Ludwig's Odyssey: Malaysia

The wilds of Borneo. A land of weird and wonderful indigenous creatures large and small.

Well we arrived in Kuching (which is also the Malay word for cat), the biggest town/city to spend a couple of weeks exploring some of the jungle and anything else the island had to offer, but just on the Malaysian side. We had wanted to go to the Indonesian part (Kalimatan) also, but with all the illegal fires raging down there, the Air Pollution Index was off the chart which was what was causing the haze back in Peninsular Malaysia and also in Kuching to some extent.

We somehow managed to spend six days in Kuching, the ‘Cat City’, when in reality you only need three to four but the cheap hotel we were staying in was a nice place to plan where to go on Borneo as we really had no idea when we first landed.

We spent the first afternoon not doing much as we were getting up very early the next day to visit the Orangutan Reserve at Semengoh. This is a rehabilitation centre for Orangutans that have been badly treated or been kept as pets (illegally) and are taught to fend for themselves again. As the warden explained to us, all of these animals are semi-wild now and only dependant on feeding when there are no fruits on the trees. This being the start of fruiting season, our hopes of seeing any of our Orange coloured cousins where actually not that good but you live in hope.

We got up and it was still dark (not our favourite thing to do but needs must) so we could catch a bus at 7am. We arrived at the entrance of the reserve around 8am and then had to walk up to the main rehabilitation area for 20 mins or so. On the way, I did see some arms swinging through the trees, not a complete Orangutan spotting but a good start.

Well the feeding time is between 9 and 10 am so we ventured towards the area and waited but nothing to be seen, just a squirrel or two. We had mixed emotions at not spotting any, glad that they were fending for themselves but sad that we didn’t see one and so we made our way back to the main rehab area and sat around for a little while to decide if we should come back in the afternoon or the next day.

Just as we were going to make our way back to catch the next bus, the main warden got a call to say that one of them was making their way towards us! After a few minutes, a young solo male around eight years old made his way to the secondary feeding station and we were treated to a great acrobatic show (they really do have four arms rather than to arms and two legs) while he made his way to the stack of bananas. He stayed around for a while and it was a real treat. To see an Orangutan in Borneo, wow! how are we going to beat that!

The next few days were spent looking around Kuching which was very laid back and had some nice colonial architecture (if a bit tired looking in places) as well as the very striking government building across the river. Before we left we also organised to go on a boat trip near the coast so that we could hopefully spot lots more wildlife. We were taken by minibus about 30 mins nearer the coast to board a little boat which took us up the Sungai Satubong river and into the mouth of the sea. We initially thought it wasn’t going to be a great trip as it was a very high tide which makes Crocodile spotting much more difficult but after seeing not much during the initial 15 mins or so, things got better. We saw plenty of huge jellyfish and a few Irrawaddy Dolphins which were great to see, we then ventured into a smaller channel and saw a few Proboscis Monkeys having their evening meal and after dark saw lots of tiny Fireflies, finally on the way back we did see a Crocodile.

Having spent log enough in the city we wanted to go and explore the real jungle of Borneo. We decided to go to Mulu National Park which is famed for it’s caves but we really went there in the hope of spotting more wildlife. Mulu is a very secluded area with no roads going there so the only way to get there is to take about five different boats over the space of four days or to fly, so we took option B and flew there for a ridiculously cheap fare in a prop plane which had about 10/15 people on board.

We landed on a small but long enough air strip in the jungle in Mulu, the sleepiest airport we’ve ever been too. We had organised to stay in the Mulu Village guest house before we arrived as there are not too many places to stay here (most are rustic types but there is also a Marriott which we couldn’t understand what for, surely you come to the jungle to experience the jungle?!). We took some ‘transport’ from the airport to the homestay which was about 2km down the road in what can only be described as a write-off. There is absolutely no way anywhere in the world this minibus would be road legal. Everything was rusted, no doors closed properly and there were holes so you could see the road under your feet. All part of the fun though and as the driver only went at about 15km/ph we were in no real danger.

So we got to the homestay safe and sound which was a traditional long house building of the region, slightly updated with cold water shower and electricity that ran for 3 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the evening. It was surprisingly cool at night so no need of AC or fan thankfully. Brenda, originally from Singapore, and James gave up the 9 to 5 life and instead relocated here, upgraded the building which was part of James’ ancestry and started the homestay, you really can’t be more extreme than mega-city to mega-jungle, it’s not for the faint hearted that’s for sure. It turns out this was the building (well at least the site) where two Brits stayed when they mapped the caves of the national park during the early part of the 20th Century.

After dropping our bags off, James kindly gave us a lift on the back of his motorbike as the park entrance was a good 30 mins walk away. We picked up our passes and went for a walk in to the jungle towards the bat cave. Half way there, it rained quite hard and we hadn’t packed our waterproofs so we got a bit wet but with the humidity and temperature being so high, we really didn’t mind. We had hoped to see some nature on the way to the cave but there wasn’t much to see in the way of birds, we only managed to see a Pygmy Squirrel and a huge Stick Insect. Once at the cave, we were pretty sure that the bats would not come out, they usually wait for the best conditions so we didn’t stick around but instead walked very slowly back towards the park entrance (about 30 mins away if you walk normally) so we could make the most of the dark and see what creatures come out at night, we weren’t disappointed.

If you’re not keen on creepy-crawlies, this wouldn’t be for you. We saw loads of caterpillars, worms, toads, large snails, spiders (although not the huge huntsman we wanted to see) and a large grasshopper type bug with very big leaf shaped wings that made a violin type noise. We then walked back ‘home’ in the pitch black and saw lots of Fireflies again.

The next day we decided to go and walk the big loop around the park, around 9km. We had expected to see more nature but it really was just dense jungle with the occasional bug so not as good as we’d hoped. After a few hours of sweating we made our way back to the park headquarters, had a drink then decided to walk back to the bat cave again as the weather was better. Turned out we were right, they did come out at dusk, about 3-5 million of them. An impressive sight but if we’re being picky not quite as good as what we saw in Battambang.

We spent the next day relaxing at the homestay, reading and playing games although we did go for an evening walk down a road that was built but never used (because the locals protested against the government building a load of houses which would ruin the village life) that had the feel of a set from a post-acpocalyptic movie. We hoped to spot some nature down there and we did see a Bat Hawk and some Silvered-Leaf Monkeys.

On our last day we went back to the park and walked around other parts as well as going up the tree-top tower to do a bit of bird watching. We did see seven new varieties that we had not seen before including a Leafbird, Woodpecker and Falconet so we were happy with that.

We enjoyed our time in Mulu but were also glad to move on, our four nights stay over, we got another cheap plane ride to Miri in the morning, nothing to do here except have some food and make your way towards Brunei really, so that’s what we did.

The Sultan of Brunei, you’ve heard of him I’ll bet, but did you know that Brunei was in Borneo? I’m not writing this to belittle your geographical knowledge but next time you are in a pub quiz, it may come up :-)

If memory serves, I’m sure I had to look it up when I was a teenager as I thought at the time it was an Arab state, all countries rich in oil are, aren’t they? Of course not!

So oil, yep plenty of nodding donkeys (pumpjacks) and refineries to be seen here. The relatively short journey from one side of the country to the other has a few on the way. Malaysia may have been a step up from the rest of the Asian countries we visited in terms of wealth and infrastructure but Brunei was a notch up again, except of course Japan and am sure Singapore when we get there (mid Nov).

We arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) the capital and checked in to the cheapest hotel we could find in the centre which looked like it hadn’t been re-decorated since the 80s. Expensive compared to Malaysian standards but for one night, it’s ok. Food was cheap though.

It’s a weird place really, nothing much is going on and not many people around, It’s even quieter than Vientiane and there was nothing going on there! Oh well, it’s one to say “yes been there” but not sure we would recommend it.

We did however enjoy a very good boat trip. A young boat driver took us up river for around one hour or so to see some Proboscis Monkeys. We had seen a few in Kuching but this was an even better sighting and we saw at least three different families feeding on the young mangrove leaves. They did make us smile, they are such funny looking monkeys but so cute at the same time.

We made our way back into town and at dark the Mosque looks very pretty with its green lights.

The following morning, we were offered a free tour by our hotel around BSB to see some of the other sights. Of course we had already seen most of it the day before having walked around it! Anyway, we did see a few new things including another huge and very beautifully decorated Mosque and the start of a bridge being built to link the city to the ‘floating’ towns (literally, thousands of houses on stilts) on the other side of the river. We didn’t visit these houses, having seen similar efforts in other countries, it’s not really our favourite thing to do, it’s usually dirty with bad sanitation facilities and rubbish everywhere but perversely the people always seem happy and don’t want to move to dry land.

The last thing we saw was the Regalia Museum which is basically a Museum to the greatness of the current Sultan. It housed lots of gifts he had received from foreign dignitaries as well as items used during his coronation and pictures of his life from childhood to modern times. All a bit self-indulgent but when you have a $22 Billion dollar purse or whatever it is now, you can do what you want. Brunei really is all about the Sultan, his picture can be seen in every shop and restaurant. His palace is huge, twice as big as Versailles apparently, not that we could visit it of course being mere mortals!

Not to do him an injustice, if his subjects are anything to go by then he must be a charming man, all Bruneians we met were very kind and pleasant to talk to.

Our Borneo adventure over, we got a flight that evening for Bali to then make our way to the beach of Gili Air and do nothing for a while, it’s tiring being a traveller you know!

Our lasting memories of Malaysia;

We spent nearly two months on and off in this country and we did enjoy it but there’s no wow factor except the nature so our list is quite short for once...

Apes. A treat to see an Orangutan and all those Proboscis Monkeys.

Shopping Malls, how many do you need?!

Palm Trees everywhere, what happened to the indigenous vegetation...

The mix of peoples (Malay, Indian, Chinese) seemingly getting on well and living together.

Being left alone, unlike most SE Asian countries, people don’t stare at you here or try to rip you off.

Colonial past, it really is evident that the brits where here not so long ago.

Hardly any dogs to be seen (muslims don’t like them) and most of the cats seem to have their tails docked or curled up/broken somehow, very strange.

Enjoy the Ape photos although we won't be winning any awards that's for sure! best we could do with our limited equipment.

Kuching