Remember those tacky designer imposter perfumes? If you like Elizabeth Arden’s Sunflowers You’ll Love…Sun Showers, or whatever. I’ll admit they smelled like ass, but there was a certain marketing genius in the concept. Logic dictates that if for instance, you like Camaros you probably also like body building or cheap leather jackets. Which is why I now inuit that: if you like Lonely Planet guides you’ll love Kota Kinabalu.
We spent the day visiting the islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, a five island spread off the coast of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. On Mamutik Island we swam and sunbathed, pointedly ignoring the fact that the ocean had detritus muddying up its green water and that is was “jellyfish season." Youthful backpackers had set up camp in a tent, its dilapidated frame packed with bunks swarthed in dirty mosquito netting. Strung up on clotheslines outside were sweaty underpants and muddy rucksacks. Oh to be 21 again!!! I wondered if at their age I would’ve had the guts to book a vacation here and after witnessing the bathrooms (I mean…holes in the tile floor) I quickly realized that no, I was always more of a high thread count sheet kind of girl. I can rough it with the best of ‘em, but certainly not for grubby beaches and murky water – that I can get at Jones Beach, thank you very much.
That afternoon we not-so-sadly parted ways with Mamutik Island and headed to Pulau Gaya for a rainforest trek. In what felt like two hundred degree weather with 100% humidity we combated mosquitoes, attacking us the way Lindsay Lohan does an 8-ball in her suite at the Chateau Marmont. After slogging through miles of knee-deep mud I had the epiphany that Kota Kinabalu had been a letdown. But isn’t traveling about discovering what you do and don’t like? Well, now I know. Give me sunset in a garden in Provence with chilled white wine, the smell of lavender and a tuna nicoise salad– as of now, my days of backpacking are officially over.
We spent the day visiting the islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, a five island spread off the coast of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. On Mamutik Island we swam and sunbathed, pointedly ignoring the fact that the ocean had detritus muddying up its green water and that is was “jellyfish season." Youthful backpackers had set up camp in a tent, its dilapidated frame packed with bunks swarthed in dirty mosquito netting. Strung up on clotheslines outside were sweaty underpants and muddy rucksacks. Oh to be 21 again!!! I wondered if at their age I would’ve had the guts to book a vacation here and after witnessing the bathrooms (I mean…holes in the tile floor) I quickly realized that no, I was always more of a high thread count sheet kind of girl. I can rough it with the best of ‘em, but certainly not for grubby beaches and murky water – that I can get at Jones Beach, thank you very much.
That afternoon we not-so-sadly parted ways with Mamutik Island and headed to Pulau Gaya for a rainforest trek. In what felt like two hundred degree weather with 100% humidity we combated mosquitoes, attacking us the way Lindsay Lohan does an 8-ball in her suite at the Chateau Marmont. After slogging through miles of knee-deep mud I had the epiphany that Kota Kinabalu had been a letdown. But isn’t traveling about discovering what you do and don’t like? Well, now I know. Give me sunset in a garden in Provence with chilled white wine, the smell of lavender and a tuna nicoise salad– as of now, my days of backpacking are officially over.
1 comment:
that's great. it reminds me of how a friend from college used to denigrate the country of haiti all of the time. por ejemplo: "[insert name of annoying/awkward person] is cool" and then he would sort of raise his voice to add "...in Haiti."
ps - i realize i studied geography at colgate, but i officially have no idea where you are and it's reminding me of that movie that i can't think of the name that sucked with leonardo di caprio and i ended up avoiding it for like five years then i was like forced to see it - - the one where they were in some place that no one knew where they were and they jumped off huge ledges into waterfalls with moby playing in the background -- anyway, if you think of the name of that movie, let me know...
another ps - thank you're lucky stars taht you two are being spared the agony of converting back to daylight savings time right now. i'm basically a zombie and while i've changed all of the clocks to the correct time, i feel dead inside - - actually, i don't know if you are being spared because i have no idea what time zone you are currently in - crazy to think you'll have traveled through all time zones of the world during this trip. you'll have to let me know which is your favorite so i can move there...
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