Blogs from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 7

We were up at 6am for the 7am bus to Semenggoh Park. It is possible to take a guided tour, but they're considerably more expensive and there's still no guarantee that you'll see anything. (45 MYR vs 16) Since it's fruiting season, many of the rehabilitated orangutans are eating fruit in the trees and not coming down to feeding platforms where we await them with our cameras. We arrived at 8am and walked to the viewing area. Around 820 or so one of the workers said we could see the orangutans. The few of us there lined up to see. It wasn't just an orangutan. It was the big one, the alpha male, Ritchie, and another smaller (teenager?) one up in the trees climbing about. The workers gave them some fruit and we watched them for ... read more

The main purpose of these pages is to post travel updates for Joan, my mother. The time difference is now seven hours and phoning at 2:30am to speak to her at 7:30pm is quite difficult. Thanks to my brother Alastair for passing them on during his visits. It also gives an opportunity for friends to drop in to the blog if and when they wish. It is not meant to be a round robin letter or meticulous chronological travel diary and I make no pretences of being some talented wordsmith. May the readers forgive my liking for alliteration and be fully aware that S is not responsible for the problematic spelling or idiosyncratic syntax as I am sometimes not too precise in the use of the English language. Please note that being no great supporter of ... read more

We woke up a bit stiff - well actually our calf muscles were crippled and we could hardly move without squeeking so decided to take it easy in Kuching over the next day or so, catch up on some blog writing and finish visiting the museums. The Sarawak Museum which we had previously been to opened an exhibition about death rites and rituals on the day we got back. It includes information about all of the ethnic groups in Sarawak and their death rituals including those of the Bidayu and was really interesting. The various processes of dealing with the body, transition of the soul to the next world and offerings were the main themes. Compared to the other museums the exhibition is really well laid out with the right amount of information and some genuine ... read more

We left our accommodation in Miri late morning for the bus station to catch the city bus to the airport. We were gently touted a taxi for 50RM and a private car for 12RM (the bus is 2.60RM each) with stories of the bus takes a long time and it wont leave until later. Just as a taxi driver was telling Marie the bus wouldn't leave for a long time and was very slow the bus driver hopped in and started the engine. 15 minutes later we were at the airport. Less than an hour after boarding we were in Kuching. We were annoyed that we had to pay for cab as there is no bus from the airport to the city. Our lonely mis-guidebook say there is one if you go out and turn left ... read more

Mitten im Urwald macht eine kleine Gruppe langsam und ehrfürchtig Platz für eine unerschrocken auf sie zukommende junge Mutter mit ihrem Baby. Eine waschechte Malaiin, zwei Arme, zwei Beine, ein großer Kopf, große dunkle Augen, menschlich und doch irgendwie anders…ein Waldmensch. Wald heißt übersetzt in der Landessprache „utan“ und Menschen werden hier „orang“ genannt. Wir befinden uns im Wildtierreservat und Rehabilitationszentrum in Semenggoh, in welchem Orang Utans gepflegt, wieder aufgepäppelt und anschließend ausgewildert werden. Eine ideale Möglichkeit, diese Tiere in „freier“ Wildbahn an den Fütterungsplätzen zu beobachten. Kaum liegt das Futter bereit, schimmert es auch schon an vielen Stellen rotbraun durch das dichte Blätterdach. Langsam und behäbig angeln sich die Tiere Banane, Ananas und Kokosnuss und verputzen sie genüsslich. Sie strahlen so eine innere Ruhe aus, dass m... read more