A FEW THOUGHTS

Arriving in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo in the afternoon of the 2. January I got a little sceptic. The town seemed a little beaten up. I got the impression of a tourist town that was at its height 10 years ago and never really recovered..

The impression improved the next day. I found out by talking to some people that it had been a “hell of a party” on new years eve and that the city just hadn’t recovered fully from that yet. 5 days later I am still a little unsure whether the town has seen its better days or is on its way to becoming a new “tourist trap”, so I will focus on the good things I experienced here.

What a nature! I rented a car, 4×4 Toyota for two days. One of those days I went to the tip of Borneo and the town of Kudat. Driving through nice small villages, jungle and almost on the beach.. A remarkable trip I was glad I rented a 4×4 as that gave me some leverage on some areas compared to other cars I saw struggeling. On the list of adventures on this trip I can list; having a great lunch (nasim gorang) with 2 cokes for 3 USD, almost running over a lizard and a bunch of cows and dogs, another (approx 40 kg) lizard almost attacking the car and almost running out of diesel in the middle of nowhere. The last one was solved by buying a 5 litre can from someone standing along the road. This lasted until next city of Kota Belud where I found a gas station. Here the lady clerk at the gas station found it very funny me being on vacation alone driving a car with room for 7 persons. I tried to tell her that a man gotta “ride with style” but I think the joke got lost in translation.

The next day I drove up in the mountains. I had been asked by some nice people in the hotel bar the day before whether I wanted to go up Mt. Kinabalu. That would seriously have been fun I though but this was a 3d/2n trip and I was short of time. Looking back I am a little glad too as it rained heavy in the mountains for 3 days solid. But I got to go up to the Kinabalu Park and saw some beautiful nature and views along the way up. When I got up there and on the way down it rained heavy and was very foggy. But all in all, a nice trip anyway.

The next days I really didn’t do much; relaxed some by the pool, visited a couple of the shopping centres without doing any grand shopping, reading and just chillin’.. Thats a little bit what vacation is about too, right? I think for the future , if coming back here, there is definately more to do, more places to visit. But that will wait until next time.

Next stop: Singapore. More to follow…

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