Days 110-120: Sarawak
Just some notes from our 10 days in Sarawak.
We travelled to the town of Miri in Sarawak, Malaysia from Brunei. This is a fairly short distance, but because of the border crossing and a small river required a total of 5 buses and a boat to get there. Speaking of buses, the movies seem to be hit or miss. We’ve caught some newer stuff (quality bootlegs), but a lot of the things they show are pretty dreadful: The Seed of Chucky (yes, children were present) and World Wrestling ‘Judgement Day’ (three hours of it!) are two that come to mind.
The Niah Caves are a collection of limestone caves frequented by swiftlets and bats. The sheer amount of guano on the ground made the spellunking pretty slippery. (Kelly still refused to use the hand rails, see critters entry to know why.) Every person reading this should be thankful that our camera can’t record smells. It was overwhelming! There are fearless folks that climb up many-story high poles and ropes to collect the bird spit nests. These nests are considered a delicacy and are used for bird-nest soup and other lesser-known tasty treats.
The town of Sibu is considered a surly port town, but is a convenient transit stop on the way to Kuching in the far west of Sarawak. We stayed at one of the few hotels near the port that doesn’t double as a brothel (it was a guesthouse that was part of a Methodist church). Sibu has a very nice pagoda and the caretaker told us a lot about Taoism and Chinese traditions. (The Buddhists and Taoists combined forces in Sibu creating a Taoist temple attached to a Buddhist pagoda.) He also handed over the keys to the pagoda (guess we had a decent look to us) and taught us how to get our fortune from Tua Peh Kong (the Earth god). Tua Peh Kong had good stuff to say to Kel, but was mum to Marcus.
We took a boat from Sibu to Kuching (the capital of Sarawak, and known as the Cat City). We must be adjusting well to the tropics, because this air-conditioned vessel was freezing. We were sure they must be transporting frozen meat in the compartment with us.
Shortly after arriving we checked into another church owned guesthouse. We put our bags down and it started to pour rain outside. Being familiar with the storms in Borneo, we figured, “oh, it’ll be over in 10 minutes.” Next thing we knew we both jumped out of our chairs as lightning struck and crackling thunder reached us at the same time – we swore it hit the yard of the Bishop’s house next door. The next time we walked by the grounds – voila! Maybe God is getting tired of us staying in his guesthouses.
There are many cultures in Sarawak, and since we were a bit short on time and invitations to their longhouses, we opted to go to the Sarawak Cultural Village. Seven of the groups have faithfully reproduced one their homes/longhouses and cultural tidbits. The culture we found most interesting was the Iban, which makes up about a third of the population of Sarawak. In the past, a male had to produce a human head as proof of his manhood before he could wed.
As an aside, while waiting for a bus, we spent some time in the lobby of a Holiday Inn. Kelly used the restroom and was greatly impressed: western toilets, toilet paper provided, soap provided, warm water, and a hot-air hand drier. A lady on the way out remarked, “That bathroom sure smelled.” And all Kelly could think was, “that was the nicest bathroom I’ve used in months!”
We spent a couple of days in Bako National Park (yep, that’s the name; no it doesn’t have any oil derricks). We went on a couple of hikes and saw tons of pitcher plants. But we came for the mammals, and were rewarded. The trouble with monkeys, though, is they like to hang out in trees, so the pictures don’t tend to do them justice.
A bay in Bako National Park.
Probiscus monkey.
Adult macaque. This one had a few things to say to Marcus, but when Marcus ‘acted big’ and hissed back, she backed off.
A macaque working on its tan.
A baby macaque howling.
A silver faced langur – with the coolest expression ever!
These bearded pigs were everywhere. Marcus realized he needed to shave after noticing a resemblance. (No, Jon, not the belly.)
After returning from Bako National Park we checked back into our favorite guesthouse, although we got a different room. Tired from a good day hiking, we went to bed. Sometime after midnight, we heard a loud crash as our travel smoke dector and a rat came crashing down from a ceiling beam. While the rat was going crazy in one corner trying to climb the walls, Marcus flicked on the light. We saw it climb our bags, trying to get higher. Then (maybe it saw us) it made a beeline under Kelly’s bed (at which point she jumped ship and joined Marcus on his bed) and made a mad ruckus trying to climb the wall over there. It gave up and ran under the table, making another attempt to climb the wall before it climbed the table. Then it climbed our purple pack towel like one of the brothers Hamm. (Speaking of which, what ever happened to that Hamm brother after the Olympic gold stink? Now that we mention it, this rat was about as big as a Hamm brother.) Then the rat did the balance beam back to its nest in the ceiling. We’ve tried to draw a picture since they’re worth a thousand words, and we’ve typed too much on the subject already. Notice the nice hardwood floors; there everywhere in Borneo. Now we know where all the rainforest went.
Maybe these cats will make good mousers one day, but they’ll have to grow bigger than the guesthouse rats first.
While eating our new favorite breakfast this morning (roti canai – thin indian bread with dhal), the TV was showing a morning talk show. At one point, scenes of Kota Kinabalu were shown, and lo-and-behold they showed US walking down the street! The waitress recognized us too – which threw her for a loop.
Tags: Malaysia
Kelly & Marcus
July 8th, 2005 at 6:21 am
What show were you guys watching, “Sarawak’s Most Wanted?” I’d split town immediately if I were you, imagine the size of the rats in the local prison…
July 8th, 2005 at 7:07 am
So you’re now TV stars – who would have thought! (Cute Jon, about the Most Wanted!)
Don’t know what to say about the rat – the fact that you actually stayed in the room and watched him is amazing!
Happy Travels! xoxox