How good to have a real pillow, not a smelly backpack! The Pinnacles trip took its toll though, I woke up at 6am and that was it, no more sleep. I stayed in bed a bit longer, slowly packed, and checked out by 10. It was sad to say goodbye to some of the staff, especially Donnie. I left them very positive feedback.
With some time to kill before my flight, I went to the market that I didn’t get to see before and bought a couple things I don’t really need, just to support the local people. I caught a motorbike lift again, this time from one of the park guides on his way home.
At the airport I met with Clare, who was taking the same flight. With a slight delay we got to KK – no special views this time, mostly just ocean. We caught an outrageously cheap Uber to town and went to different hostels. I found a dorm room with breakfast for 25RM, which makes me really happy. Checked in on the net to tell people I’m alive, caught up on AirBnB issues, and went to town to eat something and wonder about.
My gods, the heat in the jungle I can take, but the heat in the city, combined with constant car noise (thankfully they don’t beep Indian fashion), and the smells… It’s just too much! See, in Miri, where I loved the smells, I wasn’t in the city centre! Here it’s everything, petrol, food, something rotting, harbour, other food, sewers, exhaust fumes… All at once! That is a bit much. Particularly so when you’re walking through a market where they sell food…
So I got some food, sat on the marina to eat surrounded by harbour smells and loud techno from a bar behind me, and was soon joined by a guy who started chatting about this and that. He wanted to get me booked on a boat trip to the nearby islands, but also just stayed for a longer chat. Was really nice, I might actually go to the islands, maybe do some more snorkeling.
From there I went to the main market with tourist tat and bits of everything. There must have been a couple hundred tiny stalls in there, and all of them selling broadly the same thing – jewellery (mostly pearls), a couple designs of colourful shirts and dresses, Sabah and Kinabalu t-shirts, and lots of generic tat like chimes, dream catchers, bags, etc. I found a few nice things though and got them. Interesting thing – unlike in India and Indonesia, things generally do have prices here. Makes haggling less fun.
Out of the market, I walked about four a bit longer, popped in to a shopping centre to compare it with the outdoors market, and soon was so tired of the city that I decided to just go back to the hostel and rest. I spent the rest of the evening drinking beer, catching up on the Internet, and seriously considering the island trip tomorrow – I’m really not feeling like more city now.
In the evening I went out on the balcony to eat the tiny bananas I bought, and write this. A local cat was just finishing off an insect on the side, and then came to cuddle me. I was missing kitty cuddles! I think I might be slowly ready to go home.
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