Sarawak, Borneo

We got to Kuching Airport here in Sarawak, borneo a few days ago only to realize that there aren't any shuttle buses to the city, We were told however that we could walk a bit down the highway and catch one of the local buses. Waiting at the highway for at least an hour a guy pulled over and told us we're waiting in vain. There aren't more than 2 buses a day here, so jump in and I'll drive you to the city! We arrived at a hostel called Tracks in central Kuching, and the place is lovely. The guy working here, Dean makes everyone feel like home, and we pay almost nothing for the best accomodation possible. In fact everything here in Sarawak is dirt cheap, especially if one just arrived from Singapore. A meal at a restaurant is about 3 Ringgit (equal to 6 SEK), and that is awesome!


Kuching has a pretty cool vibe to it, it's very relaxed and soothing, even though it's the largest city in Sarawak. You don't meet a lot of backpackers, but the ones you do meet are lovely people. The locals are very nice and friendly with a constant smile on their faces. They speak remarkably good english and treat us very well. Like yesterday for instance. We were having dinner at a lebanese restaurant and were seated next to a group of local boys. We shared some beers and a hookah with them and for some reason decided to go to a karaoke bar together. It turned out to be one of the wildest nights in a long time. No matter how many times you experience it, it's always a blast to see asians enjoy their karaoke. They love it!

One morning we decided to go to the Semeggoh wildlife centre, which is like a sanctuary were they try to help domesticated Orangutangs back to a life in their natural environment! I'm very happy to see that Malaysia is really putting in an effort to help this endangered species. Anyway, we got there at around 9 am, which is the time they feed the Orangutangs, (like a supplement to the food they find in the wild themselves). It was clearly stated that, this is not a zoo. you are in their territory, behave, be quiet and don't expect to see any monkeys at all, you should be happy if you do. Expecting nothing, we waited for more than an hour when suddenly one of the wardens said that they had spotted a few orangutangs a bit up the path. He motioned us to follow him a few minutes up the path and there it was. Possibly the coolest creature I've ever seen in my whole life, just a meter away from me! That was such a "wow" experience I'm sure it's gonna stick around in my memory forever.

The day after, we went to the Bako Nationalpark which is about an hour away from Kuching. After disembarking the bus at the pier we chartered a boat to take us to the park headquarters, located half an hour out on the peninsula. As soon as we got off the boat, we were surrounded by naughty macaque monkeys trying to steal whatever possible. Having a lunch at the cafeteria one of the macaques stole a can of 100plus from a girl, ran up the roof and enjoyed it peacefully. They even stole Johans springrolls from his plate when he wasn't paying attention! Either way, the first night we decided to join in the "night safari" which supposedly should be a good way to see some of the creatures that don't really come out during the days. And indeed, we saw a lot of  different snakes, spiders, birds, bats and pigs. And went to bed very satisfied with the walk.

 
Woke up early the following morning, to get out on the path as fast as possible, before it gets too bloody hot. (the heat down here is almost comparable to a finish sauna). Johan and I decided to take the longest possible loop there was and boy was that a good call. We didn't just see an incredibly diverse flora with everything from palm trees to insect eating plants, but also a whole bunch of cool animals. We saw Pribiscis monkeys (which are famous for their noses that looks like penises), hermit crabs, a lot of different snakes and more macaques. The whole trek took us about 5 hours, but was supposed to take much longer, happy to realize the cycling fitness is still going strong!

Today will be our last day here in Kuching before it's time to head north to Sibu, not really sure what to expect or do, but one thing is for certain. Theres going to be more encounters with nature like these last few days. I love it!