So after the past 10 days of adventure (hiking, trekking, diving) the last 2 days were a little more relaxed. Was supposed to go for some fun white water rafting at Padas River, who knew Mother Nature decided to create a landslide, hence blocking the train track. So last minute, we decided to try to make our way to Pulau Tiga, also known as Survivor Borneo Island where they made the 1st Survivor Reality show! Yes, the one where Richard won.
So,we woke up that day (me with an upset stomach), and decided to rent a car to go to Kuala Penyu and try to hire a fishing boat to take us over! After some walking around, we decided to go back to Borneo Ultimate and rented the same Viva car for our day adventure.
It was a smooth 1hr drive towards the correct direction initially. Without the proper map, we made our way based on the previous day's bus ride. Basically we were to drive back the same direction. However, we drove towards the wrong destination and had to make a U-Turn, which wasted maybe 40minutes or so. Basically, drive towards Beaufort and you will see direction to Kuala Penyu.
It took us a good 3hr to get to Kuala Penyu, almost 2pm when we reached. And there were no fishing boat readily available for hire!! Turned out, if you were there at 11am, when the scheduled boat to Pulau Tiga departs, you will find loads of fishing boat by the side to ferry any overflow of passengers. So now we know...
Just when we were about to give up, Edric managed to talk a fishing boat into ferrying us across to Survivor Island. For RM350 per boat, it was a good enough bargain. So we departed close to 4pm for Tiga!
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| They weren't exactly that leisurely sitting... |
Bumpy couldn't even really describe the ride! It was roller coaster to the max! The ride was wild! Edric and JJ sat at the front and experienced the brunt of the bump! Not long after, maybe 20min or longer, we arrived!
Pulau Tiga is a HUGE island. To fully walk the entire island, you really need at least 1 full day. And we thought it would be easily accomplished in a short time. So no time to wander around, we headed straight to the mud pool. The so-called highlight of the island.
Lest you associate mud pool with thermal, bubbling pool, soothing and comforting dip in the mineral mud resulting in smooth porcelin skin..Well, this is not like that. In the middle of the forest, with not much maintaince, it was just 2 pools which looked rather unappealing, infested with mozzies and what have yous..
But well, since we were already there, heck all and jumped in! Ok, best if you wear unwanted bikinis/swim trunks cos they will stain...
It doesn't quite smell nice in the mud pool, and it is bloody thick! In the small pool especially. So it is quite hard to move once you are deep in it. In the bigger pool, the mud is thinner, and you literally float on top.
Luckily, there was a student there when we arrived, so with his help, we took pictures! And yours truly came up with interesting ideas!!
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| Edric, the thinking man |
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| Yours truly, The Mermaid |
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| JJ, the Running Man |
After the mud bath, we had to walk the 1.2KM back to the beach to wash off. Yes it was a terrible walk, especially for me, with the bag and all. Had to stop every now and then to adjust the weight and position the bag so that mud did not splash all over. And it was hard work getting all the mud washed off..
After the mud bath, we asked the fishing boat to take us to the other side where one of the Survivor Tribes were based, just to take pictures of the place and say "We have been to Survivor Camp". Although there was no longer any camp left...
Took the boat back at around sunset time, and witnessed an amazing sunset over the sea horizon...
The last day, we decided to do another day of relaxing! So we opted to go Taman Abdul Rahman Park - A group of islands near KK for a day of sun, sand, sea, and some snorkelling...
Paid for a scheduled boat and some departure taxes and off we were to3 islands. Just head to the Jesselton Jetty and you can choose from any of the operators! Cheaper way to do the island hop. Unless you have more people, you can consider hiring a private boat (about RM300/boat) for the entire day and you have flexbility to visit wherever you want. Means you can get the boatman to anchor in the middle of the sea and jump in for snorkelling etc etc.. We paid probably half that amount for the 3 of us on scheduled boat. Mamotil, Manukan and Sapi Islands (I hope i get the names right).
Let's just say, the islands were not really that fantastic, and really crowded with people. And the snorkelling is frankly speaking, a little shitty... Still at least something to do before our flight back to JB then Singapore..
The best thing I saw was Nemo hahaha...So you can only imagine.......And then the day ended, we returned back to KK, had a late lunch and off to the airport. By the time we reached JB City Square, it was 9pm. Dinner @ Nandos and off home tired... And that was the end of the adventure in Sabah. It was fun while it lasted....
