so Kota Kinabalu . . . we arrived late in the afternoon, after going to the long way to the hostel, as we always do lol, we headed out to investigate. What better than to investigate the local way of life than to go to the cinema, and that is exactly what we did. For a grand total of one pound each we went to see Alice in Wonderland.
Long lie in the next day, think we deserved it, and with Mez not long out of the hospital we decided not to have to much of a taxing day. So a little walk, that took over an hour and we eventually arrived at the heritage village and museum, was really good. We got to see what the houses look like that the tribal villagers live in. One of them has a trampoline floor to entertain the guests with, no joke. Mez and I had much fun bouncing on that and looking and sleeping in the tiny rooms that unmarried daughters stay in.
So a long walk back, and an earlish night since we had a long day planned for the next, as we were going to Mount Kinabalu, and the national park.
You can climb mount kinabalu if you desire, takes 2 days, obviously Mez has been sick, which is the only reason we weren't doing that but we did go to see it. However from the view point the clouds were blocking the tip of the mountain, but we got the idea that it is high. Botanic gardens were next on our list of things to see, where they hold the smallest flower in the world, its an orchid, but the photos of that didn't come out that well. Got a bit carried away taking pictures of flowers, so sorry if your going to look at the photos. We then went to see the largest flower in the world, although I feel slightly conned as I had to pay more money for that, and I wasn't really that interested but I can say I've seen it.
Now the real reason Mez and I wanted to go on this trip, to go to the hot springs. So after lunch we headed there, but not before we had to work for the relaxation. A canopy walk first, which I can't remember how high, high enough to not want to fall of though. Then hot springs. The tubs took FOREVER to fill up though and the rest of the time we had left was wasted waiting, we were in the tub whilst it was filling but so not the same lol.
Borneo island is rather more expensive than I had thought it would be so we decided that we couldn't afford to go to see the orangutans as they were on the other side of the island, and to do the trip in a day, we would need to fly, an expense that I just couldn't afford, I'll just have to come back on another trip then to see them. So what to do with our other days. The tourist information lady said you shouldn't leave until you've seen some of the islands. So thats what we went to do. Wish we'd asked more questions.
The biggest island, Gaya island, should have more to do on it, that was our logic anyway, so when we went to get a boat across, we didn't think twice about where we wanted to go. Getting dropped of there, knowing that we weren't going to get picked up until 4 we were beginning to panic about the lack of activity present. It was literally a pier and the obvious water. Disembarking we saw a sign, well three signs actually, one to the peak, one to a view point, and one to police beach. Police beach it is, it wasn't until we were a good bit into the walk that we really discovered how far away the beach was, and how high we needed to go. What goes up, much come down, and so after getting to over 1500metres we eventually started our descent. Horrible and sweaty and with only one aim in mind we made it to the beach. This walk had taken us over 2 hours, going through a borneo jungle in the heat of the day, and totally not wearing appropriate clothing or foot wear for the occassion, since our plans we to hang out on a beach. My flip flops were ruined by the time I got back to the main land. So arriving on the police beach, and was it worth the effort, god no!!! it wasn't the nicest beach in the world, far from it to be truthful, but the hammocks that mez and i occupied and slept on were amazing. 2 hour trek back, we took more on board this time, I saw a monkey, we heard wild boars, nearly stood on an igauna, the steep hill didn't seem half as bad on the way back.
Another early night as we were exhausted, with plans to go to the sunday market the next day that is present on the street that we were staying on. Turns out the market was a morning only market so we kinda missed most of it, but oh well, sure it is similar to most of the other markets that we have been to. We did hit other markets, spending what was left of our spending money. One last night and then off to Perth. Does mean that Karen's Asian Travels, really should change its name, oh well.
till then