I'm off to explore Malaysia :)

For the first time in ages, I went traveling on my own as hubby wasn’t able to get any time off and I had 3 weeks of annual leave I hadn’t used.  I decided to go to Malaysia as there were cheap flights available and it wasn’t high on Shannon’s list of places to visit.  I had no idea how awesome it’d be until I started reading the Lonely Planet 2 days prior to my departure!

I spent a couple of days in KL exploring though I can’t say I did much as it was hot, humid and raining heavily before I headed over to Kota Kinabalu, fondly called KK by the locals and tourists.  It’s on Malaysian Borneo Island as is everything else I plan to to visit while I’m here.  KK had a lovely vibe to it and I spent a day visiting a mangrove forest and touring around the coastline.  I also spent a lot of time eating as it’s renown for having great food. 

My plan was to head east across the country by bus and then fly back to KL and home however my plan was thwarted as hiking Mt. Kinabalu wasn’t available until mid to late October so I had to revisit my entire itinerary - the joys of traveling on the fly! :) 

I headed east to Mabul Island for some scuba diving and island relaxation.  The scenery was gorgeous, the other divers were lovely, the food was delicious and the scuba diving (once I remembered what I was doing) was phenomenal!  I dove 3 times a day, quickly doubling my previous dive count of 4.  More importantly, I couldn’t believe the fish and turtles I saw underwater – there were 10+ green and hawkesbill turtles (some over 3m in diameter), a couple of sea snakes including one that was 1.2m in lengths, schools of fish, a number of moray eels, some bubble coral shrimp and a crocodile flathead.  I was envious of people who’d brought along go-pros and similar so they could take pictures underwater as there was so much to photograph!  I definitely don’t want to leave it for another 12 years before I go diving again :)

I'm off on a jungle safari - fingers crossed I get to see some pygmy elephants!