Asia: Borneo (Malaysia)

"Andy Dufresne: Get busy living, or get busy dying. "
Shawshank Redemption.

The Plan
This is the plan as it stands today.
Asia
Two weeks in Borneo starting in Kuching.
Two weeks in mainland Malaysia.
Two weeks in Thailand.
Two weeks in Laos.
UK, Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Sri Lanka
3-4 weeks in Turkey.
3-4 weeks in Morocco.
3-4 weeks in Jordan and Egypt.

Return to Australia at the end of October.

We're Off
We're off, after months of planning and packing up the house we were boarding a flight to Malaysia, the start of our adventure. It's funny, apart from our planning sessions which changed many times, I had not spent a lot of time thinking about it. Now, however, the trip was very real and we were boarding our plane. Our first flight combination is by far the most antisocial, a short hop to Melbourne at 8pm, then a massive wait for our Emirates flight to leave at 3:30am to Kuala Lumpur then onto Kuching. I'm not sure why we agreed to this sequence of flights, I have a feeling that we had no choice but the tedium of waiting for the flight was wonderfully interrupted by the Socceroos winning the Asian Cup. Fantastic result and from what I saw of the game quite evenly matched.
Despite being on many international flights I still get excited about what is on the inflight entertainment. Now, I have a dilemma about gorging on movies or trying to get some sleep. My sensible brain won the day and I got some sleep.

Arrival in Kuching (01/02/2015 - 04/02/2015)

First day was the usual recovery from flights then we spent the next couple of days exploring Kuching. We have found it to be a really lovely place, easy to get around, everyone speaks English and we have been really surprised at how friendly people are. The locals have been welcoming, relaxed and very helpful. Although, what does that say about my society when I am surprised that people are nice.
We had a look at a local temple, the waterfront, shops and food court. I found a delicious beef rendang at the local food court cooked in a clay pot.

Falling off the wagon.
A strange phenomenon occurs when I go travelling, I start drinking coke and eating Oreo cookies. When I am at home I hardly ever touch the stuff but the moment I start traveling I take every opportunity. In fact I am really bad with Oreo cookies, no matter what size the packet I will demolish them in one sitting. I try and "self regulate" by buying the smaller packet, which they call a slug but this strategy works as well as it did for the bankers. I just end up buying more packets and I am expecting a wife intervention at any moment.

Seminggoh OrangutanWildlife Park (05/02/2015)
We took a trip to wildlife park where we were told we would have an opportunity to see semi-wild orangutans.These were orangutans that were held captive then rehabilitated and released into the wild. Food is placed out at regular times and the orangutan turn up if they want to. The bottom line was we may or may not see an Orangutan. We waited at the feeding platform then it happened. We saw a tree dwelling spirit, a magnificent creature of the forest, a special animal of the wild. It was not as I suggested to Michelle a man dressed up in a monkey suit, she was very clear on this.
In all seriousness though it was a very special event. A adult male came swinging in from the trees using a rope which had been strategically placed. I was quite amazed at how it used it's feet like it used it's hands. At certain points he was cartwheeling down the rope alternating between hands and feet. He cleared off pretty quickly when the dominant male emerged from the forest. Too big to spend much time in the trees he walked in on his hands. He was big, really big, a really magnificent creature.
After a while, us observing the dominant male orangutan and him checking out us chimps with our iPads we moved to another feeding platform. We were really lucky to see a male and female pair with a small baby. A really, really special day.

Flash Packing Damai beach resort (06/02/2015 - 08/02/2015)
Some may consider this backpacker cheating but we booked ourselves into a beach resort. We wanted to have a bit of luxury after our $30 a night rooms. We booked ourselves into a really nice room for two nights. It was nice to have a buffet breakfast, a big bathroom and a big bedroom for a little bit. It was cool to have space to spread out and enjoy relaxing.
The resort itself was in a national park and we decided to walk a jungle trail to a local waterfall. It was really good fun trekking through the jungle, climbing over rope bridges and climbing up tree roots. We made it to the waterfall enjoyed the scenery then headed back. We stopped to have snacks on a fallen tree. Luckily I had packed some Oreo cookies which were demolished in one sitting. Both of us agreed it was better than being in the office.

Kuching traditional river cruise (08/02/2015)
Arrived back in Kuching today and decided to take a cruise up the river. We had two choice either a medium sized cruise ship or a small traditional wooden boat. Michelle was keen to go on the traditional boat so we went on that one. After the driver/captain started Ye olde traditional outboard motor we spent a very pleasant couple of hours cruising up and down the river. Very chilled.

Bako national park: caravan of love part two (09/02/2015)
We are spending next week in Bako national park an area of the country only accessible by boat. It is full of native wildlife and good walking trails.
Our trip to the island was eventful, we were in a small boat in the sea navigating the waves. I was really impressed by the captain (driver?) of our little craft as he was able to avoid all the big waves and getting us wet. We had to do a beach landing because the tide wasn't high enough to land at the jetty. The water was only ankle deep but having to take our massive backpacks ashore required a bit of concentration.
Arriving on the island we proceeded to our accommodation. Now, all of you who have heard my caravan of love story will be delighted to know that our accommodation on the island was remarkably similar. If you can't remember think tent on a swamp except this time it was a whole cabin. I am of course exaggerating. The cabins are located in the forest surrounded by the national park so they are fairly basic and given the amount of rain we've had it's not surprising it's a bit mouldy. They do give us an excellent opportunity to explore the surrounding forest and beach.

Bako national park: meeting the locals (09/02/2015)
Having settled into our accommodation I was sitting on the deck minding my own business when suddenly.
PIG!!!!!!!!
There was an enormous pig walking up the walkway, an enormous pig with a beard. I know I am prone to exaggeration but it's true. It wasn't a bacon sandwich sized pig it was twice the size. Over the course of the day we saw a whole family of pigs six in total.
So, having accepted the pigs we decided to go to dinner. We sat out on the balcony of the main building, were having dinner, enjoying the scenery and conversation then, suddenly, like a bolt of lightening MONKEY ATTACK. A macaque monkey jumped from behind the wall, leapt onto the table and grabbed some chicken right off the plate of a guy sitting next to us. It was so fast we were all quite stunned. We had seen them around during the day but I would never imagine they would be so bold. The funny thing was that the bloke who had his dinner stolen decided to try and create a barrier with two plastic chairs. These monkeys can climb a tree in 10 seconds I don't think two chairs will slow them down.
Having survived dinner we decided to go on a night wildlife walk. This was a walk of the surrounding area about 200 metres around our cabin with a local guide. First discovery was a pit viper venomous of course. During the next two hours we saw huge spiders, tarantula burrow, poisonous rock frog and a scorpion as big as your fist. There were some cute birds, flying lemurs, the eyes of a civet, catfish and a mud crab.
So, to summarise we were faced with massive pigs, under siege by a horde of monkeys and surrounded by deadly creatures. We had met the locals.

Bako national park: Michelle's shocker (10/02/2015)
Michelle has had a shocker today.
She has
Slipped on the walking trail. It rained last night and the ground was wet. It was a little slip so no damage done.
Headache. It's hot and we are sweating a lot so we are dehydrated.
Sprayed herself in the eyes with insect repellent. I'm not sure why she did this but it was definitely an accident. We managed to wash it out but it was very unpleasant for her.
Nearly stood on a snake. We were walking along the walkway when she almost stepped on a snake. I was lucky because I saw it move and was able to put my arm out and stop her before she trod on it but it was close. Unfortunately, I caught her right in the chest when I put my arm out and winded her but I figure I'd be forgiven. For all you snake hunters out there it was thin and a grey/brown colour and about 30 cm in length. We asked one of the locals and apparently it's not venomous. I'm telling this story now to keep me honest because by the time I get home to tell this story the snake will be an enormous Python which a wrestled to death for the protection of my wife.
Nearly got attacked by group of monkeys on a bridge. On our way back from our walk we encountered a group of monkeys sitting on a bridge. They were not concerned about our presence at all. It did look threatening so just to be on the safe side I picked up a piece of wood. Tapping the bridge with wood saw them move but it was a bit concerning. I'm expecting the monkeys will have turned into gorillas by the time I tell this story at home.

Apart from the above we had a lovely walk to the bay and saw a lot of proboscis monkeys.

Bako national park. Rain, trails and macaque attack. (11/02/2015)
Wow, it rains here. I know it is rainy season but it just keeps coming. It has the persistence of British rain i.e all day with the intensity of a Sydney thunderstorm. It is ferocious. I was up most of last night because the rain was so loud.
When the rain had cleared up a bit we went on another couple of walks one to some mangroves then on to viewpoint. The viewpoint walk was sign posted 700 metres from place where we were which is very easy when it is flat but it's a bit different when it is up hill. Great view when we got there and well worth the effort.
When we returned to the cabin Michelle was spending some time on the balcony whilst I was inside. suddenly she burst through the door flinging our shoes and backpack on the floor abruptly shutting the door behind her. The monkeys are coming she exclaimed. Outside there were two macaque monkeys coming towards the cabin. We had been warned to keep the doors and windows closed because the monkeys would come in. Sure enough, they came right up to the balcony, jumped onto the window sill and proceeded to check the windows for weaknesses. When they found they were secure they proceeded to the next cabin. They really were casing the joint. They are cheeky monkeys.

Bako national park: Proboscis Monkeys (12/02/2015)
Today was torrential rain pretty much all day, very heavy and constant. As a result we stayed in the main building where it was drier and played Yahzee and word Yahazee. The highlight of the day was a visit by a family of Proboscis monkeys at about 3 o clock in the afternoon. They really liked the leaves from a tree close to the main building. There were about 6-8 swinging thorough the trees and the big male came down to the ground. We got an incredibly good look at them and their behaviour. They are incredibly characteristic with their long noses and pot bellies.

Bako National Park : Trails and Dolphins 13/02/2015
Our timing was perfect today. We left on our trial walk 5 minutes after the rain stopped and returned 5 minutes before the rain started up again. We had a really energetic day walking about 2 and half hours to 3 hours walking in totally. A mix of up hill and a bit flatter. We both found it a bit easier today, I think because it was slightly cooler and not quite so up and down. The trail was very waterlogged and I was grateful I had put my Tevars on. One doesn't worry about getting Tevars wet because they are open anyway. The trail was fairly straightforward, I only had one dodgy incident which was when I put my foot in a pool of water. I thought it was 3 cm deep but it was actually 50 cm deep. Imagine my surprise when my foot disappeared down a big hole right up to the knee.
Our mission was to walk to a viewpoint then onto the beach. We stopped short of going onto the beach because of a very large crocodile sighting. As much as we appreciate the wildlife we didn't want to get that close to a croc. It was a very pleasant day walking, the trial was really varied and interesting. The jungle parts reminded me of the film Predator which is funny because we have been losing our group one by one in mysterious circumstances (joke).
We returned to our HQ where we were really lucky enough to see the proboscis monkeys and some Dolphins swimming really close to the shore.
It's probably worth mentioning that Michelle was really worried about the macaque monkeys because of their naughty behaviour. One lady we met constantly had a stick in her hand ready to defend herself against Mac attack.

Leaving Bako, arriving The Hilton Kuching (14/02/2015).
We have had an incredibly special and unique experience at Bako. We have seen so much wildlife and plant life in their native habitat. Of special note were the sightings of the proboscis monkeys and bearded pigs which were random enough to be wild but regular enough to be familiar. Plus the great trails we went on that were challenging enough to be interesting but easy enough to be enjoyable.
That said we also discovered a wide variety of mould, primarily on the inside of our cabin. So at this stage we were ready to leave Bako which we have nicknamed the city of mould. Don't get me wrong we have really enjoyed our time here but we were ready to leave. I'm sure from the following list there would be something that you would be happy to leave too, Mosquitos, cold showers, torrential rain, wet clothes that are impossible to get dry, marauding monkeys, impossible to get truly clean, wall to wall mould in the cabin and clothes that although we'd cleaned that were still stinking. That said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Waking up on the day of departure was a bit apprehensive for us because we were really worried about the weather. Previous days had had torrential rain which had caused 2-5 metre swells in the sea and caused more excitement than necessary for the boat journey back to the mainland. Also, we were really worried about getting our bags wet. Although we have everything in the bags wrapped up in plastic the exterior would have been really hard to get dry. Michelle had managed to get a dustbin liner from the kitchen to cover the exterior but it wasn't perfect. We were really excited when we woke to dry skies. We marched down to the jetty and jumped on the first boat that would take us. We made it 75% of the way back when it started to rain. The boat driver was incredibly kind and slowed the boat to bring the bags undercover of the main canopy. Luckily it was a shower but in the process of slowing the boat it enabled the driver to spot a crocodile on the bank. There was actually two very close together but they were so well camouflaged that they looked like a piece of wood. Proceeding a little further we saw another, this one decided it was time for a swim, straight towards us. My heart skipped a beat when the engine decided to splutter but all was well as we sped away. It is good to see creatures in the wild but some are best seen from a distance.
When reading this next section please bear in mind that it is both Valentine's Day and Michelle's birthday.
Onward, to our next destination, The Hilton Kuching. That's correct we were going from no star luxury to five star luxury. We boarded the bus, taking out many locals with our massive bags and collecting bewildered looks from the rest and made it back to Kuching. We entered the Hilton looking our absolute best. Our bags were covered in dustbin liners , I was covered head to foot in sweat and smelt of a mixture of tiger balm, mosquito repellent, perspiration and fifty shades of mould. We were self classified M for minging. "Hello, we have a reservation for two nights", class pure class. Surprisingly, enough they let us in. What we experienced next can be described as sensory overload. Everything, was the exact opposite of what we had left. There was air con, clean sheets, a toilet that wasn't sitting under the shower head, toilet paper (don't ask), dry room, TV, WiFi, an enormous double bed. I could go on but you get the picture. It was an absolute joy to get clean using Hilton luxurious shower gel and get dry using their big fluffy towels. Pretending to be a starfish on the massive bed was a must and enjoying the river view was fantastic. I even gathered up all our filthy clothes and took them to the laundry over the road (using a bio hazard label for most of them). So, by the end of the day we were clean and amazingly our clothes were clean as well.
We spent the next couple of days enjoying the Hilton's facilities, the only real excitement was a snake by the pool. It hung around for a bit then slid under a door marked fire exit and hid behind it. It would have been a dilemma if there was a fire because it would have been snake versus fire, take your chance.

Leaving Borneo / Kuching (16/02/2015)
We were genuinely sad to be leaving Borneo. The whole experience was fantastic. The people were nice, friendly and really helpful.

Travel observations
Malaysian food seems to be dominated by fried rice topped with egg containing different meats.
When travelling there are different levels of clean.
Things are going to get wet and will never get dry.
I had forgotten how tiring traveling is. Everyday is filled with so many new things it consumes so much energy.
In Malaysia if a bus timetable says leaving at 10:30am it really means that the bus will be gone at 10:30am this might mean 10:29 it might mean 10:25 who knows but the bus driver.