I arrived in Borneo (kota kinabalu) early on Sunday 18th March where i would spend 5days. I wish I could tell you that I did something super amazing but my first day was literally spent in bed recovering from the 14 hour long flight from london.
On the Monday however, I drove to the ferry boat armed with all my snorkelling equipment and caught a boat to the infamous Tunku Abdul Rahman Park aka the coral islands. I only went to Sapi Island but oh my god, as soon as I stepped off the boat I have never seen such beauty - it was absolute paradise! Pure white sand, clear water and behind the beach a tropical rain forest bellowing all kinds of weird and wonderful noises!
I went snorkelling but to be honest wasn't hugely impressed with what I saw - having previously dived in Koh Nyanguan in Thailand I was a little disappointed as there were no corals. But then along came Max. Max started talking to me while I was ordering food and told me that I had been snorkelling in the wrong place and that Borneo was one of the top dive spots in the world. He apparently worked for a tourism company and said he could show me where the corals were if I went scuba diving with him. Again, what a massive disappointment!!! I paid quite a lot of money but he had not put enough weights on me so I would not sink! My "dive" was spent at the same depth I had been whilst snorkelling and again, no corals, although Max did get some pretty great shots of different fishes. We also went to a beautiful secluded island and snorkelled there with some of the other people from the boat. There were things in water that you can't see that feel like they are giving you a constant electric shock which was bizarre!!! Anyway, despite a disappointing dive Max told me about all the other tours he did - orang utans, waterfalls, river cruise to see proboscis monkeys and water buffalos, water rafting and loads more.
To be honest, I was slightly apprehensive about him as although I demanded to see a card or something before the dive, he was overly friendly and as stupid as it sounds because I went along with it, I didnt get any receipts or information or book in an office. This man just literally approached me and i went along with it because I didn't want to be rude - oh did I mention, before you think I am a COMPLETE moron, I did ask the lifeguard if this guy was legit before going diving!
Anyway, despite my apprehensions I agreed to pay him to take me to see the orang utans and do a river cruise.
When we got back to shore he helped me find a cheap place to stay and invited me to dinner to eat barbecued seafood - how could I resist!?
The place I am staying is a cheap backpackers accommodation called New Sabah Hotel for 76 Malaysian ringgit (about £16 per night). It is clean, I have own room with a/c and wifi and I have my own bathroom. Can't go wrong.
Anyway I met Max in the evening at 7.30 and he took me to the street market over the road from where I am staying and we had the amazing food. They have the fresh fish laid out and you pick which one you want and they barbecue it there and then. I am not sure what fish it was but we had that and king prawns that we picked as well. They were both cooked in this amazing garlic and chilli sauce. We had pak choi, fried banana, fresh juice (I had one watermelon and one pineapple), sticky rice and seaweed. It was amazing. I don't think it beat the street seafood I had in Indonesia but it definitely came very close!
During the food Max pulled his chair next to me and gave me a bracelet. Uh oh! I think he likes me :-(
Do I see a vacation romance ahead?
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