Borneo: Kudat 12-15 Mar 12

Shawn and I left Paganakan Dii relaxed and ready for the six hour bus ride back to KK, after deciding to go to Kudat for some remote beaches and village life on the tip of Borneo. We were dropped off at the Sepilok roundabout on Sunday morning and were told that if we just hailed down one of the buses going by we would be able to pay there and then to get on. The bus stop was hot and grimy, and we hailed down about three buses who all said they were full, and let on the other people at the stop who had tickets. After two hours waiting in heady sticky heat we started wondering if this wasn’t the way to get buses at all, but eventually one stopped to let the three giant Germans from the river tour who showed up out of nowhere with a ticket, and we begged them to let us on, and after much deliberation they did, thank goodness for that! While we waiting every second car that rode passed, be it grannies or young guys, hooted and waved at us.

The bus went through the small towns and villages of Sabah, letting people on along the way. A man offered us some sticky mango pieces from a plastic bag that he was chewing on. We stopped off at a row of village shops and the heat and smell hit us head on as soon as the bus door opened, with very cute and happy kids running around staring at us buying iced coffee and spicy crisps. The scenery got more and more beautiful and winding through valleys and hills, all lush and green. As we got nearer to Kota Kinabalu National Park we saw the huge misty mountains and the Mount Kinabalu peak rising up through the green. It was so high we couldn’t see the peak, and as we drove higher and higher we eventually drove straight into the cloud and over the highest point of the route and the big full bus hurtled down slippery wet roads while I tried not to think about when the breaks were last serviced. Eventually the roads became less windy and straighter and then we were on the built up approach to KK.

Waiting at the bus stop in Sepilok

We got to KK bus station which is 5km outside of town so you still have to take a taxi into town, which is priced by the taxi racket of KK drivers at MYR 25. We decided just to pay it and get out of the full, hot bus station as it was pouring with rain now and getting late, we still had a three hour taxi to get to Kudat! But not before one of my favourite things, a trip to a public squatting toilet, the ones where you have to crouch down and the entire floor is soaked with water and whatever else, so pleasing especially in flip flops, mmm. When we arrived at the out of town taxi rank in KK it had stopped raining and we found a ‘shared taxi’ to Kudat, which was also only MYR 25 but was three hours instead of two minutes, so the taxi drivers at the bus station are having a laugh. We had to wait until the shared taxi filled with people and it was already around 6pm, with three hours to go to Kudat and then a further 30km to the remote backpacker place I had organised so still a long way to go and already a seriously long day had gone by already. Eventually around 7pm it was time to go, after we had drank a litre of cold Milo and ate an entire bag of peanut butter biscuits.

Stopping for snacks en route to Kudat

The ride to Kudat in the shared taxi was crazy. There was Shawn and I at the back and an old Malaysian couple who didn’t say a word. The weathered driver played really loud tinny euro party rave which didn’t at all go with his salt of the earth, countrymen exterior. Maybe inside he was putting his hands in the air and waving like he just didn’t care, but his face stayed solid and unsmiling the entire way. And what a way it was, dark windy pot holed roads, at some points the road disappeared, even this was the main road to Kudat (in times gone by the capital of Sabah). It was getting later and later and every time we thought we had made it to Kudat the driver just kept on hurtling over pot holes and turning up the disco. I started to worry about where we would stay and if we’d get there in time to check in somewhere. Finally, after some mildly hysterical laughing and anxiety, we arrived. The driver took us to a beach front hotel, and luckily there was still someone behind the desk even though it was past 10pm. I thought it might be expensive being a proper hotel but we only ended up paying MYR 24 each.

Kudat is a great town. There are next to no tourists, and it is totally authentically Malaysian Borneo. The hotel was on a square in the town, and there were still some cafes open with people relaxing sitting around on tables outside and some watching badminton on the outside telly’s. Kids, grannies, groups of teenagers, all just milling about lazily as if they were all in their own living rooms and perfectly content to all be socialising together. We walked around a bit looking for somewhere for food and got stared at as tourists are a rarity. We went into a place that was just closing up and had to point at the bowls of soup and noodles to order as no one there spoke English, although they tried so hard and were so sweet about it. We sat outside and watched the teenagers socialising, they are so nice here. All of them have their own funky look, they are all slender and energetic and none of them drink as it’s a Muslim country so there are no louts, just cute teenagers all hanging out riding their bikes and gossiping and playing computer games at the local internet cafe across the road. They remind me of manga cartoons with their funky hair and sinewy frames...

The next day the little town was bustling. We went to the market and bought some papaya, litchis (which are more sour and way more sticky here) and the little sweet bananas. I was happy to find a normal food market, because every other place seemed to be selling snacks and sweets. Boy, snacks are the thing here. Every size, colour and taste in multicoloured bags laden with sugar, snack craziness! I had two boiled eggs for breakfast at a cafe as that’s the only thing I recognised, and of course some sugary coffee with ice which is fast becoming a staple food group for me.

The place we were heading was called Tampat Do Aman. The only reason I found it was because of the person who left the website up on the computer at Uncle Tans, and it looked like exactly what wanted. It’s run by an English guy called Howard, who has been living in Borneo on and off for eleven years. He has just built an eco lodge which is a wooden longhouse, some outside huts for tents and outdoor showers (with no wall facing into the jungle, so that you can share your bits with the animals and stars) and outside composting toilets. He is also building a small museum to keep a record of the local people’s history and customs and will be free to locals where they can learn about traditional building techniques, jungle plant knowledge and some other historical facts about the area. All in all he is a thoroughly nice and interesting man, and has done all kinds of diving, army, jungle type adventuring and knows a lot about all those things. He speaks Malaysian and Mandarin too, and he still runs everything day to day. To get to the place which is 30km outside Kudat, you have to ring him up and he fetches you. So that’s what I did, and he arrived at 12pm sharp and after picking up some stuff in town took us to the village, chatting the whole way about his crazy exploits.

When we got to his camp he showed us around proudly, and you could tell he probably built most of it with his bare hands. There were two beds in each room, but because it wasn’t full we got a room each. They were in the traditional longhouse, and were small but cute with some wooden bunk beds and a fan. They were partitioned off with just some wood, and as I was putting my bags down and ready to go to the beach, a tiny black and white cat (the breeds with a short tail) squeezed itself under the door to say hello.

Inside Tampat Do Aman longhouse

Map of the beaches

Main beach

Howard then took us down to the beach in his 4x4, and I think the way it works is he takes people down there in the morning, to a restaurant that he runs with his girlfriend. From there, you can laze on the deck, eat delicious food, walk along the beautiful pristine beach. There are around six amazing beaches all along this coastline, and to get to the others you either have to scale the rocks or hire a bike and go back on the track and ride to each beach. I was just so happy to be at a beautiful remote beach in Borneo, with the jungle practically backing onto it, that I went straight out for a walk and a swim. There was no one else on the beach except for a couple of fishermen and some children playing, and I lay half in the warm water of the Sulu Sea, and half on the beach and just let the waves wash over. Ahhhhhh. Shawn and I stayed there for ages, soaking it in, climbing the rocks, exploring the main beach. I noticed some teeny tiny flies on me and thought nothing of it, they had the tiniest sting which was hardly noticeable. We walked back to the restaurant and had some icy fruit shakes; watermelon, apple, ginger and lemongrass and then hung out with the other guests of Tampat Do Aman. There was a Finish couple, of which the girl had some crazy stories of her Finish upbringing, a German couple and a lone German girl.

The restaurant deck Tampat Do Aman

Kids on the main beach

We stayed there for three nights. One morning Howard took us rummaging through the jungle learning about local plants and the history of the area. We ate all meals at the restaurant on the beach which were all delicious (Malaysian cinnamon curries and fry up breakfasts with homemade potato fritters and the best fresh juices I’ve ever had). One afternoon we hired a bike and went riding out through the tiny villages and dirt roads to some of the other beaches. This was seriously untouched by tourists Malaysian adventuring, and I loved every second. The locals were all so friendly, waving and smiling but not staring intensely or approaching us, just gazing from afar. Sometimes we’d have a chat with some and every time they were super friendly even though they couldn’t speak English. One of the beaches we went to had a small island in the middle which we snorkelled around. There was too much debri and seaweed in the water – probably from a recent storm in the ocean somewhere – and every beach had its own little army of sandflies waiting for you, but other than that they were white sand and turquoise sea loveliness. The sandflies little nips all turned to huge red sore bites, itchy as a burning hot rod. But I forced myself to not scratch, and put lots of Rushka’s natural reconstruction cream on them. Don’t scratch sandfly bites whatever you do! Otherwise they get infected and then scar. I also walked right to the ‘tip of Borneo’ on my own one afternoon, with the local tourists staring a little when this bedraggled pale girl came sweating up the hill. 

view from tip of Borneo

We also had night swims where you could see the illuminated plankton light up in the water in the waves, under a beautiful clear sky. And the sunsets were so beautiful too, pinks and oranges.

One of the beaches off the beaten track

exploring to the beaches

HUGE LEAF!!

So, all in all if you want to see a bit of Jungle, a bit of Malaysian village life and see some beautiful beaches that aren’t frequented by tourists, go to Kudat and Tampat Do Aman! Howard I guess makes the money at the restaurant as there isn’t really anywhere else to eat, so for three nights and four days with all food and drinks and transfers it was £52. This is pretty steep for Malaysia but you know what, it was worth it! We had a good laugh and a great time in Borneo. On Thursday I started the trip back to KK where I’d spend one more night before going on to Taiwan.

Here are the Borneo pics. 

Howard telling some stories

Howard in his kingdom