from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

One of the top tourist attractions in Malaysia is to climb Mt. Kinabalu, 4,096m of mountain with a moonscape like peak. Do you think I climbed it? Nope. Firstly, it is relatively expensive for a two day climb, most people feel like shite due to the altitude and no acclimatisation, you need to book well in advance, and it seems that the peak is often covered in cloud anyway. I met a few people whom had climbed it and nobody said it was fantastic or highly recommended attempting it, so…..I didn’t bother with it. And going to the National Park for the day seemed like a plausible alternative but there wasn’t really any circuit tracks to make it worthwhile for day-trippers. A little more thought needs to go into how the park is managed.

I ended up visiting KK twice. The first time for 5 days and then a week later for a further 3 nights. Time was spent investigating diving options locally of which most received poor reviews, certainly relative to Sipadan in the east of Sabah. Mantanani is possibly the best place near to KK but there isn’t any big fish there anymore, the accommodation is very average for the price and there is a lot of rubbish to contend with in and out of the water. Would have been an expensive trip for average diving.

The islands immediately off the coast are only worthy of a snorkeling day trip or perhaps camping overnight on one of the smaller islands... and they can be very small! Try and avoid the weekend when locals flock to them like flies to $@!& for lunch and then partake in some splashing about in life-vests and coral destroying fun. You have to look hard and do your research as to where specifically to snorkel otherwise you will be disappointed. I went to Manutik and another one starting with ‘M’ just next door. Manutik has some nice shallow reef (other side of the rocks at the end of the beach area) outside of the roped off area that has been completely massacred. Even saw a mid-sized black tip reek shark a few times. Watch for boats in that area though.

Night market – Well worth eating at a few times. Located right on the waters’ edge next to the central market, it is a hive of fish and chicken wing grillers. Get yourself a bag of the chicken wings as entrée, share a large whole fish as your main and finish it off with a bowl of ABC icy weirdness….then roll home. There are other cheaper more typical options available as well.

El Centro / Bistro Bar and Restaurant – An expat run venue that markets itself as a bar and restaurant. It is something in between that kinda didn’t seem to work when I was there but the food was great (somewhat of an Italian theme) and the margaritas were tasty. You are likely to see a few other expats / foreign tourists there.

Sunday market – missed it both Sunday’s I was there! Go in the morning as I think it vanishes around 1pm. It is supposed to be more of a regional market with sellers coming from neighbouring villages to sell their wares. Unsure exactly how different it is from the daily market not far away.

Dragon boat festival – The Sabah dragon boat festival occurs in June each year with entrants from all over the region, including one from Australia supporting breast cancer. Julia and I arrived mid-morning on the Sunday for the finals. There were plenty of people out and about and paddlers in their uniforms getting psyched up. We had missed a few of the early races but there were still a couple remaining. As we walked past the VIP tent we were approached by a worker who informed us that as tourists we were VIPs. Seems logical. By-passing the red carpet up the stairs to the shaded tent area we were seated with a few other people, all markedly better dressed than we were (think singlet and shorts). A program guide was handed to us and a complimentary snack box. As I was getting comfortable with my surroundings I noticed a few seats away were two throne-like chairs with white-linen coffee tables in front of them decorated with flowers and gold cutlery. We were expecting some important company.

The program guide indicated that the King of Sabah was due to arrive at 9:20am. A few minutes behind schedule, the dragon dancers and drummers whipped into dance and song and the King bounced up the stairs, promptly arse-kissed by all in attendance, and took his seat in his best Sunday cruise-wear shirt. His seat was in fact in the worst position for viewing the racing with the view of the finishing line being blocked by the wooden judge’s tower.

Julia was not comfortable with any of this elitism and pompus bullshit and had to get out of there. It was a little over the top admittedly. Important businessmen and ministers touching each other up with empty pleasantries. Gold watches on every second wrist. A schmoozing event with little interest in the racing itself. Sounds like the banking world in casual clothes.

During the last race, a serious but intriguing incident occurred. After the race had concluded and the boats were making their way to the shoreline, some very excited paddlers jumped overboard in their life vests (life vests mandatory for all) to celebrate their efforts. Despite wearing a life vest and being in water that you can stand in, someone nearly drowned. They were carried unconscious back to land and revived. Wtf! Asia, start teaching kids to swim....or stand!!!

If you happen to stay in the backpacker area beside the hill not too far from the Surat Sabah shopping centre, you may hear or even see proboscis monkeys in the trees. They stole the sugar jar from my hostel!