Bintulu to Kuching

Monday 27 June

Up early and Tan, the minibus taxi man, came and picked us up from the park and brought us to Bintulu. After breakfast we went down to the waterfront to look for a 4x4 to take us to Belaga. I wanted to go to Belaga to take the boat to Kapit and then onto Sibu. After an hour or so we managed to get a 4x4 with 5 other passengers. We were heading into the Borneo interior and the road was bumpy at times. After 4 hours we stopped for a toilet break and I was chatting to the driver; and he said that there is no boat to Kapit anymore, not since they built the dam upriver. Doh! Should have done my research.

So an hour later we arrived in Belaga checked into a Guest House. We talked with the owner who said he could arrange a Longhouse overnight tour but I had read bad things about this guy and didn't trust him to give us a good trip, so I will leave the other guys here and head back up to Bintulu tomorrow, so coming here has been a waste of time and money!


Tuesday 28 June

So another 5 hours and 50 MYR to get back to Bintulu in the 4x4. At midday, got straight on a bus to Sibu. At Sibu I realised it would be quicker, cheaper and easier to get the bus to Kuching tonight, rather than taking the shorter boat journey there tomorrow. So waited around at bus station for 6 hours, mostly reading, it was ok.

So today and yesterday were both a bit of disaster really, I should have done more homework before heading to Belaga.


Wednesday 29 June

Arrived in Kuching at 5am and got to the hostel around 6am, after waiting for the local bus for a short while, just as it was starting to get light. Crashed out for a bit. Then went to the tourist information office and arranged trip to Bako NP for tomorrow; I kind of invited myself along with 3 English people who there for the same reason. Kuching seems like a good place, lots of other travellers which is cool.

Got a text from the Canadians saying the Longhouse tour was great. I should have trusted the guy. Oh well....I still think there was something wrong about him....and he did have a large live snake wrapped up in a big plastic bag all night, which is cruel. I think he plans to eat it, which is one thing, but don't keep an intelligent animal hostage.

On a bit of a mission around town to book accommodation for the coming week and during next weekend's festival, places are booked out and hiking their prices up. But I found a good spot at a good price so pretty happy about that, that it's sorted, as there will be 10 or 20,000 more people in town next weekend.

I went looking for Indian food, it's mostly Chinese around here which I don't really like. I found Indian but it wasn't great, it's still impossible to get a good plate of veggies anywhere. On the way back I walked past a clean housing estate that could easily have been plucked from England. And also a rugby pitch, there is a game on on Saturday afternoon. And I bought some binoculars so hopefully get better wildlife views...

Kuching means cat, and there are a few large cat statues dotted around the town. While I feel bad about not doing the Longhouse Tour (it's too expensive from here) it makes a nice change to just be in the same place for a while without thinking about getting the next bus etc....(well, except going to the NP tomorrow!), although I am not sure what I will do all of next week....sleep in?

Currently sat in the hostel communal area while 3 Malaysian Liverpool fans play Premier League soccer on the x-box.