Village Life in Ranau, Sabah!

Hi guys. This entry will entail the most fun and exciting weekend of our trip thus far and maybe even our lives thus far. Our dear friend Hunther, whom we met through Couchsurfing,com, of course and became great friends with, invited us to his family's village in the hills of the Ranau district of Sabah, right at the foot of Mount Kinabalu. This time was definitely the highlight of our travels and, as you will see, the highlight of my amateur photography career. So, without further ado, lets begin....

We're driving out of KK in his sister's four-wheel drive.

This is the view from his family's home perched on the hill.  So beautiful!

This is their pet monkey named Biju, lovingly named after the famous Indonesian soap opera star. Such a CUTIE!

More views from their front door.

And more views.

And MORE views. I couldn't stop photographing. This was what we woke up to every morning. Ah, Lovely Sabah!

The next day, Hunther took us to his family's pineapple farm deep in the hills.

This is a rubber tree.

Rubber is a huge export in Sabah. They take hatchets and chip away at the trees and let the rubber milk drip into the cups (kinda like how we make maple syrup). They then take the milk and harden it into sheet form. Rubber tappers make great money in Sabah.

The children in the shot are Hunther's adorable little nieces and nephew.

"Hey guys, wait up for us!"

Just trekkin' and chattin'.

There we are in front of the famour Mt. Kinabalu before it gets shrouded in the day's clouds.

A gnarly caterpillar of some sort....I think.

Making our way through the pineapple groves.

Taking a break at hut.

And snacking on wild tomatoes.

Lets take a closer look.

Some other worm-like creature all curled up on the path.

This is a baby pineapple. Isn't it cute!

"Adu, Adu!" - "It hurts, it hurts!"

The pineapple leaves are like serrated knives gently sweeping across your skin.

These kids treated these like their backyard.

So WONDERFUL!

There we are again. Yep... that's us.

"Hey guys, wait up!"

Here's Hunther preparing us fresh pineapple chopped down just a few meters from where we were sitting. Mmmm!

A shot of one of the many villages that belong to Hunther's family. That's a his mom who is sitting in front.

Same hut, but from a different angle. Gorgeous!

Me and his nieces and nephew. Awwwww.

All I can say is....CUTIES!

AWWWWW!

Their house had animals EVERYWHERE. One of those chickens became our dinner. Delicious!

Mmmm. The dishes here consist of rice, dried fish, veggies (picked that day) and deer (hunted last week).

There are some of us, sans moi of course. But Hunther's family is so big, it was hard to gather everyone for a group shot.

Well, that's it. This was the BEST WEEKEND EVER! Hunther's family are some of the sweetesr people we have ever met. They accepted Ami and I and took us in like one of their own right away. A few hours into our stay, they were already lamenting how much they would miss us when we leave. Hunther's mom took us to her church on Sunday morning and Ami and I really felt like we were one of her kids, the way she gave us some ringgits when we awkwardly forgot our wallets for the collection basket during mid-service. It was all the sweetest experience ever. They have already invited us to come back.

Ok, so now Ami and I are off to a beach side coconut plantation to help an ex-pat couple build their self-sustaining orchard for a couple of weeks, maybe more. There will be no electricity so no internet. It will be a while till the next blog or till any videos are added to the existing entries. So become a follower of this blog and your e-mail will notify you of the next entry and you don't have to keep checking.

P.S. Mind all the spelling errors and lack of informational value. I'm packing in a rush as I write this.

Till next time folks!

Ah, Lovely Sabah

Hi all. Here is a quick entry show you guys our our first few days in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. It is the most beautiful place Ami and I have ever visited. The air, the people and the energy is all so lovely and soft. Ah, lovely Sabah. Once again life is wisking us away. We are just on our way out to another Couchsurfer get together at Wong's Cafe.  Great people, great coffee, great vibes. Time is tight and the internet connection is even tighter. Here are a some photos of the adventures that our Couchsurfing friends have taken us on. 

This is the pretty much the view from every hostel we have stayed at...beautiful.

This is the view of the harbour of Kota Kinabalu.

First day there, we took a boat to the nearby islands...

For some beach fun....

Some splish splashing....

And of course....

SNORKELING!!!

After only two minutes in the water, Ami and I quickly decided that we would HAVE to get our diving licenses in Sabah. The underwater life is breathtaking! Not even five meters off the shoreline and we were surrounded by hundreds of tropical fish all swimming around us above an ocean floor of rich coral and exotic plant life. We then returned to the city for, what else....

FISH!!!!

Our next adventure involved staying with our CS (couchsurfer) friend in his apartment in the outskirts of KK (Kota Kinabalu). He was so nice to us. Ami and I were able to see another part of the city that wasn't filled with hostels and shopping malls although we do love hostels and shopping malls. 

Here's the view from his apartment complex.

Here are some shots of the weekly market near his house. Mmmm, fresh bananas.

And fresh tobacco.

And fresh eels, still alive! Mmmmm.

We then took our friends mountain bikes and rode through a muddy morning rush hour to his high school's track and field day at the local stadium.

 

Thanks Chai for all the fun!

The next day, Ami and I met up with another CS friend who took us to a wonderful aquatic life education center called the Green Connection. Here are some shots.

It's a bunch of finding Nimo's. Actually, they're called Clown Fish.

It was fun to actually pick up the starfish and hold it.

At feeding hour, we got to feed the stingrays.

And finally smoke our lovely Sabah tobacco.

There was a picture of Ami and I holding a snake, but how overdone is it for a travel blog to show it's author holding a snake? I mean c'mon. 

Well, that's it for my first Sabah entry. The second one will be coming soon. Once again, I'm writing this in a huge rush. If you revisit these entries later, there will be a lot more informational value and videos!!, Lots of videos! Stay tuned and revisit this later, like, a month later. 

Till next time!