A Long Journey To A Longhouse (10 April 2011)

We sadly leave our little jungle treehouses today and make a long journey to stay in our longhouse on a lake in Batang Ai, 250 kms into the interior of Sarawak. A 6.30am start for the 40 mins into Kuching, followed by a five hour minibus followed by a 20 min boat trip. The roads look great, but actually the the bumpiest either of us have ever been on and that's saying something after travelling around in various conveyances in Guatemala and Mexico.... We just hope it's worth it!
We were shaken and stirred by the time we arrived, but nothing a quick drink couldn't sort out. We are cheating a bit and staying in a hotel rather than a homestay so we have aircon, running water etc., Gill booked this one, had Ant booked it we would be sleeping in the real thing......, but the whole place is designed just like a series of traditional longhouses, beautiful wood everywhere and set on the edge of a huge lake. But thankfully free of the live chickens running around everywhere. And the best news ever, the pool is out of action for retiling, so all beverages are half price, bring on the cocktails, we need no encouragement for an offer like that!



The lake was formed by the building of a huge hydro electric dam that supplies the major cities here in Sarawak, but for such a large installation, it is remarkably well hidden by the local landscape. And lots of the local longhouses are now under the waterline, but don't benefit from the resulting electrical supply....


There was a nature walk on offer this evening so we decide to make the effort. Bit of something and nothing, a few steep bits which was good and a nature guide who told us nothing about nature but waxed lyrical about the political injustices of the resettlement of the Iban when the dam was built 25 years ago...... actually fair enough. But his nature contribution was that the trees were big..... But part of it was a rather scary canopy walk - health & safety UK would have had a fit, creaking boards, broken rope, and bits falling off, all hanging precariously over a hundred foot drop into the ravine below. There are a tour group of Brits here with Page & Moy, Ant was shocked, he expected Audley Travel as a minimum - we decided they were all Daily mail readers. At one point Ant did make me laugh though - as we were first going across the canopy, Ant shouted, rather too loudly I thought, for me to get a move on as I had the whole of Tunbridge Wells following behind! We are now having dinner, looking at them having dinner together as a "group", how did we ever do those, they now look such hard work.




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Birthdays, Bouquets and Booze in Borneo (9 April 2011)

What do you want to do on your birthday was Ant's question this morning? Spa, swimming pool, shopping? None of the above, surprisingly, we went on another trek through the amazing rainforest. But before that came a leisurely breakfast of banana pancakes overlooking the sea. Ant had brought cards and presents from home so I had a good time opening and reading. Everyone has been so thoughtful, and it's good job I don't wear makeup in the rainforest, my tears may have made the mascara run. Then the manager came over to say he had something for Miss Gill from Mr Colin and I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some chocs that Colin and John had arranged to be delivered from home. I dread to think of how many calls and emails had to made for that to work, but I was glad it did, thank you Colin and John.



Eventually, after admiring my presents and flowers the amount of chocolate was looming large, so a walk was a good way to dispose of some of those delicious calories. After our trek yesterday, we chose a 2 km walk, (plus a bit of a walk to get there so weren't being too lazy). The book said it would take one to two hours. We decided somewhere, someone had got the maths wrong, it wasn't possible to take that long over such a short distance. Wrong again. Turns out we were in the foothills of Mt Santubong and it was tough! But amazing, right in the heart of the Borneo rainforest. No path that was too obvious, trees high, high above, straining to be the top of the lot to get to the sunshine, underfoot, roots and rotting leaves. Odd noises in the distance that neither of us wanted to think about and both of us on snake watch, well perhaps Ant even more than me! And it seemed even harder than yesterday. It was hard to get a footing, but luckily in places there were ropes to help. And it was hot, even in the shade of the forest it was hot. Like a sauna, so pehaps I was having a spa day after all!
After our efforts, we decide to make a visit to the much vaunted Sarawak Cultural Centre to take in a bit of local history. A living museum with different kinds of houses, displays of tapioca and sago and blow pipe exhibitions. I won't repeat the comment Ant made about the veiled lady's expertise in that area.... But it is my birthday are all, and the restaurant is "dry", so we rely on our traditional "special" water, i.e. duty free gin in a water bottle. We always were culturaly sensitive..... After that we were knackered, so managed to fall asleep in the aircon theatre watching the dance performance.....


This evening, just as the sun was going down the monkeys also came to say Happy Birthday. A group of six silverleaf monkeys went by swinging from branch to branch, looked like Mum and Dad and the kids including one tiny one who was getting left behind. He sat for a while staring in at me, of course, I was safely the other side of the glass doors to the balcony. Wildlife is great, but it does stop you sitting and admiring the view from outside!
So we finish with a birthday dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Ant had brought a bottle of good champagne which we shared, together with a chicken curry. And Ant had then organised a birthday cake which was so big we shared with the restaurant.
A fab day, the best birthday ever, thanks Ant!


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Location:Kuching,Malaysia

Peeping Toms (7 - 8 April 2011)

Hooray, today's the day when Ant and I meet up again for our Borneo adventure. Both on trusy Air Asia, he from Singapore and me from KL, we meet up in Kuching Airport.
Hi, this is Ant, I was very excited to be see Borneo for the first time. From above it was minds eye dense green rainforest with snaking brown rivers looking lazily for the sea. Didn't take long to find Gill and I dont think we stopped talking for hours. Three months to catch up on.
We are to spend 3 nights on the Santubong peninsula at Damai beach. Gill had found a rainforest retreat to spend her birthday and here we were at the Permai Rainforest Resort. We had a treehouse each, the maddest, tallest sheds on stilts that we'd ever seen, at least 10m up in the tree canopy, overlooking the beach and thw Sputh China Sea. From the outside the tree houses looked really ramshackle, but inside they were lovely, windows on three sides and a balcony. Perfect. Slightly disconcerting are the monkeys looking into your room, fab to be on eye level with these creatures watching our every move. Even more perfect was curry for lunch, an afternoon nap and then spicy noodles for dinner. Just great.



GIlls exercise regime was to continue and as Ant needs to get up Kinabalu in a fortnight then his needs to start. Thw deal was an hours walk every day, and as the hotel is smack bang in the middle of tropical rainforest, with marked trails, there was no excuse. So day one we chose a short 6km trail that they estimated 1.5 hours and we set off. Now this is rainforest and I don't think that the trail is frequented that often. We spent the next 2.5 hours edging our way over mangled tree routes, up dry river beds, down ravines. This wasn't the easy choice at all. We crossed a river on a rope bridge then hauled ourselves up the other side on a rope. All in 100% humidity and boiling heat. A fun intro to exercise. The trees were amazing, we saw silver leaf monkeys, trails of ants. The snakes gave us a wide berth thank goodness.



We flopped at a local restaurant for satay and then Ant fell asleep for the afternoon in the heat.

But no rest for the wicked, there were mangroves to explore at dusk. Gill took an instant dislike the the boat, so we got to the mangroves via bua and then a shortened boat ride. We were on the hunt for the endangered proboscis monkeys. And we found them! Result! A large troup, in the mangrove swamp, happily chomping on leaves, almost human in their mannerisms. So the table was turned, this time we were playing peeping toms! It was a special moment as the sun set on Gill's 59th year! Hehe had to get that in. There were stilted fishing villages in amongst the mangrove, and we enjoyed observing waterborne village life for half an hour or so before heading back under the threat of a storm.


The storm did turn up later. Thunder and lightening! Is it wise to be sleeping in a treehouse? It both so knackered for our exertions, we slept through it anyway!




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Turnwd tables we saw probosci
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Why no why why Thai? (6 April 2011)

I take the Bangkok Airways flight (more flyer miles....) from Phuket to Bangkok to start my journey to Sarawak in Borneo to meet up with Ant. From Bangkok I connect with Royal Jordanian (odd, I know, but it worked with my oneworld ticket) to fly down to KL. Oddly, Royal Jordanian, a oneworld airline, use the Star Alliance Lounge so I went to the Thai Royal Silk Lounge in search of some food, but more importantly a glass of much needed why why. But no why why to be had there, they serve it onboard they said, not a lot of use to me at that point..... But at least I make up for it on the flight with a couple of glasses of decent champagne, how nice that tasted! I was the only one up front, so felt like Queen Noor as I was fawned upon by the crew, felt quite at home.....



But that feeling didn't last long as I disembarked and had to find my way from KL International Airport back to the Low Cost Terminal and the Tune Hotel ready for a morning flight tomorrow. How the mighty fall..... Long story, but two buses and all of 70p later I get there to check in. You can actually see the low cost terminal area from the main airport, but it requires a 20km trip round the edge to get from one to the other! Tune Hotels are based on the same philosophy as low cost airlines i.e. you get the basics so you think you are getting a bargain, but by the time you have added on the extras you probably would have saved money going to the Interconty! I had paid for 12 hours aircon, some wifi and soap and a towel. I felt like I was checking into prison as I take my one towel and sachets of soap, shampoo and shower gel from reception. I was pleased to discover that I at least didn't have to pick up a loo roll..... And they may issue rubber gloves for me to do a clean in the morning or I may get charged for that as well! Apart from the convenience of being near the Terminal, am not sure I would book it again. It was clean, but the smallest room I have ever been in, one double bed with one foot of space around it, not ideal. And when 10 Asian monks, complete with food bowls checked in a bit later, I thought perhaps that I was back in the Ashram....


But whatever, I was on my way to Sarawak and checked in early for the Air Asia flight, Ant, here I come!

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Normal Service Is Resumed... (3 - 5 April 2011)

...here in Phuket. The rain has stopped, the sun has come out, the beach is packed again, the ladyboys have taken off their wellies, and the man with the ping pong menu is back on the streets - all is right with the world!
So at least my last few days here have been more normal in terms of the weather and very pleasant it is too. And just to prove the weather is getting better, we have "red sky at night" and here's the picture to prove it. It really was a beautiful sunset rather than the post nuclear landscape my photography has produced.....



So I leave Phuket tomorrow and whilst Patong is certainly not the white beach Thai paradise of the posters it has been good, lots to see, well at least when it wasn't raining......

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It's Not Too Mutton Is It? (1 April 2011)

What do you think? Ant kept encouraging me to get a hair braid when we were in the Caribbean, but I felt that it really was a bit undignified. But I have always fancied the odd hair extension, and they are so cheap here in Phuket. So bored in the rain, I decide to go for it. Decided against a full head, didn't want to look too Jordan, so just went for a few jazzy ones at the back. The stylist told me that different colours were the trendy option right now, so I left it to her. It's a funny system they sort of glue them to your own hair so they are supposed to stay in for ages. They took a long time to do but I think they did a great job, and am really pleased with the look. They were cheap though, so they may not last till midday......




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No pressure then... and no floods so far in Phuket (28 - 30 March 2011)

This morning I wake up to day five of continual rain here in dry season Phuket. The rain is still coming down, slightly lighter than the downpours of yesterday, but still heavy. The usual morning sing song greeting from the staff here has changed from a cheerful "Sawadeeka" to "more raining..." but still, of course, delivered with a nice smile! The forecast is still a bit iffy. I tried to check and the Thai meteorological site recommended by the UK foreign office on its tweets is "not available" - perhaps just overloaded.
The problem is an area of very low and very slow moving pressure sitting over the whole of Southern Thailand just dropping its rain out of the sky. But Phuket is coping a lot better than poor old Koh Samui. It's odd looking at pictures online of places I was happily and hotly wandering around a few weeks ago, now waist high in water and boats going up and down the roads. This picture is Chewang, Koh Samui, the road where I popped into Boots just a few short weeks ago.....



There's no power in the whole of Lamai where I was staying. The airport there has been closed for two days now, and the ferry services are also suspended, so people there are a bit trapped. One of the main problems on Koh Samui is that a lot of the hotels have been built right on the beach and have solid walls at the road side, which completely block any natural drainage of water. But it is actually this design thats brings the tourists, letting you go out of your room straight out on to the beach, Catch 22 really. You don't get that nearly so much in Phuket, but that makes it less attractive.
So here in Phuket, whilst still cool, windy and wet, and under a flood and landslide warning, the roads, even my big hill, are still functioning. No chance of a walk though, it's a bit wet even for that, so I take the hotel tuk tuk into town to have yet another wander around the Jungceylon Shopping Mall. That's relatively closed in, the few semi open areas losing the battle with the rain. I have wandered around there so often now, think I could get a job as a personal shopper, I know it so well!

But as well as being glad I am not in Koh Samui right now, I am even happier that I am not in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The rains flooded the local zoo and eleven crocodiles and two bears escaped. So far they have shot one and caught three crocodiles......
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