Sharks and Turtles and Devil Rays, Oh My!

Formula for a great two-day trip:

Fun = Quiet island + Lively Waters + Unique Accomodation + Free TIGER Beer

You really can't put together a better combination, can you? I had an extremely abbreviated stay on the eastern coast of Sabah (the Malaysian province where I am currently) over the last two days, but although short and sweet, these two days will go down as two very memorable days of my trip.

After catching a short flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau on Monday evening, I taxied about two hours and arrived late in the evening in Simporna, the Malaysian port city that would serve as my departure point for Mabul Island, my home for Tuesday and Wednesday. More specifically, home for me was a little backpacker resort on Mabul Island called Uncle Chang's. And boy, did Uncle Chang put together a nice little package....

60 Ringits (a.k.a. $US 16) per day provided me with my own room/shower (well, there was room for 4 in all, but it's slow season, meaning I had the place to myself!) and all the food/coffee/drink I could stuff in my body each day. But it was the intangibles that made this place amazing..... You see, although quite a wealthy man I imagine (because he has multiple resorts/hotels around Asia), Uncle Chang is a bit of a martyr as well. Every youngster he has employed at this backpacker resort, whether a cleaning person, a dive guide, or a member of the band (which you'll learn about shortly) was a young person from a rough household, partial household, or no household at all. He's taken all of these young adults under his wing, given them job, and as a result, created heck of a "family atmosphere" at this place he calls "Uncle Chang's."

After Day 1 (Tuesday) of doing some "muck diving" (focusing on small fish and coral, as opposed to hunting for the big guys) around Mabul Island, Uncle Chang and crew not only put together a heck of a BBQ (complete with fresh tuna), they threw a party. A piece of plywood was removed from what initially appeared to be a wall, and WALLA, a miniature stage appeared in the dining area, complete with two guitars, a drum set, and a tambourine. From 7pm until the wee hours of the morning, Uncle Chang and crew played many American classics with their own Malaysian twist on each one, ranging from "Country Roads" to "Summer of 69." Talk about hilarious. Or, maybe it just seemed more hilarious with each compounding Tiger beer Uncle Chang brought out for his guests. Apparently the $US 16 per day included a buffet of the regional beer as well....can't complain there!

The funny thing to mention? While the 15-20 staff members, band members, dive guides, and others put on this spectacle, the grinning audience begged for more....all 15 of us....a whopping 15 people in this entire place. That's right, it's slow season here in this part of the world, and that means receiving a much more "personal" treatment when it comes to evenings such as these. To have the chance to be a part of the "family feel" of Uncle Chang's and not have to throw elbows to compete for a front row seat made the time all that much better.

Day 2 was the big day. Day 2 (Wed) is when we ventured away from Mabul Island and made the 30-minute boat journey to Sipadan Island, one of the top dive sights in the world. (Thanks for the recommendation, sis.) Although a cool, rainy, and overcast day, what we saw deep beneath the ocean's surface was nothing but clear, vibrant, and eye-opening. This little island, you see, sits quite a ways from mainland Malaysia, far enough that once away from the shallow waters near shore one finds himself in some pretty deep waters. In more detail, when you are underwater, much of the coral and marinelife you are seeing sits on or along a fairly steep wall that makes its way up to the island's base. Venturing a bit further AWAY from this sea wall, it's evident that there is another wall, this one about as sheer and steep as it gets. In more detail yet, this bad boy drops about 600 m (or let's just say about 2,000 ft) straight down to the ocean floor. Talk about daunting when you are gazing down below and seeing nothing but a vast, deep blue abyss.....yowza!!!

The pure scale of the place was just the beginning. When it came to marine life, we saw it all. Black tip sharks, leopard sharks, massive sea turtles (which I had a blast playing with and waking them up from their slumbers), packs of hundreds of barracudas (you called it, sis!), and even a huge stingray swimming by us. It certainly made me glad that I had gathered up the "cojones" to get my certification in Thailand. I'm hooked.

I wish I had an underwater camera (undoubtedly a future purchase) and could show you a taste of what I saw, but unfortunately the out-of-water images will have to be satisfactory!

Today, I'm back in Kota Kinabalu after another memorable overnight bus last evening. Oh yes, it was 8 hours of pure enjoyment. Winding roads and a driver with a heavy foot make for an ever-enjoyable ride....

A day of relaxing today serves as a precursor to what will come tomorrow and Saturday, the 13,000 foot ascent to the summit of Mount Kinabalu. I look forward to showing you all pictures from the top of SE Asia. Let's pray to the mountain gods that altitude sickness does not send its rath down on me anytime this weekend!!

Talk soon,
Coletrain

1) Last weekend, Singapore by night.
2) Famous black pepper crab of Singapore. Great recommendation, Carleen!
3) Uncle Chang's!!
4) View from dock of Uncle Chang's
5) Another glimpse of Uncle Chang's
6) Sunset from Uncle Chang's on Mabul Island
7) My favorite picture to take, you've seen a few of them already....
8) The rock show, 7pm to 1:30am, live at Uncle Chang's
9) Braving the rain, on the way to Sipadan Island for Day 2 of diving
10) Glimpse of Sipadan from shore
11) Happy with the day of diving...
12) ...But sad to leave the little place...
13) ...And even more gutted to leave Uncle Chang's. They even sang us a goodbye song as our boat was taking off!