Blogs from Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 58

Trip to the Kesit longhouse, up at 7am and took our day-packs for the trip, only the 4 of us and our guide, Jihey, from the Bidayuh tribe. First stop was the Semmengok Wildlife Reserve to see the Orangutans which live in the wild but come back to the reserve at feeding time. We were literally walking amongst a group of mothers and babies. We then walked to observe a feeding platform out in the jungle where we were fortunate to see the huge dominant male, called Richie, swing gracefully through the trees, bending them almost in half due to his huge size and weight. After a couple of stops for lunch and to get food for the trip we arrived at the Lemanak river where we travelled by longboat up river through beautiful jungle scenery. ... read more

Our replacement alarm clock woke us up at 3am! I blame Sleepy Sam's! On our way out of the Gateway Hotel we accidently got out at the 1st floor where we found ourselves in a dimly lit secret all-night bar with some dubious characters telling us we were on the wrong floor. After a swift taxi ride to the airport we borded the Air Asia flight to Kuching. Air Asia is Malaysia's budget airline, a bit like Easyjet but better. Took a taxi to our hostel, the Singgahsana lodge, one of the nicest places we have stayed in, very clean, friendly staff and comfy beds. Went to explore the local area and ate delicious egg & onion pancakes. Checked out the main shopping bazaar to look at some nice art sculptures and antiques, mixed in with ... read more

Kev) We have met so many amazing people along our trip...and the people we met last week in Bintulu may have been the most amazing and hospitable yet. They welcomed us whole heartedly, drove us around town and out to the longhouses, and gave us multiple meals. We have added them to our blog contacts, so James and Elna hi...we enjoyed our time in Bintulu because of you. Following Bintulu we made our way to a National Park called Lambir Hills. We had our own challet, and we were the only people in the entire park. The first night we got there late so we took it easy. the only eventful thing the first night was escaping the loads of musquitoes. While we ate they tried to have their own feast on our bodies...we avoided this ... read more

(Swena) Hey again. this blog finds me in much better spirits. a week has helped me to forget about seattle's loss. since our last blog we have left the mainland and are now on the island of borneo. borneo is devided into two parts. the southern part belongs to indonsia while the the northern part belongs to maylaysia along with a small section that makes up the sovereign kingdom of Brunei. we are only planning on visiting the northern part of the island since the southern part is unstable. on of the things that a lot of people at home (myself being one of them) take for granted is our money system. we've so far only visited three countries (singapore, maylaysia, and thailand) but we've crossed back and forth and it's hard to keep the currencies ... read more

Chiang Ling, Franscois and I had trouble trying to decide where to go after CL's exams on Wednesday. In the end it was decided that we would go to Santubong for a hike, and then to Damai beach since it was close by. I damn near pulled out when Thien told me that there would be leeches in Santubong. And then Franscois reminded me that I didn't get bitten in Bako last year, so it should be fine this year in Santubong. I spent all night on Wednesday night burning a mix CD. It was such a great CD too cause it started off with the Arctic Monkeys, and it had M.I.A, and Bloc Party, and the Kaiser Chiefs, and Kanye West ... and I even thought about the flow of the music. Like creating a ... read more