From trucks to trains to mini vans and now traveling mostly by plane. Island hopping has been so amazing! The beach is my favorite place to be and what a great way to finish my Southeast Asia trip! It has been a blast and I might have to drive to Galveston just to feel the sand in my toes again when I get home. I wish I could be a sea shell sales women as my profession when I grow up!
Here are the details of the last few days!
2/27 - Manila, Philippines
We sleep in and then headed to the local bus station. You stand on the side of the street until the bus with the correct destination drives by. They don't really stop and you run up and ask if they go to Valcano Taal. They say yes and you jump on. You pay once you are on and going. It was about a 2 hour bus ride due to the crazy Manila traffic. Cars are going every direction on all parts of the road....crazy! We then hopped on a tricycle and headed down the mountain to a lake. We negotiated a boat ride over to the volcano. We lost a little money on the boat ride but I guess that is all part of traveling. We hiked about 45 minutes up to the crater of the volcano. On the way up, you could see the steam coming out of the side of the volcano. The crater looks like a big lake with steam coming up. The volcano is surrounded by a lake all around. It really was awesome and I think my first volcano crater to see. I have been on a volcano but never seen the top! We hiked down, hopped on a tricycle and then a bus back to Manila. With no lunch, I was grumpy and wanted my bed and food! The hostel has AC and I think I could sleep forever....the little things in the western life that I miss!
2/28 - Airport in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
We headed to the mall and I had a great burger. We watched a movie at the theater in the mall. At the hostel, we had meet some guys and headed out for a local dinner. It was yummy and we got halo halo or fruit ice cream. It was interesting. The last layer was black beans...not something I would ever put in ice cream. We headed to the airport around 9:30 pm for an 11 pm flight.
1/1 - Kota Kinabalu (KK), Malaysia
We arrived in Brunei around 1:45 am. Not wanting to pay for a cab and hotel, we stayed In the transit terminal. This was not allowed but the hotel man at the airport told the security to come back in the morning! We left our bags and just prayed they would be taken to lost and found for us to pick up in the morning. We woke up about 8:30 am and had breakfast. Then, we went through immigration, got our bags from lost and found, exited customs and waited in the airport entrance for about two hours until we could check in. We flew from Brunei around 1:45 pm and arrived in KK in the afternoon after a 35 minute flight. We checked into out hostel and I was exhausted. We went for dinner at the outdoor market. The fish, squid, huge shrimps and crabs were all swimming around as it was set up just like a pet store would be back home. We had grouper and noodles. It was okay. I walked to the night market but it was very flashy jewelry and clothes not really crafts. Headed back to the hostel and finally finished a book that I had been carrying around for way to long. It was about an American photographer in Vietnam during the Vietnam War....pretty good. It is fun to read books about places you have been. If history classes could take you to all the places you learn about, it would have such a great influence and be so incredibly interesting!
1/2 - Semporna, Malaysia
We headed to the bus station around 7:30 am to catch the 8:30 am bus to Semporna. It was a 9 hour ride. We got to drive right past the tallest mountain on the island, MT Kinabalu. It is 4,095 meters high. (Kyle Uran - I skipped hiking it as I will just wait to climb a mountain with Mel, Carson and you one day!) Well, dinner and the evening was a little eventful. We were eating at a restaurant about two blocks from our hotel. We were outside on the sidewalk and had just gotten our food when we were asked to come inside. We got our food and sat at a table inside. They closed all the doors meaning the two garage size openings were closed. It was us and the family that owned the restaurant. We asked if everything was okay and they said yes just some fighting. They opened the doors to pick up the tables and we asked if it was okay to walk home. They said to walk straight home. When we got in vision of our hotel, everything was closed up including the rod iron gates in front of the entrance. Luckily once they spotted us, they opened the door and waved us on. We ran the rest of the way. We asked again what was going on. Not knowing how to say it, the worker acted like he was shooting a machine gun. Then, the lady said it is best we just stay in our room for the night.
Jordan googled that a group of Filipinos came to the island of Borneo to claim part of the island as theirs from the Malaysians. I don't know all the correct terms but the Malaysian police have been told to just get rid of the Filipinos on the island. I heard two people died in Semporna the night we stayed and more people were killed north of Semporna. I guess that explains why we had to show our passports three times to military men with machine guns on the bus ride to Semporna.
1/3 - Seaventures Dive Rig, Mabul, Malaysia
Jordan was up early to call Seaventures Dive Rig to see if we could stay a few nights and dive with them since they never returned our email. They did! They picked us at the hotel at 9:30 am and checked in at their shop. We waited for the rest of the divers and then headed to the dock. We took a 45 minute boat ride to an old exploratory rig from Panama and right off the island of Mabul. We checked in and went for our first two dives that afternoon. We got to see huge sea turtles, tons of fish and my first seahorse. The coral was nothing to rave about on the first two dives. The rig is pretty cool and we watch the sunset from the top deck while having a beer! Wonderful! The rig is a little over budget but totally worth it!
1/4 - Seaventures Dive Rig, Mabul, Malaysia
We went on three dives right around the rig for the day! We rented a camera and got some pretty cool pictures. I got a video of a sea turtle trying to eat from Nemo's home (a group of clown fishes home). It was so cool to see the fish running into the turtle so he would leave their home alone. We also went to an island that is now under water during high tide and only a sand bar appears during low tide. All the bungalows are build right over the water. My favorite dive for the day was Lobster Wall.
All meals are included and coffee is free all day on the rig. It is a pretty sweet set up and everyone on the rig is super nice. There are two older guys from Texas which it is always nice to hear your home twang! Also, a group our age from Malaysia and Singapore.
1/5 - Seaventures Dive Rig, Mabul, Malaysia
We extend our stay a night so we could dive Sipadan Island, suppose to be one of the best dive sites in the World. Dive number one included a hammer head shark (which I have to admit I missed), tons of fish, a huge school of barracuda swimming over our head (so many that I was not sure where to look) and white and back tip sharks all around. We got to dive to about 26 meters to see all the sharks (not allowed for an open water diver)....oops! It was a pretty amazing dive! The island was just beautiful with white sand and crystal clear water. I did not have a camera so just a view I hope to remember forever! A little background on the island is that in 2001, 11 white tourist were kidnapped from the island. This is why no one is allowed to stay on the island. There is a military station there with their guns and sand bags. We also had to check in to dive the island as they only allow 120 people a day to dive the island. The second two dives were also very good wall dives. The coral was beautiful and the fish were amazing! Great dive day!
1/6 - Tawau, Malaysia
We woke up and did two morning dives. The were alright dives but nothing compared to the day before. I think I have learned to slow down on my dives because as you watch, things that look like coral start moving around. These last four days of diving have made me fall more in love with diving! If you are not certified, go get certified now!!! I am not joking.
We also jumped off the rig lift today into the water. It was about a 8 to 10 meter jump depending on the tide. It was a rush! We took the 1:30 boat and bus to Tawau where we will fly to Kota Kinabalu from. We have to wait 24 hours before we can fly after our last dive.
We arrived in Tawau and headed to the local food stalls for dinner. It was so much fun. We spent $6 usd on BBQ chicken, noodle stir fry, two cokes and a egg/pancake/veggie thing. It was so good and the locals were cracking up at each other when I was taking pictures of them. I did not understand a word! We even received a tin foil rose from one of the cooks. It really was a blast!
1/7 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Fly from Tawau to KK. Just nothing much during the day but catching up on the blog, Facebook and my cousin Chris is picking me up from the airport in Seattle....woooohooo!
1/8 - Manila, Philippines
Fly to Manila for the night!
1/9 - On a plane over the Pacific Ocean
Fly to Tokyo and then to Seattle to hang out with Christopher and my mom!!! So excited!!
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