Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
What a difference day makes....
A plane to KL. Switch. A plane to Kota Kinabalu. Brimming with excitement. I know north Borneo is supposed to be The Place for diving, mountain trekking and orang-utans. That's it.
2 hours in. My left foot is inexplicably painful. My hotel proves my travel agent doesn't just have a sense of humour; she is properly funny. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere (a 45 minute drive from town, for a charge, run only 4 times per day). And it is being renovated. And it is s***.
A sleepless night later and in the morning, things are getting worse. Climbing Mount Kinabalu won't be possible. Good diving won't be possible. Going to see the orang-utans will be prohibitively expensive. Plus, in the cold light of day, the hotel is even more s*** than I thought.
I am in trouble. Spending a week and a half here is not an option, so I have to do what you do, and throw some money at it.
In town there's a building where the big tour firms have their offices. I pile in, and over a few hours get an internal flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau, an overland jeep to Semporna, a night in a backpacking outfit and a ferry boat to get across to Mabul island.
In short, £120 gets me to the epicentre of Borneo's best diving. Will I be able to dive the legendary Sipadan site? Maybe. Long-shot. Unlikely really. Let's see...
- comments