Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Locals of Sandakan were a very refreshing change after Ranau - lots of hello's, smiles, waving hands, and welcome's. We stayed at a hotel run by a very prudent Chinese family. The owner was a little grumpy, but knew his business very well, and made sure his rooms have everything a tired long-distance traveler needs - clean sheets, towels, soap, flip-flops for bathroom use, cold and hot drinking water, numerous hangers, ropes to hang your washed clothes to dry, AC (yes!), AND even flat screen satellite TV along with DVD player. Keep in mind, we also are talking here about about a budget hotel for 45 Ringets (about 15 USD). I know, for those having traveled in SE Asia, the description above is beyond believe (unless of course you are staying at a higher end hotel, which we refuse to do). In addition, the owner was guarding the entry like a watch dog, so we felt we were staying in a fortress, with top notch security. Being away from the West, we caught up on a few movies and excellent National Geographic series. One of them was actually about Orangutans, which we'd happened to experience ourselves just a few days prior in Sepilok.

Another pleasant thing about Sandakan was a great cheap Indian restaurant (yes, I am still fixated on my favorite Indian cuisine). And again the place was run by easy going guys from Kerala, so we established the rapport pretty quick, and, needless to say here, were not over charged a single penny for al three days we ate there. We also stumbled by a a small pancake stall run by a shy Muslim lady. The pancakes were great and cheap - they were not your usual pancakes - they came with shredded coconut and were almost half inch thick, meaning were very filling. After the 2nd time we came to buy a few more from her, we were welcomed with a huge smile, and both the stall lady and locals eating there were very pleased and proud that we liked the food so much, that we came back again.

Rob and I also spent a day exploring the town by foot - from an unusual Japanese cemetery to a Mayor residence, from a Chinese temple to an English write house, from an ancient burial to a track and field field. At the latter, the locals were surprised but pleased to see foreigners, and were were greeted with lots of hello's, smiles and waving hands.

Please don't think though, that everything is so rosy and cheery here. Leaving town was a small disaster; actually, we had to leave town twice, literally. You see, we wanted to visit an area called Kinabatangan, which is supposedly one of the best areas to encounter the wildlife. We also wanted to do that independently - no packages, no tour groups. And, an independent planning just doesn't fly with the transportation cartel, who are ripping foreigners off like banana peels. I am hoping Rob would write up a special entry, for now here is my synopsis...