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Published: January 25th 2013
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Miri
Chinese Temple in Miri This is going to be a one city blog, which is rather unusual for me. Actually this blog is not even going to be about this specific town, but all the photo's accompanying it will be. It will be more about how this became to be the blog it is.
You see, this blog wasn't supposed to be what it will be, the reason it is, has partially to do with being stubborn, and partially to do with being a single traveller in Sarawak which can at times work against you. Let me explain.
How comes it that I am sitting in Miri and writing this blog here, while my intention was to be in Gunung Mulu National Park, or perhaps the Kelabit Highlands, and my blog would have been in one way or another bound to those places.
In actual fact, this is what my plan and thus this blog should normally have looked like: A bit about Bintulu and Similajau National Park, a bit about Miri, and then a bit about either Gunung Mulu or the Kelabit Highlands, all pasted together by one or another theme and laced with a bit of sarcasm.
But that
Miri
Fish market is not what happened, and there is a reason why, which I shall expound now. Visiting National Parks in Sarawak can be hard. Not because they are especially hard to get to, but because they can be expensive to get to, and sometimes it can be expensive to do anything of real interest in them, especially if you are on your own.
So, I took a bus from Sibu to Bintulu with the plan of somehow getting to Similajau National Park from there. I didn't want to stay in Bintulu, I wanted to stay in the park. However there is no public transport to the park, and what gives, you can't take a bus to the junction and then walk down to the Park Headquarters (a long walk, but that has never stopped me). No, no, no, that would be all too easy! You are obliged to take a taxi to the park, at least if you, like me, don't have your own transport. A taxi on your own to the park is not exorbitantly expensive, but still, it is not cheap either.
So I tried bargaining with the taxi drivers, which went a bit like this:
Miri
Yep, that is what you find in a fish market Me: 'How much is a taxi to Similajau?'
Taxi driver: 'Fifty'
Me: 'That is too much, I heard it should be forty.'
Taxi driver: 'That was a long time ago, it is fifty now.'
Me: 'I will give forty, otherwise I will take the next bus and go to Miri.'
Taxi driver: 'How about forty-five.'
Me: 'No, I won't give more than forty.'
Taxi driver: 'But that is how bargaining works, I say fifty, you say forty and we meet in the middle. It is only five ringgits.'
Me: 'You are right, but I can't afford more than forty, it is forty or nothing.'
Taxi driver: 'I am sorry, I won't go lower than forty-five.'
Several taxi drivers later and I was back on the same bus I had taken to Bintulu and which was continuing on to Miri, much to the hilarity of the bus driver and the passengers. Why? Because I was too cheap and more importantly too stubborn to give in. And the worst of it is, that I was pretty sure that forty was indeed too low, the price I was quoting was the price four
Miri
Old and new years ago.
Miri is used as a gateway to get to Mulu National Park, the Kelabit Highlands or onwards to Brunei. I wanted to go to Mulu National Park. I had one problem though, I have this rule that if I don't absolutely have to fly on my trip, I won't. That means that if there is at all a possibility of getting to the place overland or by boat, I will do it, even if it is much more expensive than flying. This rule often conflicts with my other overwhelming desire, which is to do everything as cheap as possible. It is indeed a conundrum.
You can get to Mulu overland, by taking boats. Up to a point this can be done by public boats, but the last part you need to charter a boat, which can cost anywhere from eighty euros to one hundred and twenty five euros, depending, it seems, on your bargaining skills. I had hoped to find people in Miri who I could convince to share the costs with, but it is not high season and there are few other backpackers around. On top of that, those who do come have already pre-arranged
Miri
Frank and Annette whatever they want to do.
Now, I could forgo the overland bit and take a flight, which is thirty euros, but no, I am stubborn, it is overland or nothing! Still, I was close to going anyway, but here comes the problem of being a single traveller, even if I went to Mulu, doing any kind of trek of significance on your own, will cost an arm and a leg. And so, being a stubborn Taurus and a cheap Dutch, it turned me off my chosen path.
Kelabit Highlands than? Cheap to stay, cheap to walk around, nice area, so why not go there as an alternative? Ah, but going overland is very expensive, and I don't fly, so forget about it, says the stubborn Dutch guy!
What remains? Five days in Miri, researching various ways of trying to get to any of these areas without flying and without breaking my bank account. Five days in Miri to relax as well, and five days in Miri to come to the conclusion that I won't be going to any of those places and will move on to Brunei instead.
But that is travelling too isn't it? Changing
Miri
View of Miri from Canada Hill plans, picking and choosing, being flexible if necessary, even if it is due to your own stubbornness. And I take comfort in the fact that I have seen many places and been to many National Parks, and one more or less won't be a deal breaker. Or maybe that is just an excuse to ease my stubborn mind!
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
OH DEAR
Too stubborn...too tight...too Dutch...too set in your ways? "No"...did you hear me right..."No". You need to go back to basics...back to "Bargaining School"...then your World will reopen for you...your paths will look wider...your pocket more secure...and His Dudeness...a happy Dude...yeh...back to basics...back to "Bargaining School". Hmmm...I feel a blog coming on!