Climbing Your Roots (Sarawak, Borneo)

Borneo . . . Since a child, this large island, shared by Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia has always seemed wild and mysterious to me. Headhunters thrived in the deep and treacherous rainforest until only quite recently. There are still rumors of headhunting, including within an autobiography of a young Dayak woman I read before I went to Borneo (Riska), but most locals are adamant this practice has long been deserted. 

No, Borneo did not seem very wild to me upon arrival in Kuching, the second largest city in Malaysia, and the capital of Sarawak. I loved Kuching, don’t get me wrong, but Malaysia is indeed quite . . . Modern. The roads are phenomenal and the transit system is pretty darn good, at least long-distance transit. Most people speak english, and things are pretty safe, clean, and organized. 

It isn’t entirely difficult to enter the wild and have a true adventure if you really want to go for it. I had a few opportunities, and found myself to be quite the coward when it comes to the rainforest, particularly when traversing it alone. However, I will save those embarrassing details for my Mulu post.

I arrived in Kuching with a cold, thanks to the adorable Possindu, so I took it easy for the first several days. I was able to enjoy a nice day and evening out with some friends from the hostel; Mat from Germany, and Laura & Shane from the States (Shane is from Portland!). Mat and I started the afternoon by going to Semenggoh to see the Orangutans at the orphanage/recovery center. 

I’m not a crazy animal lover but I was blown away by how these creatures move! They go along the vines and ropes like pinwheels, using each extremity! 

The little one was so cute when he walked on the ground. He’d walk a few steps and then do a somersault and repeat until he got where he was going (or when his older brother tackled him!). This one below seems to be the oldest and largest one. 

One of the orangutans came up to the shelter where the tourists were, and the rangers immediately jumped into action to keep everyone at a distance. They can be dangerous, particularly if you have food or anything that looks like a stick and especially if you look them in the eye (whoops . . . )

She walked over to a sign and tore it down, laid on her back and slowly tore it up, played with it, eating the paper or waving it around and hamming it up for our cameras.

Arriving back in Kuching, we decided to get some food. This was an awkward situation. We sat down in one of those cafeteria-like establishments where there are tons of different food vendors. We ordered some wonton soup and then he asked if we wanted drinks, so we ordered Cokes. When he handed us the Cokes, he wanted us to pay for them right then and there, but NOT pay for the food right away. It didn’t make any sense to me until I realized he had gotten them from another vendor.
Food in general was quite cheap (hard pressed to spend more than 3 or 4 dollars on full meal and a soda). I would say that it is INCREDIBLY difficult to get enough protein in SE Asia, particularly as a traveler without her own kitchen. I am suffering from this physically and mentally more and more as time goes on. All of the carbohydrate is beginning to really drag me down, but more on that later.

 

. . . After eating, we decided to wander around the waterfront. It’s a nice area, without people hassling you or trying to scam you and even some nice street performers. We stopped at a cafe and tried a “Teh C Special” which is a layered tea type of drink.

That evening the four of us went out for dinner and drinks and had a great time. Shane and I hit it off like gangbusters and I am sad we weren’t able to spend more time together because I’m pretty sure we’d be besties if time had allowed. I love when that happens!

Kuching is an interesting place. Like everywhere else in Malaysia, it is a mix of many cultures and languages. The people are mostly Chinese, Malay, and the indigenous peoples.
Kuching literally means “Cat” in Malay, so there are lots of cat statues everywhere, including a CAT MUSEUM!! I never made it out to the museum, but I heard it is a must-see for cat lovers.

 

I found a great coffee shop when I was searching for a place to duck out of the rain:

There was also a Crossfit in Kuching at Phoenix Gym. I went two times and found it to be too crowded for me, but sufficient for a few drop-ins. The first WOD we did was a partner WOD that included deadlifts, which I had never done with a partner before. Now, I’ve been told my deadlift form is actually pretty darn good, even when fatigued. After doing it and thinking about it afterwards, I think partner deadlifts are a bad idea unless both are not only the same height but also the same relative strength. My partner was too short, so I never got to the top of the lift, and our style and timing was never right. It was sloppy, and you don’t want to do heavy deadlifts sloppy!! 

It still felt REALLY good to be throwing a bar around again after 4 or 5 weeks away. I love lifting! 

The real adventure was getting there and back on a bike. It was pretty far from the downtown area. I rented a bicycle from my hostel to be economical, since a taxi ride would’ve been 25 ringgit each way (8 dollars). Riding down major roads I was unfamiliar with was pretty dangerous actually, but I found the Malaysian drivers to be a lot more aware of cyclists and motorbikes than my experience in the States. 

My handlebars also almost fell off at one point. That was fun. The gym receptionists hooked me up with a local bike shop that fixed it for me for free before my ride back.

Bako National Park was beautiful. You take an hour-long bus from Kuching and then a short boat ride to the park where they drop you off at the beach where you must wade in the rest of the way.

This wasn’t much of a problem (and I rather enjoyed it) until I was wading out to the boat to leave the park and ended up with a minor but quite painful jellyfish sting.

I am sad to say that most of the longer trails at Bako are closed for at least another year for maintenance, which I can understand after hiking on their plank walks which are pretty sketchy to be honest . . . 

However I would love to come back and do those longer trails and camp out on the beaches! You can still stay overnight in the park for only a few dollars to either camp or a bit more to stay in a dorm (or you can pay 30-50 bucks a night for your own cabin). 

I took a long sweaty hike through the rainforest (the trail varied between climbing on and up roots or walking on long plank-walks over swampy-muddy-madness)

To an overlook . . .

And a beautiful beach:

Where I ate lunch, swam, and relaxed in the sun.

I had the beach mostly to myself!

I hiked back and checked in to my dorm. I shared the room with a girl from Ireland (Galway), the UK, and a guy from the bay area! We had dinner together in the canteen. The bed and room were pretty good, along with the shower facilities. 

I enjoyed watching the family of wild boar rummage about in the front yard at dusk. 

After returning to Kuching, I needed to plan for the next week or so. I wanted to do some more self-guided hiking, so I decided to stay in another national park on my way to Mulu National Park.
Instead of taking the 16 hour bus to Miri, I took a 5 hour ferry from Kuching to Sibu (I love boats!) but the scenery was quite boring actually.

Then after indulging ($20) in a hotel stay overnight in Sibu (there aren’t really any hostels to speak of there), I took a bus towards Miri (7.5 hours) where I asked to be let out a little early at the entrance to Lambir Hills National Park, which is said to be one of the most varied and undisturbed rainforests in the world. There is a big research facility there. I just wanted to hike and swim in some of the waterfalls. I stayed in a cabin w/ bathroom, a fridge, and fan all to myself for just $24 for two nights. 

I was planning on hiking the summit, which would’ve been a very long day of hiking, but in the morning I felt a kind of foreboding, so I just hiked to Dinding Falls. Even though it was shorter, it was more difficult than I anticipated. It always is with the additional obstacles of the humidity and heat. You can run out of water pretty easily if you aren’t careful. I brought 3 liters of water and this was just sufficient for the Dinding Falls hike!! 

There were lots of steep ups and downs and mud and climbing (including climbing over and along huge fallen trees). It was hard, but so worth the hike once I arrived.

 Bako and Lambir Hills were a great warm up to what I would experience next in Mulu National Park, by far the most beautiful rainforest I have seen yet . . .