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There were a few destinations in Borneo that I could have chosen to fly into. I’m so glad that KK was the chosen one. As a base, this city of 500,000 offers the full cross section to travellers. From street markets to shopping malls and 5 star hotels to hostels, it’s a great location to ground oneself and plan for the tours ahead. And the food is so damn good there’s no way I’m ‘gonna loose weight on this trip!

I moved over to the ‘Backpackers Light’ hostel from my first night at a boutique hotel. There were so many around town to choose from but the outside patio that backed onto a wall of giant palms and banana leaves, is what sold it for me.

I walked up the steps behind my hostel in order to reach a couple of lookout platforms. From below, they looked like spaceships that had crash landed in the jungle. The view was ok, the walking under the canopy of green was better. I zoomed into different shaped shrubs and bursts of colourful flowers as the sounds of animals I couldn’t see jumped all around. I knew I would be seeing rain forests in Borneo, but I certainly didn’t expect it to be just off the city center.

I took the local bus out to the Sabah Museum to get more of an idea of where these people have come from. Once upon a time I would never have stepped foot in a museum, but I’ve certainly learned the advantages of local knowledge when discovering a new culture. The state of Sabah has gone through it’s hardships over the years. Having been occupied by the Japanese during the second world war, there were many information boards detailing the death march of the Australian troops, and Indonesian labourers. And seeing the timeline of British, Dutch, American and Spanish explorations explained the broad spectrum of influences that have left their mark in street names or architectural styles.

KK was originally called Jesselton; the city was renamed in 1968 to honour the pride of the island, Mount Kinabalu (the next blog will be all about tackling that!). The Museum had some very dusty displays of Chinese Ming vases, a huge skeleton of a bryde whale that washed up on the coast and some hands on displays of local instruments. I was tempted to try the nose flute but was a little afraid of somebody else’s boogies having grown some legs in there. The property also housed a replica longhouse and explained more about the Penang tribal culture. I learned that if I were a single lady in the day, the men would have wooed me with heads-this is the island of headhunters!

Everywhere I look whether I’m in town or in the outskirts, I’m amazed at the small details; plant life for starters. Though my thumbs aren’t green with gardening experience, I ‘m still amazed at all of the crazy crawly plants that take over tree trunks or flowers that brighten up every street corner. There are some pretty prolific street art taggers that have left their mark too. Just around the corner from the town’s oldest monument, Atkinson clock tower, there were art deco divas spray painted beside monkeys speaking their mind. This is just a slice of the contemporary scene.

The town boasts so many food options but I had a hard time leaving the night market. I ate a skewer of seasoned shrimp for $1.50, stir fried kai lin (like spinach) for $1 and a glass of fresh watermelon juice to wash it all down. Hundreds of people sat at the long tables under umbrellas as the surrounding barbq’s sent billows of smoke all around. Listening to the dinner orders being shouted out over the sound of the opposing fruit stallers’ s yelling out their mango prices was much better entertainment than watching sitcoms at home.

The next morning I feared that my plans for a day at the beach were ruined as the rain that pelted down on the patio roof was as rapid as a childs’ toy gun. I sipped my Nescafe (yes-my coffee standards are lowered when travelling!) and started making alternate indoor plans, and then realized the clouds had dried up and the sun was shining. Unlike Vancouver, the showers here are usually over within the hour. Or two.

I took a boat over to one of the five islands sitting just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. ‘Sapi’ was said to have some of the best snorkeling, which made my choice a little easier. As soon as I stepped onto the dock I could see long needle nosed fish gliding just under the surface of the water, a sign of a good island choice as far as I was concerned. The beach was starting to fill up with other tourists so I looked hard for the best spot to spread out my sarong. Beach time as a solo traveller can be slightly difficult as watching your belongings and being in the water is pretty much impossible. There were no lockers by the change rooms so I was forced to step into my flirty shoes and befriend one of the scuba instructors that had no dives scheduled. As I walked into the water with my mask and snorkel in hand I reminded him that I had my eyes on him, and that I still could be a potential customer if his bag babysitting services were up to scratch. No problemo.

As soon as I lowered my head into the water, I felt as though I had entered the fish freeway. Neon blue fish were cutting off the big fat rainbow swimmers while yellow triangular dudes did somersaults over the coral. As you can tell, I’m not a fish expert, but they all sure looked real pretty. I even saw Nemo jumping in and out of his fluffy l’il house.

Back on the beach I winked at the scuba instructor and he gave me the nod back. It seemed like I wouldn’t have to follow up with the obligatory small talk as he was chatting up a real customer. Perfecto. I grabbed some lunch at the cafe and took a seat at one of the shaded tables. Within seconds I nearly choked on my limewater as a slow moving but very large figure moved away from my table. The 3 foot long monitor lizard didn’t take any notice of me but I watched his every move. His two inch long curled black claws scraped the ground with each step. His snake like tongue darted in and out of his mouth every few seconds. His eyes were half open but he seemed very attentive, luckily, his focus was not on me.

When I finished my lunch I then noticed a fenced off area filled with several monitor lizards. I was a little disappointed that my initial contact wasn’t as wild as I thought it was, but then again, it was much nicer knowing they couldn’t come and attack me as my mind assumed they would. So I guess my first monitor lizard really was a wild child as he was the one that broke free. I have since learned that they really only like eating frogs and flies, not feet.

By the time I returned to town, my sunburn had really set in. This is the day that I learned sunscreen expiry dates are authentic. It wasn’t as bad as the days of slathering baby oil on, but it was a discomfort, and for me, it was a sign. A sign to leave town and hit my next destination, Brunei.