I was again up at dawn in order to see the sun rise up behind the mountains of Borneo and after breakfast made my way into Kota Kinabalu. Life in this part of the world does not start until 10am so the local people were still at breakfast as I wandered happily around the streets. The aroma of spices filled the air as stalls and shops began to open their shutters . Quite by chance I found myself in the City Park and rested for a few moments in the shade of the lush green trees. This is the tropics and it was excessively hot even at this early hour. When I set off again I chanced upon China Town and took some interesting photos depicting the end of Lunar New Year with piles upon piles of red lanterns stacked up in a temple. Next it was down to the harbour where I was offered trips in boats to see the water villages – I declined and headed for the local market instead. The smell of raw meat and poultery in a sultry hot climate is not to be recommended so I quickly hurried on to the fruit and veg section. Here I found punnet upon punnet of green and red chillies, roots of ginger and spices galore. Mangoes were piled high in pyramid shapes, whilst bunches of green bananas were art forms in their own right. The last section was full of clothes and jewellery and tourist items and was the most tightly packed of all. The alleyways between the stalls were narrow and the atmosphere was claustrophobic, however, I did manage to find some individual pearls which I need to repair a very old bracelet. It was then back to the ship for a rest before the afternoon’s organised excursion.“Colours of Borneo” was the name of the tour and it did not disappoint. First stop was a pottery factory where most of my fellow cruisers stopped to watch a demonstration. Not ever being one to follow the crowd I headed off into the back shacks and was able to take wonderful photos of pottery in the various stages of manufacture. The natural colours of the clay with the contrasting sunlight and dark shade made for some incredible pictures. A young couple were busy filling moulds and were delighted to give me my own personal demonstration of how plates and mugs are produced from moulds. I asked if I could take their photo and they were overjoyed that I should want to and insisted on seeing the photo once taken. What lovely gentle friendly people the Malays are.
Next stop was a batik factory where we all had to try our hand at batik painting – mine was an absolute disaster !! High tea was provided here consisting of flat bread with curry sauce – absolutely delicious. I took a cup of tea but was none too certain what it would taste like. It was a deep brown colour and had a rather thick consistency. I tentatively took a sip ready to gulp it down in disgust – but hang on a minute. What was that sweet taste? Could it be chocolate? Somehow or another I found I was drinking chocolate tea - again absolutely delicious.
After a short rest I wandered off around the area and found a perfectly heavenly scene of a translucent silver sea lapping gently onto a white beach. At one end near the coconut thatched sun shades drift wood had collected which again made for some beautiful photos.
The journey back to the coach was by flat bottomed longboat. What an experience gliding through the mangroves in Magical Borneo.
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