Last feelings before going home

My time in Bali has been just flying by. Tomorrow I will head to the airport and leave this paradise behind. I've done many of the things I wanted to do and realized once again you can plan as much as you want to but it never quite turns out the way you thought it would(: 

The past two weeks I've been in Kuta, or actually south of Kuta, near Segara beach. I've been learning how to surf, which wasn't as hard as I thoug ht it would be! Small waves and a long board makes it easy to practice standing up on the board and catching a wave... which is one of the most amazing feelings btw! When you see that perfect wave coming, start to paddle to reach the speed of the wave and then feel the mass of water rushing underneath your board and you push yourself up and stand on the board, feel how it's becoming one with the wave... and you can't but laugh out loud(: I've caught a few amazing waves and managed to stay on my board until the very end, it feels so amazing. The hardest part about surfing is getting back into the spot, you have to walk in the water with your board, fighting your way through the waves, pushing the board against then so it doesn't flip and go flying around. And the paddling. Oh my, now I understand why all the surfers have such beautiful back muscles, and those arms... Who ever said surfers are lazy should go try surfing for a couple of hours! It's no wonder they just want to chill after being in the water for hours, doing one of the hardest exercises I've ever tried in my life. But it's fun and definitely very addictive(: On Kuta beach in peak season one can get a board for 2 hours for 50 000 rupiah, around 5$ or a surf lesson with one of the local guys and one hour of practice time for 100 000 rupiah, around 10$. 

I don't really get why people hate Kuta so much... Yes it's busy, yes there are a lot of tourists around and yes everyone tries to sell you shit all the time. But the beach is nice, surfing is good and there are sooooo many beautiful people around you have no idea. Going out is fun, everyone is drunk and there are free drinks all around the place if you use the offers(: Definitely not the Bali that I like the most, it's a tourist destination and could basically be where ever in the world, but it's fun for a while. Two weeks is kind of stretching it here but luckily it's so close to everything that it's easy to escape once in a while. 

Padang Padang beach down South is definitely worth a visit, really long stairs lead you through rocks to a small beach that's known to be a good surf spot for more advanced surfers, rocky bottom though so bring your booties. Not amazing for swimming, too many tiny jelly fish floating around. 

I've tried and tried to find all the crazy foods I wanted to try, with no success. Even in Borneo I couldn't get my hands on those maggots that I really wanted to try. So I guess those culinary experiences have to wait for another time. 

All in all these two months have been absolutely amazing. Full of fun, absolutely phenomenal people, sun, diving in the most beautiful places I've ever seen, learning so much about myself and others and enjoying the Balinese sun. It amazes me how many people I've met who have been traveling for months and months or years and years. The world is changing, more and more people are realizing it's not for them to live in one place and do it like the handbook says. This has encouraged me to find my own path, to make life happen the way I want for it to be... This is just the beginning for me, this is where my journey starts. I'll keep you posted. Might have to start another blog for "the great plan" and how I'm turning my life upside down. I'm turning 26 today and I feel like my best years are just ahead of me. 

To move, to breathe 

To fly, to float

To gain all while you give

To roam the roads of lands remote

To travel is to live

Peace out,

Emma

Mabul and Sipadan

I was standing in the highway junction somewhere in the middle of palm oil plantations, waiting for a bus that would take me to Semporna. There were a couple of other guys, locals, waiting too and when the bus came they made sure I got on it safely, helped with my backpack and were so helpful in every way. As off we went again. The bus ride from Sukau junction to Semporna costs 40RM on an AC bus and takes around 4 hours, very comfortable and easy. When I arrived to Semporna, comfortable and easy wasn't anywhere to be seen anymore. I had exactly 3RM left in my purse after spending a week in the mountains and the jungle with no chance to use the ATM, so I desperately needed to find one. A guy came to ask if I needed a taxi and I explained to him I had to go to the ATM first and then to the clinic to get some antibiotics for my wounds and then find a place to stay, he told me he'd take me for 15RM and we agreed on the price. He dropped me to the first ATM and said he'd go park the car. I asked him kind of half seriously: "but how do I know you're not going to run away with all my stuff?". He looked straight at me and said: "Miss, please trust me." And I did. So he went to park the car and I went to the ATM. Out of order. Fuck. I wade back to the street where I ought he went to park the car but couldn't find the guy anywhere! I cursed in my mind and tried to search for him with no results for a while. My mind is swirling with thoughts, what was in the bag and what do I have with me in my handbag, how to contact my insurance company etc. Then suddenly the guy walks from around the corner and tells me he had to park a bit further away because there were no places closer. I feel relieved and ashamed. He really is trustworthy.

We drive to the next ATM. Doesn't accept foreign cards. What the ef? Well, luckily there's a third place with 3 ATMs close by. All of them are out of money. &,,!!?@&%¥#!! At this point I'm sweating, hungry, my knee hurts and I'm starting to reach my limits. We go to the last ATM in the town and I cross my fingers, as the locals always tell me to do for good luck, and take a place in line that's way longer than I would like for it to be. Well, after waiting in line for ages I get in and get my cash. Whoaa! Finally I get to go to the clinic. I walk into one small local clinic and tell the girls at the counter that I need antibiotics for my wounds and instead of telling me to go see the doctor they hand me the antibiotics and ask for 6RM. Ridiculously easy and cheap. 

After that we try to search for Billabong scuba, which is not very easy to find. They only have a very shady little office in Semporna, their accommodation is on Mabul island. I decide to stay eith Scuba junkie, in one of their dorms. I really wanted to go diving with Scuba Junkie, but they didn't have the Sipadan permits for the dates I was going to be here, so I had to settle for another option. Billabong was cheap but very sketchy. The accommodation was ok, I was waiting for a dorm but instead they made me share a room with a guy. I wasn't too bothered but it wasn't what I had been expecting. The dive aster told us, her customers, before we even went diving that she wanted to quit her job three weeks but her boss talked her back into it. Unprofessional much? She was very much over weight and was complaining abut having to carry the tanks etc. They don't have to do almost anything there because they make their customers carry their own stuff, set their own gear and wash it too. That didn't bother me too much either, but when it came to the security issues, I was really upset with them. Her briefings were useless, she didn't carry an extra weight and when I tried to tell her that I can't get down and my regulator is giving me 50% air and 50% water, she didn't even come back up to me to help me or check on me, she was just staring at me and telling me to get down. Finally I just changed to my second source ( the other regulator that's made for emergencies) which worked a bit better and decided to just swim down. I did the whole dive with a completely empty BCD and had to hang upside down and swim down the whole time we did the safety stop, otherwise I would've just went back to the surface like a rocket. The people didn't know who they were supposed to follow, the groups were too big, she didn't point out almost anything under water, didn't ask for air before the very end of the dive... Completely useless divemaster! They had some more professional ones, like this one Japanese woman who was very good and gave good briefings etc. Well, despite the useless DM my dives ( after the first one, after I changed my regulator and got more weights) ended up being very cool. 

Mabul is a funny little island. Most of the buildings have been been built on water on these high poles. The weather was perfect until we were supposed to go to Sipadan. Sipadan is said to be one of the best dive sites in the world and I was very excited about going there. The night before my Sipadan it started to rain. I don't mean a little rain shower, oh no, it was a full blown proper storm. Everything was shaking and clanking and I was so worried we couldn't go at all that I stayed awake most of the night. The morning came and it was still raining and the sea was very rocky but they told us it'll be ok to go. I was so relieved to hear it that wasn't too bothered about the weather. 

The way to Sipadan was very bumpy, but I love that! Huge waves and the boat jumping up in the air and smashing back into the water. Suddenly we saw a big fin on the surface, not sure if it was a shark or a whale, but it was cool! We arrived to Sipadan and got off the boat to go sign our permits. Sipadan is a marine conservation area and one needs to book their permit well in advance: they only allow 120 divers on the island in one day. I know many people by now who have gotten their permits on arrival, so that's not completely impossible...  but if you don't want to rely on pure luck, get yours in advance. The permits are quite expensive, but I have no idea where the money is going to. It certainly is not going to the people or development of Semporna. The worst shithole town ever. As I said, I wouldn't recommend Billabong for anyone, really. I've been spending some time with the guys who work for Scuba junkie and they seem to be very good. So if I ever return to Sipadan, I'm going to make sure I'll be diving with them. 

Our first dive was at South Point. We jumped into the water and descended into the blue. During the first 15 minutes of the dive I had seen so many turtles and sharks (black tip and white tip reef sharks) that it would've been impossible to keep a count. A very impressive dive! The second dive we did was at Barracuda point, but we didn't see the big schools of barracuda there... the dive was very good and we saw plenty of other stuff. The currents were really strong on this dive and we had to swim against them in the beginning, which was very difficult. I ran out of breath and had a hard time calming down, luckily I managed to do it after a few minutes and enjoyed the rest of the dive very much. Everyone said after the dive that they struggled with the current, so it really was very strong. 

The third dive is hands down one of the coolest dives I've ever done in my life(: Backrolled into the water and after clearing my mask I out my head underwater. Whoa! There was a huge drop off right underneath us. We started the dive along the wall and went into a cave, around 10 meters inside it was completely dark and you could see the torches of cave divers deeper inside. We just peeked in and then continued the dive along the huge drop off. Saw a small school of jacks first, so many turtles, a few sharks and then finally we found the huuuuuuuge school of jacks! That was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. Thousands and thousands of fish moving in perfect sync around us. We continued diving along the wall, I'd look up and see silhouettes of sharks and turtles everywhere! The wall itself is absolutely phenomenal, makes you feel so tiny. In the end of the dive we found a big school of barracudas that were swimming against the current. I jammed my tank banger into the rocks and held onto it while taking a video with GoPro! I'll upload the videos to Vimeo and post the links as soon as I'm back in Bali and can find a fast Internet connection. 

All in all, even though the day was rainy and I was freezing my ass off on the surface intervals, Sipadan was one of the coolest places I've ever seen and the dive at the drop off was one of my all time favorites! Incredibly beautiful. I strongly recommend every single diver to take the effort to make your way to Sipadan, it truly is worth it's reputation! 

Now I have to run to the bus station and catch a bus to Kota Kinabalu. I'm flying back to Bali tomorrow, can't wait!<3

Borneo/ From Sepilok to Kinabatangan

Today has been one of the most memorable days of this journey. I woke up at 7am in Sepilok, in a small guesthouse kind of thing. Had some breakfast and at 9am there was a free transfer to the Orang Utan sanctuary. I was so excited about it! So we arrive at the sanctuary and the first thing I do is try to squeeze some information about the bus situation from the receptionist. In Borneo no-one seems to know when the buses come and go, not even the bus drivers(:

So I got some useful info and went to drop off all of my stuff to a locker and watch a little info movie before going to the feeding place. The info film about the sanctuary brought tears to my eyes. When you see the Orang Utans, especially the babies, it is so obvious how close relatives we are to them. Orang Utan babies have to be taken care of just like human babies. If their parents die and they're left alone, they die too. This Sepilok sanctuary rescues orphaned Orang Utans and rehabilitates them to set them back into the nature. Some of the Orang Utans live just in the sanctuary area, but on an occasion one of them is set to back to the wild - for example a huge and very masculine Orang Utan was set back into the wild because it would most likely attract female Orang Utans and be able to reproduce. The little baby Orang Utans need a lot of time, care and teaching. Just like human babies they need to be taught how to master all the skills they need to survive in the forest, like hanging from the trees and using tools etc. and it takes around 10 years for them to be able to learn everything they need for survival - kind of like human kids do too.

I walked into the rainforest, following a group of people, and suddenly we arrived to a wooden terrace with a view to a wooden platform around a tree, which was easy to figure out to be the feeding station. So we wait in almost complete silence until the feeders climb up to the platform to out up the food. That's when I hear something in the bushes. "They're coming", whispers a little girl next to me. I get very excited and when I see the first Orang Tan hanging from the tree I can't but smile(: They're such amazingly cool creatures! So they start arriving one by one, and in the end there's one small Orang Utan, around 4 years old, an older orangutan with a baby hanging on her belly and another one with a baby that's no more than the weeks old! I could've watched them for hours. When they finish their food they start slowly disappearing back into the forest, but the 4-year-old stays a little bit to monkey around with the robes(: So cute!

After the feeding I walked back ut of the forest and was happy to realize the receptionist had told me the bus should come at 11am, so I was right on time! I sat down at the bus stop and waited... And waited, waited and waited. At 12:15 another girl joined me and told me she was told the bus would come at 1pm. Brilliant. So I had to run to the restaurant to use the wifi and send an email to my home stay in Sukau that I'll be at the Sukau junction an hour later than we originally planned, because they would come pice me up from there. So we waited and waited some more and finally at 1pm the bus arrived! The girls working on the bus said they have to use the bathroom before we go so they went and came back like 10 minutes later... and then went the driver and stayed another 10 minutes. At this point I wasn't sweating just because of the extreme heat. Finally we were on our way to Sandakan where I would have to try to catch a bus from the express bus station latest at 2pm to make it to the Sukau junction at 4pm. So we were driving and driving... and suddenly one of the girls working on the bus jumped up and yelled something. A little later she told me and the other girl that we had just passed the express bus station a while ago and were on our way to downtown Sandakan. "Shit", I thought to myself, but suddenly she yelled at the driver to stop, indicated to another bus going to the opposite direction and told us to get our bags! Then we crossed the busy highway with all of our luggage and hopped on another bus that she paid for us from our previous bus money and she apologized and sent us on our way. That's what I call quick thinking! So I  got to the express bus station 5 minutes before 2pm, found a bus to Lahad Datu instantly, threw my bag in, ran to the toilet and to buy some water and to the bus and off we went!

On the road we got stopped by the police again. He didn't spend more than a second on my passport but for some reason he was very interested in the papers of the lady who was sitting in front of me. She had to go with him and when she got back she was devastated. This old lady with three teeth told me that the police had made her pay a fine of 50 dollars, everything she had, for not having a passport. She told me she's from Mindanao, Philippines, but has been living here since 1984. She was sick and had to take asthma medication and she seemed so hopeless that I couldn't but give her 20 US dollars that I always carry in my purse for emergency. She refused at first but then took the money and kissed it and pressed it on her forehead before putting it into her ragged bag. She smiled at me when I left the bus and said thank you... when I replied "sama sama" (you're welcome) she bursted into laughter.

I jumped off the bus and immediately saw a few cars waiting on the other side of the big highway junction. I made my way over there and there was Ahbam waiting for me. He greeted me and told me to jump into the car. It was a big silver car and seemed a little pompous to be honest... I know people in this area don't have much so it was kind of funny to be in this big car, driving past the palm tree plantations (that's pretty much all it was all the way from the junction to Sukau). We got to Sukau and I realized it is a tiny tiny place along the river Kinabatangan with small shack houses and nothing else. Wow. Then we got to his home and by the local standard this guy is doing really well. They're just doing renovations to make the house bigger. Well, they have 8 kids and they run a home stay, so there can't really be enough room anyways(: Actually when we were having dinner with the family he told me they had 9 kids but one passed away just 5 days old, he was born prematurely and they don't have the means to help those babies here. The rest of the kids are brilliant. A couple of them speak English, but even the smallest girl who isn't even in school yet communicates well with just pointing and smiling or grabbing my hand and trying to show what she means. That's golden. So there's Ahbam, his wife, her mom, their 8 kids and me under this roof right now(:

I went for a little walk around the village, wanted to go book a boat trip on the river for tomorrow, and I walked past the houses that were nothing more than a few pieces of wood put together as a floor and some kind of walls, usually quite see-through, on high sticks off the ground, to create a cool shady place under the house. Every single person said hi to me, smiled and a little boy just walked up to me and gave me a jasmin flower: they're considered to bring good luck and are very spiritual flowers around here, it's a great honor to have someone give you one. I was so touched, moved even. The village teenagers were playing with a kauko-ohjattava car on the street and setting off a few small fire works, just being teenagers. They were chasing me with the car to make me laugh, they succeeded(: The people here just seem so happy and so genuine and they have absolutely nothing when it comes to material things. The house doesn't have wifi and tried to go to the only Internet place in the village but it was closed today, I tried asking from people and they told me it should be open tomorrow(: So if I get this thing posted on the 3rd, it was open.

It's been an eventful and somewhat emotional day. Everything I've seen today has made me appreciate everything I have so much but also boosted my First World Guilt to a point where it's starting to feel heavy on my shoulders. I'm just going to try to be as sweet and helpful as I can and learn from these people as much as I can.

And with a song that's started to become my theme song for this whole journey I and this day and lay my head to rest until tomorrow and new adventures.

This is my message to you. Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright...<3

From the mountains to the jungle!

In the morning of July 31st I packed my backpack again and headed to the bus station which I knew was somewhere "to the right from pizza hut". Luckily it wasn't too hard to find and the first river I asked was going to Ranau so I could get a ride to the national park with his minibus for 20RM. Deal. He told me we need to wait until the bus is full so I went to get some chicken and rice for breakfast. When I came back there were only two seats empty and we didn't have to wait for long until a Chinese couple climbed on board and off we went. This tiny minibus didn't have aircon but we just opened all the windows and let the air mess our hair up. There was a group of American 20-something-year-olds, an old Spanish guy with a guitar the Chinese couple and a German girl traveling with a British girl on board. The German and the Brit were sitting behind me and they were bitching about some girl (named Emma) for almost an hour, meaning almost half way to the national park. Girls...

The air started to get colder at some point and we closed the windows a little bit and started to pull on more clothes. The view was fantastic! Mountains after mountains and the greatest of them all Mount Kinabalu. I asked the driver to leave me on the side of the street when he sees the sign for Mountain Lodge where I'd be spending the night. So he did. I was standing there on the side of the road with all my stuff and staring up a road that was so steep that a regular family car wouldn't stand a chance climbing it. So I put my backpack on again and swing my handbag on my shoulder and start climbing. After what feels like forever I see a sign "700 meters to Mountain Lodge". What the hell? I've come 300m and it feels like forever! So I stop for a bit to take a few photos, the scenery is like from a post card, and continue climbing with my approx. 20kg of stuff. Finally I get to the lodge and climb the lat ridiculously steep stairs up to the cabin. It looks empty, no-one nowhere. Except for hundreds of moths! Huge moths and butterflies everywhere! Creepy, kind of cool though. Finally a girl comes out of the reception and gives me my keys and I get to climb down to the dorm that's in the basement. I must say, this must be one of the creepiest places I've ever stayed in my life   and on the other hand one of the coolest too. The only problem was that as the evening came I   realized it's going to get freezing cold. Oh my. No heating, no closable windows, just a few old blankets to keep you warm. I was freezing for the first few hours but then realized I probably have fever again and took some medicine. After that it got better and I slept like a baby until the morning. Oh yeah, I also visited the Kimabalu national park, but didn't do an actual climb because my big toe is still pretty achy and I've been a bit sick the past few days. Also heard from the other climbers that the weather has been really bad up there and temperature getting down to -6 degrees up there.doesn't sound like too much fun to me. So actually I'm ok with not climbing.

 This morning I took a bus to Sepilok, near Sandakan, to go see the Orang Utans in the sanctuary. I was being told the bus leaves from the park at 8 so that's when I arrived to the parking lot... In the end the bus came at 10. Well, at least it came after all(: The trip was supposed to take 3,5h to Sepilok but it need up taking 4,5 hours because we got pulled over by the police. A huge guy in a uniform and carrying an assault rifle and wearing a pair of mirrored sunglasses climbed on the bus and demanded passports from everyone. A  couple of people apparently had something suspicious going on with their papers so they took them   in and we had to wait for ages for them to get out so we could continue our journey.

 The way from Kinabalu national park to Sepilok and Sandakan is heart breaking. It's only palm oil plantations, as far as you can see. No more rainforest, just geometrically planted palm trees to produce oil and make the company owners rich. No more Orang Utans and elephants wandering in the forest and thousands of species of birds, insects and other animals living their lives in the soothing coolness of the Borneo rainforest. It makes me very angry and makes me want to be even more careful with the products I buy so I won't supprt these monsters that are destroying everything out of their way to make money. The Borneo Orang Utans are in big big trouble because of palm oil. The palm oil companies treat them as rats, they want them out of the way so they burn them alive, run them over with tractors and do all kinds of unhumane things to them to destroy every single one of them that get's in the way.

 Studies suggest that Orang Utan is the closest relative to human being, instead of Chimpanzee. We share at least 97% of our gene pool with these ginger cousins that live exclusively  in Malaysian Boneo and in Sumatra, Indonesia. Studies have shown that Orang Utans have human-  like memory  and they have amazing learning abilities. They use tools and have different cultures within their communities. I'm going to an Orang Utans sanctuary tomorrow where they're trying to help the hurt and orphanaged Orang Utang babies and rehabilitate them back to the nature. They're also trying to educate the public and help in researching and conserving. I'm excited to go there and see how they're trying to help our little cousins, but tomorrow after the rehabilitation center I'm heading to Kinabatangan river area for a couple of days. I'm going to go on a boat ride along the river  and hopefully will spot Pygmy elephants and maybe even an wild Orang Utan!