Maybe it's just Ramadan that's making people grumpy... I've never been anywhere in SE Asia with this many unhappy, impolite and unfriendly people. And no, they don't have such a high appreciation for body art as in Bali either, quite the opposite. I've gotten used to people staring at me with disgust or pure awe, it doesn't feel very nice, to be honest. Well, I'm trying not to care. But I must say that the locals don't really seem to like us westerners, or maybe it's just me.
I got properly sick on the way here and it took me a couple of days to get over it. Feeling better already, but still a little bit under the weather. I spent around two full days completely alone, so last night when I saw two western guys sitting at the bar I went to talk to them. They were from Sweden (surprise) and had been diving in Sipadan and doing basically everything I'm going to do in the course of the remaining 1,5 weeks. They just left for Bali today, so I gave them some pointers and tips on where to go and what to do. Social navigation is the best, as I've said before(: We ended up going out and it ended up becoming the most expensive night out on this trip. Rum and coke which was basically rum with a hint of coke and some tequila shots. Wasn't feeling especially perky this morning, but after some food and a nap I'm feeling good again. Luckily it's been a rainy day so I'm not feeling like I'm missing out on anything.
I'm going to catch a bus early tomorrow morning to Kota Kinabalu national park, the ride should take around 2-4 hours (it varies on who you ask). I booked a dorm from Mountain Lodge for one night so I'll have the time to explore the park and breath some fresh mountain air before heading to Sandakan and Kinabatangan river area. I'd love to visit the Poring hot springs on the way too, we'll see if I can make it happen easily enough. I need to be in Semporna on the morning of 5th to be transferred to Mabul and go diving around there and then TATTADADAA DA DAA go dive in Sipadan for one day. As soon as 24 h have passed after the last dive and I can fly again I'll catch a flight back to Kota Kinabalu and then finally on 10th back to Bali<3.
I'm really hoping that this whole Borneo trip is going to get better once I get out of Kota Kinabalu... Maybe the jungle folks are nicer than the city people. Took an amazing taxi yesterday though. I wanted to go to this big mall a little bit further away from the city center and jumped on a cab - and almost jumped straight out of it. The interiors of this old tiny car was covered with black leather, studs, weird metal things and so on. Looked like an S/M chamber. The funniest thing was that the driver pulled it his iPad and attached it to the radio and started to blast very intense love ballades with such a bass level that I felt the pressure waves turning my stomach upside down. That was a weird experience to say the least(:
I'm really sorry for all the whining and I know these are such first world problems that complaining about something so stupid is absolutely unforgivable and makes me look like a huge doucebag. So I apologize, turn on the good mood and enjoy the fact that I'm in Borneo, in the land of the monkeys and rainforest and mountains and sharks and turtles and rafflesia (huge flower that smells like rotting meat) and weird taxi drivers and all of it. So I bow and thank you universe for being so amazing. Sending good vibes to everyone, love you all<3 -Emma
ps. edited the paragraphs later on
I got properly sick on the way here and it took me a couple of days to get over it. Feeling better already, but still a little bit under the weather. I spent around two full days completely alone, so last night when I saw two western guys sitting at the bar I went to talk to them. They were from Sweden (surprise) and had been diving in Sipadan and doing basically everything I'm going to do in the course of the remaining 1,5 weeks. They just left for Bali today, so I gave them some pointers and tips on where to go and what to do. Social navigation is the best, as I've said before(: We ended up going out and it ended up becoming the most expensive night out on this trip. Rum and coke which was basically rum with a hint of coke and some tequila shots. Wasn't feeling especially perky this morning, but after some food and a nap I'm feeling good again. Luckily it's been a rainy day so I'm not feeling like I'm missing out on anything.
I'm going to catch a bus early tomorrow morning to Kota Kinabalu national park, the ride should take around 2-4 hours (it varies on who you ask). I booked a dorm from Mountain Lodge for one night so I'll have the time to explore the park and breath some fresh mountain air before heading to Sandakan and Kinabatangan river area. I'd love to visit the Poring hot springs on the way too, we'll see if I can make it happen easily enough. I need to be in Semporna on the morning of 5th to be transferred to Mabul and go diving around there and then TATTADADAA DA DAA go dive in Sipadan for one day. As soon as 24 h have passed after the last dive and I can fly again I'll catch a flight back to Kota Kinabalu and then finally on 10th back to Bali<3.
I'm really hoping that this whole Borneo trip is going to get better once I get out of Kota Kinabalu... Maybe the jungle folks are nicer than the city people. Took an amazing taxi yesterday though. I wanted to go to this big mall a little bit further away from the city center and jumped on a cab - and almost jumped straight out of it. The interiors of this old tiny car was covered with black leather, studs, weird metal things and so on. Looked like an S/M chamber. The funniest thing was that the driver pulled it his iPad and attached it to the radio and started to blast very intense love ballades with such a bass level that I felt the pressure waves turning my stomach upside down. That was a weird experience to say the least(:
I'm really sorry for all the whining and I know these are such first world problems that complaining about something so stupid is absolutely unforgivable and makes me look like a huge doucebag. So I apologize, turn on the good mood and enjoy the fact that I'm in Borneo, in the land of the monkeys and rainforest and mountains and sharks and turtles and rafflesia (huge flower that smells like rotting meat) and weird taxi drivers and all of it. So I bow and thank you universe for being so amazing. Sending good vibes to everyone, love you all<3 -Emma
ps. edited the paragraphs later on
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