Borneo – Day 14 – Wednesday 10 July

Our last day began with a trip into town to pick up some souvenirs for family back home.
After an hour or two of that, we returned to the resort.
After lunch, I decided I was going to take that walk across to the fishing village on the other side of the bay.
I grabbed my gear and headed off. Once I got to the beach, I was astounded to find a heap of boats (maybe 20-30) that had been washed up really high above the water line.
At first, I was astounded to think that the owners of these boats would just leave them to rot on the beach without making any attempt to dispose of them properly.
Then it occurred to me…. if the rubbish on Patong Patong Beach on Pulau Tiga was due tot he Japanese tsunami, then it would stand to reason that those same king tides would probably be responsible for these boats having been washed so far up above the normal high tide waterline. And that would explain why most of them are now half submerged in the sand.
I made it through the boat graveyard and into the village.
I did at one point wonder if I was being reckless… after all, I’m white, an obvious tourist, and carrying camera gear (my DSLR was in my hands the whole time of course) equal in value to possibly 2-3 months wages of these people.
And with the myriad of criss-crossing walkways that run between these houses, well, a guy could very easily disappear in there and never be found, right?
But for all that paranoia, I quickly got the feeling that I was going to be ok. Almost every local I saw would give me a smile, some of them would request that I take their photo (never had THAT happen before!), and would thenthank me when I obliged. And the kids! Well, they just thought having their photo taken was the best thing since sliced bread!
I wandered through the village for the best part of an hour, painfully aware of the inconguity of this poverty-striken village on one side of the beach, whilst on the other was a (maybe) 500 room 5 star resort where fat, rich people could indulge themselves in ridiculous levels of luxury, massages, food, alcohol, and extra-curricular activities.
Maybe some of these locals hold jobs at the resort. I don’t know. I hope so.
Suffice is to say that wandering through a village like that really brings you down to where the “rubber meets the road”, if you get my drift.
Back around the second or third day of this series of Borneo-related posts, I alluded to an anecdote I would share when the time was right, regarding tourists “getting amongst it”.
That time would be now.
We had been in the pool just prior to lunch, and I got talking to a couple from Western Australia. As we talked, it came to light that this couple (and their two kids) had flown up from Perth, and during their two weeks here planned on not leaving the resort!!
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Are you kidding me?
Seriously?
I don’t get that.
I don’t have an issue with someone wanting to sit by a pool for 2 weeks if that’s what does it for you.
But you could do that anywhere!
And to explicitly choose to ignore the rich cultural experiences available in a place like KK… nope, sorry, just don’t get that.
Ah well, a wise man once said something about horses and water….
As dusk settled over the resort, I made my way around the beachfront and swimming pool to grab some shots while there was still some deep blue in the sky.
It’s been a magic couple of weeks, and we’re all starting to feel a little bit down at the idea of having to go home.
🙁

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