Bye-bye Kapalai – last 2 dives

September 18th, 2002 at 12:00am

I am absolutely exhausted and the last thing I want to do right now is write in the journal, but I know I’ve gotta write now or else I won’t be able to capture the emotions of the day. It’s 10pm and I really cannot believe it, but I am in Sepilok at a B&B just outside of the Orangutan Sanctuary. It’s truly amazing that I made it here in one day.

This morning I was up at 5am, not because I had to be, but because another storm came through Kapalai to bring in the new day.

I had my final 2 dives this morning, one at 8:30am and one at 11:00am. These 2 were without Thomas because he’s flying today so he had to finish diving yesterday. Good dives. I said goodbye to the turtles, moray eels, cleaner shrimp, flying gurnards, and all my other marine friends.

Had lunch at noon and then Thomas and I were on the boat back to the mainland at 1pm. The resort van was waiting to take Thomas and 4 others to the airport, and the driver was kind enough to drop me off at the bus station along the way.

Bye-bye suitcase travelers, hello backpacker grunge.

The bus station was a harsh reality of me resuming my budget travelling.

I told the guys there that I wanted to go to Sepilok and they said ok take this minivan first then switch at this other town. Actually, they call them ‘bas minis.’ Anyway I said fine. I then proceeded to wait 2 HOURS just sitting in the van waiting for it to fill with people so we could leave. Ugh.

FINALLY we left at 4pm. We weren’t even on the road for a full minute before we stopped for gas. Ahhhh!

In 2 hours could you not go and fill up the tank???

Then we went to this guy’s house to pick up his suitcase, all the while I am thinking there is no WAY I am making it to Sepilok today.

Once we actually got moving I felt a little better. During the ride though I had to tolerate 2 men who were chain smoking the entire ride. Ok, get this, in the van there are THREE big signs that say ‘NO SMOKING.’ From anywhere you sit you can see ALL THREE, and still these guys were just puffing away.

It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where this guy sits next to Jerry and says, ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’ And Jerry says, ‘Not at all, I second-hand smoke 2 packs a day.’

Well, I think I second-hand smoked at least one pack today.

Anyway, I got to the next town, Lahad Datu, at about 6:30pm and it was already dark and I was the only foreigner on the van and admittedly I was getting nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get another bus today and I’d have to try to stay in this shanty town for the night. The guidebook actually says about this town that it’s a very dodgy place full of pirates and thieves and to try to avoid it if at all possible. Lovely.

Well lucky for me the guys in Semporna were actually right in telling me I could catch another van today and the driver took me right up to the other van and I hopped in and was off. There were only 3 passengers on that 3-hour leg here; it was raining mostly the whole ride and we passed more than one accident, but I was still feeling better off than if I’d had to stay in that shanty town.

The driver was really sweet in the end and helped me find a place to stay which is where I’m at now – the Sepilok B&B. It’s so great when things work out like this.

Orangutans tomorrow!

My last day of diving (until next time…)

Entry Filed under: Borneo,Diving,Malaysia