Travel Bitee

Dream. Travel. Explore. Repeat. 

I have been planning a trip for a very long time which can make me knock senseless and can make me feel alive. I have always been more of a solo traveller, taking myself to all those hilly areas but nothing ever really knocked me like the place I recently visited with my group.

It all started with me scrolling on my Instagram feed when I came across this contest that has been sponsored by Travel dot earth. The contest was very simple- we just had to choose the category that we were interested in and I happened to choose ‘Travel photography.’ So, with really no hope of getting in this contest, I still gave my submission and out of 54 bloggers they ended up choosing me as well. Then the madness for this journey started..

I think after reading my analogue, you must be able to figure out the place that stupefied me completely- It was none other than the state of Sabah which is a beautiful and a breath-taking part of Malaysia.

Travelling has never been such a great experience as it was sponsored partner by yours truly ‘Malaysia truly Asia’– It is well said that ‘Journey is better than destination’ and Air Asia really have that to offer you! I boarded my flight from Jaipur International Airport along with my group members. I was hesitant to travel like this for the first time but then there was something in me telling me that I am going to have the time of my life, so I just went with my gut. 

So, on the first day as I have mentioned, we took the flight from Jaipur international airport, which was a connecting flight, making us land to Kuala lumpur  airport where we waited for two hours to board our next flight to Kota Kinabalu. Now, I always have this urge of exploring the places around me, so my group members and I started exploring the Kuala Lumpur airport where we find ourselves going cuckoo over Charles and Keith because of their collection of amazing bags and other accessories. And can you imagine what else we discovered there, that the electronical items at Kuala Lampur airport were much cheaper than India. So, next time you guys plan to buy any electronic item, buy it from Kuala Lumpur airport. Just saying!

So after wandering around for two straight hours in Kuala Lumpur airport, we finally boarded our flight and after almost two and half hour on flight, we finally landed to our destination- Kota Kinabalu, where we were received by our tour guide- Kristine, who was such a sweetheart to us, without any doubt. She stick by us hooligans from the very beginning and she is also one of the reason we could experience Sabah with so much ease.

Kota Kinabalu

Let me tell you about this place that I went ga-ga over. Kota Kinabalu is the state capital of Sabha and it got it’s name from the Mount Kinabalu located in the east side of Sabha.

This place made me realize that my decision of coming over to this place was definitely worth the shot. For once in my life, my gut feeling did not betray me. So, the next few days, The Avangio hotel in Kota Kinabalu was my den. The view from that hotel was breath-taking. It filled me with so much enthusiasm to see what this trip has next for me in the store.

Later in the evening, we all went to explore the streets of Kota Kinabalu, where we find the streets very clean. That’s the rare sight for an Indian! I am not saying we don’t have clean roads but the stillness that is there, that’s something we usually never find in India. So while exploring the streets of Kota Kinabalu, we came across this restaurant by the name of Jom Penyet where we tried the authentic Malaysian food which was finger-licking good!!

After being rested, we all decided to explore Kota Kinabalu, to know what it really has to offer to us. So, we find ourselves coming across to some eye-catching infrastructure of City mosque and the museum in Kota Kinabalu.

If you have a thing for architecture and history of different places, then you’ll find just that if you visit the museum of Kota Kinabalu. This place has a history which inspires you, and it just doesn’t only offer the history of the place but about their culture as well which is equally mesmerizing as its history. This place even has a heritage village which allows guests a chance to view several traditional houses of Sabah within a small area; and among them was Bajau house which was complete with a marriage dais. Also, in the main building of the Sabah’s museum, I came across this gigantic skeleton of a dinosaur which really fascinated me to the core. 

After visiting the museum, we explored the City mosque of Kota Kinabalu which is the second main mosque after State mosque in Sembulan. This mosque is also known by the name of ‘floating mosque’ because it is partially surrounded by the human-made lagoon. The kind of awe I was at when I saw this enchanting mosque only made me feel so overwhelmed!This mosque happens to be a common tourist destination and if you are a travel photographer, you are going to love this place.

Then there was a beach by the name of Tanjung Aru which is another famous tourist destination in Kota Kinabalu. This place is filled with so much amazing vibe, the waves of the sea touching your feet and the sunset that you get to experience there, it was when I felt so speechless and overwhelmed with joy. This place brought me closer to myself.

But then the day didn’t end there, after a long , tiring but a knowledgeable day in the streets of Kota Kinabalu, we decided to get grooving and crazy. We found ourselves on the door of Waterfront which is a dining and entertainment centre. This place comes to life after hours, and you can find different outlets to choose from here, from Indian cuisine to fusion food, that is, if you are feeling a little adventurous. This place has the cheapest everything. We ordered a tower of beer which cost me just 80ringgits, which is, 1400/- INR, and it was all worth it. 

Fun fact- I along with four of my friends ended up crashing at this place almost every night because of the different vibes this place offered us. It was filled with so much fun and laughter and some amazing moments together. 

Then came the best next two days of my life where I felt like I am the George of the Jungle. 

As a kid I have grown up watching Tarzan or the George of the jungle, and my stay at Kondius point which is in Kiulu, made me feel all such sort of feelings and made me so overwhelmed. There was trekking involved which we started from the suspension bridge and the moment we started the trek, I was assured that this is going to be legend-wait for it-dary– legendary trekk!! As the trekk moved forward, my guide (christine) made us meet three main guides of this jungle- The first men, Sam-The Jungle Man and Boi. Let me tell you about these guys, they were like Bagheera and Babloo to my Mowgli.

The First Man- He taught us about the basics of the plantations in the jungle; whereas Sam,The jungle man – He was the one who knew everything about the jungle that you’ll need to know in order to survive in the wilderness. 

Sam taught us all about the plantations, and he taught us how they extract the rubber out of the trees or they collect food out of those plantations. This experience wasn’t only restricted to knowing about the flora and fauna around us but I ended up climbing the mountains, bringing out my wild side in that wilderness. I felt like hooting like a gorilla honestly. 

Then Boi took me and my group for rafting, where we all felt so rejuvenated among the wild current of the river. Later, we all tried out their local alcohol which is made up of rice, consisting of 16% of the alcohol. Also, we tried out their local cuisine which was so mouth-watering. I also learned how to do fishing. But then the real deal was when we camped under the stars and looking at them just made me think about infinity and beyond. And this wasn’t only the highlights of my jungle trip, the people of Kondis organized a cultural dance for us on our last night there which made me appreciate the beauty of diversification in our cultures and all of them were looking so marvellous. But that wasn’t it, we made them dance to the beats of some Punjabi tadka and they joyfully danced with us.

 Then next day, my friends and I moved to Shangri la resort which was the last part of my Sabah’s itinerary where we had to attend our Blogger’s convention. But before I tell you all about the convention, let me tell you something about Shangri La hotel. 

This hotel has atleast 662 luxurious guest rooms and suites which gave you such amazing glimpse of the view of the city. In this hotel, you will find all the luxurious and modern amenities and a unique blend of the Asian-accented contemporary style combined with peaceful and relaxed ambience. They even have their private beach which is so spectacular and awe-inspiring, where the staff of the hotel organized Sundown dinner for us, by serving us the taste of our Indian cuisine. 

Then came the moment of our lives ‘TheEarthyAwards’ which was organised by ‘Travel dot earth.’ It is a blogger’s convention, where all the 54 bloggers from India were gathered together and they were awarded for their hard work over the year. I did not happen to win an award but they did display one of my post which was presented in front of everyone, that was still a proud moment for me. 

Though I could not grab any award but my room partner Sandeep Bhatia, who is known as ‘Delhifundoos’ was given an award for his marvellous and mind-blowing stories on his Instagram portal, where he covered his time in Sabah tourism. This guy, ladies and gentleman, is such an inspirational person as he taught me so much about blogging do’s and dont’s. You know after meeting him, I did realize that there are times when you meet certain people and they inspire you in ways that they even couldn’t imagine. The convention was so inspiring for me and I learned a lot of technicalities of blogging. It did make me realize that being a blogger is not a piece-of-cake either. 

 

Now, as the show ended, I found myself surrounded with people who turned into a family over a period of a week. As the time came nearer to go back home, I couldn’t let myself get prepared to see myself back into mundane. But then everything good has to come to an end eventually and it is inevitable. Yet, I could say that this experience that I took away with me has made me feel that I wasn’t wrong choosing this field for myself where I have so much to learn and have a long way before I can say I  am home. 

 

Thank you, Travel dot Earth for choosing me and letting me experience a place this wonderful and my fellow bloggers for your immense support and love over this one week.