SO THE FIRST DAY WENT TOOK THE TRAIN FROM LINDEN IN NEW JERSEY TO NEW YORK PENN STATION IN NEW YORK CITY. THE JOURNEY WAS QUICK, ONLY 25MINUTES AND A BARGAIN AT $6. THE TRAINS ARE PRETTY MUCH LIKE AT HOME, BUT THE CONDUCTORS UNIFORM IS VERY SCARY AND OLD FASHIONED! ALSO YOU BUY YOU TICKET AT THE MACHINE THEN THE CONDUCTOR TAKES IT FROM YOU AND SLIPS A LITTLE RECIEPT UNDER THE HEADREST INFRONT OF YOU AND THEN THEY COME TO TAKE IT AWAY BEFORE YOU REACH YOUR DESTINATION. STRANGE! WE STROLL OUT FROM THE PLATFORM AND GRAB A FEW [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Kuching by air from Kuala Lumpur on a ridiculously cheap flight with Air Asia, something like £30. Because we were getting very lazy and had not done any reading ahead, we arrived at the airport to find that all the local buses that stopped at the airport had been suspended(what a surprise!) meaning we had to waste money on a bloody taxi(evil of all evils). This wasn't the only problem is was bastard, bastard hot, bastard humid and bastard more expensive than the Malaysian Peninsular. After being dropped at the cheapest place in town we found it too [View Full Entry]

---

---

Its a bit strange to get off the bus in the middle of nowhere and find that there is someone waiting for you, but that's what happened when we got to Sri Anan. Within minutes we were chatting with 'Auntie' and stuffing ourselves with Chinese stir fry. We popped to the local jungle market and we were shown all types of jungle produce that people grow and then bring to town to sell. Most of the tribespeople there were Iban, but in the town itself it was a mix of Chinese, Iban and a few Indians, but not many Malay, which [View Full Entry]

---

---

We gave up on Bako and emailed the Forestry Department to see if we could stay in Kubah. Its basically the closest National Park to Kuching and due to the popularity of Bako gets bugger all in the way of visitors. If you read the travel guide most of them do push Bako as the number one destination. Well we had come back from our stay in the longhouse and decided to book the accomodation at Kubah. Again it was something silly like £2 per bed per night to stay in a twelve bed hostel in the forest so we were [View Full Entry]

---

---

So after hearing the horror stories that the park had no drinking water and showers and that it was smelly, we were happy to be going to Bako for a day trip. Up nice and early again , because everything goes early in Kuching, we leave our accommadation with Lydia, our English buddy from the Seahare accommadation. We are first to arrive for the 7.30am bus and its was busy, and 45 mins later, we arrive at Bako National Park. Already a queue , we pay to get in, and are shown to a boat man(Mohammed), who takes you on a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Getting up at some ridiculous and ungodly hour we rushed to get ready, get across town and catch the 7am bus to take us to see the Orangutans at Semengoh. It was pretty difficult as usual to find the public bus but we got good information and found it after asking a few people in the bus station. The bus was soon mixed with people of all nationalities, all looking tired and weary and a few very sweaty!! We made our way to the park and I think after about one hour we arrived and had to walk the twenty minutes [View Full Entry]

---

---

What can we do that is a treat and soemthing a bit different a cheap at the same time? After wondering around the non-tourist part of town we finally found Tribal Remedies , a spa where traditional tribal methods are used to make you look and feel fabulous. The special offer of half price on The Fish Spa was intriuging to say the least. Tempted and a little bit daunted we went for it. We were lead into a very softly lit room, with neon tanks filled with fish of all sizes. There was dark wood decking surrounding this and little [View Full Entry]

---

---

So when we left Borneo we flew the short journey from Kuching to Singapore, as usual we had managed to find a fantastic price for cheap flights with Air Asia! Chiangi, Singapore Airport has got to be one of Dan's favourite places on Earth!! He absolutely loves the place. This might have something to do with the fact its usually pretty quiet when we pass through, there are free cinemas, its spotlessly clean and a shower is a pleasure there, you can grab a massage chair, a spa bed, or a completely reclining bed to sleep on and you can get [View Full Entry]

---

---

So you arrive at Raratonga and you are greated by singing and Ukele players and then covered in the most amazing flower garlands which smell fanatstic. This was where we met the people whose house we would be staying in whilst on the island. They really are larger than life, happy carefree people who treated us really well. It was a bit of a weird set up as we didn't know that anyone would actually be staying at the house whilst we were there. There was one brother with his wife and two kids and a baby, which to be fair [View Full Entry]

---

---

I hadn't seen my Uncle Joe since I was eight years old, so Dan was a bit worried that when we arrived at JFK that I wouldn't be able to recognise him. I didn't think about this previously and had absolutely no doubts about picking him out straight away!! I managed to put Dan's mind at rest by telling him to look out for someone who looks a bit like my dad!! Strange then that in the end Uncle Joe spotted Dan before me because he was staring at him across the hall!! He would have missed me completely because I [View Full Entry]

---

---