Sep 19, 2012 - Day trip to Bako Natl Park

Wiki Info Bako National Park Since Nomad manager, Chris, said it was not necessary to go at 6:30am for bus to Bako, we decided 7:30 was early enough although we waited at the bus stop 2 blocks away from Nomad until 8:15. While waiting at least 3 taxis stopped and tried to get us to pay the 1.50 more for their fare. Bon & I - the cheapskates - refused even tho if it had been just the Dutch folks they'd have paid and gone by taxi. Of course, they're all working stiffs, a PhD in pharmaceuticals, a financial consultant, and an owner of a safety...

Sep 17, 2012 - Kuching

Wiki Info Kuching Our flight landed after dark...'cooler' here, got taxi and he took us to LP recommended Nomad Guesthouse. Chris, the desk guy, was very helpful and put is in a nice room with shared bath & AC. Bon stayed up talking to some other 'residents' but I hit the hay! 9/18 Late getting started but after some discussions with Dutch folks we decided to take the boat to Bako Natl. Park tomorrow and share the cost (5/boat). Went to Tourist Info Center - very little signage, had to ask 3-4 people before we finally found it. Once there...

Jul 24, 2012 - Mulu-Part 2

During my 4-day stay in Mulu I tried to experience as much of the park as possible. I hiked all of the self-guided trails over the first two days, and then I turned to a guided hike on the third day. I was slightly disappointed with the limited number of trails until I learned that the rough terrain has made more trails impossible at this point. Proof of that is the fact that one of the park’s premier “show” caves wasn’t even discovered until the 1970’s. Three of the park’s four caves open to the public are quite beautiful with all sorts...

Jul 24, 2012 - Gunung-Mulu National Park

Miri is the gateway to Gunung Mulu National Park, which many consider to be the highlight of a visit to Borneo. (As an aside note, nobody in Eastern Malaysia describes his or her homeland as Malaysia. They all say that they’re either from the state of Sarawak or that they’re from Borneo). The charm of Mulu is its remoteness. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it is only accessible by air via a prop plane that lands at the park’s paved airstrip. Mulu is only a half hour flight from Miri but as soon as we took off I knew that we were...

Jul 19, 2012 - Crazy Caves

Niah National Park is located about 70 miles south of Miri and is centered on the limestone caves found there in the midst of the rainforest. Archeological excavations in the 1950’s revealed that the caves were inhabited as early as 40,000 years ago and even unearthed a primitive burial ground as well as cave paintings. The caves are home to thousands of bats and birds known as swiftlets. Swiftlets play a role in Chinese cuisine because their nests are made from the birds’ saliva and are the key ingredient in bird’s nest soup. Members of...

Jul 19, 2012 - Malay Impressions

As I traveled 800 km (480 miles) via boat and bus from Kuching to Miri, I had plenty of time to formulate some impressions of Malaysia. For starters, it is the most integrated country that I’ve ever visited. It is striking how people of Chinese, Indian and Malay descent seem to mix seamlessly. This is all the more amazing because four different religions are involved (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Taoism). Occasionally I’ll see a billboard here advertising a certain school or university and, much like similar advertisements back home,...

Jul 15, 2012 - Night Hike

As a warm up for what I hope to be a week’s worth of hiking on Borneo, I spent two days in Bako National Park located on a peninsula extending into the South China Sea. It is only about 1-1/2 hours from Kuching but it can only be accessed by boat. The trails through the jungle are well marked and quite beautiful. I spent the night in a Park Service dorm so I also had a chance to take a ranger-led night hike. That hike was particularly interesting because we saw a flying lemur, which is like a large flying squirrel (approximately 2 feet long...

Jul 12, 2012 - Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah share this landmass with both Indonesia and with the tiny Sultanate of Brunei. The rain forests of Borneo are estimated to be 130 million years old and the island evokes a dark and exotic past. This was the land of headhunters and unique indigenous tribes. The Sarawak museum in Kuching places special emphasis on the local tribes and their customs, and its displays call to mind the most memorable pages ever published in National Geographic...

Mar 18, 2012 - Sarawak

17th March Oh golly so behind now, just shows how busy we've been! We left Saba on the 12 th March and had a really boring day in airports. We arrived far too early at Sandican then had hours to kill in Kota Kinabalu before our flight down. We were really relieved at last to be called for the flight only to get to the gate when they said we needed to go through immigration and check out of Saba, even though we were staying in Malaysia. We had to run back fortunately there was no queue and got back just in time, honestly we were running so...

Dec 12, 2011 - Borneo - Day 8 & 9 - World's Largest and longest Cave passages, Mulu National Park

The plane flight into Mulu was absolutely stunning. As you start to get closer the thick jungle trees start to surround large mountains full of caves. Massive mountains appear all around you and you really get the sense that you have finally arrived in what they call the ‘true jungle of Borneo’. It almost feels like you are in a completely different world, a new adventure awaits you the minute you step off the plain. Since we arrived in the afternoon we went to the park information headquarters and were lucky enough to get into a last...

Dec 10, 2011 - Borneo - Day 6 & 7 - Proboscis Monkeys, Flying Lemur, Wild Boars - Bako National Park

Dec 9th: Took the bus from Kuching to the boat ramp near Bako National Park. This small peninsula is 1 and a half hours from Kuching and is home to seven distinct rainforest ecosystems, giving rise to a remarkable diversity of animal and plant life. Bako’s most famous residents are the bizarre proboscis monkeys and it is also home to the silvered langurs (leaf monkeys), long tailed macaque monkeys, bearded pigs, flying squirrels and monitor lizards, as well as many different bird species. Fascinating plant life includes the mangroves,...

Dec 8, 2011 - Borneo - Day 2 - 5 - SW Borneo & Orangutans

Dec 5th: We spent these few days researching Borneo and what we would be doing for the next 3 weeks or so. As Borneo was not initially on our travel list, there was quite a bit of research required. We also spent a significant amount of time with Madam Bong (the live-in keeper of the guest house we were staying in), learning of the customs of the Iban people (her ancestors), as well as the local customs, traditions, history, and beliefs. We also met Angeline, another back packer staying here at Marco Polo’s. She was just arriving back...