Borneo

Last weekend we flew to Kuching on Borneo island for a 4 day vacation.  I brought my GPS with me and put the resort name in at the airport car rental place.  The car only had 1/4 tank of gas so I thought I would stop at the first gas station.  What I didn't know is that the GPS had no idea of how to get to the resort and there are practically no gas stations outside of Kuching.  We went on a huge loop through the remote parts of Borneo before finally circling back to Kuching on fumes.  After filling up, the GPS recalculated and tried to get us back on the same loop.  So, we headed out on our own.  We knew the resort was north and just kept turning north.  Aside from asking one local (while he was on his scooter and we were at the stop light!) which way to turn, we were able to drive right to it.  In the end, it took us over 2 hours to drive 30km.

The resort was great.  It sits on a small peninsula in the South China Sea with a jungle covered mountain for a back drop.  On the first and last day, the beach was closed with signs posted saying, "Beware of Jellyfish and Catfish".  That was the first catfish warning I have ever seen.

The next morning we went back to Kuching and met another friend of mine.  He took us just outside of Kuching to a feeding place for orangutans.  Twice a day they feed them.  If there is not much fruit in the jungle, they will come out for the feeding.  Lucky for us, it was in between fruit seasons and 14 orangutans showed up.  The feeding location is in the middle of a jungle area, no cages or anything.  When they start coming out of the jungle, it is like something out of the movie.  They move entirely through the tops of the trees, climbing on vines and moving along swaying tree tops.  You can hear them and see the trees moving long before you can actually see them.  It was quite a shock to see them moving around unobstructed.  It is hard to believe something so huge can so easily move from tree to tree, especially trees that were only a few inches in diameter where they were grasping.

After the orangutan trip and lunch, we split up with our friends and drove to a remote cave.  It was very impressive.  It could have been better if we had a flashlight, but there was plenty of cave lit with natural light.  The entire time you could hear the squeaky sounds of bats high up above.  They did a great job of providing stairs everywhere so that even children could explore the cave. 

After the cave, the drove down to the Indonesian border where they have a small market.  Technically, it is in Indonesia but they do not stamp your passport.  You are only allowed to go a small way in to take advantage of the market.  It was similar to some markets we have seen in KL but a little more rudimentary.  If possible, we stood out here even more than normal.

After the market, we drove back to the resort where we had dinner with friends.  As odd as it sounds, I have a friend from the UK that just happened to be staying at the same resort at the same time.  Between his family, ours, and their friends, we had a dinner party of 16. 

If we had it to do again, I think we would prefer to live on Borneo rather than KL.  We really enjoyed seeing the rural areas and didn't miss the city at all.

A warning sign for falling coconuts.  One actually almost hit my friend.  As funny as it sounds, I would hate to fall victim.

On our final night they built a fire on the beach.  It was nice just to sit around and watch it burn.

We visited a cultural village next to the resort.  They had recreations of many of the natives living conditions.  We enjoyed their stairs...just a log leaned at a 45 degree angle with notches cut out.

It may be hard to tell from this picture, but that young girl is carrying a child in a milk crate using a dolly.  This is not the first time we have see this.

Part of the Indonesian market.  This is where the ladies sort the fruits and vegetables that are for sale.

Entrance to the cave.

Cameron Highlands II

We had  a friend down from Texas so we decided to go back to Cameron Highlands.  For those with agricultural interests (like our friend), Cameron has much more to offer than KL.  This time we took the time to go through the tea plant as well as walk through the plantation.  The kids enjoyed the freedom of walking through the plantation.  They ran around as if they were back in our hay field.  Unfortunately, as one of them was digging their way up a hill, they uncovered a snake.  I am not familiar enough with local snakes to know it was bad or not but if it was enough that we made them stick to the road after that.

For lunch, we went back to the Smokehouse.  Again, one of the best places to eat in Malaysia.  British food is not supposed to be good so maybe this isn't authentic.  It is a beautiful place, though.  On the way back we stopped by a waterfall to let the kids look around.