Moving on, I hitched a ride to Sandakan and met up with my first Couchsurfer in Malaysia. I could tell my host was excited to meet me because he took a 2 hour lunch break to feed me and get me settled in his house. We had been emailing since I was in China and almost met up randomly while I was traveling in Yangshuo. Gordon Chong is the most hospitable, genuinely friendly man in the world. He clearly went out of his way to make sure I enjoyed my time in Sandakan and refused to let me pay for ANYTHING! Eventually I insisted on paying for one of our meals and he politely shoved the money aside and paid himself. He is also very well connected in the small city which made it easier for me to get around. I ended up sleeping on the floor of his house because the bedroom was way too hot. We went to Crocodile Park, a rainforest sanctuary, and a famous Chinese temple over the city and the ocean. In between my 3 nights with Mr. Chong, I went to the small village of Sukau, the gateway to Sabah’s jungles and wildlife as recommended by Ben, Erica, and Cochran. I actually stayed at the same place as them, Sukau B&B and took 3 trips down the Kinabatangan River to check out the wildlife. The hope was that we would see some rare animals along the banks of the river, such as the Pigmy Elephant and the extremely rare Clouded Leopard. The first trip was amazing: We saw a couple wild boars, a huge water monitor dragging a frog away for dinner, about 100 Proboscis Monkeys jumping all over the trees, and a handful of colorful Kingfisher birds. I could never say that I was disappointed because we saw so much wildlife, but I would have liked to see some elephants and crocs. I returned to Sandakan after 3 amazing days in the jungle and met up with Mr. Chong again. We had one last night out with seafood and beer and I took off down south. He insisted on not letting me hitchhike to Semporna, this was one battle he wouldn’t win. Ironically, it wasn’t that easy to get there, as it took about 5 different drivers and I arrived after the sun went down, but I called Mr. Chong when I arrived like a son calling his worried father.
Diving with Sharks is Underrated
Now for the part of my trip I was waiting 7 months for: Getting my PADI Open Water Certification. Having no previous diving experience or knowledge, I was a little nervous how I would do. My research for dive companies led me to Uncle Chang’s Sipadan Dive Lodge. I stayed on Mabul Island because it was the closest I could get to Sipadan, one of the world’s best dive locations. There used to be accommodation on Sipadan, but it has been banned since 2004 when it was declared a World Heritage site. Mabul Island is an interesting place: It’s a tiny island which takes about 30 minutes to walk around the perimeter with a few plush, honeymoon type resorts, a few backpacker dive lodges, a military base, and a rundown fishing village with friendly locals. The area has been in dispute because of territory issues between Malaysia and Indonesia, with Filipino border jumpers trying to make it to Borneo as well. Thus, Sipadan Island is heavily guarded by military and divers are restricted to one side of the island. The best part about learning how to dive was the fact that Joannie, Ilani and I were doing it in one of the best dive sites in the world, so we saw all sea life and coral while we were learning. Our dive instructor, Rex, was hilarious, kind of crazy, and a pretty good chess player. When the 3 of us completed the course, we went back to the mainland and celebrated and said our goodbyes because I was going back to dive at Sipadan. North Point and Barracuda Point were the chosen dive spots that day with Barracuda Point being the most popular because of the enormous swirl of barracuda swimming against the strong current. We were down to 15 meters and had to hold on to the coral to stop and observe the massive swirl of fish. Other highlights of the dives were swimming next to small reef sharks (only a meter long) and giant green turtles that didn’t care how fascinated we were with them. The fact that I was breathing at 20+ meters underwater was mind-boggling at first and quite an amazing feeling, although it took some time to equalize correctly. Equalizing is basically adjusting to the change in pressure when you go underwater by holding your nose and popping your ears. I had some trouble getting down to 10 meters, but below that depth I felt fine. I can’t wait to get out there again, so I guess I’m in the right part of the world for that. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that the German diver who took underwater pictures of me on top of a green turtle at Sipadan will someday send me the photographic memories…
After Sipadan, I was pretty much just biding time until I flew to Kuala Lumpur where I slept at the airport, then at another Couchsurfer’s apartment, explored the capital for a couple days, and flew to London to end my trip in Asia. Southeast Asia is no longer a mysterious place I know nothing about. It has become a special place for me and I hope to return because I really only scratched the surface.
Special Thanks:
Friends I met along the way
Couchsurfing Hosts
"Southeast Asia on a Budget" by Rough Guides
Travel Companions
Hospitable Locals
Motorbike Drivers
Air Asia, United Airlines, Asiana Airlines, and Viva Macau
Thanh and Canh
The drivers that DIDN’T leave me stranded on the side of the road with my thumb pointed up like a dumb foreigner
The rabid dog in Phnom Penh that DIDN’T bite my leg
Peanut Butter
Apple iPod Nano 4GB
The 3 pairs of boxers that lasted all 8 months
And last but certainly not least…Courtney for leaving an empty seat for me on the bus back to Hanoi
Comments
Luke, this is so awesome, I love reading your postings! Definitely not too late to share all of these great stories and pictures - and videos of monkeys. Thank you for giving us a window onto an incredible experience. Will you be adding Australian posts??? Loved skyping with you at Mom's, so great to see your face on Thanksgiving! love to you from your big sis.......