Changing Plans

Sunday, May 31, 2009--Kota Kinabalu to Tenom

Today has been a day of frustration. First, the bus to Tenom was full. Therefore, I had to take a bus to another town 50 km away and transfer to a mini-bus from there to Tenom. That went okay, although I worried about whether the mini-bus would have room for my suitcase. Fortunately, I was about the 3rd passenger to arrive, so there was room. The drive was wonderful, going through Crocker Range National Park with nice mountain views. I actually arrived in Tenom about the same time as the bus, which was leaving 30 minutes later, would have been expected to arrive.

I checked into the second best hotel in town--the Orchid Hotel. The best hotel is far up a hillside. And there has been a great landslide in front of it that makes it look as if the hotel is not far from the edge now. Anyway, who would want to pay more to make that climb? Where I am is a modern building that is a little warn with a few years of age. The rooms and the baths are extra large and VERY clean. It's in the center of town and costs only $14 per night!

As soon as I was at the hotel, I went to the Sunday market here. The guidebook described it as colorful, since I am in a remote area near where tribal people live. There were many people with things from their gardens for sale--wonderful and fresh looking vegetables that are much better looking that what can be found at even a good supermarket such as HEB. A separate section had a huge selection of fish which apparently had been caught overnight. There were several kinds, and all looked big and healthy versus the small fish that are often in markets these days due to overfishing.

While at the market, I bought an ABC--Ais Batu Campur--which is a bit like a snowcone. The bottom of the cup had pieces of corn, beans, and some kind of green matter that was chopped. They put ice in the cup, poured a red drink over it, and added condensed milk. Then they put a lid on it and gave me a large straw that would let anything in it come up through it. I was told to stir it with the straw and then drink. It was delicious--so delicious that I went back for a second one! I also bought some small curry pies. They were like empanadas and were filled with curried potatoes. They were good, too, and spicy!

I went from there to the train station to check on the schedule for tomorrow. Unfortunately, there was no schedule posted. I asked a woman nearby at a bus kiosk about the train. She said, "Train Broken." That was my biggest disappointment of the whole day. The train trip from here to Beaufort is supposed to be one of the great Asian train trips and goes through a canyon.

I've spent most of the rest of the afternoon deciding what to do. To leave town by bus means backtracking where I have already been. My goal is to get into Sarawak or directly to Brunei. I have now learned that I can take a shared taxi tomorrow morning to Sipitang. From there, I can do one of two things: 1) Take mini-buses to eventually get me into Sarawak to the town of Lawas where I can get a ferry to Brunei, or 2) take a ferry to the island of Lebuan where I can catch another ferry to Brunei. I'm thinking I will go to Lebuan using the two-ferry concept. That will be my plan unless I get to Sipitang too late for a ferry to Lebuan. The bad part is that the shared taxis leave between 6:00 and 7:00 tomorrow morning. Yuck!