Driving - Cambodian style!

So you just felled a small tree and you have no way to transport it except by bicycle? No worries!! Simply balance the tree over the handle bars and seat of your bike, then ride the bike astride the tree. Just make sure the ends of the tree don't swipe other drivers off their bikes when you turn a corner!

Need to transport 25 chickens to market on your bicycle? That one's easy! Simply string the chickens by the legs to a long stick and tie the stick horizontally to the rack on the back of your bike. The chickens bounce along on the stick, quiet and blinking, their heads just barely clear of the dusty road...

Need to transport 6 small pigs to market on your bicycle? That's easy once again - the pigs go side by side into a wicker cylinder that's strapped to the back rack of the bike. They look out the gaps in the basket as they wriggle against each other to get a bit more room. In fact, you can transport almost anything on the back of a bike it seems...

Ever wondered how many people can possibly fit into the back of a ute? We've flown past plenty loaded with at least 25 people. It's also possible for people to ride on top of huge loads of watermelons precariously stacked, or loads of sand or bricks.

It seems like there is only one rule when driving here in Cambodia - there are no rules! Theoretically they drive on the right here, but this usually means driving in the middle of the road and doesn't stop people (including us) riding their bicycles down the left hand side of the road into oncoming traffic when they need to.

Also, there seems to be no age limit to driving here. School kids ride their motos to school with three classmates on the back, their feet dangling just clear of the road. Luckily the average speed limit around the towns seems to be about 30km/hour.

So, how does it all work????

When turning left at a roundabout (the equivalent of of right in Australia), don't bother going right around the roundabout - no one does that and it would probably cause an accident. Just enter the roundabout and go left. Don't be afraid of the vehicles coming straight through - they'll (hopefully) let you through. If on a bicycle, follow a car as they are big and they will carve a path for you.

If you're in a car and you want to overtake a moto, tuk-tuk or bike in front of you, just blare the horn to let them know that you're passing and then pull out onto the wrong side of the road. Don't worry about what's on the other side of the road unless it's a bus or a truck - everything else will get out of your way even if it means that you run them off the side of the road.

When turning right from a side street into a busy road, there's no need to stop or give way. Just swing out into the traffic and it will somehow part and let you in. They are keeping their eyes peeled so as long as you are only going slowly nothing bad will happen. Turning left is another matter. When turning left, it's best to ride out onto the left hand side of the road into the oncoming traffic, before swinging over onto the right hand side when there's a break in traffic. (This can take a while and applies whether you're a car, moto or bike. If you're in a truck or a bus just do whatever you want and everyone goes around you).

Lastly, just because there's roadworks going on in the middle of the road doesn't mean that you can't drive over them. If you can conceivably get across roadworks (including ditches, piles of sand, piles of rocks, fresh bitumen etc) while avoiding being crushed by a roller or irreparably damaging your vehicle then there's nothing stopping you. Make sure to keep an eye out for the kids using the piles of sand as a sandpit. (The same rule applies to pedestrians - those "Keep Out" signs are more advisory than mandatory, right???) - N.

We're in Cambodia

Well, we've made it to the second country on our list - Cambodia.

We flew into Siem Reap international airport early on 25 March. I was grateful for the US dollars I received as my going away present from work when we arrived at the airport as we only had a handful of ringgits and both the ATMs at the airport were broken. Everything works on US dollars here.

They don't use US coins though - once you get down below US$1 you go to Cambodian Riel (4000R to US$1) which is quite confusing. When I get change from the shopkeepers I just have to hope that they aren't ripping me off as it takes too long for me to work out how much the handful of 100R, 500R and 1000R notes that I have been given translates to in US cents!

We have apparently arrived in Siem Reap in the middle of the dry season - the temperatures are scorching and there is dust everywhere. Thankfully our hostel has air conditioning. It is a pretty good deal actually. It is US$15 per night and has ensuite bathroom with hot water, a tv with cable, free internet and a pool. The only downside was that on our first night we saw a mouse in our room and we had to change rooms - but hey, you can't have everything right? It is so weird watching the cable here - they even have an Australian channel. Last night we got to watch the the Lions win their first game of the AFL season - random!! It also has "Aerobics Oz-Style", "Home and Away" and "Getaway".

The thing that everyone does around here is obviously go to see the amazing temples which were created at the height of the Khmer empire about 1000 years ago. We met an older Australian traveller in the hostel who hooked us up with his tuk-tuk driver and we hired him to take us out to the temples. It is very expensive to visit the temples. You can either get a one day (US$20), three day (US$40) or seven day (US$60) pass. Unfortunately the days all run consecutively so you can't really have a rest day in between.

We opted for the three day pass which we thought would give us enough time to see most of the more important temples in the area. Well, after three days of starting at 8.30 and finishing somewhere between 4.30 and 6.00 we are exhausted!!! There are just soooooo many temples here and each of them is different and amazing in its own way. We started with some of the smaller temples on the first day. On the second day we did the popular ones - Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm and on the third day we did a few of the more distant temples and went back to Angkor Wat for another look (it is massive). It is hard to capture the temples in photographs - often their scale is just so big that you can't fit them in the frame. Also, the carving that is all over most of them is hard to pick up in photos, especially as some of it is showing signs of age. Nevertheless, we managed to take over 500 photos over the three days and we have put some of them into the Cambodia photo album for people to check out.

I loved travelling on the tuk-tuk and seeking the way that people lived around Siem Reap. Lots of people live very close to the road so there is a lot to see and our trips each day were really interesting. There are so many people around the temples who try to sell you photocopied guide books, silk scarves, cold drinks, postcards and bracelets. Lots of them are kids - they are really cute and great sellers as they just won't leave you alone! Their English is also amazing when you consider that some of them look as young as 5 or 6! They always ask where you are from and when you say "Australia" they say "Australia - capital Canberra, 22 million people, 'G'day Mate'"! They can do it for pretty much any country - even Fiji! Sometimes it's pretty sad to see how many kids are out selling as it means that they are obviously not in school and I'm not sure whether it helps them or harms them to buy their goods. Nevertheless, we have seen plenty of tourist walking around with bamboo bracelets up to their elbows who are obviously a soft touch where the kids are involved!!

Siem Reap is a pretty big city - apparently home to about 1 million Cambodians. There are obviously plenty of tourists here - Angkor Wat and Bayon were crawling with tourists and it is currently the low season for tourists. There are a tonne of bars here along a street aptly called "Pub Street" and the alcohol is really cheap. Some beers are as little as US$0.50. I think Paul is wishing that we had a bit more money to spend in the bars but most nights all we can afford is a bowl of US$1 noodle soup. We've been getting out breakfast from the bakery (which sells everything at half price after 8.00pm) for about US$1 but we've still been going over budget every day because of the temples. The tuk-tuk was $US12 per day but on two of the days we went off the main temple trail to see some more out of the way stuff so it ended up costing us $US48 for the three days. Obviously these expenses have totally stuffed our budget - we'll have to get back on track pretty quick smart!

Now that we've finished we have to have a few very cheap days to catch up. Overall, for the 40 days in Malaysia over which I recorded my expenses I averaged AU$40 per day. We started off averaging about AU$30 but the Kinabalu trip and the longhouse trip bumped our costs up significantly. Also, we are still waiting to be charged for part of the Kinabalu trip so that will make a difference when we finally get charged. Cambodia is likely to be a little more expensive than Malaysia because we have to use the US dollar all the time and a lot of things are not as cheap as we expected. To stay below AU$30 per day we can only spend about US$20 which is going to make it hard. - N.

23rd March 2009 – back to KL from Tioman Island

Our Malaysian leg is finally coming to end following our return to KL after spending 4 nights on Tioman Island. Ok, ok, for those reading this and still stuck in the office, it is true that the island is as beautiful and relaxing as they say. We spent pretty much the whole time snorkelling, swimming, swinging in hammocks, lazing on the beach, dining, and watching sunset on the beach. But it was a challenge getting to the island.

The bus trip from Melaka to Mersing was very uneventful. It was however pretty frustrating as no one could tell what time the boat runs from Mersing on the mainland to Tioman. When we got to Mersing at 6pm (5hr bus ride), we discovered that the ferry terminal had also changed since the publication of our LP book. After we harassed 3 locals and 30 minutes later, we arrived in the ferry terminal that would have only taken us 10 minutes if we were correctly directed.

We were pretty lucky that we got there at 6:30pm and found out that there was a boat leaving at 8:30pm after a few very helpful locals told us that there was no boat after 5pm.

We got off the boat on Tioman and were warmly and loudly greeted by patrons at a beach-front bar next to the jetty. We instantaneously felt like we were at the right place!

We stayed in a standalone chalet that is 20 seconds from the beach. There was no hot water, but then again, who needs hot water when it's like 30+ degrees outside everyday??? We got air-con and 2 big beds and a great view of the sea. What more could we ask for?

We slept till mid day the next day. After lunch, we got on to one of the most important things. Yes, that's correct – duty free shopping!!!! We emptied our day packs and hired 2 bikes on our quest for duty free goodies.

To our dismay, there were not as many cheap items as we hoped. In the end, we just purchased some chocolates (at Naomi's insistence) and some cheap drinks. Naomi was very disappointed that Baileys only came in 1L bottle and it would be too heavy to carry around....

For the next 3 days, we pretty much just relaxed and enjoyed the last bit of Malaysia before we left. The snorkeling was awesome - I saw stingrays, octopuses, millions of coral fish and of course, coral. I found the coral in Tioman a lot better than on the islands near KK. Coral gardens here were everywhere. For the ones that werestill alive, there were absolutely beautiful. One tour operator informed us that “you come to Tioman to see what's under the water”. It was amazing to be snorkeling with millions of fish and watching live coral in such close proximity.

The water was awesome too. It was so clear that you could see 10-15 metres to the bottom of the ocean floor. I snorkelled all the way out pass the coral rim and could still see all the way to the bottom.

It was pretty funny that local kids love to hoon around the village in motorised scooters. We saw this young kid who looked as if he was 8 years old driving a scooter with 2 people on the back. One night I even saw a whole family of 7 fitted into the scooter and an attached small luggage box. Efficient and environmental friendly I'd say. Perhaps they did not want to emit extra CO2 by doing 2-3 trips. Great idea.

Oh, we also made our own coconut juice. We found this coconut on the ground on the way back from dinner one night and decided to take it home and make it our dessert. Not knowing that you actually require a machete or a butcher knife to crack the coconut, we spent 20 minutes using my swiss arm knife trying to cut of the damn thing. I was so frustrated after that and we still couldn't reach the core, so I just picked up the coconut and took it to the concrete pavement and smashed the thing. To my amazement, it actually cracked the core and after a few more smashes, the coconut was ready to be eaten. Sweet as it was, it was the most labour-intensive dessert that I have ever eaten.

We got back to KL 2 days in advance before we head out to Cambodia. Malaysia has been a pretty good country as it was easy to get around and people were generally nice. We had a blast visiting all the different sites across the country. Borneo has been particularly interesting. I really liked Melaka and Cameron Highlands too. I am sure we will be back in the future. - P.

Melaka

We have now arrived in historic Melaka (Malacca) which is south of KL towards Singapore. This town has an amazing history and we have spent a few days soaking up the atmosphere. It's amazing to think that this was a significant trading port for the last almost 1000 years. The colonial history is also very interesting - four hundred years of Portugese, Dutch, English and Japanese occupation prior to independence.

Needless to say, there are some great historic buildings around. We spend today checking out the museum and the area around St Paul's Hill. St Paul's Church on St Paul's Hill was first built by the Portugese in 1521 (but used by both the Dutch and the English later on) and the facade is still standing today. There are also some really old (mostly Dutch) buildings around which are still in use (one houses the museum for example). At the base of the Hill is the Porta de Santiago which was one of the gates into the famous dutch fort A'Famosa (the English destroyed the rest of the fort).

Chinatown is also really pretty with lots of old shops selling antiques and other souvenirs. Some of the antiques are really amazing and some are supposedly really old but I have so far decided not to part with my money because I am too scared of getting ripped off!!

Last night we went to a restaurant which serves Baba Nyonya (Chinese/Malaysian) food. It was nice and different to food that we've had before but the rendang chicken was a bit spicy!! We also had squid cooked in tamarind and some steamed okra (which I have never had before). Today we decided to try some more Baba Nyonya food for lunch and we had a Baba laksa which was apparently only mildly spicy but was still enough to make Paul almost drown in sweat!! We also had cendol which is a dessert made with red beans, green noodles and sago, covered with ice and topped with coconut cream and sugar syrup. Yes, I have given up worrying about the ice - I'm telling you it's literally impossible not to have ice in your drinks here. It is sooooo hot you just end up dying for something cold. The fridges here seem to only keep drinks mildly cold so they're never cold enough straight from the can. After watching Paul eat iced dessert after iced dessert I finally cracked!!

It's strange to think that we have now been away for five weeks and our time in Malaysia is nearly at an end. We haven't gotten done nearly as much as what we thought we would! There is just so many amazing things to see and do both here on the Peninsula and in Borneo. I think both of us wish that we could have gotten to see Gunung Mulu National Park in Borneo which is apparently absolutely amazing. Unfortunately due to Paul's illness and the fact that you have to fly there we just weren't able to fit it in. I also wished that I could have seen the mini elephants that they have in Borneo!

Malaysia is really easy to travel in. There are so many hostels/guesthouses to choose from and mostly they have been of a pretty high standard (considering the price!). Some of them don't have hot water (like the one that we're staying in at the moment) but you don't really need it when it is so hot all the time. The buses run really frequently - the express buses are usually quite easy to use but the local ones are a bit different. It's pretty hard to find the right bus sometimes and it seems like the bus driver charges whatever price they want. On the plus side they will normally stop anywhere to pick you up from the side of the road if you hail them which is awesome.

Since Paul is still a bit weak we are thinking of checking out one of the islands on the east coast before our flight to Cambodia. - N.

14 March 2009 - Snorkelling and swimming in Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park

After the hardcore mountain climbing we did 2 days ago, we decided to put our feet up and go for a day trip to the islands near KK. As I have already been to Manukan Island last time, Mamutik and Sapi here we come!

There were a few people on both islands being the weekend and all. I decided to wear a shirt into the water. It later proved that I was the sensible one as Naomi got really bad sunburn on her bum.

The water was a little warm for me. But the snorkelling was superb. The coral that was still marginally alive after all the dynamite fishing was awesome. I was swimming with millions of fish of all shapes and colours. There were also sea cucumbers, and sea snakes. Some of these were being very intimate towards me. Some might consider it a little inappropriate to nibble others' fingers, but definitely not these fish.

It was very peaceful and tranquil lying on the beach. The waves here don't really break. The sea here reminds me of the canal at the back of my parents' house. It's just so calm and it's the same everyday. It was very relaxing to go for a snorkel, come back and lie on the beach, then go out for a swim and come back and lie on the beach to relax again. I feel like I am finally having a proper holiday at some nice place rather than being on the go all the time or busy recovering from my virus.

On the way back, our boat driver was a little nutty to say the least. First he almost let one of the touts drive the boat, then he tried to make the ride as bumpy as possible on the waves to create some excitement for himself, and then he tried to race other boats back to KK which had more powerful engines than the one that we had. It was a pretty scary ride back to KK for some people. I later found out that he is a Filipino living in one of the stilt fishing villages on one of the islands.

We went to this yummy duck place for dinner. The whole dinner including 2 plates of duck meat, a plate of mixed vegetables, 2 soups, drinks and rice only cost us RM18 which is roughly $8. Sooo cheap! It was the best meal for a long time! - P

Mount Kinabalu

I knew that I really wanted to climb Mt Kinabalu as soon as Paul told me about it last year. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that Paul has done it and everything to do with the fact that it is one of the highest mountains in South-East Asia (no, really)!

Paul had decided that since he had done it by the normal route last year, if he was going to do it again this year he was going to go by the harder route which is about 2km longer and starts from Mesilau Nature Resort. That track joins up with the normal route after about 5.5km. I reluctantly agreed to go via Mesilau - I wasn't sure how much I really wanted to do the hard route when I wasn't sure I could make it to 4000m altitude even via the "easy" route.

All the accommodation at Mesilau and on the mountain itself is controlled by the same company which means that they can pretty much charge whatever they like. Accommodation is expensive and you also have to pay for park entrance fees, insurance, a climbing permit and a compulsory mountain guide. All up, including accommodation and transport, it cost us somewhere in the vicinity of RM800 (not exactly budget but still worth it).

It was so cold at Mesilau after the heat of KK. I was glad I had packed my thermals and beanie. Because we were going up the mountain via one route and down via another, we left most of our luggage at the hostel in KK and only took with us the stuff we needed for the mountain. Somehow I still ended up with 10kg of stuff which I had to lump all the way up the mountain and back down (I know because they make you weigh it). I was a bit worried about the altitude so we had started on Diamox the day before the climb just in case. Mesilau was really pretty - sometimes we were above the clouds and sometimes the clouds came up and you could see them floating all around you.

On the morning of the climb we met with our guide and started walking around 8.30am. It was pretty much uphill all the way (don't be fooled by the pictures - most of them were taken looking back the way I had just come). Mesilau is about 1800m above sea level. Laban Rata (the overnight stop about 3/4 of the way up the mountain) is 7.5km away and about 3200m above sea level - a big gain in elevation!

There were huts about every kilometre where we stopped for rests. At all the huts after we sat down these squirrels would come out of nowhere looking for food (presumably). Some of them seemed quite unafraid of people and one even jumped up on my bag. Our guide said it was ok to feed them but I thought we better not (you'd never be allowed to do that in Australia). The huts all had toilets and they even flushed! Not sure what happened to what went down them - a far cry from drop toilets anyway!

The route from Mesilau wasn't very crowded. Still, just about everyone passed us because Paul was still feeling tired from his virus. After a while I decided to walk on ahead while Paul walked with our guide Sam. I stopped at the hut after each kilometre to wait for them to catch up (secretly I was glad for the rest although I always pretended I was really energetic whenever I saw them coming out of the forest). I felt pretty strong for the first couple of kilometres and after that the relentless up and up took its toll and I started to get a bit tired. I was wishing for just a few hundred metres of flat ground!! Every time I saw flat ground I would rejoice but as soon as I turned the corner I would realise it only lasted for 10 metres.

I felt like a minor celebrity on the trail. There was a big Malaysian tour group doing the climb from Mesilau and they all kept stopping me to take my picture. At first I thought that they wanted me to take pictures of them but then I realised they just wanted to take my picture!! Weird. I couldn't understand why they would want a picture of some random sweaty person on their camera!

By the time the Mesilau trail joined up with the normal route I had stopped scanning the jungle trying to spot pitcher plants and was just concentrating on getting to the next hut. It seemed to take ages each time for the next hut to come into view. When I got to the last hut before Laban Rata I was so tired I couldn't wait to get there. It was supposed to be only 500 metres from that hut to Laban Rata but it was the longest 500 metres of my life! I finally saw some huts and thought "I'm there - finally!" only to realise I had to keep walking uphill for 5 minutes to get to reception. Cruel, cruel joke.

We arrived at Laban Rata at about 6.30 which meant we were climbing for 10 hours. We were pretty tired and we ended up going to bed around 9.30pm. Everyone tends to go early to the summit to see the sunrise. Our guide told us to meet him at 2.30am to start our summit bid!! It was so loud in the dorms, I could hear people moving around and I couldn't wear my earplugs because I wouldn't hear the alarm. I finally fell asleep at some point after midnight and my alarm went off at 1.40am.

I woke Paul up to see if he felt like going for the summit but he decided he wasn't well enough so I went down and had supper and met with our guide. We were climbing in the dark with head torches for the first part of the climb up to the summit. There were a lot of ladders to climb and a rocky path. After that the rock faces started. There were ropes marking the way up the rock faces but thankfully my boots gripped the rock well and I didn't need to hold the ropes for most of the way (I was a bit worried about how I would get down but that worked out ok).

I felt pretty strong going to the summit (in fact I felt like it was a bit easier than getting to Laban Rata). It was about 3km to Low's Peak which is the highest point of Mt Kinabalu at 4095 metres above sea level. Thankfully I didn't feel sick or anything from the altitude and we got to the summit at about 5.15am. Yay!! I was feeling pretty pleased with myself at this point.

Since we were early, we had to wait for the sunrise and it was really, really cold. Sam said it was probably only a couple of degrees. After the sun finally came up I snapped a few pictures and we started to head down. By this time I was feeling pretty tired but Sam wanted me to stop every 20 metres to take my picture! He kept saying "This is a once in a lifetime experience - you'll never be back!".

We finally got back to Laban Rata at about 8.15am. Paul and I had breakfast and then we headed down at about 9.30am. Going down was sooooo hard. I suddenly felt so tired and my knees were aching from descending from the summit. I was wishing I had taken up the park rangers on their offer to buy walking sticks! I will definitely be investing in some walking poles if I have to climb a mountain again. My knees just can't take it - I must be getting old.

Sam asked me if I wanted him to take my pack but I wanted to carry it myself. It took us about 4.5 hours to get down via the normal route but I felt like it was definitely harder than going up. I prefer to forget that part of the climb, especially because it poured on us for half the way and I got water in my boots!!!

The guides and the porters are amazing. Sam has been guiding for 10 years and goes to the summit of Mt Kinabalu between 1 - 3 times per week. He also has been to all the other peaks of Mt Kinabalu as well. The porters go up and down supplying Laban Rata up to two times per day. They have massive loads of food on the way up and I think they take rubbish down on the way back. I can't believe how strong they must be.

Anyway, we got back down and as Paul said I went to sleep and didn't wake up for 15 hours. Now my legs are so sore I can barely go up and down steps which is quite embarrassing out in public.

We plan to stay here in KK for a few days, maybe checking out the museum and some of the islands around here and we head back to KL on Sunday - N.

9th and 10th March 2009 – Mesilau Nature Resort and Mt Kinabalu climb

We have been in Kota Kinabalu for 2 days now. KK is the capital of Sabah in North Borneo. The city is relatively clean and so is the sea. You can even see tropical fish just off the footpath. We spent the past two days exploring the city and visiting the places that I went to last year (Angus, I went to BED, but it cost RM15 entry, so decided not to go in).

I am not sure what it is, I have been getting very picky with the food. I mean, eating out every lunch and dinner sounds fancy, but there's only so much noodles/rice/cheap meals that I can handle. After all these weeks, I know it sounds soooo like me, but I have started to crave vegetables. We went to dinner last night - all I ate was green beans and tofu and rice. I think I am definitely still sick?!

Because we are climbing Mt Kinabalu tomorrow, we decided to acclimatise by staying at Mesilau Nature Resort which has an elevation of 1800m above sea level. We caught two buses to get to the Park Headquarter and a private ride to Mesilau. It's really funny - this bus tout was calling for customers by making mouse-like noises with his mouth. A couple of times I thought there were really mice, but it was just him really. After we got off the bus, it was freeeezing cold. It was a great change from the humid weather in KK and rest of Malaysia.

Mesilau Resort is right next to the entrance to the Mesilau route (more challenging) to the summit. The only accommodation we could afford was a dorm. It is probably the most expensive dorm in the world. It cost us RM100 each which is 4 times what we normally pay for a double/twin. Luckily we were the only 2 people in the whole dorm building. We had the whole building for our own use and we even got to boil ourselves some hot water for tea. We were contemplating testing every single bed to find out which one is the most comfortable, but decided that it could be a waste of time.

The Mesilau route was very scenic and challenging. It was very very very challenging compared to the normal route. Sure, I was very tired last year (thanks to Angus who insisted on going to BED the night before till like midnight when we had to get up at 6:30am for the pickup), but this year I nearly died after 2km. It was uphill as soon as we passed the checkpoint. There was mud, big steps, rocks and waterfalls and heaps of rickety ladders. But the scenery was great and there were not many climbers on the route. The track was heaps narrower compared to the normal route.

After the first 2km of uphill walking, my body started to feel exhausted. Distance on the track was supposedly marked every 0.5km. I am so sure that it was wrongly marked to trick people. Sometimes I walked for 20 minutes and still hadn't see the sign. Unfortunately our guide seemed to agree with the sign and confirmed that we had only gone like 250m. From here onwards, it was mostly a mind game of how far I could go.

We were however very blessed with the weather. We only endured patchy showers considering that it was raining the whole week up in the mountain. Our guide advised that the weather in the mountain is very unpredictable and can change any minute. I felt like I was up in the Himalayas. My Gore-tex rain jacket kept me nice and dry (thank you mother!).

It was very hard climbing Mt Kinabalu especially since I am still recovering from the virus. Every step felt like it weighed a tonne and I felt it was draining my body away bit by bit. I was gasping for air and it seemed that I could not get enough of it. The road to Laban Rata (guesthouse before the summit ascent the next morning) was just too far away from where I was considering I was going less than 1km per hour. It was a serious struggle.

It was pretty fun walking in the clouds. It was like walking in mist except the clouds are going by beside you. And no, you can't really eat them. You just get wet gradually.

Naomi also decided to pace herself off and left me stranded with our guide. He is a very talkative man. We were talking about everything from our trip, to Australia to conservation of parks in Malaysia to how to win lottery and what will we spend the lotto money on. Very talkative man. He was very discouraging at times especially when I asked him how far the next hut is and he answered that it was still far away and that I needed to pick up the pace or else we might not make it in daylight. Besides that, he is very knowledgeable about the environment and he even helped me to find pitcher plants.

Almost 10 hours later, we reached Laban Rata. This is almost 5.5 hours longer than what it took me last year. By that stage, I already felt that I was on top of the world.

I was that exhausted, I hardly touched that dinner buffet. For those knowing me well, there must be something wrong with me for me not to want to eat at least 5 plates of the buffet food.

We shared a room with an older American couple. I nearly fainted when they told me that it took them 2.5 hours to come up to where we were. They are from Colorado where the mountains are colder and higher than Mt Kinabalu. I consoledmyself a bit with this and also that they went on the easier normal route to Laban Rate. Naomi also managed to scare them off coming to Australia with stories of crocodiles, sharks, snakes and jellyfish.

At that stage, my body was just so exhausted and was in pain, I decided not to climb to the summit the next day. It was a shame as I really wanted to say that I did it via both routes, but I just knew that I probably would be more sick if I forced myself to the summit.

Oh, hot shower finished by the time I got to our room. The water was freeeeeezging cold. I am talking that you put your hands in there for 10 seconds you can't feel your finger kind of cold. Yep, deodrant saved the day.

Naomi woke me up at 1:30am and I still decided to rest and not to risk for the summit. I am pretty proud of her though, after what we did to get up here and that she had 1 hour sleep and still wanted to go to the summit. I think I used all my adrenalin and excitement in the last year's climb.

I waited for her to come back from 8am and was very worried that what happened if she fell down the rock face. Luckily she and the guide turned up at 8:15am. She was very excited on making to the summit and now that we are equal in our mountain climbing achievements again....maybe I need to do more trips without her to climb big mountains to stay ahead again.

It was sooo much easier on the way down. It rained heaps though. I am so glad that it only showed a bit yesterday. If it did bucketed down like today, I would not have made it to Laban Rata in daylight. We could not see the track at some parts because it was flooded. It was pretty cool to walk in the rain. I was well prepared with my rain jacket and pants and had my important stuff in the dry bag. The rain and the flood did clean my boots a bit though. They were very dirty on the ascent and by the time I got to the finish line they were just a little muddy.

I am still pretty proud of myself after we got back safely to the park headquarter. It was such a relief that we made it back after almost 10 hours of hiking the first day and 4.5 hours hiking the next for me and 9 hours for Naomi. I think just the effort needs to be congratulated.

We got back here and Naomi slept for 15 hours from 6:30pm. Deja vu. - P.

5th March 2009 - 4th day of Miri.

I cannot believe I am stuck in this stupid little town for 4 days already. Sure that it has nice sunset over the horizon on the beach that we cannot get to, and it has really cheap seafood that we still cannot afford, but being trapped here for 4 days is not really my type of fun.

I cannot wait for this stupid virus to disappear. I came to Miri for 3 reasons: to see Guning Mulu National Park, Niah Caves National Park and to see Brunei. And I am seeing none and flying to my next destination on Saturday rather than visiting Brunei for 2 days. Absolutely spewing over this!!!!!!

Have been spending a lot of time sleeping and watching DVDs in house. The owner of Highlands Guesthouse (where we are staying) has something like 9 cats. I mean, sure some people love cats, but whole 9 of them???? Yep, psycho! She also has bi-polar issues in my humble opinion. One moment she can be so nice by telling me how beautiful her cats are and how she loves cat, or offering me DVDs that she just bought, the next moment she can be telling me to go to bed cos it's late or ignoring me when I say good morning to her. Wax-on, wax-off.

Malaysians seems to love Naomi. Apparently people say hi to her all the time. No one says hi to me :( It makes her feel like a celebrity I think.

For those who love a bit of a chat, feel free to turn on your skype and add me. Nick name is corgi-rocks I think.

3rd March 2009 – Second day in Miri

The 3rd day in the long house was full of surprises. It felt like I was visiting relatives in Taiwan. We just went to Auntie's relatives place in the morning so that she could show her relatives to us (or show us to the relatives rather). I felt like I was some rare and precious animal in the zoo. None of her relatives spoke any English at all, so it ended up just me talking to Naomi and Auntie talking to her relatives.

It was a bit odd how all her relatives thought that I was an Iban and they all tried to talk to me in Iban. I felt a little bit rude when I had no idea that I was being spoken to until Auntie told me. Apparently I was a bit of Iban, a bit of Malay and a bit of Chinese to everyone. I am like a mini UN. Hopefully I will start receiving local discounts soon.

We went to this local Chinese corner shop so that Auntie could test that I really do speak some Mandarin. Yep, I won :) There were a lot of Indonesian traders around the shop. Apparently they walk 1.5 hours one way every day to sell jungle products to the village near where we stayed and to purchase necessities and take them back to their own village in Indonesia. It is pretty amazing - some of these people are the skinniest people in the world and can carry up to 50kg on their back and walk 3 hours every day.

We joined with two new longhouse visitors in the afternoon to go back to the jungle for another trek. Auntie kept saying that the two UK visitors were fully fat and she could not even tie the machete around their waist. Sure they were overweight, but they definitely weren't that fat by Aussie standards. But it was funny how she just said it in front of everyone and did not care about their feelings at all. I am just glad that I am not fat....(I think).

Auntie is actually very, very knowledgeable about jungle stuff. She knew all the trees and plants growing on her land. Apparently there are four different types of bamboo and they all have different uses. They all looked the same to me, but obviously not to her. She taught us how to light a fire, how to tap a rubber tree for rubber, and how to cut down bamboo to make a bridge etc. I was very impressed that she even remember which year each of her fruit trees were planted. The jungle was pretty muddy after the rain.

She showed us the location of the old longhouse that she was born in. She said during the war against the Indonesians in the 60s, their longhouse was located right between the Indonesian barracks and the Malaysian barracks. They sometimes had to go by 3-4 days without water as they were not allowed to go to the river to get water. They were moved to the current location which is around 3km from the old place.

Life would be pretty hard without water pipes in the old days. I am not sure how some of these people washed their hands after they go to the toilet at night. It is pretty hard going down to the river at night to wash your hands without a torch.

We had another shower in the river after the jungle trekking. The water was very murky and had risen pretty high after the rain. Naomi said she would rather have a shower in the river than be covered in her own sweat. So off we went.

Before we caught our 12 hour bus trip to Miri, Auntie farewelled us with a present. Surprise, surprise, it was lang-kau (Iban rice wine). She shared a bottle with the two UK tourists. I think they would have had a very big night of drinking ahead of them. Before we left, Auntie had two shots and the tourists had three shots each. It was going to be out of control. I am glad that we left before it got too messy.

The 12 hour overnight bus trip was painful. It was definitely the longest bus ride that I have ever been on. Naomi felt sick on the bus. I think it's probably from lack of food. I told her that chocolate biscuits and chips are considered a staple diet in some cultures, but she didn't want to eat them. So I had them myself. It was yum! We also discovered that they can make potato chip chocolates. What an awesome invention! I have to start importing this back to Australia.
We got off the bus feeling like zombies. I managed to squeeze in probably 2 hours sleep while Naomi claimed that she did not have any. Poor girl.

I also discovered that I was sick myself after the jungle trip. I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon (after we got off the long haul bus trip) and apparently I have got a virus. I was really worried as I wasn't sure how I was going to do all the things that I wanted to do. The doctor said it was caused by stress and exhaustion. Today and tomorrow will be my worst days and it will take up to 2 weeks to recover after that.

I was absolutely devastated to hear that. I've got to climb Mt Kinabalu (4096m) again in 7 days. Not sure how I am going to recover on time for that. Worst of all, I have to carry my heavy bag from here up to Kota Kinabalu. I will have to take heaps of rest days between now and then :(
Didn't do much today at all except watched a DVD – "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People". It was actually pretty good. Also spent around 3 hours in the Internet cafe doing blogging and keeping in touch with people.

Oh, the dinner club is still up and running. I have added a few people to be officers. So they will send out invites soon for the next function. Make sure that I am invited so I can do video hookups and eat/drink with you lads and ladettes!

Good night and peace. - P

Saturday 28th February 2009 – Second day in the longhouse.

We didn't do much in the morning as Auntie had to take other backpackers back to town to catch the bus. I also had the best sleep last night. I slept for 9 hours and felt like I could have done with another 3 (I did manage to fit some in after lunch!).

The day was really hot and humid again. We spent an hour in the morning chilling down the river and examining my battle wounds in my ongoing war against the mozzies. It is disgusting looking at my legs and arms. The Bushman repellant doesn't seem to work here. Maybe it is different area code....I don't know.

It was pretty daunting just the 2 of us here with the rest of the family without Auntie. The daughter in law does not speak any English and was very busy doing house work. We cannot believe that she had to clean, cook, wash after the visitors and look after the 2 babies all in the same time. I am not sure how she even fits it in. It is truly impressive.

[I really feel bad just sitting there while Gloria does all the work. If I was her there is no way I would want to be running around cooking and cleaning up after tourists when I had a two year old and a newborn! I have tried to help where I can but it is a bit difficult with the language barrier and when I don't really know how the house works. Still, as a guest I guess it just doesn't feel natural to sit down while the host does all the work – I at least have to offer! - N].

Oh, we had no water today. Apparently the water pipe broke, so we had to bring the water from the community pipes to the house to flush the toilet.

We went paddling in the river this arvo. The river has gone very murky after the rain last night. It was so much cooler paddling in the river under the shade. I think Naomi and I were both really bad at controlling the oars and the direction of the boat. Although according to Naomi, I was the one that nearly capsized the boat!?! Auntie had to jump out a couple of times to push the boat. Because of the rain, the current was a little strong, I am glad we made it home in one piece.

We had the dinner with Auntie's family and the in-laws tonight. Again, purely home produce. We had fish that Auntie caught from the river and pork from her pigs. It was really weird sitting there during and after dinner to listening to their conversations. Yep, they were speaking in Iban. I finally know how Naomi felt when she went to Taiwan 5 years ago and hung out with my relatives. It was an interesting experience nonetheless. I feel privileged in a sense to be able to come so close to an indigenous Iban family, sleeping under the same roof as them and socialising in a family environment.

Showering in the murky river was a bit out-there. Naomi, being a girl and all, apparently couldn't wait until we go back into town so that she can have a proper shower and wash her hair. For me, I don't really mind the jungle that much except the mosquitoes and the humidity and the lack of air-con.

Naomi also thinks every dog in town are out to attack her and give her rabies. Sure if they growl at you, it means they are just going to test you out. And I am sure not every dog will give you rabies if they lick you. And no, you wont get air-lifted to Singapore or Darwin if a dog licks you. I am sure the insurance wont cover that either.

[I was not sick of showering in the river – I was just scared of the dogs who growl at you every time you go past to go down to the river! The condition of some of the dogs here is awful – they all seem to have fleas and mange – it is very sad to see some of them. Also, all the cats seem to have broken tails – not sure what this is all about.

Anyway, Paul should know by now that I am paranoid about getting malaria or rabies. And getting growled at by a mange-infested strange dog does not help my paranoia. Now I carry a big stick everywhere I go and usually hide behind Auntie as well (who is all of 5 foot!). Auntie is quite amazing – she is 59 and grows all the rice and vegetables that the family eats, as well as fishing and collecting food from the jungle. She thought we were quite stupid collecting the bamboo shoots and today she thought we were quite stupid when we couldn't even keep the canoe pointing upstream while she swam (yes, SWAM) around the river banks looking for the fishing lines she left there a few days ago - N].

Auntie just told us that we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Good night all - P.

Friday 27th February 2009 – Orang Utan and longhouse trip

After some strategic planning, we decided that our money won't allow us to do everything that we wanted to do here in Borneo. It is a pity that we won't get to see Guning Mulu National Park especially since the Lonely Planet guide says it is one of the most impressive sites in the whole of Borneo. Unfortunately it involves a flight in and out of the national park (which is privately run) and a stay in an exclusive rainforest resort which will probably send us broke. Will definitely have to do it next time.

Yesterday we went to the Semenggoh Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre. It wasn't as touristy as the Sepilok Sanctuary in Northern Borneo, nor did it have as many orang-utans. We saw a baby orang-utan that hung on tightly to its 38 year old mother. Naomi said he was really really cute.

Oh, we also went to Pizza Hut for dinner. Yes, that's right, 2 and half weeks without pizza was a torture for me. I have only found 1 Dominos, so don't blame me to had to resort to Pizza Hut. Not sure whether I entirely earned it, but it was a great treat.

I was running very late this morning for the 7:30am taxi pick-up for our longhouse trip. We were also 4 minutes late for the 7:45am bus which we were never going to make anyway. But I think some blame-loving people blamed me in silence anyway.

The bus ride took like 3 hours to travel the whole 180km. We stopped in the middle and people started to get off. Not knowing where we were, Naomi woke me up dragged me off the bus insisted that the bus driver told us to get off. I didn't realise that he just wanted us to use the bathroom.

[Hey, at least they stopped for the loo!!! And he did tell us to get off. He was so insistent I thought we must have arrived already, plus the Italians we were traveling with all got off too! - N]

We met our guide eventually at the real bus stop 2 hours later. She was a very small, friendly and chatty lady. She drove this little Xcel-like car and still managed to fit all four of the visitors in the car. Although I did have to balance my 18kg bag on my leg the whole time from the bus stop to her long-house.

[I don't understand how Paul's bag is now 18kg! When we checked in at the Gold Coast, both our bags were 15kg. I haven't seen him doing any shopping. Hmmm.... It caused problems for our internal flights between Langkawi and KL and KL and Kuching because the Air Asia domestic baggage limit is 15kg. Paul had to unpack his bag at the check in counter and take out three kilos of stuff for both flights. Eventually he decided to take out this ultra heavy bag with all his electronics in it. Unfortunately it also had the first aid kit in it. When he tried to go through security with it as carry-on luggage the x-ray picked up the scissors and tweezers in the first aid kit and we had to surrender them – BUGGER!! From now on we will be paying for extra baggage otherwise our luggage will be lost, confiscated or otherwise whittled away piece by piece! - N].

We stopped by a different long house on the way to see some of the human skulls that the Iban people used to collect. The Iban used to be head-hunters in the 1800s before they were converted to Christians by the Anglican priests more than 150 years ago.

[Pretty creepy, especially as you could see the holes from the blowpipe in one of them and one of them still had hair despite being so old. They light a fire under the skulls every week to preserve them using smoke. It seems like people also use the skulls as an ashtray because there were quite a few ciggarette butts sticking out of the skulls! Luckily though we had seen skulls at the museum so it didn't come as too much of a shock. - N].

The long-house where we are staying has 19 families living in it. It's probably around 150 metres long and is entirely made out of wood from the jungle.

[And some concrete and fibro for good measure – he is making it sound so Robinson Crusoe!! - N].

Only the young children and old people live here in this long house now. Most of the young people either work in the city or live in the boarding house outside the jungle. In our section of the long house, there are 3 generations living together – our tour guide (aka “Auntie”), her daughter-in-law and two little children (Julia who is 2 and Jeffrey who is only 4 weeks). Her son works in the city and only comes back on the weekends. It is apparently very common in this long house.

We went jungle trekking to find bamboo shoots in the afternoon. It was absolutely HOT in the jungle, not mentioning humid. We were given a basket and a machete each. I was too busy using the machete to chop down bamboo branches and other trees/grass to bother finding the bamboo shoots themselves. It was a lot of fun actually using the machete. I chopped down this bamboo branch that was around 2 metres long. Naomi happened to think that I was finally revealing the inner me....Good on her :P

[I wish Auntie had never given Paul the stupid machete!! As soon as he went “Cool” and drew it out of its wooden scabbard thing I knew he'd been overtaken by some primeval instinct. He spent the whole time randomly slashing at trees instead of trying to locate the bamboo shoots which were supposed to be our dinner that night. Auntie showed us how to find the bamboo shoots (which were just growing randomly in the jungle), get them out of the ground and prepare them to be cooked. She had such sharp eyes!



I was soooooooooooooo hot and sweaty in the jungle and at first I couldn't be bothered to try to find the bamboo but after a while my need to do everything perfectly overtook and I started to look around determinedly for the pesky shoots. Unfortunately neither me nor the Italian girls managed to find any. Luckily Auntie found heaps or else we would have probably gone hungry. By this time Paul was miles behind randomly hacking down jungle while all this was happening. Ever since then he keeps asking Auntie when we get to use the machete again! - N].

We came back after around 45 minutes in the jungle with our main course – bamboo shoots. We then went to the river down the back of the long house for a swim. The water was freezing cold but clean. I must admit that I am really a city boy and proud of it after 45 minutes of hard work in the jungle and showering down in the river. I am not sure how people survive without air-con and a proper shower in the jungle.

[As for me, showering in the river was just like swimming in Lacey's Creek (when it was actually running) when I was little. In any event, we only ever had creek water to shower in at the house anyway. I tried very hard not to tell Paul how soft he was being but didn't succeed! The only thing I was worried about was the effect of the soap / shampoo that everyone uses on the river system – it can't be too flash for it. Well, I was worrying a little bit about crocs and malarial mosquitoes. The visit to the Kuching museum and a look at the massive crocs they have in Borneo didn't really help that. -N].

Dinner was ready for us after our swim/shower. We ate on the floor with Auntie's family and 6 other backpackers. It is tradition to have the food on the floor and everyone share the food. We had the bamboo-shoot curry and a different vegetables for dinner. There were all home grown here. It was very delicious.

Auntie also made all the backpackers do this Malaysian dance called poco-poco. It's not too hard and it's fun when everyone was doing it. It is like bush dancing, but without the country music.

[Says he who appointed himself official photographer and took photos of the rest of us making idiots of ourselves!!! - N].



Auntie also provided us with the local rice wine “lang-kau”. It is made by her neighbour. It was pretty strong. Auntie insisted that we have a few shots. All the other backpackers seemed to love the stuff and bought 2 more bottles of lang-kau from Auntie's neighbour. Some of these backpackers were also travelling for a year. The other day we heard this German girl said that she hadn't been back to Germany for 2 years. Obviously, it is not that bad travelling between 1 and 1.5 years. So Nerrrrr!

[Apart from the Italian girls the other backpackers were all Brits – they decided that we needed to play a drinking game with the lang-kau. The “shot glass” was actually a mini beer tankard and it was huge! After a few rounds of the game during which I suffered badly I had to retire gracefully – methinks the heat and humidity coupled with excessive amounts of lang-kau do not mix so well, especially when we don't know what Auntie has in store for us tomorrow... - N].

It was a very interesting day. We are living with an Iban family, eating their local food and experiencing their way of life. It is vastly different to what I am used to, but Auntie and her family all seem to be very content and happy with what they have. Other backpackers also all seem to have a great time here understanding the culture etc. - P.

[Or just because they're drunk! - N].

Wednesday 25th February 2009 – Kuching, Sarawak Borneo

Today was our first full day in Kuching. Flight from Langkawi to KL to Kuching yesterday was pretty uneventful. I did however spotted a group of 3 small coral islands in a triangular position joined by a crystal blue lake in between from the plane. Not sure what islands they were, but they are surely beautiful from the sky.

We visited a few State museums today. We saw many traditional artifacts including some old masks and wooden carvings. It was rather interesting, especially as it was all free.

Naomi finally decided to relieve herself from a self-imposed ban on shopping this afternoon. We walked around the souvenir shops for around 2 hours shopping for batiks and traditional scarves and sarongs. I think she bought a nice cheap table cloth when I was snoozing outside the shop from boredom.

[It was so NOT two hours. And I was suffering because my most exciting purchase in the last two weeks was a new travel size bottle of shampoo! Actually, that's not true. While in Langkawi I purchased the first of what I am sure will be many items which I will love while I am away and then think “What the?” when I get back. It is a very lovely batik kaftan which I thought was perfect as a beach cover up on Langkawi. It is so comfortable that now I wish that I had bought 3 (it was only RM25 (about AU$11).

Anyway, Kuching is well known as being a great place to shop for textiles including the “ikat” (woven material) that the indigenous people here produce. Traditionally they were handmade squares worn as shawls but now they are made as table cloths and bedspreads for tourists. True to form I went into one shop, admired a large piece hanging on the wall and asked whether it was for sale and for how much. The sales lady informed me that it was handwoven and over 80 years old and would cost me RM4800. She then directed me to the piles of machine made material in the corner where pieces were selling for between RM4 – 10. Ha ha! I picked up a table runner for RM4 (about AU$1.75). - N].

I nearly bought a native spear and a cheap machete for personal protection reasons for the next 18 months, but the sales lady told me that it would be confiscated if I take it back to Australia.... Am not sure whether because they are illegal themselves or because they are made out of wood.....I guess I will never know.

[I half wanted him to get one, just so I could feature in my own episode of “Border Security”! - N].

After nearly 2 and half weeks of traveling, we also decided to take it easy by going to the movies. It cost us RM5 each (AU$2) to see “New in Town”. I actually wanted to see “Punisher” but caved in to Naomi's strong insistence on a chick-flick.

[Whatever! He didn't take much convincing. Pretty sure he loves a chick flick more than me deep down – N].

It was weird as it felt like we were watching the movies just at Indro on any given Sunday afternoon, except with dodgy Malay and Chinese subtitles in the bottom of the screen. It was nice to just chill out a bit though.

I met a Seppo guy this evening who's been traveling for nearly 10 months and gave me a few inside tips on how to travel around in Laos and Cambodia. We actually have met a few backpackers who are on long term trips just like us. They don't seem to have got tired of traveling which is great to know. I hope that I wont be tired anytime too soon. Mind you, 3 weeks out of the country is a pretty long time for me.....

In Kuching we are staying at a hostel called Borneo B&B. It is run by an indigenous Iban lady who speaks four different languages. She gave me a brief insight on the culture, history and the origin of the Iban people here in Sarawak. She's been very friendly towards us and invited us to go and stay with her family in a traditional “longhouse” in the jungle. Normally she charges in-house guests RM380, since she got along really well with me, she decided to charge us RM300 each which covers transport, food and bribe to the chief of the long-house for 3 days 2 nights.

We ended up deciding to take her up on her offer because we thought it would provide us with an opportunity to grasp what it is like to live in the jungle and to understand the Iban culture and heritage a little bit. I am quite looking forward to the next few days. Hopefully they will teach me how to hunt wild pigs using blow-pipes. I should have brought a Steve Irwin picture book with me in exchange. Maybe they already have all his dodgy DVDs – who knows... - P.

[I certainly hope we will NOT have to kill wild pigs using blow pipes. Am currently worrying about being bitten by gigantic malarious moquitos and/or rabid dogs with the only hospital a 12 hour longboat ride away (and who knows if they will even have the correct rabies vaccination?)... - N].