Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

When I get to a new place one of my favourite things to do is walk around and just see what I can see without any particular goal or destination. Though we did have the Kota Kinabalu night market in mind as we set off on our first afternoon in Sabah, it was some time before we actually stumbled on it. First we were rekindled with the feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb, wanting to take a shower every ten seconds, the usual cocktail of nice and putrid street smells, as well as a lot of welcoming smiles and greetings. Yep, travel smacked us in the face and we (mostly) loved it!

KK Night Markets

Kota Kinabalu night market has a great atmosphere and lots of interesting, tasty, food and drinks on offer. Our first trip dinner consisted of a range of market snacks, many of them turning out to be desserts. We enjoyed the people-watching and community and decided to return the following night. Rob was especially thrilled with something on a skewer that we suspected wasn’t chicken but something more like a cross between squid, a baby octopus and an alien. We were the tourists that scampered away from the market stall to the sounds of laughter at the discovery of what was left on our plate.

"Chicken" and unidentified things on sticks

Rob making a purchase

Market juice

 I like to think that the first day we wrote off to illness was more to do with acclimatisation than anything we ate or drank at our market outings. However, if that was the cause, it was well worth it. Our third day in KK was spent almost entirely at our very comfortable hostel (Masada Backpackers) recuperating from our different illnesses and ailments. 

Something fishy is going on

Boulu Kukus - a steamed sponge cake

Perhaps we had jumped into our adventurous state all a bit too quickly in terms of walking, eating and breathing the local life. Prior to falling can’t-face-the-outside-world-ill, our second day in KK started early with a somewhat planned, somewhat accidental 10km walk around town and up to Signal Hill. It was interesting to see some different neighbourhood and I love to get a birds-eye view of a town. There was not much of a view of the harbour but it was good nonetheless. On our walk we also visited the Atkinson clock tower, a very out-of-place reminder of the British influence on North Borneo. During breaks I introduced Rob to Malaysian fruits I have enjoyed on previous visits, my favourite being mangosteen.

Initially we had planned on 2 full days in KK but it was extended to 3 when our trip to Sapi island became a daytrip. We decided to visit the Museum of Islamic Civilisation and Sabah Museum despite the less than promising reviews on both. The first really needs a new title because it was rather less about Islamic Civilisation as a whole, predominately narrowing in on Islamic dress and betel boxes. That said, we definitely found it thought provoking and I mostly find tourist experiences like books: you can usually find something to take from it even if you would not rate it highly.

We had quite the discussion about how dress customs are influenced by different religions and how important they can be to one’s identity and beliefs.

The Sabah Museum was broken into different sections, some better than others. The History section was the most fascinating for me and I would recommend it for that alone.

KK was a great starting point for our trip to ease us into things. Locals are friendly, helpful and English is wide-spread. Many tourists use it purely as a launching pad for beach trips and trekking, but due to its multicultural community and people I think it deserves a look-in for at least a day or two.

Pulau Sapi (Sapi Island)

Tourist warnings for the jellyfish - "Watch out for Humans!"

Our primary activity for 15 January, 2015 was a very enjoyable visit to Sapi Island.  Only a very brief boatride away, our research let us know that it should be good for snorkelling, swimming, camping, monitor lizards, sunbaking, a brief walk, ziplining from the neighbouring Pulau Gaya, and of course, watching tourists in their native habitat. 



Kat enjoys the secluded back-beach

We found this very helpful and insightful blog, a mere 2 years old, telling us of the wonders of being alone on Pulau Sapi, after 4pm, when the day tourists board their boats and return to their air conditioned hotel rooms on the “mainland”.  They told wonders of an island teeming with beauty, of monitor lizards, crawling through camp and a beachside camping spot to die for.  The tourist websites, posters and tour agencies also told tales of a magical glistening island of marvels you have never seen.

With our adventurous hearts excited at the prospect we did some background work on whether or not we would need our own tent.  Spending a night alone on a tropical island has some appeal, after all! A few false leads and we worked out that it was actually possible to borrow one on arrival.  We verified this through multiple independent sources (the crew from The Newsroom would have been pleased).

 

We’d talked with hostel guests, with our hostel hosts, with taxi drivers, with the guy that sold us the tickets, with the boat driver, with the park ranger (who did charge us the RM5 camping fee) and no one ever batted an eye at the mention of camping overnight on Sapi.  Some said “oo very beautiful”.    We made it to the counter (“just up there, straight then left”) where you hire such oddities as snorkels, fins, umbrellas, life jackets (for swimming in) and, as sure as I am writing this, tents, it was even there on his sign.

That was the point where we least expected to be disappointed.

Guy at counter: No tent.

Rob: No tent…huh… No tent because it is not available? No tent because it is broken? No tent because you just don’t have one?

GAC: Huh? No tent.

Protect your lunch!

Further pressing on the issue led nowhere, so I eventually returned to the park ranger who offered to refund the camping fee if nothing else could be arranged.  A very confusing conversation then took place where at least 4 different people started calling other people on their mobile phones, shouting at one another in Bahasa and I’m pretty sure that at one point I interjected with an “ahem, yes, that’s right…camping”.
 
Eventually the smiley bloke who could only be described as the leader of this collective group of helpful foreign language-telephone-everyone-they-know-type people summarised their enquiries: “sorry, today is not your day, my friend”.  And that, as they say, was that.   

The snorkelling was nothing to complain about, but I would not rave about it either.  It was a perfectly enjoyable way to spend the afternoon and certainly helped to take the heat out of the day.

 

Do the walk (if nothing else)

Far more impressive than the snorkelling was the walk around the island - I’ve read it suggested that you could do this in 45 minutes.  Perhaps this is true, if you ran marathons daily, did not own a camera and cared little for the scenery; for those following in our footsteps, or choosing to make your own, I’d suggest allowing 90 minutes to really take it in – and go clockwise. For you will discover clifftop views of the South China Sea along with a secluded and non-tourist infested beachfront.  It was amazing, I actually wish we had gone around a second time.

On completion of the beautiful walk, we joined many of the others (their numbers depleted after lunch); soaking in the sun, flopping about in the water (inhaling some through a snorkel) and taking selfies. We were certainly impressed by our first contact with the any wildlife in Malaysia – spotting three terrifyingly big monitor lizards, a pig, and a rather angry grey fish that pecks at your feet if you stay still too long.

 

For those planning their own adventure, my tips your own successful Sapi visit:

• Bring your own tent (to be sure) if that’s your thing.
• Don’t try to over plan this thing, the boats leave both Jesselton Ferry terminal in KK and Sapi frequently.  Don’t stress, you’re on holiday.
• Do the walk.
• Give yourself enough time (some people island hop – Sapi deserves more than 45 minutes).
• Stay after 1pm when the lunch tourists leave.
• Tickets are cheap and the island is easy - do it without a tour company.
• There’s both package meals (for tour bookings) and a café (with reasonable prices) on the island.

Costs (for the things worth talking about) - per person:

• Snorkel/Fin hire - RM15
• Boat Fare (return) - RM23
• Conservation fee - RM10
• Camping fee - RM5
• Jesselton terminal fee - RM2-3
• Gaya zipline - RM60 (we didn't try it but it looked like fun)

Palau Sapi map