Club Hopping in Kuching
Friday was the last night with the gang from the Sarawak-part of the trip, and after the farewell dinner, five of us decided to check out Kuching's nightlife. We had a great night out, with plenty of rather expensive beer (50SEK/5EUR per pint), and to my surprise the DJs actually pulled a couple of nice beats now and then. They still seem to have a way to go before they reach European standards, but we had some nice, rhythmical, Techno/DnB to dance to. We even tried to get the locals to dance with us, but they seemed to prefer dancing around their tables. Strange.
Architecture and Soul
Having now visited a few cities in Malaysian Borneo, Kuching feels like the most modern of them all. It has probably benefited greatly from the oil industry, and seems to have a significant influx of tourists too. It's architecture is nothing less than stunning, with skyscrapers interspersed with traditional Chinese shops and temples, Malay kampongs, long houses, colonial buildings and mosques. The city was taken by the Japanese in 1941, and liberated by the Australians in 1945, but in contrast to Kota Kinabalu, it was never burnt or bombed. It is no wonder, then, that you can see architecture spanning over several cultures and a few centuries. As with most cities in Borneo, Kuching seems to be under a boost of modernization. There are cranes and new buildings all over the town, and a few of the older buildings are being torn down. I just hope that its soul does not disappear in the process; that it remains a cultural melting-pot.
Museums
On Saturday, I visited the Sarawak Cultural Village, which sports traditional housing of the different indigenous people of Sarawak. These types of museums always feel a little contrived, but nevertheless it is expertly constructed, it feels very professional. The houses are, where possible, built using traditional construction techniques, and are a treat to visit. They are possibly of a higher standard than the original buildings would've been, but that doesn't lessen the experience. There were many displays of craft making, and the interior of the houses contained traditional crafts, arts and utensils. The village also has a cultural show, and me being generally skeptical about cultural shows was pleasantly surprised at, again, how professional and good it was. The Iban - or if he was supposed to be Penan - hunter, with his blowpipe/spear, shield, loincloth and bird feather decorations, who was dancing around looking grim and shooting balloons with his darts, was definitely the peak of the show!
Today, I visited the Sarawak State Museum, established by the second White Rajah Charles Brooke. It was a very nice introduction to Sarawak's history, culture and nature. While I think it might have been more fitting at the beginning of the trip, I could now quickly browse much of the material, nodding in recognition to things I already knew, and delving deeper into new knowledge. The natural history section, which displays much of Sarawak's wildlife, could do with a bit of restoration, but was still impressive. The most interesting exhibition was that of the excavation of Gua Niah, and other important pre-historic sites. I also wanted to visit the Police Museum, located at Fort Margherita, but it had sadly been shut down. Lovely building, and excellent views over the city, though!
Frogs?
'Try everything once' is one of those great sayings which is good in essence, but which you shouldn't take literally. I had set my mind on some Indian food tonight, but the restaurant was closed and I ended up in a food court instead. Naively asking for a recommended meal, I was offered frog... Very well, it should at least be interesting, I thought to myself. So I was served sweet and sour fried frog, with rice and mixed vegetables. It tasted pretty much like chicken, mixed with fish or seafood, but with a fattier texture, and it was a nicer experience than I had feared. It was fairly complicated to eat, since it consisted mostly of bones, and I'd describe the eating process as a combination of chicken wings and crayfish.
Tomorrow I'm off to Kuala Lumpur for the last leg of my trip, and I find it funny how in one of the most modern cities in south east Asia, neither hotels nor camera shops have homepages.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Butterflies & Thunderstorms
Gunung Mulu National Park
We headed out from Miri in the early morning to catch a speedboat to Marudi. This speedboat was a catepillar-like thing, doing on average 23 knots upstream. The inside was cramped, but it was possible to sit on the roof and watch the crocodiles while getting a nice tan. At Marudi we had lunch, bought mosquito nets and changed to a considerably slower boat. We traveled the river for several hours, watching more crocodiles and huge barges loaded with timber. For the last leg of the trip, we were picked up by a couple of long boats from the national park. These boats are constructed so that you sit at water level, and they have sides which are only 10-20 cm above the water level. This last part proved to be very interesting; the boats felt unstable, the current was quite strong at places, and for the last hour we rode in complete darkness under heavy downpour and a considerable amount of thunder and lightning. Sometimes you just have to put your fate in someone else's hands. Eventually we arrived safely at the park headquarters, which was an impressive facility filled with excellent information about the park, the caves, the wildlife and the rainforest.
The following day we visited the Cave of the Winds and the Clearwater Cave, had lunch and bathed in the pool emerging from the Clearwater Cave. The Clearwater cave system is the 8th longest cave in the world, at 176km - unfortunately we didn't have time to explore all of it. For those wanting to know more about the caves of Mulu, I can recommend visiting The Mulu Caves Project's homepage, or watch episode 4 of Planet Earth, which features the Deer Cave, which I'll tell you more about later. After caves, lunch and bathing, we set off on an 8km trek through the jungle. Walking was easy, and there were only a few leeches. However, with 2km to go, the daily downpour was upon us mercilessly. Half running to cover the last bit proved quite fruitless; when we arrived at Camp 5 at the base of Gunung Api, everything we wore was completely soaked, including boots. I was very glad for my waterproof Vaude backpack then. At Camp 5, there were about 10 other tourists in addition to our group of 8, which resulted in a calm and pleasant stay.
The Pinnacles
After a night on thin cots under mosquito nets, we started our hike to The Pinnacles at 6.30 am. Knowing we had to reach the first ladder before 11am to be allowed to continue to the top, I was in a bit of a hurry, but we made good progress and reached the first ladder well before the appointed time. The climb to the pinnacles is 2.4km in distance and 1200m in elevation, which means an average incline of 30-45 degrees. The last 400m, which consisted of 16 ladders and several parts with ropes and steel bars to walk on, this hike would probably be better labeled as a via ferrata. Fun, but not entirely safe. We reached the pinnacles and were awarded with an amazing view over a landscape of razorsharp limestone rocks, some of them reaching as high as 50m. (I will publish some pictures of these when I get home.) After a lunch consisting mainly of sugar, we started the descent. Carefully traversing the part with the ladders, making sure of always having three points of contact, we made our way down steadily. Once we'd get past the ladders, I told myself, it'd be a much easier descent. Boy, did I fool myself. The ladders we had to descend slowly and carefully, but it was at least quite fun, and somewhat challenging. The last 2km of the walk consisted of slippery limestone rock, slippery leaves and slippery roots, always at a 30-40 degree incline. It went something like this: take one step, make sure of your footing, shift your weight, slip 5-10cm since the sure footing you found wasn't sure enough, curse silently to yourself, slap yourself for not bringing more water, grab hold of a small tree or vine, and repeat. I definitely don't regret doing it, but I would not for anything in this world do it again - there are more fun ways to break your neck or smash your face. Eventually, we all descended safely, and spent a long time soaking in the wonderful clearwater river just nearby. Dinner and a few beers were consumed on the veranda of Camp 5, while our conversations with the other climbers were drowned out in the deafening smattering from the daily thunderstorm.
The last day in Mulu, we trekked back to the park headquarters, went on a nice canopy walk and then visited Deer Cave, which is the largest cave passage in the world. The Deer Cave opens up into the Garden of Eden; a closed valley which is probably the remains of a huge collapsed underground chamber. We were not allowed out into the Garden of Eden, but the view from the cave opening was very suggestive. Finally we visited Lang's Cave, which is nothing short of beautiful with its creative and fantastic stalactites, stalagmites and helectites. I wouldn't mind going back there with a better lens and a monopod.
There's much much more to discover in Mulu, and I don't doubt that you could easily spend a couple of weeks there without ever getting bored. Our park guide John, who is of the Penan tribe, was knowledgeable and helpful, as was the rest of the staff that we met. For those who want an authentic, if yet quite comfortable, rainforest experience, I can truly recommend Mulu. There is something unforgettable about sitting in a longboat, at water level, lazily crusing upriver enclosed by unpenetrable and unbelievably green rainforest.
The Iban
After Mulu we flew to Kuching via Miri and spent one night at a hotel, having a proper dinner and doing laundry before setting out for our last destination: the Iban longhouse Skandis. The Iban make up about 1/3 of the population in Sarawak, and while many have been incorporated in modern society, there are also many who continue to live by their old ways. The Skandis longhouse is situated about one hour upriver from the nearest road, and has no telephone, and only electricity through a generator. Our tour operator, Intrepid, has been visiting the longhouse about every three weeks for the last 15 years, and the inhabitants claimed to be pleased with the incursion by western tourists. The Iban at Skandis seem to have retained much of their traditional way of life, but are struggling to make a living. Youths go away to the bigger cities for work and only visit during holidays. However, as they get older, many move back into the longhouse. There were some 10 families of about 80 people living at Skandis, all of them sharing only two toilets.
Our activities during the stay included drinking rice wine, or Tuak, with the head man and the other inhabitants, sleeping on the veranda, with thin cots and bamboo mats as mattresses, and doing an 'easy' trek through the forest to a small waterfall, only to trek back through the river. We also joined them in waiting for their favourite representative in the upcoming by-election, who was supposed to visit by helicopter, but who never showed up. This caused a lot of disappointment, anger and an uninhibited consumption of tuak and rice liquor. We also had a chance of surveying and buying some of their crafts, which may not have been the best of their kind, but were authentic enough. Another night was spent on hard wooden floors, with 100-or-so roosters going off simultaneously and continuously from 3 am and onward, and after that I think most of us were quite relieved to be on our way back to civilization.
The Final Days
Tonight we're having a goodbye dinner for the group, and I'm spending two more days in Kuching to explore the cultural village, the Sarawak Museum, and perhaps visiting a beach for some R&R. After these days I'm off to a short exploration of KL, and then on my way home. I've had nothing but a fantastic trip, but I'm ready to go back home.
We headed out from Miri in the early morning to catch a speedboat to Marudi. This speedboat was a catepillar-like thing, doing on average 23 knots upstream. The inside was cramped, but it was possible to sit on the roof and watch the crocodiles while getting a nice tan. At Marudi we had lunch, bought mosquito nets and changed to a considerably slower boat. We traveled the river for several hours, watching more crocodiles and huge barges loaded with timber. For the last leg of the trip, we were picked up by a couple of long boats from the national park. These boats are constructed so that you sit at water level, and they have sides which are only 10-20 cm above the water level. This last part proved to be very interesting; the boats felt unstable, the current was quite strong at places, and for the last hour we rode in complete darkness under heavy downpour and a considerable amount of thunder and lightning. Sometimes you just have to put your fate in someone else's hands. Eventually we arrived safely at the park headquarters, which was an impressive facility filled with excellent information about the park, the caves, the wildlife and the rainforest.
The following day we visited the Cave of the Winds and the Clearwater Cave, had lunch and bathed in the pool emerging from the Clearwater Cave. The Clearwater cave system is the 8th longest cave in the world, at 176km - unfortunately we didn't have time to explore all of it. For those wanting to know more about the caves of Mulu, I can recommend visiting The Mulu Caves Project's homepage, or watch episode 4 of Planet Earth, which features the Deer Cave, which I'll tell you more about later. After caves, lunch and bathing, we set off on an 8km trek through the jungle. Walking was easy, and there were only a few leeches. However, with 2km to go, the daily downpour was upon us mercilessly. Half running to cover the last bit proved quite fruitless; when we arrived at Camp 5 at the base of Gunung Api, everything we wore was completely soaked, including boots. I was very glad for my waterproof Vaude backpack then. At Camp 5, there were about 10 other tourists in addition to our group of 8, which resulted in a calm and pleasant stay.
The Pinnacles
After a night on thin cots under mosquito nets, we started our hike to The Pinnacles at 6.30 am. Knowing we had to reach the first ladder before 11am to be allowed to continue to the top, I was in a bit of a hurry, but we made good progress and reached the first ladder well before the appointed time. The climb to the pinnacles is 2.4km in distance and 1200m in elevation, which means an average incline of 30-45 degrees. The last 400m, which consisted of 16 ladders and several parts with ropes and steel bars to walk on, this hike would probably be better labeled as a via ferrata. Fun, but not entirely safe. We reached the pinnacles and were awarded with an amazing view over a landscape of razorsharp limestone rocks, some of them reaching as high as 50m. (I will publish some pictures of these when I get home.) After a lunch consisting mainly of sugar, we started the descent. Carefully traversing the part with the ladders, making sure of always having three points of contact, we made our way down steadily. Once we'd get past the ladders, I told myself, it'd be a much easier descent. Boy, did I fool myself. The ladders we had to descend slowly and carefully, but it was at least quite fun, and somewhat challenging. The last 2km of the walk consisted of slippery limestone rock, slippery leaves and slippery roots, always at a 30-40 degree incline. It went something like this: take one step, make sure of your footing, shift your weight, slip 5-10cm since the sure footing you found wasn't sure enough, curse silently to yourself, slap yourself for not bringing more water, grab hold of a small tree or vine, and repeat. I definitely don't regret doing it, but I would not for anything in this world do it again - there are more fun ways to break your neck or smash your face. Eventually, we all descended safely, and spent a long time soaking in the wonderful clearwater river just nearby. Dinner and a few beers were consumed on the veranda of Camp 5, while our conversations with the other climbers were drowned out in the deafening smattering from the daily thunderstorm.
The last day in Mulu, we trekked back to the park headquarters, went on a nice canopy walk and then visited Deer Cave, which is the largest cave passage in the world. The Deer Cave opens up into the Garden of Eden; a closed valley which is probably the remains of a huge collapsed underground chamber. We were not allowed out into the Garden of Eden, but the view from the cave opening was very suggestive. Finally we visited Lang's Cave, which is nothing short of beautiful with its creative and fantastic stalactites, stalagmites and helectites. I wouldn't mind going back there with a better lens and a monopod.
There's much much more to discover in Mulu, and I don't doubt that you could easily spend a couple of weeks there without ever getting bored. Our park guide John, who is of the Penan tribe, was knowledgeable and helpful, as was the rest of the staff that we met. For those who want an authentic, if yet quite comfortable, rainforest experience, I can truly recommend Mulu. There is something unforgettable about sitting in a longboat, at water level, lazily crusing upriver enclosed by unpenetrable and unbelievably green rainforest.
The Iban
After Mulu we flew to Kuching via Miri and spent one night at a hotel, having a proper dinner and doing laundry before setting out for our last destination: the Iban longhouse Skandis. The Iban make up about 1/3 of the population in Sarawak, and while many have been incorporated in modern society, there are also many who continue to live by their old ways. The Skandis longhouse is situated about one hour upriver from the nearest road, and has no telephone, and only electricity through a generator. Our tour operator, Intrepid, has been visiting the longhouse about every three weeks for the last 15 years, and the inhabitants claimed to be pleased with the incursion by western tourists. The Iban at Skandis seem to have retained much of their traditional way of life, but are struggling to make a living. Youths go away to the bigger cities for work and only visit during holidays. However, as they get older, many move back into the longhouse. There were some 10 families of about 80 people living at Skandis, all of them sharing only two toilets.
Our activities during the stay included drinking rice wine, or Tuak, with the head man and the other inhabitants, sleeping on the veranda, with thin cots and bamboo mats as mattresses, and doing an 'easy' trek through the forest to a small waterfall, only to trek back through the river. We also joined them in waiting for their favourite representative in the upcoming by-election, who was supposed to visit by helicopter, but who never showed up. This caused a lot of disappointment, anger and an uninhibited consumption of tuak and rice liquor. We also had a chance of surveying and buying some of their crafts, which may not have been the best of their kind, but were authentic enough. Another night was spent on hard wooden floors, with 100-or-so roosters going off simultaneously and continuously from 3 am and onward, and after that I think most of us were quite relieved to be on our way back to civilization.
The Final Days
Tonight we're having a goodbye dinner for the group, and I'm spending two more days in Kuching to explore the cultural village, the Sarawak Museum, and perhaps visiting a beach for some R&R. After these days I'm off to a short exploration of KL, and then on my way home. I've had nothing but a fantastic trip, but I'm ready to go back home.
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