Falling in a Headlong

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it's been just a matter of days since the last blog though so much has happened, it's all quite exhausting - i somehow remember typing something to that effect previously though this whole travel buzz warrants a holiday and i suppose that is what i'm purposefully gonna do over the next week or so in sydney.

Leaving Koh Samui was quite something, i think i have stumbled upon quite possibly the smallest international airport standing. Beauvais is Heathrow compared to it (Is beauvais still vertical with all those tremors??) THe flight to Singapore was as flights should be (without incident) and singapore itself is immediately inviting. The overwhelmingly sense you get when you walk down the street is one of such warmth and safety. The transportation infrastructure is paramount, the metro is practically door to door, everywhere! cool!!
The sojourn was a quick one as i was flying the next day to borneo though i did manage to grab a few beers in chinatown and get the inside track from the locals...

So onto Miri, Sawarak - to get there i flew from Johor Boru. JB is at the southern tip of malaysia though you cant go directly from there to singapore. To traverse and which is entirely possible overland you must get a special cab/bus from a specific and solitary point in downtown singapore.Going over: as i maximised my morning sight seeing, i was running short of the eluisive time thing so the cab i hailed had to drive me a few blocks to the central point so i could get a special and especially expensive cross border cab. Though this cab sailed through both immigrations and onward to a specific and solitary point in downtown JB where i then got a SN/JB cab which weezed me to the airport.

Landing in Miri, i found out i couldn't get to Gunung Mulu National Park till the next morning and it would be by a 52 seater plane and i would be in possession of the last ticket purchased for this 40 minute journey over the enticing greenery of Sawarak. Miri was quite non descript, sharing this and a general sense of unease with its Northern counterpart Sabah. Perhaps paranoia on my behalf though i found such presentiment palpable. Apparently a few years back Sabah was a tourist no go area due to guerilla kidnappings - this thought did cross my mind as i retreated down a mountain clime in the dark and rain at 4am one morning, alone, though more on that later....

Mulu is quite astonishing and as rainforests go up there with the Daintree - though the daintree does have the advantage of backing onto the ocean with its pristine beaches... the last forest i penetrated was in Laois of all all places, though that did hold its own special charm!
In Mulu, i soaked up the plants, caves and downpour. Their Deer Cave inhibits 2-3 MILLION bats!!! At dusk, they scatter out of the cave and jive around. Apparently a spectacular sight though adverse to precipitation they cleverly stayed indoors the evening i was there. That evening i went on a nightwalk to encounter fireflies, treefrogs, treesnakes & a tarantula amongst others through the continuing rainfall....

I flew out of Mulu on a 19 seater Twin Otter & later that night to Sabah on a similar plane. 19 seats, 5 occupied - no cabin staff, no parition between the cockpit and passengers, friendly pilot chatting away to everyone encouraging trainspotters to the cockpit. During the electrical storm we flew through that night i also notice the plane is without oxegen flows or lifejackets.... and i left my prayerwheel in Singapore - sh!t!!!

The next day i turn up at Kinabulu National Park - the highlight of Sabah. Mount Kinabulu stands at 4101m and it apparently the easiest mountain in the world to climb - well always one for a challenge, well perhaps not though it sounds too enticing for a lazy bastart like me not to do and afterall how hard can it be....

I found out the next day and after checking countlessly for cancellations - its normally booked up ten days in advance- as i'm about to depart, some Swedish guy turns up sans amis - so i take one cxl spot and we set off armed with some Malboro & Oreos; & with the compulsory guide.... Our guide who doesn't speak English walks perpetually behind - strange! Its 6km to the base camp and it takes us 5 hrs. Average is 4-6 though i don't feel too bad as we had to shelter a half hr from a heavy downpour!
The next morning we arise at 2am - Our guide turns up at 3 and we set off in the cold, rain & dark to climb the remaining 2.5k to the summit! It occurs to me as im attempt to traverse the steep climbs of the rocks & hoist myself up the rockface with ropes that this may not be a good idea given my fear of heights and descending dangerous elevations. So halfhour & a half K in I've had enough, reconsider societys importance for my continued existence! & attempt my solitary descent back to base.
Buoyed on by a hot coffee at my destination i am shellshocked to find the kitchen closed so i retreat to my bed for a few hours. The guide wakes me at 8 and we track back to groundlevel in 3.5hrs.
I was expecting the climb to be well worn walkways & not the careful crisscrossing of every imprint of the slippery rocks it turned out to be - A great feeling to have got so far (3,450m) even if it wasnt to the summit for the sunrise- the views were still spectular. Even better feeling to get back to ground.... However, approach with caution...

Having returned safely to Kota Kinabalu, I have a peaceful sleeper and remain undisturbed by the mozzies who feast on all of me on my last night in SE Asia. Running out of my Chinese herbal wonder cure, I pick up some Lavendar oil in Brisbane which does the trick - recommended!!
The flight from KK-JB is by far the most turbulent i've encountered - very hairy indeed! Then there's the hassle of traversing to Singapore - twice as bothersome as the initial trek as I go public this time. All in all 4 buses & 2 trains in the space of an hour - who thinks of this sh!t!!
I pick up my baggage from the hostel i previously stayed in and battle with the rush hour commuters on the metro as i head for the airport.The overnight to Brisbane is mired by the fact that my bites flare up and the ice that the cabin crew offer only presents the mildest of respite. It turns out that the flight for me is the 11th in 20 days - possibly a record for a backpacker!!!

Brisbane is as I left it as is Byron Bay though noticably colder!! The reason for getting here is the Splendour In The Grass music festival. With no Glasto this year, Oxegen sold out & The Electric Picnic the far side of the planet it had to be Splendour for this summers music fest!!
Death Cab For Cutie rocked & opened with an awesome New Year; We Looked Like Giants turned into a Mogwai feedback fest- ace!!; The Grates are a 5,6,7,8s/Machine Gun Fellatio hybrid; TV On The Radio disjointed & disappointing; Lior a revelation; Grinspoon loud & melodic; Sonic Youth ageing; DJ Shadow drawing the night to a close building steam with a grain of salt.
Sunday opened for me anyway with the surprise act being an excellent though unloving (on Craig Nicholls part) return to the stage. They rock out blissfully, deliver a rough & raucous Highly Evolved (possibly the best Australian song of all time - discuss!) & end with the mainman trashing the drum kit with his guitar & then the guitar itself (i think all photographers were keeping well back...) Nothing quite like rock n roll excess!!
Snow Patrol (the only Irish band on the line up) follow this up masterfully - stealing the show for the next few hours with a magnificient Run; Clare Bowditch proves enticing for all Beth Orton fans; You Am I turn it up; Jose Gonzalez forgets to plug in, a whispered Heartbeats in barely audible; Yeah Yeah Yeahs deliver a dazzingly show encrusted with a poignant Maps; Wolfmother blow everyone anyway with the best cockrock since Zep. I had discarded these in the same vien as The Darkness though theyve substance & style. I'm forced to give Scissor Sisters the cut as it pours down so I retreat to the big top haven & await anxiously for Brian Wilson. Fallen heroes are always dangerous for disappointment, Wilson proves this rule supported by a teleprompter. The set reveals what was all the fuss about - his reportoire could be condescened to an EP (God Only Knows, Good Vibrations, Hang Onto Your Ego) though he was still amazing to see and everyone left beaming apart from a rather senile Mr Wilson...

So after that rather long review I hope you are still reading.... a $22 breakfast has refreshed me - $22! craziness - i'm a backpacker for fe-k sake! The plan is to chill in Byron today, return to Nimbin tomorrow, fly to Sydney Wednesday - say eh ho to a few mates there & a few others in Wollongong & Dubbo - Party Sydney style and then on to NZ for the big chill

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