Borneo: Getting There Is Half The Adventure

My travel day has been a long one, three in fact, if you add in the international dateline.

Dan was kind enough to drop me at the airport today and was all set. As I stood in line, I lazily looked at my watch, which read March 20th. This was problematic you see because I was supposed to fly out of San Francisco on the 19th. A looming sense of panic began to settle in as I recognized the perilous mistake that had been made. I was so sure I was supposed to leave on Wednesday. Maybe I had calculated wrong. I thought Friday was the 14th. So I counted. If Friday was the 14th, then Wednesday should indeed be the 19th, and Wednesday of last week was the 12th, which I distinctly remember as my last day of work. Seven more days than twelve again corroborated my theory. Then it dawned on me, February was a leap year; maybe my watch wasn't prepared for that event and it was a day ahead. But had I really not noticed this fact for nearly three weeks? I stepped up to the counter, a look of incredulity practiced and ready if it should be required. To my relief the watch theory was sound.

Better oblivious, than dufus.

The plane from Hong Kong was late leaving SF, which resulted in my missing my flight from Hong Kong to Singapore, and then from Johor Bahru to Miri on the Island of Borneo. On the upside, the flight was good with plenty of movies, I had a flight attendant who was a spitting image of Lucy Liu, and Cathay Pacific forked out for a night in a Hotel, which was a significant upgrade from my planned accomodations, namely sleeping on the floor of a Singapore Arrivals terminal. Sure it was just a hotel room, but given my usual digs, this was luxurious. Comfy bed with the softest fluffiest pillows I have ever known, showering without sandals on, airconditioning. Oh my. On the downside, the halways gave me vertigo, and my body, despite not having slept on the plane for more than an hour, still believed that it was in fact the middle of the afternoon rather than after midnight, so I woke up once every hour or two to confirm that it was actually still dark out and that the sun hadn't just decided to play a trick on me in the middle of the afternoon.

By 5:00am there was no more sleep to be had, so I alighted from my bed and headed off to start my day early. The airline comped my breakfast and I got to the ticket lineup a half hour early but quickly realized that I would never make it through the line in time to catch my flight. It wasn't more than two minutes later that a fellow walked by and said "is that all the luggage you have?" I told him it was, and he said. "Then you can go to the carry-on only line over there." I was confused by his pointing and told him I didn't see the line. It turned out that this was because I was looking for a line that had more than one person in it...and so I was off to Kota Kinabalu for a good long 8 hour stop-over. This, actually, was perfect because it's enough time to actually get out of the airport and check out the city.

What I found was perhaps not all that surprising, but enlightening all the same. KK is not all that interesting, and given our limited time here, I think we're better off spending the time in the Jungle looking for Orangutans. Don't get me wrong, Kota Kinabalu is not without its charm. It has pretty tree-lined streets, and some decent enough sites. The bay it looks out onto is quite nice for instance. But compared to the natural jewels that bedazzle the crown of this Island, it's hard to justify more time in this town than my little afternoon jaunt.

I was finally off to Miri, after spending a couple of near freezing hours in the airport wrapped in my towel for warmth, I had forgotten just how cold the air conditioning settings are that SE Asians seem to require. Imagine winter imported. SO COLD!

I met Mel upon arrival and we gleefully exchanged hugs and found a room at a local hostel run by a helpful, but extremely temperamental woman named Joanne. Borderline crazy maybe. But she pointed us in the right direction for the Niah Caves which were spectacular to a degree that it makes it impossible for a camera to capture. I was massive, a veritable cathedral of subterranean delights, from bats to stalagmites and stalactites, to pitch dark and verdant rocks, it was find that shouldn't be missed.

On the way home the driver had his so take us home, and instead of doing so directly, the young electrician drove us to beaches and markets and temples, and finally suggesting that we have a traditional Malaysian dinner of seafood at one of his favourite restaurants. We had such an amazing meal, full of foods that I might, okay, wouldn't ever have ordered, but which were richly covered in delectable sauces and tenderized to perfection, all for less than what you would pay for pub fare in many North American cities. We insisted that our guide each his share and keep his wallet firmly set away in his pocket.

The Austrian fellow, Martin, was very interesting and talked to us about his extensive travels in Asia, and we met a wonderful Malaysian couple who explained to us a great deal about Malaysian customs, food, etiquette, society, and much more. Jing and Wong were very informative and we hope they do well in the rest of their trip.

Tomorrow, we head to Brunei. How we'll get there is a mystery in the moment. The woman at the hostel had agreed to arrange a car for us, but in returning to the hostel, we had found that the weather had changed from pleasant to stormy and she "suggested" that the 4-transfer 3x as long bus would be cheaper and "more convenient. We took the hint, and think we'll fare better on our own anyway. Tomorrow we'll see.

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