so here's my last update and final reflections. since last we penpalled, i went to a national park and saw proboscis monkeys and the fabled beared pig -- a monstrous thing with facial hair like wookie (endearing) but fangs like a vampire bat (terrifying) -- a pair of flying lemurs, and a bright green pit viper curled up in a tree for a nap like it weren't no thing to be the second most poisonous snake in town. then i flew to the north of Sarawak for a night where all i did was listen to a toad of a hungarian talk about himself and how adventurous he was because he was traveling alone (HELLO), and then onto Brunei with the lion king soundtrack playing the whole bus ride. i stayed in the youth hostel with some schoolgirls and wandered the hot empty streets of bandar seri begawan for a couple of days, talking pictures of the giant golden mosque from every angle and at every time of day, and marveling at priceless crap that people have gifted the sultan over the years, and watching storms roll in from across the river and then out the other side. people in brunei were very nice to me, and i even got a boat ride from a man who had painted his vessel red white and blue with a big USA emblazoned on the side and took me through the water village talking about new york, a place he had never been but was very fond of. he told me he would come visit me there sometime, and i said that that was fine.
after brunei i took a bus back into malaysia, and, eight border crossings later, found myself in a hotel out by a bus station in kota kinabalu in desperate need of doing laundry. i mentioned this to the manager, who directed me to the one shop he was sure was still open but which was actually closed (at 7 pm), and when i came back in defeat he felt so invested in my plight that he drove me a half an hour away to another, hipper town where laundry joints stay open all night--despite my protests that i was actually totally happy being crusted in travel crud head to toe and he should go home at once to his mama's house where he still lived at age 38 (i'm not judging). but he wasn't having any of it. he waited with me for an hour, drinking sasparilla contentedly while i washed and dried and folded, and then, instead of dumping me back at the hotel and being rid of me as i would have expected, he took me on a night tour of kota kinabalu to see all the sights and markets and have a quick break to try some durian and tell me about the history of the area. incredible -- one of the nicest people i met on my whole trip, that dear old mohammed ariv.
the next morning, clean clothes in hand, i took another bus that was delayed five hours by an overturned lorry, turning a six hour trip into an eleven hour nightmare, but finally made my way to Sepilok, the jumping off point for trips up the Kinabatangan River. I went upriver with a great group of people (including more Barcelonians, who have quickly become among my favorite travelers to meet) and saw everything from an 18 foot crocodile sinking into the muddy depths to a mama gibbon teaching her baby how to swing in what's left of the surrounding jungle. I was also bitten roughly 4000 times by mosquitos which may or may not have been bursting with malaria (turned out not but you never know), so i was more than ready to leave the jungle and return to civilization. i went to melacca, which i loved, and then back to KL, where, after months of planning and anticipation of bank transfers back and forth, i finally met up with matt (georgetown matt) and embarked on the final hurrah.
which went something like this: we took a sleepless train ride north and stayed four days on Little Perhentian island, which displaced Gili Trawangan as my favorite tropical paradise, partly because a guy there had a pet otter that i got to play with but also because it is just stunning, and then, as if we hadn't had enough of turquoise water and white sand perfection, we flew back to borneo and spent five days diving in Mabul and Sipadan and could not have asked for anything better. Sharks and turtles and cuttlefish and things i've never even heard of like a Flying Gurnard and a sea moth, plus perfect clear blue water and another group of really fun people, this time mostly dutch but also norwegian and a couple more barcelonians just for good measure. We dove, we played cards, we lounged, we went to a chinese karaoke bar and tried to convince them to let us sing ABBA but were subtly yet unmistakeably rejected, we ate well and sunbathed and had just about the best time i have had on this whole extended trip. Asia, if ever i doubted you, i take it all back. you've been a wonderful host and i have grown quite fond of you indeed.
but now it's time to come home and i'm pretty happy about that too. goodbye noodles, hello sourdough baguette. it really has been too long.
see you all soon!
love molly
No comments:
Post a Comment