Sick day

I wake this morning and I'm due to revisit the islands I went to the other day as I really loved them and lost all my photos due to getting my phone wet but I'm really not well Ive been up half the night with an upset stomach and terrible headache and literally can't move more than 5m from the bathroom. To be fair it's the first time I've been sick and because we all shared plates of food last night I'm pretty sure it's a touch of sun stroke. I go back to bed and stay there most of the day just drinking water. In my blog today I want to write about the other side of Semporna/sipidan because it really is a place of two halves. The islands here are known as one of the top 3 places to dive in the world but when you arrive into Semporna you would think you'd come to the wrong place. On my arrival here I was uneasy walking on my own for one of the first times in my 6 months of travel.It's a place where kids beg in the street, and the rats roam free and I struggle to understand how it's like this when the revenue that's charged for diving here is so high. It's pretty obvious that the money taken here doesn't stay here and is filtered back to mainland Malaysia or China where the fat cats prosper When I went for dinner with Dan the other night a group had been eating at a table and when they left three young kids came to the table and took the half drunk cans of pop and the fish bone then sat on the steps having their supper. I spoke to a local guy about this and he explained that they are children of the sea gypsies who literally have to fend for themselves and sleep on the streets from the age of 5/6 being looked out for by there older siblings. Generally they will have 10-15 kids (contraception not an option) and generally have no responsibility for them the just have to fend for themselves, the survival of the fittest. The other thing here is the plastic. Everything comes in plastic an it's very apparent they haven't been educated how to dispose of it. The waters are littered and as this town that sees no benefit from the diving why should they care if that is affected? The problem is if something isn't done in the very near future the water life will be affected and Similan will no longer be in the top 3 places to dive. I spend most of my day in bed and although I planned to get the overnight bus with the guys tonight I'm really not up to it so at 7pm I say goodbye to the crew and get a shower before putting myself back to bed.Read more