RTW Nomad - Part II

The last week was very busy. It started with a long ferry trip from Brunei to Sabah, that reconfirmed that I shouldn't be so cheap and I should pay $2 more to go first class instead of economy class in a ferry. Everyone was sick in the economy area, because it was at the bottom all I could see was water, so it looked more like a submarine than a ferry from my point of view, and the movie they played was Titanic (this is the second time that I watch Titanic in a ferry ride, let me tell you that it doesn't help your nerves while you are in a ferry)

In Sabah, I went to the capital Kota Kinabalu and rested for the night, and from there I took a minibus to Mt. Kinabalu National Park where I stayed overnight in a dorm to start a two-day trek to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu (4,095 Meters) early the next day. The next day I met two Dutch guys and one American that were solo travelers as well so we hired a guide and shared the costs. The trek the first day was very long and difficult because you go up all the way, it was raining, my clothes were wet even if I had a rain jacket on, it was slippery and there were steps about three feet tall. After six hours I made it to the area where the huts are at an elevation of 3,200 meters. I ate and went to bed pretty early because I had a light headache and we had to get up at two in the morning to get an early start to see the sunrise at the summit.

Miraculously, the rain stopped. And at three in the morning the two Dutch guys, the American, the guide and I started our trek to the summit. I was feeling really bad because I had a cold, but I wanted to continue to the top, but I wasn't as fast as the guys so I let them go in front of me and I stayed with the guide. The summit trek was very hard, slippery from the rain, very inclined, had to use ropes to climb some of the inclined boulders and I got a little bit of altitude sickness after one hour of trek. I had to sit down because I got a horrible headache and nauseas and had to stop for thirty minutes. I thought about going back, but I knew I would have been very disappointed if I hadn't made it to the top. So I continued going up very slowly. I had to stop every minute to take some deep breaths and my heart was beating really fast. I met a girl that was going to my pace and had an asthma spray that she let me borrow a couple of times. After four hours and fifteen minutes I made it to Lowe's Peak at 4,095 meters (it takes most people about three hours to summit). Well, I made it, very slowly, but I made it. It was beautiful and surprisingly not very cold. I am glad to be so stubborn, because my stubbornness and pride were the only things that made me keep going.

After the summit I went back to the hut to have breakfast and met the guys again to get down to the park headquarters. The way down was a lot easier for me because I was able to breath as I got to lower altitudes. It was slippery but pretty easy for me since I had walking poles with me.

After having lunch at the park, one of the Dutch guys and I went to the other side of the park to a place where they had hot springs. It was nice to soak the aching muscles in hot water. The next morning my calves were very sore but I forced myself to wake up early to go to a canopy walk. Once again, I had to go up on a trail which only took me fifteen minutes but they were pretty painful fifteen minutes since I was so sore. At the top of the hill there were six consecutive rope bridges that went from tree top to tree top. The view was amazing, walking along tree tops and feeling so tall was incredible. After this trek, I also visited a butterfly garden where I saw about fifty different types of colorful and large butterflies. It was very beautiful and relaxing.

From the hot springs, I shared a taxi with the Dutch guy to the bus station. He was going back to Kota Kinabalu and I was going to Sepilok where they have an orangutan rehabilitation center. At the bus station, I met the other Dutch guy that I had trek with and he was going to Sepilok too, so we took the bus together. The ride was really nice, an AC bus that was comfortable and the scenery was beautiful with rolling hills with crop terraces.

We found a nice and cheap place in front of the orangutan center where we stayed overnight and had dinner and played cards. In just three weeks of travel, I have met three Dutch guys and they all have one thing in common, they don't know how to shuffle cards, it's like they just slap cards against each other without actually mixing them. It's a really funny thing to see.

At ten in the morning we went to the rehabilitation center. Basically, the orphan orangutans that have a difficult time finding food come to a platform where they are fed everyday with milk, bananas and sugar cane at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. About ten meters from the feeding platform is where the tourists are. The orangutans start coming fifteen minutes before feeding time through ropes and are impatient for their meal. It's nice to see them hanging from ropes but they are actually very quite animals and didn't interact between each other as much as I expected. After twenty minutes of feeding, they leave and the macaques come to get the leftovers, and although they are not as impressive as orangutans they are quite mischievous, fun, loud and feisty.

At 12:15 I was supposed to be picked up by a tour to take me on a three day/two night safari on the Kinabatagan River but they never showed up. So at 3:00 PM, I went to see the orangutan feeding again since I could use the morning ticket. From there the Dutch guy and I took a taxi to the main junction to take a couple of buses to get to a village called Sukau, where the Kinabatagan River safaris are launched. It was raining and the taxi driver was concerned that we wouldn't find a bus to our final destination and that we would get stuck along a main road with no place to stay overnight. So after dropping us off at the junction, he came back and pointed his house saying we could stay with him and his family if we didn't find a bus. After talking to several bus drivers that laughed at us when we said we wanted to get to Sakau, we decided to take a bus to Sandakan (the second largest city in Sabah) which was only one hour away.

We spent the night there and looked for a tour to Kinabatagan from there but they were very expensive, so we decided to try to go there on our own even if the Lonely Planet guide said that it was very difficult to get there. Maybe we were lucky but we got there in about five hours and didn't have to wait very long for the buses. The first bus was from Sandakan to the junction to Sakau, and from there the road was really bad and we took a van to Sakau, pretty easy ride besides the fact that the guys in the van had to get out and push the van before we could get it started. We stayed at a home stay, a nice place owned by a family along the River Bank and we took a boat trip to see birds and the proboscis monkeys only seen in Borneo.

The next morning, we left Sakau at 8:00 AM and took a van to the junction. From there the Dutch guy was going to another city and I was going back to Sandakan for my 1:55 PM flight to Kota Kinabalu. At the junction, a private van picked me up to the next junction. At the second junction, I took a very slow bus to Sandakan, a bus that played very loud Guns N' Roses music but yet I could hear the sound of the roosters that were not happy being in a nylon bag riding the bus. After I got to Sandakan, I took a taxi to the airport and I was there at 1:00 PM, which was perfect to check in for my 1:55 PM flight. Except that when I went to check in, they told me that 1:55 PM was the arrival time and the departure time was 1:10 PM. Everyone was in the plane and this was the last flight to Kota Kinabalu (If I missed this flight that meant that I would have to take an eight hour bus to Kota Kinabalu or that I would have missed my flight from Kota Kinabalu to Manila as well). I made a sad face hoping that they would feel pity for me and they did. They radio the captain of the plane, and he said he could wait but I had to run. The girl at the check in wrote a pass for me, people at the security gate let me go in really fast, everyone cheered and laughed and I could hear from the radios: where is the girl?, she is running. I run really fast through the landing strip towards the plane with my big backpack and when I made it to the ladder someone took the bag from me. I saw the captain from the window and I thanked him for waiting and when I got in the plane everyone made fun of me. Anyway, I made it to Kota Kinabalu where I spent the night and took my flight to Manila.

There are three things I hate about traveling. The worst is getting traveller's diarrhea, the second squat toilets and the third one unscrupulous taxi drivers, even worse is getting traveller's diarrhea and having a squat toilet.

Luckily I have only encountered the squatting toilets in this trip so far. But I absolutely hate them. Some holes are so small and some to large that I am afraid I am going to slip and fall in. Although most holes are the size of a western toilet and they indicate where your feet should be placed. I have gotten used to the squatting, but these toilet rooms are always wet becuase people don't use toilet paper. Instead there is a bucket full of water with a container that you use to wash yourself after using the facilities (yes, I always have toilet paper with me) and that you use to put water into the toilet to flush it. The floor is always wet because after people use the toilet they pour water over the whole room.

Here is a funny photo that is telling you that the squat toitet (tiny hole in this case) is just for peeing.

Well, I have always hated using these toilets because they are uncomfortable but mainly because they are not very hyeginic. Unless it's a real emergency I wait until I find a western style toilet. A couple of days ago, I was very surprised after encountering proof that there are people that hate western toilets as much as I hate squatting toilets, and I felt very bad for them. I mean, how hard it must be to squat on top of a western toilet, keep balance and do what you intend to do. The girl that used the toilet in the picture below obvioulsy had a difficult time using this toilet.

Here is what I found in wikepida about the western vs. squatting toilet issue:

Arguments in favor of squat toilets

It is less expensive and easier to clean and maintain.
squat toilet does not involve any contact between the buttocks and a potentially unsanitary surface.
The lack of water in the bowl avoids the problem of splashing.
Squatting might help to build the required pressure more comfortably and quickly.
Squatting makes elimination faster, easier and more complete.
Elimination in squatting posture protects the nerves that control the prostate, bladder and uterus from becoming stretched and damaged.
Squatting relaxes the puborectalis muscle which normally chokes the rectum in order to maintain continence.
Squatting securely seals the ileocecal valve, between the colon and the small intestine. In the conventional sitting position, this valve is unsupported and often leaks during evacuation.
For pregnant women, squatting avoids pressure on the uterus when using the toilet. Daily squatting helps prepare the mother-to-be for a more natural delivery.
Hemorrhoids are an extremely common problem, especially in western countries, where surveys suggest that as much as half of the population over 40 years of age may suffer some form of mild to severe discomfort from them. One proposed way to prevent and cure hemorrhoids is to squat for defecation.
Squatting may reduce the occurrence or severity of hemorrhoids and possibly other colorectal disorders such as diverticulosis and appendicitis.

Arguments against squat toilets

A common argument against the squat toilet is that if toilet paper is used where there is no flushing system installed, it is easy for the inexperienced user to clog the toilet. Those unfamiliar with the squat toilet should be sure to ask the location of the flushing bucket before attempting use. These buckets flush the toilets manually like a tank would.
Squat toilets are not accessible to handicapped or disabled persons; to use squat toilets a person must have complete use and mobility of both their legs and arms, which would hinder many people with physical challenges.
People with subpar accuracy may miss the center of the squat and the fecal content may be left at the edge.
When fecal matter drops into the toilet the odor may increase as a western toilet traps the odor under water.
Users must undress completely waist-down to prevent soiling clothes.

My additional arguments

The floor is always wet and maybe the water is not just water but a mix of water and pee, so you should never use flip flops to enter these toilets.
There is higher chance of getting Hepatitis A, touching the handle of that container that has been touched by hands have previously touched asses doesn't seem very hyginic. (Thankfully I have been vaccinated against this)
They stink. They smell like pee.
There is not place to hang your bag, so you either have to put it on the wet floor or on your lap while you are squatting which makes it even more difficult to balance.

I obviously have too much time in my hands if I am writing about toilets. Well, I have four hours before my ferry departs and nothing better to do. Ahhh, it's good to be unemployed.