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Helen and I say cheery bye to Yankee Roger when we're left at the village near the jungle camp. There just so happens to be a local bus sitting waiting to take us to Lahad Datu. Its brand new and we think this can't be private transport just for us!! Low and behold 10 minutes down the road families start to fill every space inside with us now being squashed into 1 1/2 seats. The 70km journey isn't the most comfortable and the air con doesn't seem to work. What can you expect for a brand new van. The driver takes us to 3 different bus stations in Lahad Datu before we get the right one for the onward journey to Semporna. As we wait at the bus station a wee kid is running up and down trying to sell us cigs from his wheelbarrow. Funny kid and gave us a nice pose - That pic is for you Roger the customs dodger!! We wait for another hour or so for the bus to fill up before we are finally on our way.

Padi and the Turtles

Gareth Penpraze
2007-04-21 00:14:43

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Helen and I say cheery bye to Yankee Roger when we're left at the village near the jungle camp. There just so happens to be a local bus sitting waiting to take us to Lahad Datu. Its brand new and we think this can't be private transport just for us!! Low and behold 10 minutes down the road families start to fill every space inside with us now being squashed into 1 1/2 seats. The 70km journey isn't the most comfortable and the air con doesn't seem to work. What can you expect for a brand new van. The driver takes us to 3 different bus stations in Lahad Datu before we get the right one for the onward journey to Semporna. As we wait at the bus station a wee kid is running up and down trying to sell us cigs from his wheelbarrow. Funny kid and gave us a nice pose - That pic is for you Roger the customs dodger!! We wait for another hour or so for the bus to fill up before we are finally on our way.

We get to Semporna and check into the Scuba Junkie, run by a guy from Dundee (I know where the junkie part came from). I was wanting to relax the next day but the local girl behind the desk is ranting and raving about how good it will be to dive tomorrow and basically trying to get as much cash out of us. Helen and I both go into fits as she doesn't even dive herself. She tries to book us for diving for a week again trying to say "it will be great, you'll love it, diving is brilliant!!"

Up at 7 the next morning for an all inclusive breakfast of cold hash brown, baked beans (never good before diving) and mucked up fried eggs. The noodles were good though. Off to Sipidan by express boat. We land and the army are loading a boat full of bullets. Dave the Dive Master from Edinburgh tells us the army are stationed there for 3 months at a time in order to protect the island from Phillipino pirates. This was after tourists were kidnapped in 2000 and 2001. Unfortunately the 2001 tourists had their heads chopped off. Fills ...