KUCHING + BAKO NATIONAL PARK

Arrived in Kuching (city of cats) and caught a Taxi to our hotel (via a detour to a hotel that the Taxi driver seemed to want us to stay at). First thing that suprised us is the comparison of what you get for your money in Borneo compared to the mainland. Hotel was very clean and modern but pretty basic with no night tables, wardrobe etc, etc

Kuching is lovely though, with lots of colonial (albeit private enterprise colonialism) history. We enjoyed wandering the streets, soaking up the atmosphere of the markets and chinatown and touring all the 'tourist' sites such as the fort and the government adminstration buildings. The whole waterfront area is done really well and it was a delight to just sit and admire the birds in the 'picnic' tower greeting the night by chattering away and swinging on the cables!

Found a great Middle Eastern Restaurant (Little Lebanon) .. bizarre I know but the food here was fantastic ... made all the better with Tiger beer!

Stayed here 5 nights before catching a public bus to Bako National Park

We spent 3 nights in Bako National Park which is truly a pristine paradise. Access to the park is via boat only and even this method entails leaving the boat 150 meters from the shore (at low tide) and wading to shore. The park accommodation is basic but our bungalow had a lovely deck area where we sat in the evenings to watch the bearded pigs foraging in the undergrowth, the monkeys up to their usual antics and the pythons, well, just ‘sitting’ in the trees!
The food in the park canteen was surprisingly good and even more unbelievably was really good value … we had expected it to be astronomically expensive given the isolation.
Walked all but three of the trails that the park had to offer and consequently felt very tired most nights. Even my Tevas decided that they had had enough and shed their soles after only 2 months of wear.
The sun was evil, the scenery beautiful, the wildlife fascinating and the time truly well spent.

MIRI

Arrived in Miri via a quick (1hour) flight from Kuching. First impressions weren’t that great but the second day we warmed to the place. Borneo accomodation costs have surprised us and we found ourselves in a slightly grim place called ‘Classy Hotel’ geared towards local tourists rather than westerners. Gave in the urge for comfort food when we found a place selling pie chips and gravy!!!!! Patronised by locals rather than tourists …. weird! Hired a car here to visit Niah National Park.
It was in Miri that we got the news (night of 12/04/08) that my Dad had suffered a stroke whilst in hospital for an angiogram (11/04/08). Flew back home the next day to be with our family. After only a few days, however, it was apparent that Dad was making an amazing recovery and 2 weeks after the stroke he was virtually back to his old self. Stayed with Dad for a little longer and then made the decision to carry on with the rest of our trip and flew back out to Hong Kong on 29/04/08.

NIAH NATIONAL PARK

Niah National Park is,again, an amazing place (how many times can one be amazed I wonder). As well as a National Park it hosts a traditional village of long houses that are not simply existing for the tourist dollar and one of the biggest caves in the world … home to thousands of bats and swiftlets (some of thes birds actually navigate in the dark using a similar system to bats). The smell of the caves was awful but the treck through them was worth it in it’s own right and not simply just to get to the canoe burial caves . Refreshing to see a government that recognises the need to implement and maintain a sustainable policy towards conservation.