Miri

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Kev)
We have met so many amazing people along our trip...and the people we met last week in Bintulu may have been the most amazing and hospitable yet. They welcomed us whole heartedly, drove us around town and out to the longhouses, and gave us multiple meals. We have added them to our blog contacts, so James and Elna hi...we enjoyed our time in Bintulu because of you.

Following Bintulu we made our way to a National Park called Lambir Hills. We had our own challet, and we were the only people in the entire park. The first night we got there late so we took it easy. the only eventful thing the first night was escaping the loads of musquitoes. While we ate they tried to have their own feast on our bodies...we avoided this by pacing back and fourth. The next morning we decided to get up at seven and get in a full days of hiking... but who really gets up that early? We eventually got up, and started hiking around ten. We hiked out to three amazing waterfalls. The waterfalls looked like they could be straight out of Jungle Book. We hiked about 12 km through steep jungle terain, and we were the only people in the entire park so it was a great experiance. The second waterfall was my favorite. It was so beautiful, its the one with the picture of the vine. The water looked very enviting, it was an enticing mix of green and deep blue. I was lured in, and refreshed...the only kicker was i got attacked by leaches (at least they weren’t huge). After that waterfall Matt and I were quite tired, Matt decided to head back to the challet, but i wanted to see one more waterfall. It was two km off the main trail, so although i was allready exausted two more km wouldn’t kill me. As i hiked out there i felt really alone, nothing but the sound of the breeze in the trees. I like that feeling and when i got out to the waterfall it set in even more. It was so serene and quiet, I just sat there for about twenty minutes, listening to the flow of water as i muched on my crackers. I ran up the two km back to the main trail, and a little while later my serenity was broken, I ran into this crazy guy named Dustin. Me and Dust walked back to the challet making it back in time just before the thuder storm came in, and it came in hard.
Well the internet time is about up so thats its it for now
~Catch you all later
Love Kev


(Dustin)
Its been a while, after Bako, it was Bintulu, after Bintulu it was Miri. I thought bintulu would just be a stopover for us on the way to Miri, we've kind of been in a hurry because of the time left on Borneo. As it turns out we spent a couple days there and had a blast. We went to the SDA church there and that made all the difference for the town because again the people were amazing. James and Elna Kator took us out for lunch and we were invited to the assistant elders house for a potluck supper. I felt a little bad for them because I asked so many questions about almost anything Malaysian it was amazing. They then offered to take us out to some long houses out in Sebaugh (might be spelled wrong) and to show us some blood sugar and pressure testing the Lions club sponsored out in the area the next morning. James is actually a Rotarian and between that and church functions he seemed be always on the go.

The tour turned out to be awesome, they even took us to eat for breakfast and showed us some food that we might not have had a chance to try since we really can't understand a whole lot of the language. After having a chance to hang out with them most of the day we caught a bus to Lambir hills national park.

Lambir was kind of deserted while we were there, it was the middle of the week and it rained the day we came in. Good time for leeches though apparently. I decided not to hike with the other guys and slept in a little the next morning because all I wanted to do was hike up Mt. Lambir. The worst idea was not eating before I left. I had a bottle of water but almost at the top of the mountain that turned out to be a little less than what I needed. Anyway, to make a long story short, pretty much just plodded back out over all the hills leaving puddles of sweat along the way until I met up with kev who had some water and was in a real hurry to get out of the trails because he thought time was 2 hours later and we might miss the bus we needed (which we caught).

We got into Miri and this one local homed in on us and was ready to "give" us everything for half price, we decided his deals could wait though and went looking for a place to stay. We were tired and hungry from the trails at Lambir so now we have a restaurant that knows us pretty well. When we came back the next day after our first meal there and they laughed as soon as we walked in and asked us if we were going to order the same amount as the night before. The first night the lady checked the amounts of plates we ordered by counting them off twice before giving us a look and walking away to the kitchen. All the other customers in the place we're just looking as us and chuckling as we knocked off plate after plate. We're not pigs but thats the first meal we ate the night after all the Lambir hills trails and waterfalls.


(Matthew) We left Kuching and headed north after our enjoyable experiences at Bako National Park. I was really looking forward to leaving the Kuching area. we got up around 6 am so that we could catch a bus to the express boat. supposedly it was leaving at seven sharp and we didn't want to miss it. boy did that ever turn out to be a mistake. we got so fed up with waiting that we almost just left and got some breakfest. but the bus finally showed up over an hour late and we made it to the boat. i've learned very quickly that traveling by boat is preferable to traveling by bus. in fact, anything is preferable to traveling by bus. but for once, the boat let me down. it was so bloody cold inside that we ended up putting on almost all of our clothes just to stay comfortable. and then it started raining outside so we couldn't go out on the back of the boat without getting soaked. but we reached the town of sebu and caught our connecting bus to the small "village" of bintulu. there we searched for a place to stay. once again the book let us down. we checked out a place that was supposed to be spotless but while we were looking at the room, a rat, the size of a small cat, ran right in front of dustin. we didn't stay very long. but we did find a decent place eventually. there really isn't much to do in bintulu, or so it seemed at first. in fact, it was pretty borning until we went to church on sabbath. we arrived a little late. in fact, the sermon was almost over. but the speaker preached the rest of the sermon in english just for us. he also spoke the two local languages. so we had to be ready when it came time for him to speak in english.

the speaker (it turns out that the pastor wasn't there) was a man named james. he and his wife were very friendly and even took us out to lunch. later that evening they picked us up again and brought us to the home of some of their church members where we shared a dilicious meal. the best part was the minature bananas and the pineapple that would melt in our mouths as we ate it. we were overjoyed to get to talked to some people without having to worry about our things or about them trying to sell us something. the next morning, james and his wife insisted on taking us out to see the local long houses. these are like bungalows that have been built up on stilts. but they are all connected. in fact, most of the occupants are related in some way or another. these miny villages can have hundreds of people all living together. it was quite an experience.

after we got back, we said goodbye to james and his wife and caught a bus to lambur hills national park. i wasn't really looking foward to another national park but it ended up looking really cool. we arrived to late to go hiking so kev and i played hacky sack while dustin relaxed. we had a really good supper that night. the lady cooked our food in her own kitchen. it was great. the only bad thing was that there were so many bugs that we couldn't sit still to eat our food. so we all walked around while we ate. the next morning, kev and i got up at 9:00 and went hiking. half of the park was shut down but there was still four waterfalls open so we set out for them. we made it to the first one and it was pretty but not very good for swimming. so we headed to the next one. along the way a leach got on my hand but i quickly shook it off. the guide at the park office had warned us that the leeches come with the rain. it didn't make much sense at the time but it sure did later.

the second waterfall was straight out of jungle book. it was like a little piece of paradise. and there was no one else even staying at the park so we had it all to ourselves. i went swimming and then kev did. at one point he yelled and then told me that there were leaches. i was surprised because i hadn't felt any. kev got three or four that got him on the feet and really made him bleed. i had on on my back and one somewhere else. so yea. we didn't do any swimming after that. talk about gross. but the park was awsome other than that. i left kevin and headed back. he wanted to get some more pictures of another waterfall. when i got back to the park, the sun was shining but the sky was a black as night on the horizon. within half an hour a huge storm came in. i've come to realize that borneo is the land of thunder storms. it was really amazing to watch and hear the thunder and lightning. after the rain stopped we headed off towards Miri.


Anyways, talk to you all later.

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Photos

Sunset and our hostel
No need for Tuscany ladies.... especially when there is Lambir Hills national park

Training
Daryl went on Fear Factor at Universal so Kev started training for his chance (naw he's just having fun)

Kev
Kev...and a waterfall too

Mosquito magnet
Sitting and eating just took too long so we had to walk around to keep the mosquitos away

We're Tight
Big people, small cars....who knew what would happen?

Long house
30+ families in this one

Oil and Gas Plant
So far, the biggest in the world with the combination of things that it can produce

Comments

[Daryl]

Fear Factor
If Kev wants to show something to the Fear Factor producers, you could get a photo of him getting electic shocks and eating something gross too, hehehe.

[Brittany]

get a hac
Hey boys, nice to hear you´ve taken along a hackey sack. We play it here a lot too. Hmmm....time in foreign country=hackey sack playing (though not necessarily with skill). See ya guys!