Blogs from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 8

The longest journey of our lives so far - Tongatapu-Auckland(overnight in airport)-Melbourne(re-routed)-Singapore(stayed for one day/night)-Kuching - ended with minds and bodies intact and all bags present and correct, remarkably enough. A new country (Malaysia), a new landmass (Borneo), a new (old) hemisphere (northern, just) was the reward for over thirty hours in planes and airports. Kuching means cat; it's the capital of Sawarak, Malaysia's largest state. There's even a large statue of cats in the city centre. But there are no more cats here than anywhere else we have been. There is an abundance of places to eat, however, something that we sorely missed in sleepy Tonga. Sarawak Laksa is a morning favourite, a spicy noodle soup with prawns and chicken. It's up to you to mix the paste with the juice from a calamansi (like ... read more

From Lovina on the sunny and subdued north coast of Bali we headed south to Ubud, cultural capital of the island, but not without first taking in some more of the breathtaking beauty of the countryside. We passed through towering rice terraces, alongside extinct volcanic craters now home to rippling blue lakes and along the way saw some of the many contrasting images that make Indonesia so interesting. On the one hand there are fully paved and painted roads almost everywhere, yet seemingly no rules on how to drive on them; at times we passed by sprawling art deco style villas with private pools and gated gardens, and around the corner were houses made of reclaimed corrugated iron and fallen trees, home to three generations of the same family with an animal each. But one thing ... read more

Kuching Town We've now spent a week in Kuching town, with three days out to Bako National Park. Four full days was really too much in this pretty but small town, however it seems to be a place that people end up in for a while stuck between flights. We've stayed in the 121 Lodge which has been great, quiet, clean and helpful staff. Everything is in easy reach as the centre of town is small. Lovely riverfront walkway, plenty of places to eat, the local Sarawak Lhaksa is excellent. The best thing we've done here is go to Semenggoh Orangutan centre. We've now been three times. It's easy to get to on the public bus and only Rm3 each way and anther Rm 3 entrance fee it's a cheap half day trip. The two times ... read more

Tuesday 12th July Travelling day to Kota Kinabalu. Wednesday 13th July Flight to Sandakan. On the local bus we chatted to a lady who asked if we'd like to go stay at her hotel. She was very friendly and was lovely. Shame her hotel was not. Nor was Sandakan. It reminded me of a town recovering from civil war. A lady also did her business in the street so it was quite like China as well. Thursday 14th July Went to Sepilok Orang-utans centre for morning feeding time and saw 3 Orang-utans one with a baby! So cute! Then booked to stay at Uncle Tan's jungle camp and got on a long tail boat and were amazingly lucky to see 2 wild Orang-utans, again one mummy with her baby! Wonderful. This trek was already totally with ... read more

After enjoying a much needed shower after returning from the national park and having lunch I checked out Kuching's art and craft shops. Most of what they sell is generally the same and most of that is cheap tacky souvenirs, but some of it is amazing art work just impossible to transport without breaking. After buying a few things and getting arty myself I headed down to the river for dinner at the 'Little Lebanon' restaurant. Not having a clue what I had ordered which is generally the case I was surprised when I received a plate of rice and then some fridge cold fish tasting rather sour serviced on a piece of lettuce, not sure whether it was nice or not I just ate it. Then had fried ice cream to change the taste in ... read more