KuuuurrCHING!

Kuching was finally reached after literally 24hrs on the road and using six modes of transport! We had to WALK to the water taxi and BOAT back to the mainland and then hopped into a TAXI eventually after everyone tried to rip us off and we wanted to pay the same as we got there, although we still don't think that guy was "licensed" if there is such a thing. From there we had to hang around the town of Taman Mehrah and chill out till the night TRAIN arrived at around 6ish. By this point we had added Jeffrey to our group of friends travelling with us although he was only travelling as far as Kuala Lumpur (KL) but with his invaluable knowledge of Malay we had more of a chance to not be ripped off. We this time had berths to sleep in and these although we were cheap asses and opted for the 2nd class berths were amazingly comfy but as for the little brats i wanted to clip round the ear for making noise for all but 4hrs and the parents just smiled and let them carry on! Ah well, i slept through it, but Kirsty didn't.  :o)

We arrived in KL at 7ish in the morning and had to get a BUS to the LCCT airport which we found out was not the normal airport as they have a separate airport from the international airlines. The LCCT is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal. A terminal my ass, it's an airport about an hour from the other terminal, ergo, it's own fricking airport so don't get confused on that one. Nevertheless, we knew of this and then caught a PLANE to Kuching before getting back in a taxi to our final destination, our lovely accommodation! They were expecting us and had everything prepared. The initial day was fulfilled with a walk around the local area as i so often do to come to grips with my surroundings and see what there is nearby. We opted out of going to the museum and chose to organise teh following day. We had a lot of plans and not a lot of timt to fulfil them all!

The following day we had planned to go to Bako National Park. Bako is a fair way out and we could have been picked up and guided around for 160Ringgit but in the end decided to do it all ourself, so a bus and speed boat later we were at the entrance to the National Park and thankfully after meeting more people in our hostel who also wanted to do the same thing, the cost of the entrance and boat was split even more. In the end our total day cost us a mere 45 Ringgit, much better than using a guide and spending triple the amount! BACK TO THE PARK! This was where we were hoping to see Probiscus Monkeys (the big nosed ones) and had a chance to do some real action and jungle trekking, finally putting my weighty boots which i had carried fro the previous three months to good use and test them out properly! We set off on a trail we were advised by our hostel to do whom is also a guide in the hope of seeing probiscus, but unfortunately didn't see any, although we did see a lot of Macaque monkeys. These monkeys were cheeky little blighters who whilst we sat down for lunch after our easy morning trek of 800m one way, attempted to nick food from our table (never gonna happen if i have a say in it) and Kate's sunglasses. A ranger charged at our table and we hadn't actually realised why as this macaque scarpered sharpish after leaping for our table, scragging the table cloth and landing with a thud on the wooden floor. We spoke to our fellow travellers we met in our hostel doing the excursion with us and tehy said they had done 6km! We thought that can't be on! We had done 1.6kms in the same time they'd done 6 - 2hrs 45mins, and it's meant to be almost a 4hr trek; and adding to that they didn't seem as though they had broken a sweat! The afternoon after a mini lunch (to my standards) we attempted the other trail our friends had said couldn't find for a swamp and unfortunately that was the trail but we didn't know it either so after attempting the bog we backtracked and checked our watch. We had 2hrs to return to the boat pier for our return journey and another 5.3kms to go if we continue the loop we had started...the same one the other guys had done. We debated briefly and thought tactfully, finding a point where if we made it at a certain time we'd continue. Well, we had also been warned of the severity of the steepness of the beginning of the trail, which we hadn't encountered as of yet but when we did i don't believe the steps leading to the top of the tallet tower had anything on these! We were ploughing up makeshift staircase by makeshift staircase which were made for safety reasons and my lord was it hard work! Nevertheless we continued powering onwardws and literally upwards and had a quick restbite after half a km for water and quick breather, before proceeding further. We reached a viewpoint which was our second and what seemed like our last stop and we were only 1.3kms in or so! At our landmark point we were still well ahead of schedule and our competitive edges crept in with wanting to beat the other peoples time round this long loop. We attempted to up our pace a little which worked temporarily and as i strode on in the lead i wondered how the hell i was going to complete this all terrain trek. After reaching the peak - a desert like arid land with few trees in retrospect to the vast canopes we had been treading through we paused for a drink by a small stream and then adopted an interval training style where we walked steadily on the downhills and flatlands and the sprinted the uphills as to get them out the way quicker plus i knew my personal fitness was more suited to short sharp bursts, which with my boots was a lot easier in all honesty to the girls' trainers. With one km to go i hit the wall with the world beginning to spin and in dire need of a true water break rather than sipping on the go. After a berak of 3mins or so the girls took over the lead and i tailed the group to the end with the final 800m descent resembling a bottomless pit! We eventually returned to the start point where i died with a bottle of water and a coke and the girls in true fashion heading to the toilets together in a time of....ONE HOUR 25MINS!!! which was for the 5.3kms, so either way we whooped the other guys time and were really pleased with it. I was also going to be really pleased once my head hit the pillow, which was still a long time away. We went back on the boat and onto another bus...oh i omitted to state earlier that i broke the bus the first time round by pulling off the handrail to teh seat in front which made the local jump out of his skin...whoops! and on thereturn leg i didn't need to break anything as the bus sounded like it was shaking itself apart and the rapturous noise was resounding around like a heavy rock concert in our eardrums! A simple dinner later and it was good night Vienna until the next day which brought about an early start and another action packed day...or days ahead as it is.

We were on our way for a cultural experience of a lifetime by heading to a longhouse to view how 30families live under one roof and then sleep in the same fashion. However, prior to reaching the Lamanak River and Longhouse we were heading to an Orangutan Sanctuary to see the orangs being fed, and see them swinging about. It did seem like a very touristy thing and very tame instead of wild although the rangers stated that they had been known to attack visitors if you got in their way especially if carrying their young. The beasts were a sight to behold with Richie, the male of the group an astonishing figure with his hair so well groomed and lengthy. The females and younger orangs swung around and fed and kept us well entertained although i think we were the entertainment for them and they swung around laughing at all us foreigners snapping our cameras non stop. This brief visit was only an hour long yet cost 50 pence so as an attraction that does come very high up on my list. Now on to the Longhouse.

We stopped for a lunch stop and then headed as far as possible until we were picked up and transported further by a longboat. These longboats are no wider than a canoe and as long as a bus front to back and with every moevemtn we found ourselves wary of flopping overboard and into the water. We arrived safe and dry and were shown our living quarters which were....interesting shall we say. We stayed in a room segmented many times by plyboard and a corridor down the centre. Each section was solely a bed. Our bathing area resembled a building site but this was the proper way the native Malaysians lived and still do live. We were guided around the main longhouse where the families still live and were shown some extraordinary things from their culture and history from their artwork to the skulls they keep from their headhunting days which continued until as late as world war two. We were guided through one of the families rooms, which was the old chief, he had passed his reign to his son and at the age of 85 or so was amazingly spritely. The rooms were quite a disappointment as we were expecting serious primative world but were greeted with TV's and a room which stretched back forever with the only thing still the same being the toilet which as with most of Asia was a long drop and all the modern amenities and luxuries coming from a generator out back. They had updated ancient living with modern life and had done so well.

The evening brought about a welcome dance and a sampling of their rice wine and rice whisky. The rice wine was nice and the rice whisky proved obscure from tasting smoothness of a glenmorange with the nastiness of a tesco own all in the same shot glass! This didn't hinder us and with a couple of Dane's who were on the hunt for more drink and i'd never say no to free drink and my guide very similar we drank through till the generators gave up and were singing away with other locals who had learnt guitar strumming away as we continued drinking.

The morning was a little rough but not as rough as the Danes', i'd passed out happily and woke up slightly bleary eyed whereas the Danes' didn't pass out and threw up in the morning! hahahaha, LIGHTWEIGHTS! The mornings activities included a demonstration of a blowpipe followed by us attempting the same feat of firing through a blowpipe into a papaya pinned to a tree from 6m away. Then we observed rubber tapping as we witnessed rubber seaping out of a tree and into a cup to make any substances seen in the western world made from rubber from latex shorts (god forbid) to tyres on your car. We were then guided to an area in the jungle where we were shown various plants and trees which are edible and in deed we had eaten and drunk. Then we were shown pepper plantations which could be smelt from a distance and then even more pungently once popping the pods and being explained the intriacate ways of making black pepper and white pepper. The final part of the trip was to see how the old fashioned style of catching meat was performed with varying traps for varying animals regarding to size.

On the return leg to the hostel the heavens opened as they had done previously in Malaysia and again it was only short lived but the intensity of the rain brought about 3 road accidents, one of which very severe and one where a driver had just missed the corner and landed off the road. We got back safe and sound and had a few hours to decide what we were going to do the following day. My last full day in Borneo.

This we had agreed would be a sunning on the beach day so we took a day trip up to Damai Beach and spent the day lazing on the beach, reading a book and just being happy to do bugger all. This would prove to be the last days encounter for the three of us as Kirsty and Kate headed to Kota Kinabalu and i went on by my lonesome to meet up with the original girls up in Phuket. A big mad rush, posting of a card and a trip to the airport by any means cheap possible drew me to Kuching airport and a fond farewell to one of the most beautiful areas in the world.