The story of my first night in Kota Kinabalu (and the first night of my trip!) is one of my favorites. If you believe in omens, this was a good omen to end all good omens.
I had woken up very early to catch my flight from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Once I got to KL I had to then get through immigration and customs and transfer to the domestic terminal. This was to be my first taste of Southeast Asia culture shock, fairly mild in the wider scheme of things, but on that day it was enough to thrill and intimidate me. Ok what am I talking about?
KL’s international airport is one of the nicest airports I have ever seen. It is like a giant luxury duty free shopping mall that also happens to have airplanes. In contrast, the domestic terminal is an unorganized cattle call where all the farmers left and now the cattle (passengers) are all milling about trying to get on planes that probably aren’t there at all.
Yeah I’m exaggerating but on that first day that was how it felt. I had a boarding pass for the domestic flight from KL to Kota Kinabalu (KK) that I had received in Seoul when I checked in, so I confidently walked up to domestic security and tried to walk through. No ma’am, you need to check in again. Okay, so I head to the unmarked check in desks. Where do I check in? I ask… oh you go to those automatic kiosks over there. Great. Oh wait, they don’t work. I can’t use them. Back to the unmarked desks… “Where are you going?” Kota Kinabalu. “Ah, um… let me ask someone… desks 40-55” 40-55 were ALL of the desks that were open. Everyone going to different places. Long story short I did eventually check in and got to wait in the terminal for my flight. The ticket said boarding at 6:55, take off at 7:25. Boarding happened at 7:20, still took off at 7:25. (I made up these times, I don’t remember what time the flight actually happened. Not important.) I will give Malaysia this: they are bomb at getting people onto planes quickly. Just don’t expect to follow the stated timetable. Ever. It is what I have come to affectionately call “southeast asia time”. The bus WILL come, and we WILL get to our destination, but what’s the hurry? If it is one or two hours late, it’s no worries.
So anyway, short flight and I arrive late at night at KK. Fun fact, you actually go through a second immigration when you enter the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo and get a second stamp on your passport. So in one day I got 3 stamps!
Go out to the taxi area thinking “here goes nothing.” I’ve got no idea how I will get into the city, where I will go once I get there, or what to expect when I leave this airport. Immediately a man asks me if I need a taxi. At the time this felt lucky, I have since learned that this is just normal. In fact, if you exit an airport in Southern Asia without someone trying to drive you wherever you want, something is very, very wrong.
Out of sheer exhaustion I decided not to look for other options and I hopped into the car with the first taxi guy. Turned out to be a good move because when I gave him the name of the one hostel I had heard of, he not only knew where it was, but knew the owners name and seemed to be on good terms with her. Quick drive and we pull into Australia Place, the street in Kota Kinabalu that houses all travelers. It is lined with hostels with names like “Borneo Backpackers” all basically priced the same and a very welcome sight to someone who has been on a plane all day. Even if Travelers Light didn’t have a bed, ONE of these places had to.
Walk up to the door and immediately 4 screaming kids come stampeding down the stairs and break like a wave around my feet. Following them is a young woman who stops yelling after the kids mid-sentence when she sees me standing there looking bewildered. After a brief conversation with the cab driver that I don’t understand, she invites me inside and asks if I need a room. I say yes, please, a dorm, and she says “ok come upstairs, I’ll show you, you pay me later.”
Again, another first impression that would later become normal but in that moment I was so SHOCKED by how informal the interaction was. I was used to the firm structure of a typical western hotel. Give your name and information, get a key and assigned room. None of that here, I was shown to a room and allowed to throw my bag down on any open bed without giving any info. Then Joy says to me, “come out back, we’re having a birthday party.”
So I follow her to a deck out behind the hostel. This is one of my favorite parts of this hostel in fact, it has a deck that looks onto a wall of jungle. Pretty cool.
So this birthday party was all locals. The table was covered in Malay and Phillipino dishes, a pot of rice, and I think 5 different cakes, all to celebrate the birthday of an older gentleman who lived nearby. The women, Joy included, were all speaking Phillipino, but I was invited to eat as much as I wanted. And in fact even after I was full the women kept trying to get me to eat more food, more rice.
The birthday boy was very talkative, and very interested in who I was. Joy started out offering me beers, but we quickly progressed to taking shots of pineapple vodka together. Soon some other locals showed up for the party, including a guy about my age named Muhammed. He would later become a good friend in town, but on this first night he seemed shy. Still, between birthday guy and myself, we got him to come out of his shell a bit. Soon I was being invited to go out for karaoke with them both. The idea was tempting and in retrospect I wish I had said yes, but it was late and I had been awake at 4:30 that morning to catch a flight, so they headed out to the karaoke bar without me.
Just as I was about to head to bed a guy from Croatia turned up and I ended up talking to him for over an hour. It was the last night of his six month trip, and I was meeting him on the first night of mine. Quite a strange overlap and I was so interested to hear all about his experiences.
I remember feeling overwhelmed and so full of awe. What was ahead of me? Six months of nights like this? Six months of facing the unexpected and feeling so happy? So relaxed? So comfortable in the unfamiliar? I was filled with optimism and even in my exhausted state could not WAIT to wake up the next morning and explore.
Okay, so there is the story of my first night on Borneo, first night as a traveler. Still uncomfortable in my traveler identity but so ready to begin to figure out how I fit into this traveler world.
I don’t PLAN to write a single blog post for every day of my trip. I calculated it and that would require 130 more posts. Not happening. So next time hopefully I will cover the story of my first few days on Borneo, including exploring KK and the surrounding tropical islands. Spoiler Alert: first time in a jungle. First time ever snorkeling.
Recommendations:
www.airasia.com Budget airline that serves pretty much all of Asia. Based out of Malaysia so most flights get routed through KL.
http://www.travellerslight.com/ Rooms are clean, dorms aren’t overwhelmingly large, and Joy, the woman who runs the place, is super friendly. But if she is full, you’ll be on Australia Place so you can easily find another place to stay. I think there are like 10 hostels on that street.
