Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Liz and Tim are in Asia now too, so the postings may be spotty until they get home. We are looking forward to meeting them in Hong Kong for the day on Sunday.

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Eastern Time plus 13 hours
Distance traveled: 20,806 miles

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia is on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo. It is the capital of the west coast division of Sabah. It is a tourism getaway and gateway into Sabah and Borneo. Kota Kinabalu is named after Mount Kinabalu which is situated about 90 kilometers east-northeast of the city.

We decided to take a ship tour to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park for snorkeling and a rain forest tour. We walked off the ship and were greeted by local musicians and about 10 local women handing out welcome necklaces made by the mountain women.We bused to a jetty where we were catch the boat out to the island. Jeff noticed this collection of Optis. The fees at the Jetty were in the Malaysian Ringgit which is about 1USD to 3.80 RM.We took one of these little ferries out to the island where we were to snorkel and have lunch. The trip as set up originally to hike in the morning followed by lunch and beach. That would have been much better.

We arrived and found them setting up for our lunch in this beautiful spot. The lunch included marinated and grilled squid, steak, chicken, lamb, veggies (and hot dogs!), as well as salads, fruit, breads and various desserts including fried bananas.The first activity was snorkeling. We admit it. We were spoiled by the GBR. We really didn't feel like snorkeling because we weren't hot and it was too early. The water also wasn't super clear, so we didn't see the value in snorkeling. I got my suit on and got into the water and Jeff walked the island. The captain's wife was the crew person on our trip and I talked to her while lolling about and checking out the view. It was interesting watching these girls snorkel.We then boarded the shuttle boat and went to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park for the rainforest walk. This was a nice park (with the exception of the bathrooms, they involved siphon a bucket, a scoop and a toilet that didn't flush…never did understand it).

On one end of the park there was a diving school for backpackers. They slept in hammocks with netting.

We saw the rainforest, but the walk was grueling. It was straight uphill, over mud, roots and rocks. Downhill was even worse. I was so busy trying not to kill myself that I didn't see much. My face looked like a tomato. As I said before, it would have been better with the hike in the morning. It was very hot and very humid. Borneo is very tropical, in this area anyway.
This is a poisonous viper, the green snake.