Borneo (Malaysian - Kota Kinabalu) 

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Kota Kinabalu is in Sabah, which is part of Malaysia and is located on Borneo. Negeri Sabah "di Bawah Bayu", State of Sabah "Land beneath the Wind", former (British) North Borneo. The main town appeared to be populated by 1st generation city dwellers, they still lived like they were in the bush, not used to city life, and thus the city (especially near the market areas) had a really bad smell from all the filth and rotting stuff floating from the remains of the previous nights heavy monsoon down pour. We were actually lucky to miss most of the rains. This first picture shows a view of the Amateur Fatalist Centre in the city centre, and to this day I'm still not sure what an Amateur Fatalist is supposed to be, anyone have an idea ?

Boats naturally play are large role in a society which includes many small islands, and although their appearance may not inspire confidence, their state of repair must has been acceptable as even the boat you see here can later be seen merrily making her way through the South China Sea. The island has a real jungle/rainforest and a large mountain, mount Kinabalu, on which exploration/trekking is advised, but make sure you've had your shots, sickness is a real possibility out here for us westerners. We did not stray inland but stayed close to the water.

Immigrants into the area (mostly Philippines) are kept off shore in shacks built in the sea, the only way on and off is by boat, unless you fancy the swim in the crystal clear, warm (and shark infested) waters of the South China Sea.

Take a boat off the main island to some of the islands existing as tiny points in the South China Sea and you see a very different world. Beautiful unspoilt, uninhabited islands, with thick vegetation, lizards, moneys, birds etc. Getting off the mainland is best thing to do in KK, get away from the embryonic city and locals and go to the islands, inhabited only by like minded individuals and indigenous animals all trying to lead a relaxed lifestyle.

Landfall on the first of the three islands we visited, two of which we landed on. The boat which brought us to this idyllic spot was a fibre glass hull with a canvas canopy and a marine engine attached. That was it, the driver use maximum throttle most of the time but showed skill and understanding when crossing the paths and wakes of larger craft.

Paradise Found, just a (fast) 30 minute boat ride from the mainland.

I went for a walk into the jungle (probably not a good idea) and almost stepped on a huge 2 meter long reptile lizard thing, it ran away from me faster than I could get a picture of it, lucky it ran away and didn't attack, I would have been in real trouble, I turned back at this point deciding discretion was the better part of valour, had I not, I may not be writing this sentence.

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