Tanak Nabalu Homestay

Hi all,

Last night after I posted, we listened to the footy quarter of the footy and then had to switch off for our tour meeting. Judging by the result, it’s a good thing we did!!

Our tour guide’s name is Ned. He’s really friendly but at times has trouble finding the right words in English. Having said that, his English is much much better than our Malaysian!!

Our group all seem lovely. Most people seem to be travelling as parents with children in their 20s just like us. There’s a family of two parents and two children from the UK, a family of two parents and one child from Australia, a couple of older and younger solo travellers and then us. 

We headed out for dinner and got to know some of our tour mates. We each had a reasonable sized meals with rice and a drink, and spent about $6-7 Australian each. Awesome!

I had a fairly good night of sleep until the call to prayer woke me at 5.20am, even with earplugs in as I anticipated it haha. Never mind!! Breakfast was good and then mum and I went to the Sunday market in Gaya Street (Chinatown). We saw everything from clothes to kittens, from pet mice to bags made out of plants. 

At 9.30 our group set off to our home stay. We stopped again at the Signal Hill Observatory we went to yesterday, then quickly at a petrol station (where we enjoyed a delicious lychee icy pole) and then we were on our way. The scenery today was magnificent. Despite all we hear about deforestation, Ned tells us 60% of Sabah is still rainforest. I’m not sure if this figure is good, and I want to read up more and form my own opinions once home. But today we were treated to beautiful views of luscious rainforest with the imposing Mt Kinabalu lurking in the background. It looks very high - my nerves for Tuesday and Wednesday are building!!!

After an hour or so, we had some bad luck. The road became very rocky and we got a flat tyre. That’s an understatement. It was so flat, I would go so far as saying it was the flattest tyre I’ve ever seen. It got even more intense when other cars came and needed to pass the bus on the very narrow road. As our driver moved, the rim popped out. 

The other mini bus for our group continued on and came back to get us. So there we were, nine Australians and an American, stranded in the middle of the Bornean jungle with no guide. We chatted away and got to know each other better. You’ve just got to roll with it!! 

Then we arrived at the Tanak Nabalu Homestay. Mum and I are staying in a two storey house with Stacey and Rochene, also from Melbourne. The lady who owns the house is lovely but doesn’t speak any English. Her name is Juhiliah. I love how even though we don’t speak the same language, you can tell she is a friendly and warm person. 

Juhiliah made us a delicious lunch with coconut water and then we headed off on a walk with Ned. 

Along the two hour journey, he pointed out lots of different plants. We saw tapioca, and Ned told us during World War II the Japanese took all the rice and other useful foods from the local people, thinking they were leaving them hungry. However, they didn’t know about tapioca, and the locals used this to their advantage. They survived on tapioca and even supplied the POWs some as well to keep them alive. 

We also saw pineapple growing, and Ned told us it’s planted on a slope so it becomes sweet and not sour. I tried some, and those who know me well know this is a big deal for me. I hate pineapple (and don’t even start me about pineapple on pizza)!! But I actually liked it!

We also saw rubber trees and the local guide tapped the rubber tree so we could see how the locals harvest the liquid from within that makes rubber. Other sightings included mangosteens, a hairy fungus on leaves and a giant millipede. 

We relaxed on the deck outside for a while and then headed to dinner. All the local families cooked us delicious food, and then we enjoyed a cultural show of gongs and dancing. We then had a turn. As much as I usually hate that kind of thing, I’ll admit I had fun!! We all had a good laugh at ourselves. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Kota Kinabalu

Selamat malam (good evening) from Kota Kinabalu!

“Where is Kota Kinabalu?” I hear you ask. Many people did when I told them I was coming here. Kota Kinabalu is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Sabah. It is in East Malaysia, on the island referred to as Borneo. Borneo is also home to Brunei and part of Indonesia.

So why here? Originally I was meant to travel to Sri Lanka these school holidays. After what happened in April, I had the opportunity to switch my Intrepid tour for free. I had to choose a tour that had similar dates and duration, and wasn’t too far away distance wise. At that stage the situation was uncertain and I had to act quickly before flights sky rocketed even more or became unavailable. Mum decided to come too, so here we are!! We are up for going just about anywhere, so it was exciting booking somewhere fairly unknown to us, and off the beaten trail.

The flights over were pretty good. It was my first time flying Malaysia Airlines, and aside from thinking negative thoughts regarding their recent history while I watched the safety briefing, I was all good!! After an hour long wait in a queue for people who had already checked in (school holidays = very busy) I didn’t have to wait at the gate very long. I boarded my flight and was seated next to another teacher. It seemed that every second person on the flight was a teacher!!

I slept for six out of the eight hours despite a screaming child being near me (earplugs for the win), and watched part of ‘Me Before You’ at the end. Then I had three hours in Kuala Lumpur airport, which was far less stressful than my last experience here in 2010. We came as a family (coincidentally we left on the 28th June that year too!), a storm delayed our flight from Langkawi and we had to literally run - cases in hand - through the airport like we were on ‘The Amazing Race’. It was very stressful!! I do enjoy comparing myself and my life between visits to countries though. Back then Mum and Dad chose our holiday destinations, and I’m super grateful for that. It was them and Nan and Pa taking me places and showing me places that inspired my passion for travel. I can remember Dad getting me to ask around in Indonesian if anyone spoke English, and wanting me to find the right bus to Batu Caves. As a 17 year old who had never visited a country without English as its main language, that was pretty daunting at the time. 70 countries later and here I am, much more confident, independent and better for it. Thanks Mum and Dad! And thanks Nan and Pa too xoxo

The second flight was 2-3 hours, and then I arrived in Kota Kinabalu. While queuing for a taxi voucher I overheard the lady in front of me say she was going to the same hotel as me, so we shared and it turns out she’s on my tour. Her name is Justine, she’s from Melbourne and she’s a ..... teacher! I think half our tour will be teachers. Once we arrived I met mum at reception. She had arrived 12 hours prior to me because it was $300 cheaper to fly earlier in the day.

Mum had been on a walking tour so took me on a walk to some of the places she had visited. She told me Kota Kinabalu was first established as a town in 1899, but was originally called Jesselton after the vice chairman of the North Borneo Rail Company.

First we went to the Atkinson Clock Tower. Built in 1905, it was named in honour of the first district officer of the city from 1899; Francis George Atkinson. At one stage it was a lighthouse, but it couldn’t be today! Compared to some of the huge buildings here nowadays the tower is tiny. I doubt you would see it from the water today sadly. 

Our next stop was the Signal Point Observatory platform. We walked up some very steep, dodgy looking stairs through some rainforest. It is so hot here! Today was very sunny unexpectedly so we got hot very quickly. This does not bode well for me in a few days’ time when we hike up Mt Kinabalu, but more on that later. The view up the top was really interesting as we could see small, older buildings next to huge modern ones. You could also see the South China Sea and beautiful islands in the background. 

We enjoyed an ice cream at the top before heading back down, but a monkey stood in our path. And not a cute monkey, but one of the rabid, vicious ones that we came across last time in Malaysia. We quickly walked past and it left us alone. 

We stopped at the Tourist Information Centre, which was one of only two original buildings here to survive the Second World War. The other was the clock tower. Around the corner, Mum showed me some artwork her tour guide had brought the walking tour to visit. There were 30 beams or columns I suppose you would call them, and each of them had a painting of an endangered Bornean animal on them. The artwork was beautiful but it made me very sad to read about all the horrible goings on with these animals. Humans really are awful. Poachers along with those seeking palm oil here have decimated the populations of many beautiful animals such as rhinos, binturongs, tarsiers and more in Borneo. I am sure that sadly I will have more to report on this front as our trip progresses. Something else that has bothered me so far is that everyone here wants to give you a plastic bag. We say no thanks and put our purchases in our day bag. 

By this stage we were pretty hot and bothered, but we had a quick look in the handicraft market. Apparently it has 800 stalls, they all seemed to be selling the same thing! We found a cute handicraft store and mum bought some earrings. 

Upon exiting the market, we were treated to the smells of chicken/meat in the sun, cigarette smoke, bins and finally some durian. It seemed that the further we walked the worse the smell was! Just as I thought I was going to be sick, a juice bar appeared in front of us. Mum had been saying she wanted a fresh juice all day, so she had a mango and I a dragonfruit one. Much needed! Thankfully we were out of the smelly part after that as well. 

After a quick walk along a boardwalk area, we headed back to the hotel. We are now resting before listening to some of the footy and then going to our tour meeting. 

Please note that many days on this tour we are unlikely to have wifi. So if I don’t post, we are ok! And I will post again as soon as I can. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox