We got up fairly early this morning and got our bags all packed up and then headed down for breakfast. Had a hodge-podge hotel buffet breakfast of rice congee (rice porridge), rice noodles, and some fruit. A group of us went for a walk down to the Sunday morning markets, which had a very random assortment of things, from clothes and souvenirs, to fresh fruit, veg and seafood, right through to pets (which was a bit sad!). We just got some bottled water and snacks for the bus and then headed back to the hotel to check out. Once we were all checked out, we jumped on the minibuses (2 for people, 1 for luggage) and off we went! We had a quick stop at signal hill observatory, the lookout I went to yesterday, and then another stop at the 'floating mosque', which was a beautiful mosque with a moat all around it.
Then it was back in the minibus for a while, before a stop at a verrryy wobbly suspension bridge. We had a walk over it, and were all a bit nervous when we saw the holes in the slats - although they did have mesh underneath. We were supposed to have a view of Mt Kinabalu, but it was 'hiding' behind the clouds. From there we hopped back in the minivans and headed up into the mountains. It was a very windy road, but really well maintained roads and civilised driving (nothing like other parts of south east Asia!).
It took us just over an hour from the suspension bridge to get to the turnoff to the homestay village. All of a sudden we were on a verrry pot-holey, gravelly road, and the speed slowed down significantly (luckily!). We crossed a gorgeous river and headed up another hill to the village. We're staying in Kampong Lobong-Lobong, a village surrounded by hills and mountains, and bordered by a river. We had a morning tea with a group of people from the village with 'Sabah tea' and a collection of 'kueh' or local sweets. There were pieces of local sweet potato, pancakes made from sweet potato, and coconut rice cakes. Lots of the sweets are made from rice flour, so that's handy for me! Then we met our host families, and luckily I'm with Lauren and Amanda, one of the other Australians who's also travelling by herself.
We headed back to our host house and were fed a big lunch - rice, vegetables, fish balls, more vegetables, chicken soup, and oranges. We hung around the house for a few hours, and it poured with rain for a bit, so we just chilled on the balcony. At 3:30ish we headed to a nearby house where we were supposed to meet for a 'jungle trek'. We waited for the rain to stop, and then headed around through a gate to the pineapple plantation and down the (very steep!!) hill towards the river. We passed lots of pineapple and papaya trees, rubber trees, a few massive millipedes and then after a last scramble down a rather muddy hill, arrived at the river. It was looking very rough after all the rain, so Jeffry (our guide) recommended that we didn't swim. So after a bit of rest, we headed all the way back up the hill! It seemed like a shorter trip on the way back though.
On the way back, we stopped in at one of the other host homes, where the host brought out afternoon tea - banana fritters, tea/coffee/milo, more banana fritters with cheese on them, fish crackers, sweet potato sweets, etc. Very generous! The clouds also cleared and we got a great (if very intimidating) view of Mt Kinabalu. We could see waterfalls from all the rain coming down its faces, and it was a very impressive view. After being encouraged to eat for a while, we headed back to our host family, where we were offered their afternoon tea! We had a drink and a biscuit, but were conscious that dinner was scheduled for an hour!
After a little sit on the balcony, and getting changed, we headed over to the hall for our big 'pot luck' dinner, where each host family brought over a meal, resulting in an enormous selection of food! We had rice with lots of little bits and pieces - curries, vegetables, pickled things, bamboo, sauces.. such a feast. We were also given some locally brewed rice wine to try, which was really nice, but very different to sake. After dinner, we watched some performances of music and dancing by local men and women. Then we had to join in! We each got a turn at the gongs that were the local instruments, and then had to all dance together with the village people.
After all the dancing, and much photo-taking by everyone, we headed back to our host home, where they offered us more tea and biscuits!! Way too full, so now it's time for bed.
Katasan village
Sunday, April 02, 2017
Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia
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