lazing by a pool in hot sunshine and thinking back over the last few days. We managed to get to Mulu National Park although we had to stay just outside the park in a local guesthouse. That was an experience in living like the local people - water had to be pumped up out of the river into a large bin in the bathroom - then it was shower yourself with a scoop. The only trouble was that there was no water on the first day, so we learnt the hard way!! I need to go back a step first - [View Full Entry]

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We arrived back from a visit to the local Longhouse yesterday, dropped our bags at the hotel and went out for dinner. Have I mentioned that this has been a dry trip so far (except for celebrating the siting of the wild orang utang)? Well, two gin and tonics later - of the quality my mother would be proud to pour herself, we noticed a lot of traffic passing slowly on the road. It was the annual parade which begins the celebration of Malaysian independence. It was fantastic! No photos - sorry, the camera was in the hotel, but the atmosphere [View Full Entry]

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We had been told that Baka National Park was a good place to go, so yesterday we left at some unearthly hour to find the bus stop. (Not an easy thing in Kuching as the buses leave from different places and are run by different firms) On the way we managed to book up our Long House trip and then dashed for the yellow bus number 2. Just drawing out of the central area in India Street was our bus which stopped for us on the roundabout and we were off! (Can you imagine a British bus doing that?) By the [View Full Entry]

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The morning was the time to cross the river - by sampan. This was always going to involve a lot of bending down and logistics - which side of the boat should I sit and how many Malays woud need to balance me?!! The tradition is to place your fare on the end of the boat as you leave; all the info I had found said it cost 30 sen, but inflation has pushed it up to 60 sen - about 8p!! The jetties are really quite well built, you walk down one and wait on the platform util the boat [View Full Entry]

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We have spent several days here in Kuching and are loving it. The city is large, looks prosperous has many areas of new housing but has managed to hold onto the old part of the riverside area so that it has a centre with a soul. It is hot here, much warner than KK and so far has not poured rain upon us, but perhaps that is tempting the skies! The centre has several different ethnic areas which are great fun to explore, China street with its herbalists, noodle shops and many stationary stores, the Indian street is on my list [View Full Entry]

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As if I need reminding that water can be a rough place to travel over! The last two days we have traveled over to some small islands off the coast of Kota Kinabulu, they looked lovely, beautiful white sand beaches, forestation covering the rest of the island and not too much by way of shops. The first island, Manukan was small and beautiful, we found a place under the trees to sit right on the beach and spent the day swimming, snorkelling, reading and walking around the island. It was lovely! The second island trip started with a slightly rough crossing, [View Full Entry]

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We have just returned from the most incredible experience in the rainforest at Kinabatangan. We stayed at a lodge on the river which is the longest in Malaysia and took part in several river trips, walks in the forest in day time and night time. The highlight was our last evening river trip when Nelson - our guide, found a solitary male orang utang chilling out in a tree on the edge of the river. He was about 30 years old, with the full leathery 'mask' and took absolutely no notice of us whatsoever. It was INCREDIBLE! He looked as if [View Full Entry]

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We travelled here by bus from the national park, leaving a good breeze and some rain, to come to a sauna and rain~ it is MUGGY! I am not on my own little machine at the mo, so no photos, but yesterday we saw the Rafflesia in flower at a garden just outside the National Park. It really is an incredible plant = just a fower at the moment, about 60cm across. There were also clumps of lemon grass and the vanilla orchid growing up a tree, I would love to see some more of those. We visited a butterfly farm [View Full Entry]

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Let me set a scene for you - there are three of us on this trip and for these two nights we have shared a room with three beds. So far so good! Last ight I slept like a log after travelling for 24 hours with very little sleep, so tonight I assumed I would do the same again. Not a bit of it!! We came in after our meal at the local fast food street market, I chose noodles and sadly some chicken, which turned out to be chickens tails or the Parson's Nose and not being at all fond [View Full Entry]

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It's hot, wonderfully hot in Brunei - and glorious. We arrived yesterday at some time near mid-day, Royal Brunei airways were excellent, the food, servie etc all extremely good. From the airport we caught a bus for $1 into town and were dropped off right outside our hotel. After a little siesta we walked into the centre of town, to explore. It reeally is quite a quiet and ordered city, the traffic is not moving at some incredible speed and I have not yet heard anyone use their horn (is that the word for it?!!) The main mosque is having a [View Full Entry]

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