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Published: October 16th 2008
Our flight time from Singapore was 8:40AM, which meant a prompt hotel checkout at 6:00AM allowing us to take the 40 minute MRT (Singapore subway) to Chengi airport. However, we both totally slept through the alarm and woke up at the time we should have been checking in! Frantically we jumped out of bed threw on our clothes, grabbed our bags and bolted for the door. What followed was a 15 minute run through the quiet streets of Singapore looking for a taxi, although it shouldn't have been funny Nat found herself laughing at me saying I resembled a turtle with a huge shell (backpack). Luckily we made it to the airport in time and as you can imagine a Singapore check in is without any hitches.
We arranged our guest house before arriving which saved a lot of wasted time. The guest house has to be the best we have stayed in so far
(our hostel), not only were the rooms wonderfully clean and decorated with ethnic furniture and artwork (a plus for Nat) but the staff were very welcoming (we even had a breakfast of fresh fruit made for us every morning). Finding somewhere good to stay always adds
to the overall success of a place and we were very lucky to find such a gem.
The lodge provided an excellent base for us to explore the surrounding area. We stayed overnight at the
Permai rainforest in Damai, we felt like big kids as we got to stay in a tree house in the jungle overlooking the ocean. We didn't do any of the trails we just relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful scenery. Damai is situated on the North West coast of Borneo so that night we took in a beautiful sky at sunset over a couple of ice cold Tiger beers.
Borneo is one of the two places in the world to see indigenous orangutans and we were lucky enough to visit an orangutan rehabilitation centre. We arrived at feeding time and got to enjoy watching the orangutans swing down from the trees to the fruit. We were totally engrossed and before we knew it an hour had gone by - they are incredibly entertaining and of course the babies are seriously cute. Another attraction close by is
Bako National Park a nature watchers paradise. To reach the park involved a short hop on a local bus then a
Treehouse
Look carefully and you can see our jungle pad!boat ride through a crocodile swamp. The park is absolutely stunning with its mix of jungle, rocky outcrops, beaches and wildlife. Some of the cheeky monkeys have even learnt to come down from the jungle just at the time the cafe at park HQ serves up lunch I even had a handful of rice snatched from my plate. We did various treks, one to a deserted beach and the other to a sheer cliff face over looking a beautiful bay. During our treks we were lucky enough to see some proboscis monkeys, bearded wild pigs and some amazing flora and fauna.
Kuching itself was a really chilled out city where the locals gathered along the waterfront at night to catch a cool breeze and enjoy the sunset. Nat got an opportunity to induldge her hobby of collecting local crafts and purchased some hand woven baskets made by the indigenous tribes of Sarawak - so another parcel to be sent home! We got to learn a little about these tribes and the way they live by visiting a
cultural village showcasing the homes and lifestlyes of the various tribes.
We had a great time and would love to have explored
Nat trekking
Get some fluids into you!!! the island further - that will have to be another trip though as we are off to Oz tomorrow.
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Bigbrudder
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Photos
Yo bro I see photos on your blog, you got that "travelblog for dummies" book I sent out then, looking good both of you!