Goodbye to Sabah

I really enjoyed Kota Kinabalu and I don't often say that about a city. It is very manageable as the centre is squeezed between the waterfront and the hills behind so all is easily accessible on foot, even if you only have one good one. It is also blessed with friendly hostess at Lucy's Backpacker who really looked after me recommending a fantastic masseuse, Edna, if ever your are in this part of the world they are both a must. They are both a year or so older than me but look at least 10 years younger, there must be something about the lifestyle here. I should have visited her straight away not just so I could get back on my two feet but to fit in another session, she said I needed if I wanted to look as good. She did give me some magic soap and lotion so you can judge he effectiveness by the time I get back!

It is very civilised, good food, good climate, nice cooling see breezes and wonderful snorkelling on the beaches of the near by islands in The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, easily accessible and with good discount from Lucy. Although not as spectacular as Mabul particularly in its coral, it was fantastic just to be able to snorkel off the beach and feel as though you were swimming in and huge fish tank, so many varieties of fish in colour, shape, size and behaviour, all doing their own thing, chasing each other, forming mixed shoals to feed, it is weird to hear them munching away at the coral. And every time I turned around I had my own little entourage following me! They seemed to be as curious as me. Oh and I did find Nemo and the rest of the family, I spent ages just watching them in their anenome home.

It was a shame I had booked my flight to Brunei as I would have loved to spend more time here.

But onwards and Brunei is quite a contrast even from KK which was quite sensitively developed. Brunei is very well organised (except at the arrivals hall where you have to haul your luggage up steps in order to find an ATM so be able to pay for your journey into town, and haul them all back down, i will need to find another masseuse now).

Although beautifully manicured, it is very quiet on the roads, streets, restaurants, malls which I would expect to enjoy in a city but actually it doesn't feel quite real.

I must apologise again for both the lack and quality of photos, my point and shoot techniques results in a high rate of attrition. I try to edit them but the changes are lost when I upload them on to the blog. I am currently loosing my battle with technology as my phone has also expired now.