Our late-night arrival in Ubud, though clouded by weariness, pissed-offness, and a general sense of frustration, had nevertheless been accompanied by images of art galleries, silversmiths', handicraft shops, and spas lining the streets on our way to the town. And our first morning in Ubud only reinforced the sense of an artistic streak running through the region, which continued through the fortnight we were there. Waking up in our room, which we'd not yet seen in daylight, the painted carvings on the door and flowers on the bedside table seemed like nice touches, but it was only when venturing outside that the sheer quantity of "nice touches" became apparent. Statues of creatures from Balinese Hinduism were dotted throughout the guesthouse's grounds. Exotic flowers including orchids and frangipani lent their colours and scents to an overwhelming background ... read more

At check-in for our flight to Jakarta I was informed that my rucksack was now at 17kg, up 7kg from when I left London in January and the result of accumulating journals, CD backups of photos, half the works of Jared Diamond, etc. Some pruning will be needed soon, as well as another parcel to be sent home. Air Asia broke with tradition by landing us in Indonesia's capital in time for our onward connection. Indonesian airlines, of which there are about 50, don't have a great reputation for safety, to the point that the EU had recently banned them from European airspace (not that any of the carriers concerned actually flew to Europe, but it was the thought that counted). However with land-based journey times long, and airfares tantalisingly cheap, we threw in our lot ... read more

The town of Kuching derives its name from the Malay word for cat and early investigations of its streets, after our ferry ride from Sibu, revealed cat motifs aplenty ranging from discreet logos on manhole covers to rather alarming giant cat statues on roundabouts. The peak of this cat mania was reached at the Kuching Cat Museum, housed in the Town Hall that itself resembled a spaceship. The museum's collection was comprehensive, with exhibits about cats in various civilizations, stages in a cat's life, common ailments, wild members of the cat family, catfish, and a mock-up of a catwalk with 3 models wearing cat-themed outfits. Umpteen cat sculptures and paintings included a good selection of maneki neko or "beckoning cats" (the ones with raised paws that you often see in Chinese and Japanese restaurants and are ... read more

Niah National Park looked an interesting spot on our westward trail, so we stopped for a couple of days at the nearby Niah Cave Inn (pun possibly unintended), one of many hotels we've seen in Malaysia where durians are banned. The National Park is home to several items, including an Iban longhouse (the Iban being an indigenous tribe whose traditional accommodation is in enormously long houses on stilts, with one door per family), and a number of caves that are notable for their size, their occupants (bats and swiftlets), the behaviour of their occupants (enormous exoduses en masse at dusk), and the produce of their occupants (the swiftlets generating the highly-prized main ingredient of bird's nest soup). Less visibly, but perhaps more momentously, excavations in the park have revealed evidence of human occupation from about 40,000 ... read more

A ferry to Labuan Island and then one to Muara brought us to Brunei, providing a welcome break from bus journeys and a chance to see one of the richest countries in the world, run by one of the richest men in the world. Free education, free health care, subsidised housing, subsidised cars, and no income tax are just a few of the perks of being a citizen of the Sultanate of Brunei. Downers are the legality of detention without trial, a lack of democracy, and having a ruling family peppered with members hell-bent on spending money ill-advisedly (e.g. on thousands of cars, a boat called SS Tits, a number of young female models hired (unbeknownst to them) to be sex slaves, etc), however the citizenry don't appear overly unhappy with their lot, which will presumably ... read more