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From Kalimantan to Brunei
Entry 72 of 138 | show all | print this entry |
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It was time to say goodbye to Djoko and Henny and to Indonesia. I feelings for Indonesia resembled a roller coaster ride; a constant up and down of likes and dislikes. I loved the people I met and stayed with, the food (except for the rice), and the culture. I severely disliked the hustling and overcharging, the starring, the garbage everywhere and the disrespect for the environment by the majority of the people. Traveling in and around Indonesia requires time and patience; two months is by far not enough to see the country. I would go back to Indonesia to see people I have met and to see the places I had no time visiting such as Flores, Sumba, Sulawesi and Papua. I hope there will be a next time.
I was glad Djoko and Henny came with me to the harbour where they left me with a young couple that was also traveling to Pontianak. I made friends with Marni and Fandi. Fandi worked in Malaysia and Marni stayed in Pontinak. We found a space on the deck near the kitchen. There, I talked to the doctor who worked on the ship and to some of the kitchen stuff. Later, I met a chap whose English was pretty good and who wanted to practice his English more. This almost 2 day trip was a totally new experience for me. I was the only foreigner on the ship and I did not even stay in the cabins, I was a foreigner sleeping in the dirt on deck. We got a matress which made life a bit easier or softer, otherwise, there was not much to do except for sitting in our little spot, watching and being watched by people, sleeping and making our way to the bathroom through hundreds of bodies sitting or lying on the floor. I also witnessed one of the most disgusting environmental crimes - my mouth was gaping wide open as I watched the crew throwing garbage and kitchen leftovers over board into the blue ocean. What the crew didn't throw overboard the wind did, everything from plastic bottles, to Styrofoam plates, cigarettes, empty 5-minute noodle packages and other trash. If this habit exists on all Indonesian and/or Asian ships, I am surprised to still see open waters that are not littered with garbage. These acts are irresponsible and will eventually take its toll on the water quality and life in the ocean. Ironically, the same time that I witnessed this, there was a conference about water resources in Jakarta. I wondered if this issue was addressed at the meetings.
I got to Pontianak around 8am and said goodbye to Murni and Fandi and anybody else I befriended on the ship. I was planning on getting a bus to Malaysia asap. The lady at the bus ticket office near the harbour took me on her motorcycle to the ticket office in town where I purchased my ticket for 140000 rupiahs to Kuching. The bus left at 9PM, so I had the entire day to explore the town. I left my luggage at the ticket office and off I went. Pontianak was hot and of all the towns and cities I had seen in Indonesia, the dirtiest city. There was stinking garbage everywhere and the canals that run through the city were filled with garbage and stinking water. But the people were smiling and calling out there "hellos", "how are you" and "where are you going". I liked the place, for the time being at least. After the dirty experience on the ship, I treated myself to a cream bath and blow dry at the beauty training center. I could not say no to paying $1 for this and on top of this getting a wonderful head and neck massage. At least my hair was clean! At 9PM we left for Malaysia and around noon, I arrived in Kuching.
I was somehow relived to be back in Malaysia. Now I was in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak in Borneo. I went to the visitor info to get some accommodation info and a map and met Claus, a German living in England. We chatted a bit and went looking for a place to stay. He wanted to change his hotel to stay in another place. I found myself a cozy place to stay, the Borneo B&B, a small place run by an Iban family. The place had one dormitory room with 6 beds and single and double rooms. Breakfast was included and guest could watch TV or use internet. I paid 16RM!!! There was another chap in the dorm, Simon from NZ who lives in Denmark. We exchanged travel stories and then headed off to the other side to visit Fort Margarita which is now a nondescript police museum. We wandered through the Kampung, took pictures, and went back to the other side. Later, I met up with Claus to have dinner and then went back to my little hotel. The night was quite as Simon wasn't in and I was already wondering where he is. At 5am on Sunday, the police knocked on my door requesting me to come to the hospital to see Simon. As it turned out, Simon got attacked by a mob of youth at around 8PM the night before and they took all his money and his credit card. He was left with cuts in his face and mouth. He could hardly talk but I wrote all the info he gave me in the police report. I felt sorry for him as I could see exactly what could happen to any traveller; being helpless in a hospital and having to think about contacting the insurance company, family and canceling credit cards. Later, I contacted his mother in NZ and left a message with his danish girlfriend.
The next day, I met a dutch father and daughter team, Patricia and Hans and we spent about 2 days together exploring the town. We went to Sarawak Cultural Village which offers lots of information on the various tribes in Borneo and ends with a cultural show. We also went to the Semenggok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre which prepares Orang Utans for their release into the jungle. From the center, we hitchhiked back to Kutching stopping off along the road at small towns to sample the food and visit markets. Our last driver took us to a pottery factory where every piece is hand made, from the making of the pottery to painting and glazing. Then, we went to Kuchings tallest building from where we got a 360 degree view over the city and its surroundings. Wednesday was a rainy day and so i went to the Sarawak and Islam museum for the day. This was our last day in Kuching as Patricia and Hans had to head back to KL the next day and, I planned to leave for Sibu. For Sibu I left but changed my plan midway and decided to head up to Miri right away. In Miri, or better 20 minutes outside of Miri, I stayed at Mike and Esther's "Treetops Lodge", a quite retreat from city life. Mike is English and Esther is Iban. Mike and his father-in-law built the house which is off the new coast road and a mere 10 minute walk to the deserted beach. Since I did neither have the time nor the money to visit Mulu National park, I opted for 2 days at Niah Cave National Park. The Great Cave of Niah is one of the largest limestone caves in the world, and an archaeological treasure house. It was here that archaeologists discovered the evidence of man's existence dating back 40,000 years. A display of tools, rock paintings and human skulls tell the story of ancient civilizations. The rest of the park is dominated by limestone vegetation and the magnificent Gunung Sabis peak at 1,294ft (388m).
At the Miri bus stop, I met Elma from Holland and we both accepted the offer of a private cabbi to take us to the town of Batu Niah for RM15. This was a really good deal and so we got to Batu Niah, had breakfast, lingered a bit in town and then walked the 20 minutes to the Park entrance. There, we moved into our room (RM21), changed clothes and off we went to explore the park. We decided to hike up the mountain near Gunung Subis. It was a wonderful hike, though we got lost several times, and we were the only ones on the trail. There were tons of butterflies, all colors and sizes, and we heard many birds but it was difficult to see them. Vaguely, we saw two monkeys high up in the tree tops. To get to the summit of Bukit K (I forgot the name of the mountain), we had to clamber up unstable rocks and roots and 4 long metal ladders. We were rewarded with a great view from the top. We could see the ocean, the rain forest and the town of Batu Niah. We rested, enjoyed the view, took pictures and then headed back down as it was about 5PM and we had to walk back for another 1.5 hours. After getting back to the hostel, we met up with Claus, who left Kuching a day before me and went via Sibu, Kapit, Belaga to Bintulu and from there to Niah. We had dinner at the cafeteria and then discussed plans for the next day. Claus had already hiked to the caves, so we planned to do this the next day. We got up early and were sitting in the boat that took us to the other side by 7.30am. The caves are home to a variety of bats and swiftlets and, at certain times of the year, visitors can observe the harvest of swiftlet nests in the Great Cave. The nests are the primary ingredient of bird's nest soup. The harvest of the nests is strictly controlled by the Sarawak government and park service and is an important part of state income. We spent about three hours wandering through the different caves but were a bit disappointed with the Painted Cave. There was noting to see at first, only after intensely scrutinizing the wall could we make out 2 small paintings or signs. The painted wall was closed off to visitors by a fence. Apparently, the fence had been put up too late as visitors had already destroyed the paintings by touching the walls. After the Cave, we went to visit the longhouse community that lives near the cave and then headed back to the park. There, Beatrice, a teacher from Miri, offered us to take us back to Miri. On the way back, we stopped at a lovely beach whose name I forgot. Beatrice dropped us off at the Treetops Lodge; Claus was already at the lodge and so we were together again. Shamla, from Singapore, had returned from her trip to Mulu and told us her cave exploring stories. But all good things have to come to an end and so, on Sunday, Elma and I headed to Miri to meet up with our HC host Paul who would take us to Brunei.
Meeting Paul was one of the best things that could have happened to us. Going by bus to Brunei is a pain as one has to take about three different buses to get to BSB. We stayed with Paul from Sunday evening until Tuesday. He has two German shepherds, a housemate, works as a forensic science officer and generally knows many good places to eat. He was just a wonderful guy to hang out with. He dropped us off in town in the morning and picked us up in the evening to show us the town and the food. We went to the night market, the mosques, took close-up shots of the Sultans Palace, and had a little boat tour through the water village. We took lots of pictures of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and night pictures of the Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque. The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque is dominates the city centre of Bandar Seri Begawan. It is one of the most magnificent mosques of South-East Asia, and a symbol of the strong Islamic faith of the people of Brunei. The mosque was completed in 1958 and is named after the 28th Sultan, Omar Ali Saifuddien, who is still referred to as the architect of modern Brunei. The mosque's design reflects the use of the world's most elegant materials, including marble from Italy, granite from Shanghai, stained glass and chandeliers from England and carpets from Belgium and Saudi Arabia. Located in a lagoon beside the mosque is a replica of a 16th Century mahligai barge, which was used to stage colourful religious ceremonies such as the Koran reading competitions during the 1960s and early 1970s. The Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque in Kampong Kiarong is the largest and most magnificent mosque in the sultanate and a symbol of Islam's hold in the country.
Paul was patient enough to go from cake house to cake house in the search of cheese cake, which we didn't find. When we got home, we had beer and watched pirated CDs. There is not much to do or see in Brunei. Secondary and university education is free in Brunei and a liter of gasoline costs 50cents. What I did get in Brunei was my visa for China - I got it the next day and it is valid for 6 months. On Wednesday, Paul took us to the ferry where we took the boat to Lawas and a bus from Lawas to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. I am still travelling with Elma which is a welcome change from travelling alone. We are staying at "Planet Kinabalu Backpackers", centrally located on Jalan Gaya. The price of RM18 includes breakfast and we have a 4 bed dorm for our self. Nancy, the lady who runs this place is like amother to us, very friendly stuff indead. We met up with Claus again who will leave KK on Friday to head back to KL and later to England. We also met Susan, a traveller from Australia, who told us endless stories of her travels through China and Tibet. I had lots of questions for her as I am on my way to this area. We took it easy the first day and checked out the visitor center, some markets and the museum. Unfortunately, all accommodation at Kinabalu Park are booked so we have to figure a way to get up to Mt. Kinabalu. I am waiting for my friend Calius from California to arrive in KK so we can discuss alternative options.
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