03 July - 10th July Sarawak Borneo

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Our trip over the border from Singapore to Malaysia was really easy, we literally drive through. In Johor Bahru, we wonder into a small restaurant and had a wonderful Banana Leaf curry for about 50p each.... Bargain and really tasty, especially when eaten the traditional way using only your hands!

I immediately had a very good feeling about Malaysia - the people are incredibly friendly and the country seems really beautiful.

We fly into Kuching (Sarawak, Borneo). The initial plan was to split our time between Sarawak and Sabah, which is renowned for good diving. Unfortunately we are unable to find flights to Sabah. Not to worry though as Sarawak was fantastic.

Spend the first couple of days wondering around Kuching. I was surprised how modern and clean the city was. My impression of Borneo had always been of lush rainforests and small villages. We were to find these incredible places later in the trip...

Our first trip out of Kuching was to the Semenggoh Orangutan sanctuary. We jumped on a rickety old bus and made our way into the wilderness. We arrived for feeding time and were treated to a view of about eight different males and females tucking into their breakfast. An opportunistic, camera shy young male decided he wanted to eat in peace and raided the eating area in a quick swoop, scooping up a handful of bananas in his mouth and then made a dash for the canopy!

After our taste for the jungle, we wanted more and headed to the Bako national park on the north coast. It was another long rickety bus journey, but well worth it... The national park is situated on an Island in the South China Sea, so we took a small boat out and watched the mist climbing over the mountains. A very tranquil experience. Once in the park, we went in search of the very rare Proboscis Monkey, that live in the Mangrove swamps. It was hot, very hot and we were sweating like elephants (do elephants sweat?? Who knows!), but it was a fantastic experience. The treks through the jungle, combined with getting up close to Proboscis and Gray Monkeys made this one of the highlights of the trip so far.

We were incredibly fortunate, that during our week in Sarawak, they were also holding the annual Rainforest Music Festival. A one in fifty two chance, but I guess it was meant to be. We spent the day in the Kamping Budaya Cultural Village, where the event was taking place. In the morning we wondered around traditional Longhouses and took in the atmosphere. It was then time for the workshops. The first was a "hit me" percussion workshop, where we were entertained by percussionists from some of the performing groups. The guys were excellent and were able to get us all dancing as they jammed together. This was followed by a Latin music workshop. The last workshop was fantastic, it was lead by the Malaysian Dhol Federation and entitled "Bollywood Bhangra - learn how to bogie Bollywood style". Spent the afternoon dancing and laughing...

The evening was the main event... Getting a spot close to the front of the main stage we waited as the sun set above the jungle. The first performers were a traditional Sarawak band, these were followed by by a three piece group from Canada playing folk. The most bizarre performers were the Mongolian throat singers - you would not believe the sound that was being produced... There were a few more acts, but the stars of the show for me were a Scottish band; the Peatbog Faeries, who played a fusion of traditional Scottish music and rock. By the end of the evening the sea of fans were jumping like lunatics, enjoying every minute....

We got a really good taste of Borneo - a week was probably not enough, but during this time we found it to be a very beautiful and interesting place, with very friendly people. I would love to go back at some point.

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