Early morning, in Miri, I got up and called for a taxi to the bus station. It was going to be a long day, because according to the lonely planet, I was going to have to change buses 3 or 4 times before I would get to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), Brunei's capital and my next port of call. Miri is only 25km from the border with Brunei, and when the taxi driver offered me a good deal to go straight to the border, I said GO: that's at least one change of transport less... After dropping me at the border, I checked out of Malaysia and I had to walk to the Brunei side. A guy from Malaysia, his name is Keith, drove by and asked if I wanted a ride. OK, I said! Border ... read more

Mulu Natinoal Park is situated in the middle of Malaysian Borneo, in the deep jungle. Access is limited to a 30-minute flight from Miri, or a very long boat ride. Flying it is, I concluded, and from Kuching I booked myself on a flight to Miri, and then onwards to Mulu. (There should be a video loading at the top of this post). Mulu is one of Sarawak's top attractions and home to one of the largest cave systems in the world. There are 4 so-called "showcaves" that can easily be visited and have walkways and lightings. It is possible to visit more caves by doing an adventure caving trip, but this is for experienced cavers only. The 4 caves are beautiful and I did them all in one day. The first 2 caves can be ... read more

After our motorcycle ride around "Cat City", Patrick was anxious to see his sister Gaby again at the Matang Wildlife Center, a holding center for confiscated and surrendered animals, like Orang Utans. If possible, the animals are rehabilitated and released back into the wild or semi-wild. Gaby had been volunteering there for a month, and Patrick was picking her up to travel through Malaysia with her. Gaby was our personal guide through the center, which made it all the more interesting! Orang Utans are impressive animals. Orang Utan is Malay (and Indonesian) for "Jungle People" or "People of the jungle". They seem to be very friendly animals. They can be aggressive and unpredictable though, so we weren't allowed to come too close. Orang Utan "Peter" is known to like T-shirts very much and will rip your ... read more

After the beautiful underwater worlds of Ko Tao, I took a boat back to the mainland and a night train to Malaysia; a new country for me to visit! The border crossing went pretty smooth, and around 13h, I arrived in Butterworth, where I would take the ferry to Georgetown, Penang. Penang is an island that also has a bridge connecting it to the mainland. The ferry took about 15-20 minutes, and from there I took a taxi to the hotel/guesthouse I was planning to stay. I had found a nice old restored mansion in my guidebook (good old Lonely Planet) that was serving as a hotel/guesthouse now. It just had a new lick of paint and looks great (See picture). The rooms were nice, too. Not too fancy, but all I needed. Georgetown is a ... read more

I spent the past 5 days on the island of Koh Tao. This is the best diving spot in the Gulf of Thailand and a great place to get a diving course and a PADI license, which is a diving license accepted everywhere in the world. PADI licences come in different levels and the first level is "Open Water". In 3 or 4 days you get a few classes, a book, and you start to practice in the pool for 1 or 2 days before you go out into the ocean. You learn to breathe steadily, stay buoyant, undo and redo your mask underwater, etc. Some things are a little scary before you start, but you quickly get the hang of it. Finally, you do an exam, which is more just a formality. Besides all the ... read more