Monkey Business in Borneo

Our flight to Singapore was amazing. We knew we were going to enjoy Singapore. It was about time we had some luxury. We flew with Singapore airlines and it felt like we were in first class - well the closest we’re likely to get. On board we were each given a hot flannel to wipe our hands ready for the endless supply of free drinks, munchies and meals we were given and the in flight entertainment was excellent too. We stayed with a friend of mine from college who has lived in Singapore for a couple of years now. It was great to have someone show you all the best sights and places to eat and shop. She also lived in this amazing serviced apartment with her husband. We had our own room with a lovely bed, clean sheets and a fantastic shower room. We have already sent the tent home so lets hope there is more of this to come. Their apartment was on the 14th floor of one of the skyscrapers really closed to the Orchard Road in the centre of town. It even has a pool and gym. Adam and James enjoyed long discussions about sport while I got to catch up with Bata. The city was getting ready for Chinese New Year with lots of amazing decorations. Bata took me around the night markets in Chinatown and took us to see some of the amazing buildings and landmarks in Singapore. We had a Singapore Sling at the Longbar at Raffles Hotel. Adam and I also visited Little India and saw the amazingly colourful and decorated temple there. On our 3rd day James took us to Sentosa, a resort island south of the city. It was all very touristy but there is lots to do. We travelled there on the cable car, looked around the gardens and saw the giant Merlion, a huge lion statue you can get a lift up to the top to see the views. We walked along the beach and crossed over the rope bridge to the most southerly point in Asian Continent and asked what about Indonesia. Adam had his photo taken with some pythons round his neck - very funny photos (see flickr). Then we headed back to the city. I am currently in mucky KL so to say Singapore is clean and tidy is an understatement. It is an amazingly well planned city and really easy to get about. It is a shoppers paradise with 24 hour shopping malls and food courts. But we couldn’t stay for ever unfortunately. On the last day with our friends we all decided to visit the Indonesian island of Bintang. It is more of a resort Island than a glimpse into Indonesian life but nevertheless we had a good time. I say good time apart from the horrific ferry ride over where I turned green and didn’t think I would ever be the same again. We went swimming at a really nice beach and went on a river cruse where both Adam and James fell asleep (could this be because they had stayed out till 5am that morning). We saw snakes and birds and local people. We left Singapore on the bus and headed for Kuala Lumper. This is really the first time we have had to travel on foot with our packs. I don’t know whether it was the thought of no more easy car hires or the fact that our packs weight a tone each and are the size of a small houses but we were defiantly the most harassed travellers on this border crossing. Everyone else seemed to know where to go and what they were doing and without building up a sweat. We eventually arrived in KL and with our packs on our backs in the incredible heat and pollution. We tried to get a taxi to take us to our hostel on Jalan Sultan. The first taxi driver said you can walk there, go that way and he points in a direction and then sort of the the left. So we think great we can walk to our hostel, save some money. We walked for about 20 minutes in a giant circle and then try another cab. He says no I cant take you the traffic is too bad - quicker to walk. So we tried another taxi and finally he agreed to take us for extra cash. But he didn’t know where the hostel or street was and we had to give him directions. We also found out that there are two Jalan Sultans in KL and we were walking to the wrong one. Our first day in KL was a hot one but we still did most of the main touristy things. We visited KLCC shopping centre under the Petronas Twin Towers. We couldn’t go up the towers as is was a Monday and tours do not run on Mondays. We went up the Sky Tower instead and then went on a free nature walk in the jungle reserve they have below the Sky Tower. We saw monkeys and lots of varieties of trees and plants and the guide was brilliant, really funny. He kept saying things like ‘don’t touch the hand rails - there might be a spider underneath, very poisonous.’  We accidentally walked into the Shangri La Hotel thinking it was the way to the Sky Tower. They didn’t seem to notice us so we had a good look round. There was a massive plasma screen on the wall, fountains and water features, the usual uniformed bell boys and a very impressive looking restaurant - well, we thought, our hostel has many similar features. But for a fraction of the price. We have 2 TV’s, one wide screen, both with the remote controls chained to a coffee table that points in the direction of the TV, we have Air-con in our room, over our bed, which doubles as a water feature, instead of Bell Boy we have old man passed out on door step, we have plenty of open air food stalls selling a variety of unusual and tasty foods, just watch out for the big rat we met on our first night that roams the side streets. Our Hostel isn’t bad even if the beds are chained to the walls and toilets have never been cleaned ever. We have booked into stay for another 2 nights when we return from East Malaysia.

East Malaysia is fantastic. We flew from KL to Kuching and picked up a leaflet in the airport that raved out Kuching almost saying it was the jewel of Sarawak. Well I can tell you a jewel it is not but we found a really nice, cheap and clean hostel, B and B Inn, and from there we planned our trips. We booked to go a spent a few days at an Iban longhouse. We would be staying with a family within the tribe. It was a really good opportunity as some longhouses have become very touristy and have hotel style accommodation for guests away from the actual longhouse. But we were assured that this was not a tourist stop and our group of four would be the only people to visit and so we were. The trip organiser drove us over 200km inland from Kuching in the biggest 4X4 truck I have ever seen. But I have never been more grateful for the security of it. His driving could be compared with a maniacs but from our experience we have learnt that this is the way all Malaysian drive. When it comes to overtaking being able to see around a blind bend is not a concern for Malaysian drivers particularly those travelling well above the speed limit. Throughout our 4 hour journey our driver kept informing us that he was having trouble staying awake and we had to stop for caffeine several times. Adam and I agreed that if we had crashed in this monster truck what ever we hit would be instantly obliterated and we would probably walk away fine. Still not that comforting. But we made it to the second stage of our journey an hours longboat ride up the river. We arrived at the longhouse ready for afternoon tea and biscuits. Trying to remember all of the etiquette we quickly relaxed and realised that they were not that bothered here anyway. Our Guide, Atalai, his wife and his son Sing would be providing us with meals, good hiking and anything else we wanted. We could stay as long as we liked. The first night everybody in the longhouse put on a big welcoming ceremony for use where we presented gifts to the chief and he and others dressed in traditional costume and performed 4 dances. We also got to see and buy some of their handy crafts. The chief didn’t speak English but we were told that he was one of the few that remember the headhunting. In the longhouse there are still shrunken heads hanging as a reminder of the headhunting time. The next day Atalai took us out to show us the jungle and on the way showed us how they farmed the land for rubber and seed oil - ancaban (don’t know the English for it). Green and black pepper and all of the jungle plants that you can eat. There isn’t much wildlife around the longhouses because animals like monkeys and wild boar are still hunted for food today. Our hike took us to a clear water stream where we cooled off with a swim while our guide cooked our lunch using a bamboo barbecue. We drank Tea from Bamboo cups and ate off banana leaves he had cut for us. We had fish and chicken, bamboo shoots and ferns which are lovely. All cooked in bamboo canes over a fire. We walked through the stream on our hike back, really good for keeping cool. The rest of the day was left for us to relax in the longhouse. We helped harvesting the seeds for oil by peeling off the shell. Each family were doing this. They go out with huge baskets on their backs and collect these seeds and in the evening they sit cracking and peeling the seeds. Then they dry them out in the sun and take them to market where a buyer will extract cooking oil from them. They don’t sell their handy crafts to anyone other than visitor as it costs too much to travel by boat up the river. There are no roads to the longhouse so the river is their only access. All power is run on a generator which they only use for a couple of hours a night if that. People in the longhouse generally go to bed around 9pm to 10pm but get up when the first cockrel crows. Which came as quite a shock for us. We were woken up at about 5am and it was still dark but people had already started milling around getting ready to go out and harvest some seeds. Soon the radios were on and we had no choice but to get up at dawn. This, we didn’t realise at the time, was to become a running theme throughout our trip around Borneo. On our second day we went for another hike to the top of a hill near the longhouse. We thought it was a hike for the view but very quickly realised that it was the only place in the area you could get a signal on your mobile and all of the tribes teenagers were up there when we arrived texting. Even our guide got his phone out to check his messages leaving us to climb the last 100m. It was our last day and we wished we could stay longer. I would have loved to have learnt some of the handy crafts like the basket making and weaving. And Adam would have like to learn how to catch fish with the nets they all make by hand. We travelled back to Kuching on another ride in the massive 4X4 and prepared for our trip to Bako National Park.

Bako National Park is full of naughty Macaques, Proboscis Monkeys and some Wild Boar. You cant beat the wildlife here but occasionally you might want to. The main accommodation area of the park is so full of Macaques that the staff warn you to close you windows and not leave anything lying around as they will steal it. They guard the paths aswell and people have to walk around with sticks to scare them off or be scared off yourself. There are 3 not so wild boar that roam around and don’t take much notice of the tourists. We also saw snakes, spiders, a monitor and beautifully colourful kingfishers. We also saw a Flying Leamur on a night walk which was very lucky as they are really rare. The guide tapped the tree so it ran up and jumped/glided across to the next tree, really amazing to see. But the best of all were the proboscis monkeys. We had really close views of them in the trees and saw them with their family groups. You could hear them calling to each other. We did two walks, one to a small beach where you could see the proboscis monkeys along the path and a 4 hour circuit that took you onto the plateau where we saw our first pitcher plants.
Unfortunately the ‘We Care” staff at Bako couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery. We had the distinct impression we were being ripped off before we even arrived. The other couple who we went to the longhouse with had the same situation as us. We had to pay for the premium room on our first night at Bako and then we could move the a dorm bed. This cost us greatly. The premium was 105RM and the hostel bed was only 15RM. So we arrived at the reception and were taken to the dorm and given two beds. But we have paid for the premium room. The chap went off for ages, obviously sensing I wasn’t pleased. He returned with a different room key, but not the one on our receipt. I asked him if these dorm beds where free tonight and he said Yes. Well in Malaysia they often say yes if they don’t really know what your going on about. But later that night the beds where taken anyway so who knows. And as for the premium room it not what I had in mind. The only extra was a bathroom you had to share anyway. Adam stayed calm through all of this until our last day. The night before we were to leave we asked reception to book us a boat taxi and they said yes of course. The next day we got to reception with our bags just as it started to rain. We asked where the boat taxi was and the lady obviously didn’t know what we were talking about. She eventually told us it was at the jetty and we had to go now. So we walked the 200m with our rucksacks to the jetty in the now monsoon rain and got soaked. There was no sign of a boat. We waited and in the end Adam went to find out what was going on. Adam came back fuming as he’d realised she had sent us off to get rid of us and she had gone of to the canteen for a coffee. As we walked back to the reception she called out from her seat there is your taxi… a boat was just dropping off some more visitors. We paddled out to meet it and agreed a price. No he hadn’t come to pick us up. Later that day we travelled to Sibu on the bus - still soaked.

The search for Orang-utan started at Semenggoh rehabilitation centre. They have a feeding time at 10am where lots of tourists come by the coach load everyday in hope that some of the 26 Orang-utans might come to feed. We visited Two days running and there were no sightings. Too much food in the jungle - this is a really good thing for the Orang-utans as it means that they are fending for themselves in the jungle but not so good for us. We decided we might go and see them in Sabah instead. 

We Travelled on from Sibu to Miri where we would be staying for two nights before getting a flight on to Mulu National Park. Miri is a nice town but there really isn’t much to do there. The highlight of our stay was on arrival we found the cheapest hostel the rough guide had to offer. Lugged our packs across town in search of it and when we found it realise they charged by the hour as well as per night. Adam decided it wasn’t somewhere he wanted to take me so we lugged our bags back across town to a much more family orientated hotel. The flight to Mulu was in a 50 seat propeller plane. Cant say I was keen especially when the flight was delayed as there was a fault with one of the engines (this might have been my imagination actually). However, convinced we were going to die, we flew to Mulu where they have the Caves. As soon as we got there we organised all of the tours. You have to pay for everything at Mulu, but when guided tours are only 75p you can put up with it. We headed straight out for the Deer cave and Langs cave. We were most impressed with the Deer cave, a massive cave that was once a shelter for wild deer but now it is home to millions of bats and on a good evening they all fly out in a giant snake. Langs cave is an amazing limestone cave with stalactites. The cave was named after the man who discovered it, Lang the farther of our Guide (well i believed him anyway). The food and accommodation here is fantastic. You could stay for a week to get through all of the choices on the menu. But dont ask them to do your laundry, we did and it cost us 39RM (its normally about 6RM). The centre has a really good resource room with an exhibition about the wildlife and caves. There isn’t a lot of wildlife to see here as the local Penan Tribes have hunted for years so it keeps its head down. But we did see one monkey and some hornbills flying over. The next day we visited the clearwater cave and wind cave. Clearwater is a huge cave system that travels as far as 107km. We wanted to do some of the adventure caving but didn’t have time. We also wanted to see the Pinnacles but after realising this was a very hard 3 day hike we didn’t have the time. Adam wants to go back and do the Pinnacles and Mount Mulu a very difficult climb over 4 days. The guide told us that each month a different guide is on stand by for anyone who wants to do Mulu Summit and all of the other guides take the mickey out of them if they end up having to go.

bye bye…

I love this post, purely due to it’s title!!!

xx