Kota Kinabalu sounds rather exotic, unfortunately it's not. As a gateway to the rest of Sabah and all that it offers KK is essentially a bit of a hole. Maybe that's a little unfair as it certainly hasn't stopped us having a good few days. Our main aim in travelling to Sabah has been to dive in Sipidan, supposedly another on the top 10 dive destinations. Throughout this trip we've generally taken things as they come, deciding roughly where we want to go but with no real schedule and we had naively intended to stick to this strategy here in Sabah. For non divers this would not be an issue, however since Sipidan is so heavily regulated there are only a few dive permits issued each day, much to our chagrin. Had we done a little research we would have realised this and booked as far in advance as our travels would allow. The organise plan and organise some more side of my character is now saying 'I told you so'. Due to this little hiccup our first day in KK was spent trying to see if there was any way to circumnavigate the system; there was not, and contact numerous dive outfits in the hope they may have a permit in a few days time. Awaiting to hear of our Sipidan fate we made the most of KK's offerings, this being a bustling night market, waterfront promenade (with that delightful smell previously mentioned), delicious Rotiand Murtabak for breakfast, going goggle eyed over the abundance of pearls in the market and hawker food stalls galore. Ok so KK really isn't that bad after all.

Our hostel room was one of the more interestingly decorated we've experienced to date; I guess black walls are quite practical and hide all manner of sins! Other than the decor it was a handy little spot to spend a couple of nights. Until Sunday morning when we both woke before dawn to the incessant barking of what could only be a pack of dogs at our door, but we knew this couldn't be possible as we were on the 3rd floor. Opening the curtains an hour or so later I was rather surprised to see that the street below, which only last night was packed with cars was now teeming with people and yet another market was in full swing. We took a wander on our way to breakfast and soon found the culprit of our wakeup call...rather a lot of caged puppies, no wonder they were yapping their heads off.

We heard of a cultural village just a short way out of town and signed ourselves up not quite sure whether to expect a cringeful tourist experience or something a little more educational and realistic. Fortunately it was the latter and we had great morning learning about the main tribes of Sabah. Later in the afternoon we stretched our legs along the seafront and found a huge hawker food market gearing up for that evening. This was duly noted as we would be returning in a few hours. After a few hundred meters we stumbled across a dozen large double sunbed contraptions under a canopy where an array of massage was offered at a reasonable price. After a hectic day we treated ourselves to a foot massage overlooking the sea.Their fingers were so incredibly strong that neither of us could work properly for a couple of hours.

Later that evening we were back at the hawker stalls and headed straight for the smoky area at the back, a tell tale sign of satay or so we thought. The smells were divine, on our left rows of barbecued meat and on our right fish and seafood in all shapes and sizes. We settled on a handsome looking chap grilling satay sticks on a grand scale. Some looked rather interesting to say the least and not wanting to get an unpleasant surprise I asked what they were, 'chicken' came the reply. A good response but still not that helpful as there were clearly rather different bits of the chicken on display. Choosing a tray of juicy looking sticks I asked what's this. The guy replies deadpan 'chicken arse' as if to say are you stupid as what else could it be? Just to make sure I had heard correctly I queried 'chicken arse?' as our chef nodding profusely says yes 'chicken bum, chicken bum'. Who on earth decided that was a delicacy? We settled on the 'chicken meat' skewers without asking which bit of meat it was, sometimes it's just best not to know. So I'm sorry to say I can't describe the taste of chicken arse for you but I did take photographic evidence, looks alright to the untrained eye!