Advertisement
Published: February 16th 2009
wedding day
Bride outside a Chinese temple in Kuching, and yes I did ask the groom's permission to take the photoNeither me or Lynn have ever been to anywhere in South East Asia before. It's well known that people in this part of the world put a lot of store by social etiquette so we did a little reading before we got here. (I wouldn't want someone to feel obliged to run me through with a fish knife because I tried to pick up their tab at the dinner table etc etc ). Of the information I've read I like the notion that in Thailand its frowned upon to raise your voice in anger as this constitutes a loss of face for everybody present.
Even in the first hours of our stopover in Singapore airport I noticed some subtle and not so subtle differences here from anywhere else I've been before. I don't know if Singapore airport will be typical of other South East Asian airports but I'm not used to airport security and immigration staff smiling and being helpful, and even trying to crack jokes with you. It's makes for a more civilized experience, and why not? It makes a change to all that attitude and suspicion of UK airports and the aggravation and passive hostility you get in
African airports. If you stand still in Singapore airport and look like you don't know where you're going someone in the airport, staff, porter, taxi rank guy will stop to try and see you in the right direction. People in general are very courteous and polite.
For a big city the lack of petty crime is something Singapore is well known for. example: We had a problem on arrival as with 14 hours to kill we wanted to spend part of the day in a transit hotel within the airport to sleep. But we had to pass through immigration to collect our bags first and this leaves you outside the part of the airport where the hotel is with no way back in without a boarding pass. Immigration suggested we don't go through security and go for a sleep in the hotel leaving the bags on the carousel where they said they would still be there later. Can you imagine leaving your bags on an airport carousel hoping they will still be there 6 or 7 hours later? There's no way I'm doing that. With us just arrived from Johannesburg airport the contrast is acute.
A lot of people with
viper, Bako national park
Its only dangerous to small mammals time to spare in the airport go on a city tour but we didn't. But I've heard Singapore city itself is just as fastidiously clean as the airport with it being an offense to litter or drop cigarette butts. I think I'm right in saying dropping chewing gum in the street is particularly frowned upon. So its not Manchester.
No one in Borneo is over 16 inches tall. They are pleasant engaging small people, so far here in the state capital Kuching. Random passersby in the street say hello and people will smile at you every time if you meet their eyes. Of course naturally I'm suspicious and am looking for ulterior motives, but I can't find them. Other than that they are all happy little folk who like to be friendly and are maybe interested in foreigners. But this goodwill ends when they get behind the wheel of a car or motorbike and then its ok to try and kill you.
Borneo might be the mother of all humidity. Some days it feels like the central heating has been turned up too high all day. I keep feeling the urge to take my shirt off in the
street and I would do it as well but I fear with my shirt off the locals may mistake me for an Orangutan and force me back into the forest.
We went to a Orangutan rehabilitation centre. Some of Orangutans there were once pets of the terminally rich and stupid who had to find more suitable homes for their pets once they turned from cute hairy babies into what they were always going to be, creatures three times the size of a man and many times stronger. Some Orangutans were born at the centre, and others there were orphaned in the wild at some point, victims of loss of habitat at the hands the logging and rapidly expanding palm oil industry. Massive palm oil plantations have replaced a lot of the ancient rainforest in Borneo. It's all well documented, a few 'look at me I'm saving the planet' pop and movie stars are involved in the call to curb the expansion in logging and palm oil plantations. I think the worst of it is if you were to rip up the palm oil plantations today the forest wouldn't grow back for decades because acids from the palm oil plants themselves
leave the soil polluted and useless.
Anyway not a one Orangutan showed up in the hour you get to view them at feeding time. At first I was incensed that the god of tourism would allow this injustice to happen to me, Its a long way to come not to see them. But on reflection it probably means the animals are truly being rehabilitated into the forest. I found out that there are fruiting trees in the forest right now which means the routine of the Orangutans cannot be predicted. We have a small chance of seeing them in the wild when we visit Sabah (Northern Borneo) next week. And there is another Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah, but this place is more popular and gets 800 visitors a day which sounds too zoo-like an experience.
The choice and quality of Asian food in Kuching has Lynn swooning in food heaven, I knew she'd love it when we got to this side of the world. Its a bit more hit and miss for me, I ordered a fish soup one day I wouldn't have fed to a cat. And also I'm not up for trying some things on the menu
like chicken's feet or fish lips just yet. But there is good quality healthy food from all over Asia in Kuching. Spicy meat fish vegetable rice and soup dishes like you'd expect. And its cheap, plenty of street food stalls where you can sit and eat by the river. The only problem is alcohol is imported and therefore expensive. Its a quid for a can of Heineken, but when your evening meal costs only two pounds fifty pence it feels weird drinking little cans of lager at a pound each. Wine is too expensive to even talk about.
We went to the Santabong peninsular for 3 nights staying at the www.nagadamai.com A house set in lush gardens surrounded by jungle at the foot of the forest covered Gunung Santubong mountain. Its 810 metres in height and looks steep, I though I'd have a go at climbing it. There was a sign at the bottom showing the route that recommended you take lots of water, the right shoes, and clothing. I wondered why clothing? thinking surely it can't be cold at the top. I worked it out after just 10 minutes of walking, I was soaked, dripping wet, and realized
Santubong mountain
After climbing a few of these hot and knackered it feels like being on an army assault course that if you stop walking your sweat cools and you feel cold and need a fresh top. I found the trail really tough, its steep from the off and higher up near the top its nearly vertical. The only way up us is by rope ladders. I didn't see a single other person up there all day, if you fell you'd be ruined.
Polycarp (owner of the house we stayed at) turned out to be a interesting host. He's of 'Iban' descent. The Iban were headhunters, some living this way of life until not really all that long ago in historical terms. As well as the wildlife many people come to Borneo for the cultural experience of staying in an Iban longhouse. An Iban longhouse being an entire community living in a long house sectioned into family sections. People go for a night or two to see the way of life, watch dances and take pictures of headhunted skulls hanging about the place. I'm sure the authentic experience still exists. But its a highly commercial activity in Kuching city. A daily conveyor belt of tourists go up the river and I suspect with the volume of people arriving it
Gunung Santubong
I can testify this is a steep mountain might just be another day at the office for the longhouse people you go to stay with. But I can't say I know this this because I've never been, and I've met one or two people here who've been on these trips that said they loved the whole experience.
We got on well with Polycarp, (they're all just so friendly here) On the final night he invited us us to have drinks with him while he told us among other things stories about Iban penis piercings he'd witnessed, thats a good enough kind of cultural exchange for me and Lynn.
And after hearing of our orangutan viewing no show last week he offered to take us back to the Orangutan sanctuary the next day which he did, and this time the Orangutan bad boys were out in force. They were even there before you walk the 200 metres to the feeding platform. I had worried that it might be a feeding time at the zoo experience, that the Orangutans would eat the fruit off the platform have their photos taken and be off. But the dominant male had commandeered the platform for himself, so this left the juveniles
swinging around the surrounding forest and over our heads. They must be strong as using one hand I saw them break open coconuts against the tree trunks. Some young males were squabbling over the coconut pieces it was entertaining watching them crash up and down the trees after one another. Their movements are unpredictable they move fast and you can be close to them without time to back off. I nearly ended up wearing a couple when the branch they were jumping onto swung down towards me. I watched a mother with an infant for a few minutes and watched as her eyes slowly went from left to right over the watching crowd taking in detail just as we do when looking at them. She looked me eye to eye for just a brief passing second and I could see the intelligence clearly visible in there.
With our new friend giving us a lift to the sanctuary the only cost of the day was the entrance fee of 3rm (55 pence). I couldn't help thinking of the comparison with what it would have cost to see our other cousins the mountain gorillas had we gone to Uganda as originally planned
Polycarp, nanga damai homestay
Great host. He likes a good social drink but is still able to jungle run for fun the next day. What are these people made of. which costs $500 (250 pounds each for 2 hours). Can it really be that much a different experience for the extra 244.45 pence.
We went to Bako National park which I'd been looking forward to. But on the trail we walked there I found the jungle vegetation very like the jungle mountain walk I did up Gunung Santabong. I noticed again that there's not much birdlife in this part of Borneo.
We had been warned by a few people about the accommodation at Bako, and it did turn out to be a bit grim. Bako accommodation is in need of a serious overhaul. There's no restaurant there but there is a canteen where they serve a basic rice and noodle based buffet 3 times a day. Problem is the buffet isn't chilled, Lynn didn't think it was a wise idea to be leaving meat out in the heat as long as they do. In the end there was not enough to keep us in Bako the night we'd planned and paid for. So we ran away on a boat and came back to Kuching where the accommodation is more comfortable.
In Kuching we stayed at the www.singgahsanalodge.com they have
Orangutan
the word Orangutan in local translation means 'old man of the forest' air con rooms with spotless bathrooms, a roof bar and a living in someone's home feel to the place. Plus you're near the waterfront. It took us 4 days here to get over jet lag and start to get used to the heat. Since then I've begun to think that Kuching is the safest city I've ever been. In the 11 days here no one has been anything other than friendly towards us. No one's been dishonest in any way in any transaction or tried to overcharge us or rip us off. I'm not used to it, but I could get used to it. Its a city you could easily live in if you could negotiate some kind of truce with the humidity.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.088s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 8; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0533s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
d caines
non-member comment
minto
well done minto, fantastic , sorry its taken me this long .