How the bloody hell did I end up here? Only a few years ago I thought Borneo was the arse end of nowhere. Now I realise it’s huge. 5th (or is it 2nd?) biggest island in the world, and Kota Kinabalu is a similar size to friggin’ Edinburgh – 250,000 live here! Yes, sorry folks, the reality is true. Under my hostel, Trekker’s Lodge is….a bloody 7-11. It’s very built up as well, with 8 large shopping malls going up in the next year or so.
This hostel isn’t nearly as neat as the one in Singapore. Pretty basic, and no endless realms of travel books, dive magazines, and local guidebooks like before…although the owners are very friendly. “Lonely Planet-ness” came to light at the airport as I was chatting to another lodge owner who was toiling as he hadn’t hit Lonely Planet yet, and had to wait three years to hit the next one, if at all. Jeez folks, it’s the day of the internet…look up your own accommodation! (although it may well end up being the same place).
Anyway, hope to hit Mamutik Island tomorrow afternoon for some snorkelling as I met a couple of Raleigh folk in the hostel tonight. Seem a great bunch, so should be a laugh…but hard work. No free net access here, so I think this may be the start of the demise of my blog for a while.
Borneo beckons….for 3 months+! Quite sad reading the guidebook – so much to do here, but we’ll be snowed under doing the stuff for Raleigh International.
Still….I could be at work.
PS: Turns out Malaysia really is truly Asia – even says it on the ad’s here!