Kota Kinabalu was not quite the beach paradise we thought we were heading too, but we still had an incredible time on the beaches of the islands of the Tunka Abdul Ramen NP, learnt about local skull collecting cultures and shopped for our dinner ingredients in the local markets.

Day 197 – Moving on to Kota Kinabalu

Our lovely host had offered to give us a lift to the bus stop on his way to work, so we had an easy morning packing before he picked us up at 11am.  Down at the bus and taxi area, he was pretty adamant that we should get a taxi or minivan rather than the bus, and not keen to give us the bus times.  He thought it would work out about the same price for the five of us so we went with it.  A seven seater taxi actually ended up being more expensive, and a random local got in the front seat.  The seatbelts were ropey, the aircon was mainly just opening the windows as the actual aircon sounded like it might explode and Chris’s seat kept falling back.  Haha. We thought back to the luxury of the bus and did regret a little not waiting.  Ah well.

We are pretty used to non direct taxis now, and this was no different, with an immediate stop for petrol, and then a stop at the drivers house for about 10 minutes whilst he went in to take his medicine!!  That’s a first!

The drive took us back up past Mount Kinabalu, who was showing off today amongst the clear skies.  We got a view of the massive waterfall down it’s side, which we’d seen the top of the day before.  It’s almost a km high which is humongous! But there’s almost no information online and you can’t really walk to see it – you’d think they’d make it a tourist attraction as standing at the bottom would be pretty incredible.  Perhaps they’re preserving the jungle and not putting more trails in. 

The road was initially through the hills and very windy, before coming out at the coast, where we hit urban areas and headed South to Kota Kinabalu.  It was hard to gauge when we arrived, as it sprawls up and down the coast with no clear centre.  The area we were staying in was dotted with malls, hotels and restaurants.  Our apartment complex was one back from the beachfront, with a Pizza Hut and McDonalds on the side and a Nando’s opposite.  It was pretty reminiscent of home in fact and so we gave in to the kids demands (and our own desires – we’ve not had a pizza for a very long time!) and went to Pizza Hut.  It was yum 😊, literally the same as Pizza Hut in the UK. 

To continue our day of feeling like we were at home (a bit), we headed into one of the many cinemas in the massive malls which surrounded us to watch Onwards. £2 per film 😊.

After so much pizza, no one was hungry for dinner, so we brought some fruits on the way back from the cinema and ate that and some crackers.  A rather healthier end to the day.

Day 198 – Kota Kinabalu

We were a bit sluggish this morning – perhaps a little more worn out from all our walking than we’d realised!  As none of us ever have much enthusiasm for wandering cities, especially when it’s 33 degrees outside, we didn’t get out until about 11am, and even then it was only to wander along the waterfront to look for lunch and pick up some vegetables and fruit from the market. 

As we’re only one block back from the ocean, it didn’t take long to get to the waterfront.  There were brightly coloured fishing boats sailing around the bay, and some of the islands of the Tamul Negara National Park in the distance.  Apart from that, it was a little disappointing.  A look over the edge into the sea showed a bay with more than its fair share of floating rubbish.  The whole place felt very unloved and was almost deserted (although it was 11am on a Tuesday during a virus outbreak so that may have explained some of it). 

We saw a load of tables along the seafront, and then found they were tourist bars with happy hours on beers later, and a selection of expensive Western food. 

We continued on, through smelly dried fish markets, past some odd packaged things which were RM 695 for 3.  That’s a lot of money – over £100 each pack.  They were just left at the edge with no-one around.  There’s no way that would happen in England, we’d be too worried about theft.  We’ve also noticed that to close the shops they would just drape some black netting over.  Seemingly petty theft is not an issue here.  I find it funny that people were worried about us coming travelling to this side of the world and that there are articles about keeping your things safe from theft when it’s so much less of an issue over here than it is at home! 

Along the shore of this part of Kota Kinabalu, there are many covered markets.  It was only on the third one that we found the fruit and vegetables. 

After stocking up with some fruit for snacks and veg for a fried rice dinner, we headed to one of the many restaurants along the roads a little bit inland.  We chose a Malaysian one, with noodles and laksa, and enjoyed a coconut too. 

Back at the apartment the pool was next up on the agenda, but was rather chilly!  As usual, Chris and Aiden did some stunts in the pool…

Day 199 – The Sabah Museum

I wasn’t feeling too great today; rather tired.  We pressed on with the plans to head to the Sabah State Museum, so called a Grab taxi to take us there.  It was a scorcher of a day, which we thought would be inside, as it’s a museum.  Actually, a lot of this museum is outside!  There are a couple of replica huts from the old tribes, including longhouses and skull houses.  It used to be a tradition to collect the skulls from people they killed (warring villages) and then keep them in the houses for luck (after they’d been properly prepared of course).  Lovely house décor!

There’s a pond with the lotus’s in full flower which was rather lovely.

Then we headed back across a rope bridge and up to the inside. 

Inside, there’s a massive Bryde’s whale skeleton (18.6m long), a display about Tam, the last male Sumatran rhino in the world.  Malaysia have gone to huge lengths to try to preserve these mammals.  Only one female now survives, but her eggs have been harvested, as was Tam’s sperm, and so three baby Sumatran rhinos have been born recently to surrogate rhino mothers.  Pretty clever really, but probably a little too late as the gene pool will be tiny.  After this we explored some of the local culture and natural history.

We enjoyed the museum, even though the inside wasn’t massive, before heading home. 

I’m normally the voice of reason when it comes to eating properly at lunch, but when I’m feeling ill all I want is junk food.  My family know this, so we were in McDonalds for lunch.  Whoops.  To make up for it we cooked a fried rice for dinner with loads of veggies in it 😊.

Day 200 – Alone on a tropical island

We awoke to the news that the Coronavirus outbreak is now a pandemic.  Which means that everyone is taking it a lot more seriously and countries are starting to lockdown.  What should we do?  Travelling around isn’t really very world friendly any more… should we hole up, go home or carry on? 

We didn’t really have time to think about it as we had a 9am boat to catch from the jetty to Sulug Island, part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park off the coast of Kota Kinabalu.  There are a number of islands here, ranging from the touristy Gaya, to Sulug, which is not inhabited. 

We had booked a boat ride out and back and some snorkel gear with the help of our host, and they sorted everything out when we arrived at the ferry terminal.  We were asked again if we were sure this was the island we wanted to go to, as there is nothing there, no jetty, no toilets, no food and drink.  We were likely to be alone there.  ‘Perfect’ we said!

The ride out only takes around 20 minutes, but we couldn’t enjoy it as much as we’d have liked as there was so much rubbish in the water.  For a National Park this is pretty bad. 

Our boat slowed as we arrived at the sandy spit extending out into the sea to meet us.  The water was clear and we spotted fish and a ray from the boat.  I was pleased that the boat driver slowed right down over the reef, although I’m not sure if it was for his boat’s safety or the reefs…  He left us here, promising to return in three hours to take us back.

The sun was hot so we headed for some shade.  It should have been a rather idyllic paradise, with crabs scuttling out of our way as we crossed, but the shore was littered with rubbish, and there were tyres everywhere (!?).  We could also see jellyfish in the water so the sea didn’t look too inviting.  I would have liked to clear some of it up, but the volume was too daunting ☹.  Luckily, around the other side of the spit, the water was clear and seemed free of jellies.  There was also a lot less rubbish here. 

After enjoying the views, we donned our snorkelling gear and headed into the sea.  Initially, all we could see was a seabed of dead coral, and a lot of one thing.  I couldn’t tell whether it was the feeding protrusions of something living, or a plant.  There were lots of sea cucumbers and some fish, but the highlight was the massive shoal of silver fish about 10cm long which were swimming in the shallows.  Rather than swimming away when we approached, they just part around you so you are absolutely surrounded by tiny fish.  It’s hardly possible to see the ocean floor or anything beyond.  You can see the shoal in this picture…

As we got further around the headland, the diversity picked right up, and there were different types of corals and many more fish species.  Evie saw an anemone with a clownfish nipping in and out, just like Finding Nemo, and there was a big red jellyfish that we kept clear of.  We were in the sea for ages in the heat of the day, but after previous burning incidents whilst snorkelling, we wore clothes, including our UPF50 sun tops.  Evie still managed to get burnt as her top flapped up at the back.  New note for next time, tuck the tops in!  Other than that it was great fun, and Evie’s first proper snorkelling experience as it’s never gone well for her before.

We did almost all manage to get stung by something on the way out.  Not sure if it was some tiny almost invisible jellies, or parts of the big red one, which at some point was up by the shore getting pounded into the coral shore.  It was like nettles though, so no biggy. 

Our time on the beach was pretty perfect.  Just as we were starting to feel like we’d done about all there was to do, it was time to head back to the boat.  Would they remember us? We’d paid up front so there was no incentive to come…  It was fine though, he returned to get us and whisk us back to shore.  We’d taken sandwiches in case we got hungry, and as we weren’t initially sure how long we’d been on the island.  They went uneaten at the beach so we chomped them down when we got back. 

We’d had such a great day that we’d temporarily forgotten about the decisions we had to make about our continued travels and coronavirus.  After thinking about it a lot that evening, we decided that we didn’t want to go home right now, and would press on as there still not much of it around out here.  Feeling better, we went to bed.

Next up we’re headed to mainland Malaysia for our final few days in this country.  We’ll be based in Kuala Lumpur, the modern capital with the famous Petronas Twin Towers.  Follow us there, or travel back to our time in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu.