Miri, Malaysia (Borneo)

Two Days ago, I arrived in Miri from Johor Bahru, Malaysia. I left Singapore that morning and headed back through their customs into Malaysia to fly out of Johor Bahru. It is the cheaper flight.

Singapore was a good time though. It was a nice break. I arrived at the hostel in town there and found the English girl and Canadian guy I had been traveling with in the Cameron Highlands and Taman Negara Phang. It was nice to meet up with some people I knew after the long bus ride and problem with customs. They left after my first day there but they are headed to Australia too. We made plans to meet up there in Sydney for Christmas and New Year's.

Singapore was worth the price. I got to do everything I set out to: go to the Singapore zoo, see the Singapore National Museum, Clarke Quay, the Christmas decorations on Orchard Rd, check out the Battle Box (the bunker where the British surrendered to the Japanese) and of course drink Singapore Slings in the Raffles Hotel, their birth place. The Singapore zoo was exciting, the zoo was well put together and the animals there all seem to be unusually close to the visitors. You could touch a lot of the more mellow animals if you wanted. No one was around at one point and I touched a huge tortoise. SUCCAS!

But a week before I got there a Malay janitor jumped into the White Tiger cage apparently to commit suicide. The tourists thought it was just a show until the tigers took him down. I stopped by their cages and those Tigers are huge, without a doubt the biggest cat at the zoo. I dont know what a good way to go out is but that definitely is not it.

Singapore is a very Western city. It is very clean and very easy to get around. The metro there is immaculate. It is much more commercial then the rest of Southeast Asia. I dont know how many malls are too many malls but Singapore is close to it. I almost felt some reverse culture shock going back into such a place.

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Borneo has been exciting. The city of Miri has a population of about 400 k, according to my cab driver, so it is pretty bigger then expected. The city has nearly everything a city should have, big hotels, taxis, malls, Starbucks, but at the same time getting around can be difficult.

Today, I went to the Lambir Hills National Park. I walked to the bus station and asked how I get there. I had to take a bus to a second station and then take another bus to the entrance. Easy Enough. 'OK, how do I get back?'
'Umm, You hitchhike.'

So I did, the park isnt suppose to have any wildlife. I guess that is by Borneo standards. I showed up at the park with my swimsuit in my bag ready to swim because it is suppose to be a safe place to swim. I actually met a local on the way in and he had just come from swimming. He said it was good swimming and wished me luck. After I paid my entrance fee, I walked maybe 15 feet to the bridge that crossed a small creek to get in the park. That is when I saw a 3 and a half foot lizard just floating in the creek with its head sticking out of the water. I initially thought it was a crocodile but its head was too short. Then I thought it was a Komodo Dragon because it looked like one. But having just been at the Singapore zoo I knew they dont live in Malaysia. But none the less, it was a big lizard and I wasnt even in the park yet. It was just letting the current carry it, but as it heard me step on the bridge it dove deeper and swam out of sight.

I went swimming anyway, there were locals there and I felt safe doing it. I ended up hiking probably 2 km after that. I would have gone further but it started to rain pretty hard and the sky was getting dark. The rain forest canopy helped slow the rain but as the rain collected on the leaves it just made the drops fatter. And water continued to fall on me even after it stopped raining as I navigated my way out by pulling on all the trees.

I got out fine and flagged down a bus to get back.

Tomorrow, I will wake up at 5 am to check out some local caves, the Niah Caves.

On the 24th, I will head to Gunung Mulu, that is suppose to be the best Park on Borneo and is only accessible by plane. So Ill be on a 30 flight to Mulu from Miri where I will remain for 4 days. I tried to book these flights online but apparently they only take Malaysian Credit Cards so I get to show up at the airport and slap down some cash for my flight. Im pretty excited to see what kind of contraption Ill be flying in. But seeing the park does have a sacrifice. It means I will be spending my Thanksgiving in the middle of the Borneo Brush, eating whatever it is I can scrap together, surrounded by locals who only see my presence as an intrusion. Which if you think about it makes my Malaysian Thanksgiving more authentic then your American Thanksgiving. . . . . . . . . . But if anyone wants to trade places, I would gladly do it. I am going to miss my Grandmother's stuffing.