Phone misery

So after getting my phone wet yesterday and placing it in a box of rice overnight the worst case scenario has become real life. my phone has died. I can't believe how I used to travel without one and have become so dependant on it for booking things, finding places and even writing my blog. The other downside is there are no longer internet cafes. There are far worse things that can happen and I bite the bullet and head out to buy a new one. I always say that behind every negative is a positive and there are plenty I can take from this, the first one being the phones are so cheap here and after shopping around I managed to find a phone with pretty much the same spec as my Samsung even a little better for £200 and I'm also thankful for the fact pretty much everything is backed up on Google. I spend the whole morning installing apps and trying to remember passwords although accessing Google was pretty difficult and online banking was pretty impossible with a lot of perseverance I eventually got there and I'm back up and running. The other downside was all the time I'd spent writing my blog in the jungle, because I was unable to upload it was totally lost but it was such a memorable experience I will catch up on that part of my adventures at a later date.. A little later in the afternoon a new crew of people arrive, Alessandro from Italy, Chloe from Germany and. . They kindly invite me to join them this afternoon as they are heading to swim at the Tampi Tampi resort which when we arrive realise it's where the sea gypsies (Bajau Laut live. They built there homes on stilted huts above the coral bays .The sea gypsies are exceptional free divers. Many have mastered the art of free diving to depths of well over 20m while holding their breath for several minutes. All this as they hunt for fish, lobsters, sea cucumbers ) and other marine life Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they earn their living solely based on the ocean’s resources, the sad part being is that Most are not afforded citizenship status by either Malaysia, Philippines or Indonesia, as they have been deemed to reside in the waters of the Sulu and Celebes Sea, and not strictly on land owned by any of the countries.As a result, most of their children do not have access to a formal education system, as it is a requirement for students to have birth certificates and for both their parents to possess national identity cards. As we walk around these stilted areas I'm shocked to the core as a lady is sweeping out her house and literally brushed all the rubbish including plastic bottles into the sea. We take a seat at a small restaurant away from the crowds of locals that are swimming in little netted areas that aren't occupied by the "catch of the day' and enjoy watching as the use the stilted areas as diving platform but choose not to join them. The area is also used by other local people and as we leave the kids can't stop staring and waving. They use a lot of flat back jeeps as they can cram a lot of people in the back from Grandmas to baby's. We take the grab straight to the street market which is very similar to the one I went to in Kota Kinabalu but has a slightly more organized set up and a stage in the middle for the entertainment. We don't stay around long enough for this but we're heading to the waterfront to see some music there. It's crazy how as we're leaving this area how nice it seems compared to downtown. As we arrive to the waterfront I ask the guy from the restaurant where we can get a beer and he tells us a bar at the end. As we are walking towards the bar we bumb into Luiz the guy I met in Sepilok. We share a few beers in the bar with a band who are really good before making our way back to the hostel.Read more