Sarawak

We decided to go back into Borneo Malaysia to check out Sarawak. Starting with a fly and flop at a Marriott, which was booked for its huge pool, located just outside Miri. We allowed the kids one full day of pool time, and after resisting our urge to drag them out and about (Mitch was desperate to see the grand old lady) we decided we can’t do it all! As the day afterwards we ushered them on to their next flight, a pretty cool 30 mins flight over to the rainforest of Mulu National park landing on a tiny airstrip.

Although you have to fly, it was extremely enjoyable and was very cheap to stay in the National Parks HQ. Top things to see here are caves and bats, throw in a few waterfalls, boat rides and wild swimming, all pretty amazing. The highlight of perhaps the whole trip so far for me, was watching 2 to 3 million bats fly out of a cave just before dusk (called the bat exodus!). We got so lucky as some days they they have a lie in and don’t venture out. It was unimaginably spectacular, picture a bird murmurations but with bats all in lines snaking across the sky, you can hear the sound of their wings fluttering. No pictures can do it justice, well maybe someone’s with a better camera than mine could! The kids once again were amazing as after a long walk to the caves, then watching the bats we had to trek another 4km back to the HQ. (that said, Otto did fall off the boardwalk into a big bog!!). We are pushing them, but they are coping so well now it’s hard not to try and do as much as we can!! As I write this we just booked ourselves in for a 3am volcano sunrise trip!!! So wait for the next instalment to see what a nightmare that was!!!

After 2 truly memorable days spent in the park we flew down to Kuching, Sarawaks capital. We stayed right in the centre and really enjoyed the city. An interesting place with a lovely relaxed vibe, a mix of all cultures dotted around. From old colonial buildings dating back to a bygone era (yet another upper class English bloke who took over for a while!!), to floating mosques, shiny new shopping centres and an illuminated waterfront. Most people come to check out Baku national park and Semenggoh orangutan centre, so we ticked both those off.

Baku was fun, we needed to get a boat there and then embarked on a gruelling hot and steep 8 k walk, spotting a few proboscis monkeys on the way, once again pushing those poor little legs to their limits. Neither of them could do much walking the next day. Freda complained to me whilst walking around the town that her legs felt weird and tired! Poor things.

Lucky for them the next day we went to see the Orangutans, or hoped to! As these ones are very much semi-wild, they have a very large area and mainly don’t come to the feeding station where they can be viewed. They have enough food in the forest so tend to stay clear. We however, got very lucky and two males swung down, avoiding each other as apparently it won’t be long till they have to have a scrap for the territory. They are such amazingly impressive creatures. The ranger got pretty close to the massive male, (who’d he known since birth), I asked him after if he can be dangerous. His reply was ‘Oh yes depends on his mood, I know just by the way he looks into my eyes’! Apparently he was in a bad mood that day so the ranger didn’t hang on the platform for long.

We enjoyed Kuching at night, with another very impressive water fountain spurting along to music, Ottos new favourite since KL. Pleased we stayed in the centre of Kuching, a place, I think often overlooked but easily deserving of a good few days.

As mentioned, we had been pushing our little angels a little hard over the last few weeks, so we had a little treat up our
sleeves and stayed at a lovely hotel, Cove 55 on the coast. It’s advised not to swim around this area, due to saltwater crocs, but there was no need to enter the water as we had a pool on top of the sea instead and a palatial garden bungalow to recharge our batteries. It was very tranquil, until I had a minor altercation with an older lady! It turned out she was unimpressed with our loud children around the pool, so decided to play her own music very loudly to drown them out!!! I enquired if she could turn it down! After losing the verbal fight with her (Aussies are far more rude than I could ever be!!) I told the kids to scream as loud as they could around her sun bed, So grown up!!! We have generally found that the problem with posh places, the more money people have the ruder and more unfriendly they become! Money don’t buy you manners!!!

I will love you and leave you on that profound note. This is the end of our Malaysia mega trip! Loved most minutes of it and will miss it dearly. Especially Laksa. Next stop Indonesia, steering clear of Bali as don’t want to bang into any more Australians!!Read more