Sorry for the late post. I was pretty swamped with work the last week and then the Easter weekend came by and I couldn't wait to get back to the city!!! It has been to long since I last saw civilization and I missed it terribly. The smell of city with its fumes and pollution has never been so gooodd! :p ahahaha.. anyway back to the rest of the story...
My first encounter with Telupid was during my road trip to Sandakan sometime mid last year. The 6 hour journey to Sandakan was my first cross country road trip I had been since I arrived Sabah. The journey was loooonng...Nothing like the highways we have back in Semenanjung, these single lane, narrow roads with a foot long pot holes ensures the driver and his vehicle be well equipped for such a journey. There were certain stretches that were still under construction.....graveled roads about 100-200 meters at a stretch. Painful journey that was...... No rest stops in between.. if you have to pee... you gotta keep it in until the next town. ^_^ (people with small bladders are not advised to take this trip...) Thankfully there nearest town after you leave the city is about an hour and a half away, called Kundasang. It is a town right below Mount Kinabalu. Once you stop by, you can be awed by the magnificent view of the great mountain! Not to far on, the next town would be Ranau. Fairly big town (bigger than the town of Telupid that is..) with an average population of 71000 people who are mainly Dusun in ethnicity. Then, the road stretches on for another 92km from that point till you reach Telupid. Hilly, whiny roads are really a challenge to drive... but there are certain spots you can't help but admire the landscape below the hills... it is really beautiful. But that doesn't mean I really enjoy traveling like that each time...its just these little things that I try to cheer myself up.
Telupid town itself is a small town.. a few rows of shop houses.. people here are lives simple lives. Simple daily routine.....they work either in the plantation or their own fields the whole day, return home, dinner and then calls it an early night. During the weekends, most people would meet up in the market place storing up for the rest of the week. And this goes on for 365 days in a year. Not everyone here owns their own car, so their method of a local transportation is hitching a ride from strangers. Believe it!!! The locals call it 'pirates'. These 'pirates' owns their own van or car, and goes along the same stretch of road picking up 'passangers' to their destination. The fare varies depending on its distances but it ain't that cheap. (for the locals here anyway) For example, for someone to travel 200km to the healthcare clinic for his or her usual appointment would probably cost RM 8 per way.. that's RM16 for a return fare! Bare in mind these people earn very little a month (say RM 500 or less a month) and they usually have a large family to feed. So we doctors can't blame then if they can't make it to their appointments in time, or they can't come to the clinic earlier when a child is ill as most of there have so much difficulties trying to get to us in the first place. And the situation is worst for those living in the rural areas.. i.e. those who lives plantation, in the forest or those across the river. And we all thought it is only the 3rd world countries that have these problems.. it is actually happening here in Malaysia.
Doesn't it make you think how lucky some of us are? Time to reflex and be appreciative of what you have guys!!
Till the next time.. toddles!
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