Receiving Love, A Sad Farewell

November 20th (Sunday)

Who would have thought it? Last night, as I was sitting on the waterfront, it hit me: I'm going to miss this place. Malaysia has in one sense been my home for the last two months. Though at first I was frustrated with not knowing the language, visiting meaningless cities and sights, and feeling like an awkward tourist, as time went on, I felt more and more comfortable being here. I definitely prefer Borneo Malaysia over West Malaysia; in many ways it's almost like another country altogether.

In the short time that I've been here, I've seen an amazing array of forests and jungles, rivers and oceans, mountains and peaks. Even more important, I've met so many warm and generous people, both local and foreign. To me, the most valuable and enriching experience of any trip is the contact with the people who live there. The people of Borneo are so warm and kind-hearted and open. I think it may be their lack of shyness, their ability to just reach out and connect with people, displaying this gorgeous, honest smile. Seriously, these people rock. So much so that I am sad to leave. I think I could have stayed here for weeks, maybe even months longer. I would love to come back, and the sooner the better.



In closing, here are two Malaysian customs I really appreciate.

Though they don't say "Thank You" as often as we do in the west (most of the time a brief nod, or a quick smile is enough), when they do, they use "Terima Kasih" which literally means "receiving love."

Maybe related is the way one greets somebody. A light handshake (with one or both hands) is followed by bringing the right hand back towards the heart, as if to show that this encounter is well received by the heart.

I've definitely received so much in my short time here. I only hope I've been able to give back even a fraction of all that.

Until the next journey, selamat tinggal!

The Ocean and the Mountain

For me, Sabah has three main highlights: the ocean, the river, and the mountain. Sipadan is well-known for its amazing diving. Sungei Kinabatangan is well-known for its wildlife. Mt. Kinabalu is well-known as the highest peek in Southeast Asia. Alas, my one week was not enough to do all three, so two it must be.

November 15th-17th (Tuesday-Thursday)

The Ocean

Though a bit pricey, my trip to Mabul/Sipadan was well worth it. It was nice, for once, not having to worry about anything such as bus schedules or menus or anything. All I had to do was to show up on time for the boat, and then off we go on another fabulous dive.

In two days, I did seven dives, each one fun and relaxing. I must say, diving with turtles was an amazing experience.



The island of Sipadan is now closed as a resort, but it's only a 30 minute boat ride from Mabul. It's main draw is definitely the turtle population, but sharks, rays, sea-snakes, and pretty much any type of fish one can imagine can be found. Sipadan also drops 600m down into the depths, which is quite intimidating at times.

The island of Mabul itself is split into two. The resorts are plush and swanky, but are separated from the local village by a barbed-wire fence. Crossing into village life, where litter is strewn all over and kids run naked, must be another of those must-do slumming experiences that the rich tourists of Mabul/Sipadan contragulate themselves in doing. Am I being too cynical? One thing about going on these expensive tours is that I must also suffer being around so many rich foreigners. . .

I was lucky to watch a local wedding. Unlike the private events of the west, this wedding was a public celebration, with the bride and groom on a stage and the rest of the village there to watch the dancing, listen to the karaoke, give presents, take pictures, eat and drink food they purchased themselves, and just to have fun in all the excitement. I really like how they try and make the bride and groom feel like royalty for the day.



And, of course, the children of the island were wonderful. Never before have I been swamped by so many kids wanting their pictures taken. These three girls followed me around for half the island, posing here, giggling there, collecting little clams, and diving under-water. Such fun.



Not just the kids, but the adults too! These workers liked showing off how they could hoist heavy bags over their shoulders!



It's a shame that my trip to Sipadan was so short. If even I return to Borneo, I'll return to Sipadan.


November 18th-19th (Friday-Saturday)

The Mountain

Looming above at 4095 meters, Mt. Kinabalu is a daunting sight; at least it would be if it wasn't almost always obscured by cloud cover. The hike itself isn't that hard, as long as one remembers the altitude and keeps it slow and steady. Most people split the hike into two sections: a 6km hike from HQ to the camp 3700m above sea-level followed by an early morning 3km hike up to the summit. We leave the camp at about 2:45am. Hiking under the moonlight was a first for me, and dragging myself up the side of the mountain in the dark was quite tough. But, to catch the sunrise, and even better, to catch the clouds rolling in, was well worth it.



As fast as one goes up the mountain, one must try and descend even quicker so as not to be stuck in the clouds. People have gotten lost, and the bitter cold and jagged rocks aren't too inviting!

One thing to look out for though are the porters hired to carry up absolutely everything, from the food and water to the building supplies. It's quite a sight seeing a guy walking up with three huge pieces of wood, maybe 15 ft long. No wonder everything was so pricey up at the camp. It's also kind of embarrassing not being able to keep up with these guys!

Mission accomplished.

Brunei

November 13th-14th (Sunday-Monday)

My trip to Brunei was more one of practicality than of desire. It was the easiest way to get into Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. And, of course, an extra visa stamp is always nice.

Brunei itself is a small, rich country. And, unfortunately for me, quite an expensive country to stay in, even for one night. I must have spent US $70 in that day.



It did have this opulent and extravagant mosque though, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. They allow visitors to enter the mosque and look around, as long as they keep to the red carpet. It was my first visit to a mosque.

Other than that, nothing much of note in Brunei. Same goes for Pulau Labuan, the duty-free Malaysian island near Brunei. I was only too glad to arrive in Kota Kinabalu later that afternoon. The sooner out of Brunei the better!

(I do admit though, I did appreciate the internet connection in Brunei as pretty fast!)

My First Longhouse Visit

November 12th-13th (Saturday-Sunday)

Time to split up. Nicholas and Josephine headed back to HQ while Bart, Olga, and I continued up through the headhunter's trail, then a boat ride to the longhouse.

This trek was not too interesting, especially because we were screaming through the forest trying to keep up with our guides, one of whom had a bad leg but was still faster than we were!

And the leeches! Eww. Today, I knew what to look for, and they were all over my shoes and socks. Maybe about five total, though luckily none on my skin. Lucky for us, our guides had their boat at kilometer 8, so we didn't have to do the full 11 kilometers.



Our boatman, who ended up being our host as well, was Encik Payong. An old man with nine children and twenty-three grandchildren, he couldn't speak a lick of English. But, he and his wife are pleasant enough, and they have a nice comfortable place to stay and the food was pretty good. I especially liked the bakis (fern) and sayor (bitter vegetable). This was also my chance to practice what little Malay I've learned on my trips. In many ways, this was the culmination or the climax of my trip to Malaysia. After the longhouse visit will be the sad denouement.



Quite a lot of people come through here though, maybe once a week or so, so it isn't exactly a unique experience. I highly doubt they remember many of the tourists who come through, stay the night, and head off the next day.

I too was a bit bummed because it just seemed like they were expecting us to come through, stay the night, and head off the next day. So, I went off and did what I enjoy the most. I went off and found the children. The older boys invited us to play soccer, and Bart joined in. Boy were the kids good.



The longhouse was a single structure, with a huge long, wide hallway and a long porch shared by all. The individual living units branched out from the common hallway out back, and these were built one-by-one, but shared walls with their neighbors. Lots of dogs and chickens and pigs all around in the fields of corn and rice. The place has quite a communal feeling, and I believe most of the families there are related to one another. There were also maybe seven or nine longhouses in the area that shared the school and clinic.

OK. So, the games began and the smaller kids started appearing out of the woodwork. They especially liked the look-down/look-up game, and they taught me a game much like duck-duck-goose, but in which one could throw a ball. It was glorious fun, but alas, my camera was on the fritz because too much moisture got in. *sigh* The highlight of my trip and very few pictures to show for it. All the more reason to come back and visit again!

And I do hope to visit again. This was what I enjoy the most, to just spend time with the people.

One thing I am quite embarrassed about was that I assumed that they didn't have internet access. Now, knowing that they do, I hope to get some emails from them soon!



For anybody planning on coming to Borneo, I do highly recommend visiting a longhouse, and to try and immerse yourself into the people there. The people of Borneo are genuinely friendly and warm. They are the highlight and the treasure of Borneo. Corny, but true.

Oh, by the way, they call corn, "lego" after the blocks. Cute, ey?

Mulu Pinnacles

November 10th-11th (Thursday-Friday)

The Trek

Luck had it, on one of my cave trips, I met Olga and Bart from the Netherlands. They were thinking of doing the headhunter's trail, to visit a longhouse, take a longboat ride, and end up in Limbang, from where they'd head on into Brunei and then Kota Kinabalu by ferries.

So, we talk and I offer to pay for half the costs if they stay an extra day at Camp 5 while I scale the Pinnacles.

Better Luck had it that I met Josephine and Nicholas from Sweden who were thinking of doing the Pinnacles (and would have loved to do the headhunter's trail if they had not already booked their flight out on Saturday).

So, we talked and the five of us decided to go up together. I ultimately paid about RM600 (US$160) instead of the original RM1700 (US$430). Even better, the company was much appreciated.



Off to the pinnacles. After a short long boat ride, and a visit to a depressing Penan village much dependent on tourists, we reached the start of the trek. It was an eight kilometer flat walk to Camp 5, and the day was quite nice and comfortable, so we took our time. And boy did we take our time. The first kilometer took almost an hour because we had to cross a river, which required them to change their shoes, twice!



After that, the pace picked up a bit, but not by much. We were doing about 30 minutes a kilometer, looking at insects and chameleons, crossing a bridge, avoiding the mud. By about kilometer four, the light started to fade. But, it was still early (maybe 3:00). By about kilometer five, it started; a few drops and then the skies emptied out their load. Boy did it rain!

Of course, I was unprepared for that sort of rain. My rain jacket covered the top of my bag, and I kept my camera bag underneath my arm. Needless to say, everything got somewhat wet, with some things getting ridiculously wet!

Thankfully though, the half-an-hour kilometers sped up to ten minute kilometers, so we made it to the Camp, safe and sound and soaking wet.

Oh, did I mention the leeches? Not huge, fat river leeches, but tiny little worm leeches. The idea of them was more terrifying than the actual animals, which fall off after maybe a quick 30 minute blood-snack. Ooohh, but did they make my skin shiver. I found one leech on this trek. There must have been more, but they were quite small, and then it started to rain so hard that the leeches were the least of my problems.


The Pinnacles

Early the next day, Jenny led all five of us up the "longest 2.4 kilometers" of our lives. From the base, the trek went up and up, and up some more. Up ropes. Up tree roots and rocks. And then up about 14 ladders.

Was it worth it? I thought so. The pinnacles were bizarre. A bit smaller than I expected, but still bizarre. They were limetone segments worn down by the rain to form jagged peaks.



Then, came the down down down. Taking much longer in time, and havoc on the knees, the descent was quite bad, though not as tiring. Back at camp, we feasted on our instant noodles.

(Yuck. Instant noodles. Cheap and light, but so unsatisfying. The only good thing about going with a tour would be the food that they provide. But, is it worth paying two or three times as much? I doubt it.)

That night, I met two of the private guides, Andrew and Xeno. Quite sweet guys, and maybe one day I can go visit Andrew, who lives about a day's trek from Bario.

Excellent day. The trek, the pinnacles, and the companionship added up to a quite memorable experience.

Bario or Mulu

November 7th-9th (Monday-Wednesday)

Enough with Miri. Three days in Miri was enough. It was amazing how little there was to do in this town. Not a single museum or cultural sight to see. I could have gone scuba diving had I known I'd be staying for so long.

So, off to the airport. Bario or Mulu. I was at the point of frustration over trying to organize my trip to Mulu that I had decided, hey, Mulu will always be there. I should try and visit Bario. There's a guy there, Reddish, who is a farmer and also is part of the school's organization. I thought it would be interesting to see those aspects of local life.

But, alas, the airplanes decided my fate. There were no flights to Bario until Thursday, and so instead of spending even more time in soul-less Miri, I bought the first ticket to Mulu.

Immediately I had pangs of regret. I mean, I could have tried to get on standby. I could have tried to see if anybody would cancel. But, nope, I went to Mulu instead.

The plane was quite empty, and the passengers were predominately foreign. Did I make a mistake? Should I hop on the next flight out and still try to go to Bario?

Once in Mulu, I was even more bummed out that there were no other groups going to the pinnacles, or the headhunter's trail. So, for the next couple of days, until the next flight to Kota Kinabalu, I entertained myself with visits to the four show-caves, the canopy walk, and the waterfall.



The caves were fantastic! Much more interesting than Niah Caves, though maybe not as culturally significant. The Deer Cave was the largest cave entrance in the world, and millions of bats lived there, created mountains of fresh guano. The bats stream out of the caves in the early evening, which was a spectacular sight to see. The other caves had more of the stalactite/stalagmite formations, and the lighting was quite classy and one is really able to feel the magnificience of time and water. (I do, however, still prefer the Shasta caves, mainly for the tree root structures.) The best part of the caves though, and the park as a whole, were the guides. The guides of Mulu were really good at what they do, whether it be explaining the plants, pointing out animals, teaching us about cave formations, or anything else of interest. Bian and Ishmael were by far the best two guides, and I was lucky enough to get both of them.

I was quite happy to come to Mulu, even if only to see the caves and to meet the guides.

Rain in the Rain Forest

November 6th (Sunday)

I was feeling particularly lazy last night and today. So, instead of trying to catch a flight to Bario (Kelabit Highlands), I sleep in a bit, then take a bus out to Lambir Hills National Park, which lies about half an hour away from Miri. Though not particularly noted for its animals (like Bako) or for its archeological significance (like Niah) or for its geological uniqueness (like Mulu), it does have a large variety of plant life and some easy to reach waterfalls. So, it sounded pretty good.

Alas, access to the largest waterfall was closed off for repairs, so I made my slog off to another, smaller one. The hike goes up pretty high and there are some nice areas where the trees thin out and one is able to get some pretty nice views over the canopy of the forest.

(insert picture of waterfall.)

The waterfall is pleasant, so I spend some time reading and relaxing. As I was about to leave, it started to drizzle, then during my trek back, it started to pour. Though the trees do block off some of the direct rain, I still got a bit wet. Every once in a while I had to make the difficult decision of whether or not to use the trees as support to prevent me from slipping. Because, if I grabbed the tree, usually a deluge of rain water comes crashing down from above. Fortunately, after a while I became so wet that the decision wasn't that hard anymore.

So, back in Miri, safe and sound. I hope I can get on a flight to Bario tomorrow. I've spent far too long in Miri, which means that I've spent far too much time at the malls. There's absolutely nothing else to do here other than shop and eat, though I must say the food here is quite good! The boba bubble tea is much much better than in Kuching or in Singapore. And there's a vegetarian restaurant with fresh soy milk. And my favorite is the Nonya restaurant.

Sibu, Bintulu, then Niah National Park

November 2nd-4th (Wednesday-Friday)

It's strange that, even with a few weeks left in my trip, I'm feeling quite rushed by now. I would have liked to have hung around Kuching for a little while longer. It was a pleasant city, and I met Dennis, a guy from Indonesia on his first backpacking trip.



But, away I must, so I take the boat up to Sibu, which was a lot like the boat I took in Cambodia away from Phnom Pehn, only this time, instead of the fruit and food hawkers coming on and off at each stop, the entertainment was pirated movies all sharing the thematic qualities of good-guy kicking bad-guy butt. Not very interesting.

After a scrumptious noodles, fern (midi) and sweet and sour tempura fish lunch at a food stall, I catch a quick bus up to Bintulu for the night. The first hotel had huge cockroaches so I quickly checked out and got a more decent night's rest at Highland Inn (RM 58). Nothing of note in town, so I fall asleep watching whatever channel the front desk clerk was watching (it kept changing to a new channel on the whim of the clerk).

OK. Next stop is Niah National Park. Only a couple hours up from Bintulu (but then a RM 15 taxi ride from the junction), it's famous for its archeological significance. The 40,000 year old skull is credited to be the earliest evidence of homo-sapiens in Southeast Asia.

The trail to the caves is along wooden planks, and after a short detour to the longhouse to goof off with some kids, I have the whole afternoon to spend exploring the caves.



The larger caves in the front are inhabited by tens of thousands of bats during the day and tens of thousands of swiflets during the night. So, if you can imagine the sheer tonnage of guano produced every day, you can guess what one of the industries here is. Also, the bird nests have apparently been collected for centuries, to satisfy the strange diets of the Chinese. Now, the collection is strictly regulated by season and amount. (There are two well-designed museums at the park that explain both guano collection and birdnest harvesting. The harvesters hoist themselves on top of bamboo shafts maybe 50m tall to scrape off and dislodge empty birdnests. A guy on the floor scurries to catch the fallen nests before they tumble away into the crevices).



In the back, there is a moon cave which is pitch black and stinking of guano. Here live the guano collectors and birdnest harvesters, in crude tents lit by small lamps. Eerie. In a separate cave lie the longboat coffins and some cave paintings, though both are behind barbed wire fence and thus not easily appreciated.



The fun really starts on my return. I try and catch the "changing of the guard" at dusk when the swiflets return and the bats leave. I stay too long though, and the return path is pitch black and the jungle is roaring with activity. (Fireflies and luminous fungi do sparkle along the way though, which is quite cool.)



Upon return to the river, I find no boat waiting. I've returned too late. After a futile half and hour or so shouting and banging, I decide to swim the narrow river. It's much deeper than I thought so I leave my bag behind, strip down to my skivvies and wade across. On the other side, I realize I have no Malaysian money for dinner. D'oh! Also, I don't really want to leave my bag there overnight for the monkeys to get at. So, after some embarrassing housecalls and explanations, I am able to retrieve my bag.

All's well that ends well.

The next morning, I've become a bit infamous among the staff. I'm also told that there might have been crocodiles (eep). However, they do like my story of disturbing the ghosts in the empty houses on the other side of the river.



But, that's that. Niah National Park is quite nice. In fact, Sarawak and Borneo have been fantastic so far, despite all of my mishaps. I hope to one day return again and to be able to explore it more fully and more slowly.

After Niah, I head straight to Miri to organize my trip to the Mulu Pinnacles. It'll be nice to rest a day or so and to eat some good food. I've read that stingray is the local speciality here.

Oh, Selamat Hari Raya. I've decided that my swim across the river was some sort of cleansing ritual.

Bako National Park

The animals and plants of Bako.



October 31st (Monday)

Early in the morning, after a nice breakfast, I head off for the trails.



The Linbang trail supposedly runs through six different forest types, though I could only identify four of them. After a not-so-quick detour to Paku to see the probiscus monkeys (they were far overhead) and the hordes of tourists boating there to chatter away in the woods, I continue on the loop. Then, another not-so-quick detour to the Besar and Kecil Pendan beaches, which I saw from above the cliffs. The whole loop took me from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, and I ran out of water (and food) along the way. However, it was definitely worth the mosquito bites, the sunburn, the parched throat, and the sore legs. . . why? I'm not sure.

I fall asleep by about nine in the evening.

Happy Halloween!

November 1st (Tuesday)

I wake up ultra early today. It's time to hunt some monkeys. So, off I go. I find a group of grey monkeys at Paku, though the alpha is a bit angry with me and gives me a chase--that's scary. I find a trio of probiscus monkeys way up high in the trees. I started another group of a dozen or so probiscus monkeys and get screeched at--that's scary. Then, I end up almost in between a group of grey monkeys heading into the forests and a group of probiscus monkeys coming down to the mangroves. An amazing sight despite the hooting and screeching--that's scary. I sit and watch the probiscus monkeys dine on the leaves until they saunter off again. Then, thinking I was all done with monkeys, I almost get attacked right outside my room. Damn, that's scary. OK. Enough with the monkeys! Time to go.

Orangutans, then off to Bako

October 30th (Sunday)

Almost on a whim, I head off to Semengoh Orang-Utan Rehabilition Center. The 21 apes were rescued from poachers or owners and are taught to be introduced back into nature. Mostly allowed to wander freely around the park, the orang-utans are only readily visible during feeding times, and even then only a few are seen. I get lost (again) on my way there because the bus driver didn't know where I should get off. I also get lost on the way back because the trails go into dead-ends and I eventually have to jump over a creek with rotten bamboo and crawl through a hole in the fence. But, the orangutans are majestic animals. Quite worth it.



I catch a bus and hire the last bus to Bako. My boat driver, Kipli (aka Jet Li), is really sweet and has a great toothless smile. In Bako, I am immediately greeted by monkeys and the bearded pigs. The monkeys are cute at first, but are in reality vicious and horrible little buggers. More on that tomorrow!

But, before that, I have to tell you about the absolutely fabulous sunset. Even though the sun was off to the left, the sky and the clouds and the water were simply wonderful.

Flight into Kuching

October 29th (Saturday)

Being that my flight was at 7 in the morning, I had to take a taxi, which set me back a further RM 45. This is quite an expensive flight, with the hotel and taxi counted in. But still a tad cheaper than Singapore.

Anyhoos, the flight is packed with locals going to Sarawak for the holidays. The couple sitting next to me (Adam and Baiedas) are quite friendly and the flight goes quickly. The flight attendents like hawking souvenirs, and I like AirAsia's motto of "Now everyone can fly!" For many of the locals, a flight is a special occasion.

So, Kuching means "cat" in Malaysian. So, there are lots of cat statues around, though no cats. The Islam Museum is quite nice, more informative but less impressive than the one in Kuala Lumpur. The Sarawak Museums are quite interesting, especially the section on the aboriginals. The rest of the day I spent exploring. The tourist information center is really nice and well organized and I now have a great idea of how the rest of my trip through Sarawak will go. I also bought four fantastic travel posters.



The waterfront is relaxing, though I did get caught in a monsoon. So for about an hour, we all huddled under the rain shelters. Luckily, there was this boisterous group of men singing with glee! After getting lost some more through the town, I head back to the B&B (RM25), a pleasant but spare place run by the generous Mr. and Mrs. Chen.

Back Into the Chaos of Malaysia

October 28th (Friday)

After a nice long run through the Botanic Gardens, and a lunch with Sean and company in his school's cafeteria, I have to leave Singapore.

But what a horrible time to leave Singapore for Johor Bahru. It's Friday evening, on the weekend before Hari Raya (or the Muslim New Year). So the roads are packed! I mean so packed that maybe a mile or so from the immigration point, the buses empty and the people just walk the rest of the way. Then they walk across the causeway to the Malaysian side. All of this walking is much much faster than the thousands of buses and trucks and cars and motocycles crammed tight and honking like crazy.

By the time I get to Johor Bahru, I'm just happy to check into a hotel. Meldrum Hotel (RM 75) is the most expensive, and thus the nicest, hotel I've been to on my trip. It has a TV! So, after some spicy mee rebus and a delicious honeydew and logan drink, and after watching an ex-monk trying to sell some weird snake stuff, I go and watch TV (a strange mix of heavily chopped western tv shows and movies, chinese dramas, and malay news).

**It's actually a little strange that I felt quite at home back in Malaysia. It's noisy and dirty and energetic!**