Bugs Abroad: July 2013

It's an interesting experience to get culture shock moving from one country in Asia to another, but coming to Malaysia after nine months in Nepal and India almost felt like we were back in The States. Strip malls, air conditioning, good roads, American chains (KFC, McDonalds, even Starbucks!), helpful people, clean water and all around less chaos. There are actually rules here and most people abide by them! Although we did almost get hit by a car running a red light, so it's still Asia.

We flew into Kuala Lumpur, arriving around 2am and decided to sleep a few hours on the floor until the shuttle buses picked back up. We took a shuttle into the city and went straight to the main bus station to catch a very fancy bus to the Cameron Highlands. About 4 hours later we were greeted with the cool air of the hills as memories flooded our brains from our last visit three years ago. There was more development and prices had gone up but we were very happy to get a room and spend our first night in a real bed after three nights of sleeping in train stations and airports!

We spent five days unwinding, trekking in the surrounding jungle and visiting the tea plantations and farms that litter the countryside. We even watched a few movies at our guesthouse. It was a great location to get back into the swing of Malaysia. We ate as many different dishes as we could from the food stalls; slurping down laksa, eating nasi lamak from perfectly wrapped banana leaves, peeling layers of roti chenai and dipping them in curry and getting our sugar highs from sweetened condensed milk coffees and teas.

Our relaxing included some long, steep hikes through the jungle. We climbed the highest peak in the area at 6,666 feet and walked through an enchanting mossy forest. Mist hugged the lichen covered trees that twisted and clung to one another as dew slowly dripped from the vibrant green moss. Our walk continued on the road past large tea plantations where the rolling hills were covered in shrubs waiting to be sheared.

Eventually we said goodbye to the highlands and headed back to KL for a night before catching our flight to Kuching in Malaysian Borneo. It was quick and a bargain too, we only paid about $20 each with Air Asia. Booking ahead you can find some pretty sweet deals. The views from the plane of jungle covered peaks and wide, snaking rivers were evocative and exciting. Modernity also made its appearance in wide swathes of cleared jungle planted with oil palm and identical little boxes made of tickey tacky lining cul-de-sacs chasing their own tails. Stepping off the plane and into the sticky air we humped our bags down a busy highway from the airport to a long distance bus station and easily hopped a local bus into the city center, ignoring the lies and misinformation of transport touts the whole way.

Our first chunk of time in Borneo was spent getting to know Kuching, the capital of Sarawak and former stronghold of the White Rajas of Borneo. James Brooke weaseled his way into a foothold in the region where he brought European style law and order to the vibrant mix of ethnicities from longhouse dwelling upriver headhunters, coastal pirates, fishermen, and mainland Chinese immigrants with moderate success. It is now the largest city in Sarawak, although the center, spread along the Sarawak River, feels like a small town with veggie sellers on the streets hocking local fiddleheads and tempeh (fermented whole bean soy cakes). There are also a whole host of museums spanning subjects from the local Chinese communities, to longhouse culture, to cats, the city's namesake, that are all reasonably well curated and free. We stayed at a guesthouse with a very sociable atmosphere and spent a lot of time swapping stories with other travelers from all over the world as well as a group of young Malay guys in town for work. One night we sampled Hong Kong style chicken feet and got our palms read traditional Chinese style, another we learned about Malaysian Islam and it's interaction with indigenous concepts of spirits, and we spent another evening attempting to dispel myths about Americans held by a group of Germans. We also ate at as many different food stalls as possible to sample local delicacies such as Sarawak Laksa (noodle soup with a rich broth of coconut and shrimp paste), Kolo Mee (dry wheat noodles tossed in oil with red pork, minced meat, and fish balls), and White Lady (shaved ice with rose syrup, sweetened condensed milk, peaches, kiwi, grapes, pineapple, and flavored jellies). Although Kuching offers so many distractions and enjoyment, the jungle beckoned and we answered by heading out of town for a taste at Semenggoh Nature Reserve.

It's only a short air con bus ride from Kuching, so we joined the small assembly of Western tourists in quick-dry pants, jungle boots, and breathable shirts accessorized with heavy DSLR cameras and telephoto lenses to catch the morning feeding of the orangutans being rehabilitated there. When we arrived at the entrance gate we joined the 400 Asian tourists who flooded the reserve in chartered minibuses to get a view of the ginger haired great apes as well. We were able to see about 9 orangutans clambering around in the trees all around us and gracefully working their way down to the platforms for a fruit fix. The walking apes with their cameras and different reactions to being in the jungle were also quite an interesting sight to see. All in all it was a great way to get a glimpse at such a human-like and critically endangered cousin, but we would need to wait a few more days to get into the real jungle and away from the hordes at Bako National Park.

Bako is one of Sarawak's richest parks in terms of wildlife and ecosystems with about a dozen trails to hike, beaches to explore, and forests to amble through. We stayed four nights, sharing a hostel room with a German couple we had befriended in Kuching. Bako is most famous for the rare proboscis monkey which tends to hang out close to the park HQ. They were easy to spot since they could be heard crashing through the trees from miles away. Their round bellies, gonzo-like noses and calm demeanor made them a pleasure to watch and we saw them often stuffing their faces with broad leaves from the surrounding trees. The park HQ is also surrounded by aggressive macaque monkeys who would jump out of trees and rob newcomers of their food on arrival. Thankfully we came prepared with a slingshot to scare them off, but even we weren't fast enough to frighten the sharp toothed bearded menace that jumped out of the tree and on to Amanda to swipe our bag full of jackfruit. Another HQ resident was the large family of bearded pigs that roamed around feeding off scraps and wallowing in the mud. Good 'ol Humbolt and Van Buren were good company and even scared off the monkeys sometimes.

We spent our days at Bako exploring the rich diversity of the park. The first day we hiked to a picturesque beach surrounded by cliffs and swam in the bath-like water. The second day we hiked a loop trail that went through five different types of forest. A heavy rain swept through and we hid in a cave enjoying the strong winds by lifting our wings cormorant-style to cool our sweat soaked bodies. Another day we hiked to a waterfall with a couple Belgians that served as the perfect swimming hole surrounded by majestic palm fronds, boulders, and twisted vines. Yet another hike took us through a mangrove forest where we saw hermit crabs living in the trees, clinging to the branches and eating some sort of sap with their feelers. One of the nights we were there a couple spotted a large python close to the HQ. They alerted the staff who decided they should relocate the snake. They eventually caught it in a bag and took it towards the HQ while saying "makan," the Malay word for eat. We asked if they would eat it and they said no, but they brought it right into the back door of the kitchen. . .

We saw an amazing variety of flora and fauna in the park: proboscis monkeys, vipers, pythons, tree crabs, horseshoe crabs, a flying lemur, kingfishers, silver leaf langurs, bearded pigs and pitcher plants to name a few. The park accommodation was also set on the beach and it made for beautiful sunsets that we watched perched from the sea stacks or laying in our hammocks.

After Bako we headed back to Kuching and arranged stays at two more national parks in the area. The first one was Kubah, which is home to over 50 species of frogs. We stayed one night and hiked up to the frog pond at dusk with our headlamps, listening to the cacophony of sounds and seeking out the frogs as best we could. We saw several common frogs and one that had an orange back and black belly which we were lucky to find. We did a few hikes around Kubah that took us to a nice waterfall where we stopped to swim and bask in the sun. We also hiked a trail that was "closed" that used to have a bunch of belian (ironwood) trees. We asked the ranger about it and he said we should go take a look anyway. The trail was right in the boundary of the park and there were freshly cut trees along the way and at the end of the trail was a palm oil plantation. Seeing the giant belian trees that were cut down long ago and the continuous harvesting of the forest that close to the national park was upsetting. Borneo's forests are so rich and diverse and so much of it is being destroyed to either create palm oil plantations or to harvest the tropical timber that is a $2 billion industry in Sarawak alone. It's an eye opener for sure and unfortunately something we will likely see more of as we continue our trip through the state.

We also visited Gunung Gading National park which is famous for the rafflesia, the largest
flower in the world. This giant parasitic, corpse-smelling plant only blooms for 5-6 days before it rots like a pumpkin. We were lucky to see two in bloom on our trip, one of which was already nearing it's end.

We spent three nights at Gunung Gading and other than admiring the rafflesia we took some hikes to a series of waterfalls and view points. As we were at the last waterfall enjoying the view a heavy rain came down and we ended up hiking back in the craziest rain storm we have ever experienced. The trail turned into a river and we sloshed through it soaked to the bone. It was quite the experience and a perfect opportunity to puddle stomp like children and sing in the rain.

From the park we headed out to Sematan, which is a small fishing village in the far west, close to the border with Kalimantan. The town didn't have much to do but it was interesting to walk out on the pier and watch the fisherman and the boats come and go. There was also a very long beach to walk and some good seashells to inspect.

Back to Kuching once again we spent two more days seeing the rest of the sites including the worlds only cat museum and the fairy cave in Bau town. We also arranged our visa for Indonesia and booked our flights out of Borneo to Sulawesi. It seems crazy but we will be going back to KL first and then to Makassar on July 24th. That leaves us about three weeks left to explore up river Sarawak and work our way to oil fat Miri on the border with Brunei.

Enjoying the public gardens in the Cameron Highlands. There were lots of beautiful tropical flowers, like these.

Summitting Gunung Brinchang for the second time. No big deal.

Stopping for a small break in the mossy forest, Cameron Highlands.

The Boh Tea girl on her estate, Cameron Highlands.

Colonial style buildings in Kuala Lumpur.

Orangutans grabbing a bite, or ten, at the feeding platform in Semenggoh

Taking the speed boat into Bako National Park. This guy really knew how to drive....fast. And look Mom(s), we're even wearing life jackets!!

Pandan Kecil, our first tromp through Bako took us to this beautiful cove.

For once this menace was doing his own hunting and not just terrorizing the tourists at HQ.

Some craggy trees by the beach at Bako.

Pitcher plants! These carnivorous guys will eat your hand off! Just kidding.... but they'll eat some bugs.

Yet another beautiful sunset at Bako beach. The peninsula on the horizon is one of the oldest trading ports in Borneo.

Van Buren was tired after another day wallowing in the mud and snorting around our hostel.

The "waterfall" that was more like a swimming hole, but a majestic one at that, Bako.

Too many monkeys in Bako park. Toooooo many.

Some nice rocks. Bako.

We learned some new faces from the monkeys. This means "drop your shit or I'll attack!"

This little killer was right by our hostel. He sat in the same tree for 5 days! Viper, Bako.

Tree crabs! It's hard to tell in the picture but they are hanging upside down from a mangrove tree.

The funny, amazingly cute and man-like proboscis monkey on the prowl for leaves. Bako.

Colin in piggy heaven at our favorite food court in Kuching.

A majestically carved face in a tree stump, Kubah National Park.

Leaf ears by the waterfall at Kubah National Park.

The largest flower in the world! The rafflesia on it's 4th day of blooming at Gunung Gading National Park.

Poor Colin got stuck in the bathroom. The door was jammed and he eventually had to be rescued out the window at the back of the hostel. Note the workers laughing at him.