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Tunnel vision.

Tunnels get a bad reputation sometimes. They are dark, cold and full of uncertainty. Usually the setting straight out of horror movies, the hollow passageways seemed to be the perfect hiding place of the creatures that lurk in the shadows. But in more realistic day to day life, they serve their purpose. A shelter away from the scorching heat, a shorter way from point A to point B and the promise that there is light at the end of it.

The light --- a certainty --- is something to look forward to.

----

Taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, en route to Padas River.

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Tweet's up: @lallie (",)

Uploaded on Nov 25, 2009

2 comments

Relying on Gravity

I find it odd when our guides asked us to tighten up our helmet straps and try our darnest to hold onto each other's lifevest. It was about a hundred degrees under direct sun and four full grown people sitting on a small makeshift trolley is as uncomfortable as it sounds. But we trust the locals and did as we are told. Like we had a choice.

After the 10 minute ride downhill, everything kinda made sense. Talk about a rollercoaster ride courtesy of sheer gravity. It was cold and windy --- I kept my mouth shut, weary of any insect that might be "lunch". The trolley felt like it was going to fall apart at any point and there was nothing on us except the lifevest and helmet that would cushion the blow if ever we tumble in the middle of nowhere in Borneo. Couple that with a guide who's now railway-surfing on an already crowded trolley and laughing like a maniac ---- adrenaline rush, definitely.

***

Taken at the railway tracks in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia en route to Padas River.

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Tweet's up: @lallie (",)

Uploaded on Nov 24, 2009

8 comments

A lift.

The trolley ride, up close. Taken at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

***

I'm closing up another year. Saying goodbye with a bang would be the logical thing to do, but with everything that has happened in the last 12 months, anything that I can come up with now would just be a little anti climactic.

Spending it quietly --- uneventfully --- now that's a shocker. Maybe I'll try that.

Or not. :D

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Tweet's up: @lallie (",)

Uploaded on Nov 23, 2009

0 comments

A push in the right direction.

Going to the whitewater rafting jump off point of Padas river is actually a breeze --- that is if luck is on your side.

After a two hour van ride around the countryside, weekend paddlers are left on the side of old railway tracks in the middle of nowhere. There's a commuter train that run up and down the tracks used by locals on a daily basis. Rafters hop on it and from there, it's an easy 15 minute train ride up to the river. If by some twist of fate, the train already passed by, or is out of service for the day (locals say this happens a lot), then you're in for one heck of an adventure, and you're not even on the waters yet.

For the next hour, your only means of transport are several loose boards attached to each other by rusty nails that make up a platform. This is then placed over metal bearings that will run along the rails of the train tracks. These makeshift trolleys are operated solely by elbow grease --- a man with a long stick to push you along the rails.

Considering that according to the locals, the trains in Sabah are highly unreliable, you would think they would have invented something less tiresome for the local who is pushing equipment/heavy bodies for a good hour in sweltering heat. Probably not the best example to toot our own horn on, but they should see the trolleys we Pinoys managed to come up with. It's genius. :D

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Tweet's up: @lallie (",)

Uploaded on Nov 19, 2009

4 comments

Loose boards

Spent our third day in Kota Kinabalu on a speedboat hopping from one island to another. This boardwalk is on one of the bigger islands northwest of Sabah. Manukan island sits on a marine sanctuary perfect for snorkeling. The diversity of marine life is amazing and visible even by looking above the waters. And if hunger strikes, a huge spread is available daily for lunch.

Kota Kinabalu can spoil you.

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Tweet's up: @lallie (",)

Uploaded on Nov 18, 2009

1 comment

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♥Lallie♥ uses Flickr – so can you!

♥Lallie♥'s photostream

Tunnel vision.

Relying on Gravity

A lift.

A push in the right direction.

Loose boards

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