Back to Borneo

We made our first trip to Sarawak nearly two years ago and now we're going back . . . with my parents in-tow (they'll do fine, really).

To get everyone prepared for our journey, I have been re-reading and insisting that everyone else read Redmond O'Hanlon's book, Into the Heart of Borneo.  This is one of my all time favourite non-fiction books and is essential reading for armchair adventurers and hardened travellers alike.

Redmond, his poet-sidekick James Fenton and their three charming and resourceful Iban guides all set off on an incredible adventure deep into the jungle in search of the Bornean rhinoceros. Pumped full of tuak (native rice wine), arak (a lethally strong rice brandy), hoards of sticky rice and boney river fish they have many (mis)adventures - particularly with the local wildlife, which includes:

• 166 species of snakes: including 2 species or python, 50 venomous snakes including, aggressive sea snakes which have been known to swarm in the thousands, three kinds of cobra, pit vipers and river snakes.  Let's also not forget the flying tree snakes.
• leeches: giant leeches, up to two feet long and tiny leeches that live in rivers and streams only as wide as a thread that patiently wait for you to drink them down so they can feast on you internally.
• mosquitoes. Enough said.

Less scary native species include the elusive clouded leopard, cranky sun bear, big-eyed tarsiers, tiny slow loris, agile gibbons (they can swing from branch to branch for distances of up to 50 ft at speeds up to 35 mph), mighty orang-utans and countless species of birds including the revered hornbill.

Although parts of Borneo are now as developed as anywhere else in Malaysia, deep in the jungle there are still unruly natives prowling about with lethal blowpipes and who were reportedly head-hunters up until the 1960s. Despite ever-increasing development and the devastating destruction of huge swathes of primary rainforest for ever-expanding oil palm plantations, Borneo still possess a slightly wild edge.  It's not New Guinea, but it sure ain't a tourist-packed Thai island either.

We won't be hitting the jungle quite so hard as Redmond and James, but we have every intention of spotting a few orang-utans, visiting a Dayak longhouse, squeezing in a few jungle treks of our own, relaxing on the beach (hopefully without sea snakes!) and no vacation would be complete (especially with Thomas Galli) without a few beverages.  I can't wait to be back in Borneo.

First anniversary

We've officially been in Malaysia for 1 year and 4 days - although I spent a whopping 14 weeks travelling this year, so I suppose I've really only logged about 9 months here.

Realizing how much time we've spent outside of Malaysia - and taking advantage of a three-day weekend, we went to Penang. It was a harrowing 5 hour drive with high-speed tailgating at about 110km an hour the whole way - at one point we ended up immediately behind a six car pile up - no doubt due to the aforementioned high-speed tailgating.

Arriving safely and in one piece we opted for a night in Batu Ferringhi - an unimpressive so-called resort town just outside of George Town which backs onto the busy and polluted waters of the Straits of Malacca. It was nice to be by the sea (worth it just to see a woman in full burqua on a jet ski) - and our real goal wasn't a nice beach holiday but to score some first-rate Chinese seafood.

We cruised around town and as expected found a run-down, slightly dirty, packed little restaurant just meters from the sea serving all manner of crab, prawns and fish. We opted for one of our favourites - sweet & sour chilli crab and we were not disappointed. Stuffed and messy with sauce smeared all over our chops (and in my case, my clothes) we called it a night and primed ourselves for an exploration of George Town the following day.

Compared with it's sister-city Melaka, George Town is both bigger and dirtier (I saw 4 rats in 24 hours). On the plus side, it's considerably less touristy and certainly lives up to it's reputation as a culinary destination.

Rain kept us from wandering and exploring as much as we would have liked - so we hunkered down at some food stalls, stocked ourselves with beer and began several hours of taste-testing some of Penang's most famous fare - from loh bak (deep-fried minced pork wrapped in tofu skin) to Penang laksa and the local (spicier) version of the ubiquitous kway teow (essentially Malaysian pad thai).

After our feast we headed back to the streets and stumbled upon a delightful little bar that is (for those of you who are lucky enough to have been there) almost exactly like Duffy's - same size, layout, decor, and general atmosphere (just Chinese and no Chicago Cubs paraphernalia). We met an Aussie engineer in the oil business, a Dutchman who found himself in Malaysia after his holiday to Thailand was cancelled due to the floods, and a wandering 38 year old American with a penchant for Asian women half his age, an obsession with self-defence and the right to bear arms. We had a grand time.

We did of course squeeze in a couple of cultural attractions as well. We made a brief stop at the Snake Temple - which although not exactly as I envisioned (you know, Raiders of the Lost Ark) but there are a few pit vipers slithering (actually snoozing) at the altars.

We also made an attempt at a tour of the Blue Mansion - a restored home that once belonged to a wealthy Chinese merchant in George Town. While the mansion is certainly impressive, I would not recommend the tour.

For no discernible reason (other than there is probably a gift shop at the end) you aren't allowed to take photos (strictly enforced) and the entire tour is said to take an hour, but after 25 minutes we hadn't gotten out of the foyer and it was too crowded and too hot to hear anything the tour guide had to say anyway. So we bailed and played with the camera out front for a bit instead. The Blue Mansion also operates as a guest house, so clearly the best thing to do would be to plan ahead and just stay there.

Borneo: Part 4

I bet you all thought I was done with Borneo, alas there are still more adventures, just been slow in getting them posted!

After a night of positively torrential rain, I was certain that we were in for another day of rain. But miraculously it cleared after breakfast and we enjoyed a lazy morning on the beach, it even got sunny enough for Ian to sustain a mild sunburn.

Unable to sit still for too long we packed up and decided to test out a hike we had spotted not far from our hotel. We parked the car and signed the sheet at the start of the trail marking our start time and leaving our mobile number (that probably should have been our first clue). The information board at the start said the total trail was 3.1 km and took about 5 hours – with it already being nearly 2:00 when we set off we had no intention of climbing Mount Santubong to the top (it did look pretty daunting). We settled for about halfway where there was a waterfall marked on the map. I will also note here that we were appropriately attired; hiking boots, trousers, bug spray etc.

We started and after a couple hundred meters the trail went more or less vertical. The trail was fairly well maintained but largely just followed streams running down the side of the mountain. It was hot, wet, muddy and steep. In fact, I have never been so hot in my entire life, it must have been well over 90 with the humidity at about the same. My shirt was soaked (in fact 36 hours later, it’s still wet) my hair dripping, I was miserable. Then I slipped and landed my foot in water just deep enough to come over the top of my boot; ten minutes later I swear to god I was suffering from trench foot.

The path was largely composed to twisted roots which provided an absolute abundance of excellent hiding places for any of the 115 species of snakes found in Borneo (don’t even get me started on the six types of flying tree snakes). The vegetation was dense and the mosquitoes the size of houseflies.

After an hour and a quarter of tough going we had barely completed a kilometre and there was no waterfall in sight. We came to yet another particularly steep bit and I put my foot down. I told Ian he could continue but he was just going to have to leave me here to die. With uncharacteristic energy he sprinted up the side of the mountain and 10 minutes later called my mobile (I was thrilled to discover we had reception) to inform me that he indeed had found the waterfall. I mustered the energy up the steep bit and then discovered that you had to virtually rappel down to the waterfall. Brave soul that I am, I managed.

We spent 10 minutes or so relaxing by the falls and then started back for the return journey. The return was far easier, but that didn’t stop me from complaining. I fell in again and could feel jungle water squelching between my toes, trying not to think of leeches I bravely carried on. An hour and a bit later when we emerged from the jungle the woman who runs that café at the base actually laughed at us. Laughed and pointed to the nearby stream, apparently suggesting that we were dirty, bedraggled and that we could do with a bit of a wash.

I had the best shower of my life, had a gin & tonic – purely medicinal as an extra layer of protection to fight off the malaria I had probably just contracted, booked myself in for a full body massage at 10 am the following morning and bade Ian take me to dinner and fill me with seafood until bursting point. After a delicious meal of kway teow, midin, red snapper and butter prawns I crawled back to the car, rolled into bed and slept soundly until I was awoken by another bout of torrential rain.