August 10, 2012 - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo
When walking along KK's waterfront, boatmen offer a trip to the nearby islands. I was quoted 120 Ringgit and a special price if I went there and then but I was not really sure whether it was something I wanted to do. When passing a pier busy with locals, I got more interested in taking one of the speedboats for 2 Ringgit one way. It was not that easy to get on the boat as one had to get on via the front which required some balance until getting into the boat itself. I would not have worried if I had fallen into the water although it didn't look particularly clean but my camera and iPhone and extra lens would not have appreciated the wet treatment.
With only 3 other passengers and the boatmen, we sped over the water with more speed than I would have liked so I just hoped that we would arrive safe and sound although I had no real idea where arrival would be.
It turned out that these boats are mainly used by commuters who live in stilt villages out in the sea. When the boatmen finally dropped me at "my destination" I was surrounded by a bunch of kids who probably thought what I was doing there ... well, I thought the same.
The paths between the various stilt houses were planks of different widths. They started out comfortably wide but soon were down to a single plank only. The kids and all who lived there moved swiftly along those narrow planks but I, still trying to refrain from a dip into the ocean and ruining my equipment, gave the narrow planks a miss. The people on this picture wanted me to come over but I preferred to stay on whatever solid ground there was!
There was even a small store and getting all the attention, I bought a drink which was made of Mango concentrate and then it was either water or milk with crushed ice. It was served in a small plastic bag with a straw (like the man on the left is holding in the next picture). The boys were eager to have their picture taken and so did some of the men hanging around the store. I then asked the 3 girls, who kind of ran the store, whether I could take their picture and although they first agreed, once I got my camera ready they quickly ducked and I guess that they had changed their minds.
Here is what the store looked like and it appears that it was run from someone's home.
As I felt a bit out of place and also wanted to make sure that I would get a boat back, I walked back to what was like a waiting area for boat commuters flanked by all the kids and some more waved from their stilt houses. Well, actually I sent the kids ahead as I still had plenty of respect for those plank walks and just wanted to get back in dry condition.
The walkway back to the waiting area.
Some more photos of the kids while waiting for a boat. Some spoke a bit of English but there was just too much commotion to talk to any of them more specifically.
Back on the boat and off we went - waves and good-byes ...
I had actually wanted to visit that small mosque I had noticed from the boat but after seeing the plank-way maze, I gave up on that idea. Nevertheless here it is together with a few more shots of some of the stilt houses ...
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