Hello from Kota Kinabalu! We’re staying at Xplorer Backpackers along Jalan Gaya, and it’s a nice little place - basic accomodation, central location, WI FI (which works intermittently) and most importantly, air conditioning and a ceiling fan. Thank god for air conditioning. Although, last night Emma and I decided to sleep with the ceiling fan and air conditioning switched on, and then proceeded to freeze during the night. You’re always either too cold or too hot when you’re in the tropics.
The backpacker lodge has some funky artwork on the walls and a tiki hut in the lounge area which houses a TV (permanently stuck on ESPN as the remote is broken). There’s some lame China version of WWF Wrestling playing right now...the wrestlers need to stop posturing. No one is buying their macho act.
There’s not that much to do in KK, it’s really just a stop on the way to other parts of Sabah. We spent the morning walking around some places of note in the city, which include a clock tower and a climb up to the highest point of KK called Signal Hill. We actually ended up climbing the road above the Signal Hill lookout point, thinking perhaps that was the way to the lookout point (there were no signs along the road), and then realised we may be trespassing on private land when we got chased by two pitbulls. Well, ‘chased’ is a tad bit dramatic; they started coming towards us while barking their heads off, so we just walked away (trying to be calm) in the opposite direction. Too much excitement, too early in the morning.
The rest of the day was spent at the Sabah State Museum, which is definitely worth a visit. It has lots of information about Sabah’s history along with the lifestyle and traditions of its various tribes, and a small natural history section showcasing Sabah’s varied wildlife, including a massive skeleton of a Byrde whale which got beached in 2006. I didn’t know one could see whales in Sabah, and I am not sure I would like to see one when we go scuba diving in Sipadan. Although it would be mindblowing experience, I think my heart would stop fairly early into the sighting. The museum also had replicas of traditional Malay longhouses.
Tomorrow, we’re going to spend the day at the Tungku Abdul Rahman Park, and then get on a bus in the evening for a 10 hour journey to Semporna for some diving in Sipadan.
By the way, here’s me with all my stuff…hopefully, at the end of 6 months there’ll be a lot less of me.
