I managed to sleep in until just before 7 this morning, although I was just dozing after 6:30. We don't have to leave until 11 so it felt very luxurious to just read in bed for a while! We went over to the restaurant for breakfast, which was nicer than the last few places - still a buffet but with fried noodles, scrambled eggs, potato rosti cake things, sausages, beans and pawpaw. We hung around in the restaurant for a fair while because there was wifi and added each other on Facebook and everything, as tonight is the last night of the tour and lots of people are flying out. Then I came back to the room to pack up my bag and get sorted, before walking over to reception to meet everyone at 10:45.
We were in the bus at 10:50 and took just over half an hour to drive to the Sandakan War Memorial. This is the former site of the Sandakan POW camp, and the start point of the Sandakan death marches in 1945. It was set up as a memorial through collaboration by the Australian government and the government of Sabah. The war memorial was set across a large area of gardens, and was very peaceful, which I found slightly eerie, knowing the atrocities that were committed there. There were information boards throughout the gardens explaining certain exhibits, and then a commemorative hall at the top of the hill with a more broad explanation of the context of the Pacific War, the POW camp and the death marches. Having travelled the distance from Mt Kinabalu, through Ranau, down to Sandakan by bus, it's just crazy that the POWs had to walk that distance (never mind carrying things and severely ill and malnourished).
We spent about 45 minutes at the war memorial and then hopped back in the bus to make our way to lunch. We stopped at an Indian restaurant near the airport and had roti for lunch. I had 'roti canai' which is a plain roti with two sauces to dip it in, with a drink. Then Amanda suggested a roti kaya for dessert, so I got one of those as well. All of this cost a grand total of MYR5.70, which is less than $2! Great value. Then it was a little rush off to the airport at 1:25 for our 2:30 flight - mum would be horrified!
We went through security, then checked in, and then it was basically boarding time. The Sandakan flight takes the prize for the shortest flight I've ever been on - half an hour! We took off at 2:30 and arrived at 3:00! Baggage was also very efficient, and then we just jumped on the bus to the hotel, where we arrived at about 3:20. After checking in and making a plan to meet downstairs, we took our bags upstairs and settled in. Then a group of 5 of the girls met downstairs and we headed to a 'beauty' place that Jeffry had recommended. When we got there, there were only a few staff members on, so we had to take turns - two of the girls started their mani-pedis and one upstairs for a massage, while Lauren and I sat with the ones getting their nails done and chatted. After about half an hour, they had a few more staff arrive, and Lauren and I went up to get our massages - I'm a bit sunburnt so I got a leg massage instead of a back one. It was just what I needed, and very relaxing.
Once we were finished with our massages, we walked back to the hotel where we were meeting the others at about 6:30 to sort out Jeffry's tip. Once we had done that, Lauren and I got ready for dinner and headed down to the lobby. At 7, the others and Jeffry arrived in the lobby too, and we walked down to the waterfront to the restaurant Jeffry had chosen for the last night. It was a pub, which was a bit of a strange choice, but we mostly ordered Nasi goreng anyway and just got beers as well. It was a good night, lots of chatting about highlights of the trip. We each thanked Jeffry and then presented him with his tip. After that, he surprised us with two birthday cakes for two of the group members whose birthdays are on Friday and Sunday, which was a really nice thought. After this we chatted for a bit longer, and a few people headed back to the hostel as they had very early morning flights. Eventually the rest of us wandered back to the hotel.
Back to Kota Kinabalu
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
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