Semenggoh, Borneo 8th Sept 2008

Today we went to the Semenggoh Wildlife Park where they rehabilitate Orangutans and release them back into the reserve.

The animals are free to roam around in the forest and are just left to do what they want. Twice a day they put out food because some of the orangutans that were in captivity can't always find enough food for themselves so they come to the feeding platform to fill up.

We saw 2 babies with their mothers and also had one female walk just 3 feet from us. I could have stayed and watched them all day but they had things to do and went off after lunch to do their thing.

Sri Aman, Borneo 14th Sept 2008

This is our last day here at the long house so we went with Kibie and Anna to their rice field to do some planting. It was really easy. You just get a long stick which you bang into the ground to make holes. You then drop a small amount of rice into the hole, lightly cover with a little earth and voila! Rice. Well, it's slightly harder than than as it's really hot, the stick gives you blisters after about 5 minutes and you have to squat down on your haunches to plant the rice so after 5 minutes your thighs are screaming for mercy. We did plant a whole basket of rice though. Very satisfying to know that in 6 months Kibie and his family will be eating the rice that we planted.

We have had a fantastic time here at the longhouse. The Iban people are so warm and welcoming and make you feel at home so quickly. Kibie made a real effort to show us the surrounding jungle and how they live here. I hope to come back soon.

Mind you, after learning how much Kibie received of the money that we paid to the Borneo B&B for the trip we were really shocked. He got less than a third of the money and yet was the one who made all the effort and had all the expense.

If anyone wants to do a trip to the longhouse just call Kibie direct on 014-8846173 and book it direct with him. Then all you have to do is get on the Sri Aman bus and ask the driver to let you off at Panggil Angkong. That way Kibie gets his full share and you save a packet.

Sri Aman, Borneo 13th Sept 2008

After a great nights sleep the four of us went on another trek through the jungle with Kibie and his friend Rock. This time it was much longer and far harder than yesterdays trek. Lots of walking along rivers, climbing up steep tracks and even climbing down a waterfall using vines! It was really hot, wet and hard going but fantastic.

Just like yesterday, Kibie and Rock collected leaves and shoots in their baskets as we walked. I have no idea how they spotted most of them but there were definately some that they must really like because they went to great lengths to get some particular ones.

We even stopped at Rocks little farm clearing to pick a fresh pineapple for dinner. Kibie cooked it with chilli which sounds mad but tasted really good.

It was a fantastic day. By the end of our trek I had even forgotten to worry about spiders and snakes (well, for the time being).

When we got back lots of the men were gathering for a cock fight which is really popular here. David and Matteo went to watch a couple of bouts (Sally and I chickened out, pardon the pun) but they said it was a bit gory so I'm glad I didn't go. The old men also gather to play poker which I think is a daily event here. Lots of betting going on.

After dinner (again, another fantastic meal from Anna) we started playing Uno but some of the drunk locals came to check out the foreigners and spent the night talking, singing and generally being drunk. It was quite amusing. Especially when Johnny (Kibies cousin) tried to get into bed with David and Matteo (here the boys and girls share with each other). Sally and I were in hysterics watching the boys trying to get rid of him without breaking some unknown cultural taboo. We could just hear 'oh no no no no no'!

Sri Aman, Borneo 12th Sept 2008

We are now staying in an Iban Longhouse with a local family. There are four of us. David and me plus Matteo (Italian) and Sally (British but living in Oz). The family we are staying with are really nice and have made us feel really welcome. They are Kibie, his wife Anna and their daughter Bunga (flower) who is very cute.





David and Matteo are rather hungover today as we all went out last night and the boys got on the rice wine until about 3am. Not ideal if you are heading out into the jungle! We did this after lunch so that we could find some wild vegetables for dinner. Kibie pulled up bamboo shoots which he peeled down to the inner section which is the tasty bit. He also gathered loads of leaves which he said were good to eat. When we got back Kibies father made up some parcels of rice wrapped in banana leaf and put them into bamboo tubes to steam over the fire. We had this and our vegetables from the forest for dinner and it was delicious. Anna is a great cook.





We are a bit of a novelty with the family children. The extended family all live in the longhouse, each having a section of their own so the children all play together. They love having their photos taken and then looking at the results on screen. The trouble is that they instantly pose as soon as they see the camera come out so it's hard to get an action shot.

Kibies sister was weaving a new mat for her house so we watched for a while.
She was really fast and very neat. Obviously well practiced.

After dark we went down to the little river in the forest to catch crabs by torchlight. Kibie had laid some bait and just walked along the river picking them up. We caught 27! They were all pretty small but I didn't complain when I got them in my soup for dinner!

After dinner we all sat around and played Uno until the early hours which was really good fun. Who needs a TV?

Bako National Park, Borneo 6th Sept 2008

After a few days in Kuching we have decided to spent a night at Bako Nationa Park. It's about a 1 hour bus ride outside Kuching followed by a 30 minute boat ride to the park.

On arrival we were greeted by screeching aggresive macaques barring our way along the path. Not a good greeting.

The park is beautiful though with wooden chalets and dorms dotted in among the trees.

We decided to take the 5km circuitous route which is supposed to take about 3 hours. It was a great walk although it was pretty arduous. The ground is covered in tree roots so you spend most of your time looking down so that you don't break your neck. This means that you probably miss quite a lot of wildlife up in the trees! We did get to see a pretty big monitor lizard, loads of birds, butterflys (as big as my hand), loads of great plants, including two kinds of carnivorous ones and also the famed proboscis monkeys (they are the good looking ones with big round noses).

The walk was really good although we all came back looking the worse for wear! We hoped to have a nice hearty dinner at the canteen (the only place to eat on the island) but the food was incredibly bad (beetles in the noodles and hair in the spinach) so we had to settle for a packet of biscuits.

After dinner it rained for quite a while which meant that when it stopped there were lots of frogs etc to see. We were lucky enough to have a frog, snake and lizard enthusiast in the dorm with us and after dark we all went out with torches to see what we could find. It was really good fun and we saw lots of frogs and even a big spider (I was not so impressed with this).

The next morning we headed back to Kuching and a decent breakfast!

Melaka, Malaysia 4th September 2008

Arrived in Melaka a couple of days ago. It's really nice here. We are staying in Chinatown which is really nice. You can walk along the river here which is really pretty. We've already seen 3 massive iguanas by the river.

Last night the owner of our guesthouse took us to Capitol Satay restaurant for dinner which was delicious. They put a big pot of satay in the middle of the table over a burner and you cook whatever you want in it. Really tasty. People were queueing outside to get in the whole time we were there. I now know why. Yum.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st September 2008

Went to see the Petronas Towers but they were closed. Just our luck. We did take some great photos though. They looked amazing. Very shiny!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 31st August 2008

Arrived in KL to discover that today is Merdeka or National Day. They had a big parade in Merdeka Square with a flypass of jets and helicopters. Pretty good timing again!

Georgetown, Malaysia 26th August 2008

Arrived in Georgetown, Penang yesterday after a full 24 hours travelling from Thailand.

Spent the day wandering around and seeing the sights. Georgetown is really nice. Very colonial with lots of old buildings.

Walked around Fort Cornwallis and some old Chinese houses.

The food here is really great. A mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian. Just up our kind of place.

Koh Phangan, Thailand 18th August 2008

Had a lovely afternoon fishing with David and Lucy and Ton and Adam. I caught 2 fish, Lucy caught 3 and Adam caught 2. Don't ask David how many he caught as it's a bit of a sore point (0!!!)

When we got back On and Ton barbequed them for us. They tasted good!!! What a great day.

Koh Phangan, Thailand 17th August 2008

Did nothing today except chill out and relax.

Koh Phangan, Thailand 16th August 2008

Went to the full moon party which was rammed full of drunk people, ladyboys and idiots. Not a good place. Dave and I did some people watching for a while as too packed to dance and the music was all trance and pretty crap.

Last night was better.

Koh Phangan, Thailand 15th August 2008

Tonight we went to a Reggae Party in the north of the island with On and Adam who run our bungalow resort and Lucy, Jodie, Malcolm and G.

It was really good with a local reggae band who were pretty good. Lots of Bob Marley covers.

Afterwards we went down to Haad Rin beach and got a boat round to another beach where there was a private party. It was really funny. Everyone was smashed and dancing around like mad.

We boogied the night away and then watched the sun come up on the beach.