December 29
Have been having a bad time trying to get into the Internet with wifi in Kuching. And now since the earthquake in Taiwan it is even worse. I will try to update the blog in a little while. This computer is not equipped with wi-fi so I have to compose on this one and then go to Internet place downstairs and update.
Anyway, we made it to Kuching with very little problems. The nice people at Air Asia got us again for overweight luggage. Seems they make more money on overage than with the price of the ticket. But all is not lost. We spent the first three days in Kuching just roaming around the city, doing some gift shopping and eating. The restaurants are quite nice here and inexpensive. The city itself is really very modern. You would think that you were in America. Many upscale buildings, high-rises and many new cars. Not many motorbikes as in Cambodia and Bali. Oil money we think. The name “Petronas,” (as in the tallest building in the world in Kuala Lumpur, is very evident.) They are oil and gas people so that may be where the modernization is being funded. Many new three story complexes housing shops downstairs and living quarters upstairs. Seem to be in groups of about 20-25 units in each building and lots of them. The river winds through downtown and is very clean and upscale. Nice walking paths with eateries and food kiosks along the way. Beautifully lighted and very well used by the people. See many couples strolling along the riverside enjoying the nice weather.
Weather here has been very nice. Raining everyday but we have been fortunate to be inside when it does rain. Mostly at night the thunder and lightening presents quite a show from our 13th floor apartment. We have a very nice two bedrooms, two-bath apartment much like the one is Bangkok. Large living room, kitchen, and dining room. Very nice.
The country is mainly Christian, so that may be the reason for the very big show of fireworks, firecrackers and related celebrations on Christmas Eve. At the stroke of midnight the world light up, much like New Years Eve. The celebrations went on for about 30 minutes and were quite spectacular. About 3-4 different places were seen from our high vantage point and it was quite enjoyable. I wonder what they do on New Years?
We spent a quiet Christmas, just walking, eating and shopping. Most shops were open but many Christmas decorations were around. Two days after Christmas, on Wednesday we took a memorable tour. We visited Bako State Park. About an hours drive outside the city, this is a very large reserve. We drove to the dock and onto the boat, very small, and cruised up the river (very fast) for about 30 minutes to the entrance to the park. A series of Ranger station building in the middle of nowhere, many monkeys, and jungle greeted us. Our guide, Paul, was a very nice 30 year-old, and I mention his age for a reason. We are a gaggle of ages of 67, 63, 27, and 19. He is 30. The reason will become quite evident as I continue. We started our trek by walking across a series of elevated walkways, really quite nice and well designed to keep us elevated above the mangrove swamp of mud. The tides are really tricky here and they were in as we arrived at about 10 am. The boat docked and we could very easily jump onto the dock, not the same at the end of the day, but I digress.
We walked for about 20 minutes on these elevated walkways looking for different types of birds, rather elusive monkeys, and various plant and fish species. It is known for the populations of little silver monkeys and proboscis monkeys with the “Jimmy Duante” noses. Really strange looking, just sitting in the treetops and eating leaves. Well after the walkways came a path, little did we know that the path through the dense jungle would last for about 3-1/2 miles of uphill, narrow, tree root crisscrossed narrow, steep and not so friendly trekking. After we reached the top of the plateau, we found that we were in for an education of the three different species of “pitcher” plants. There are carnivorous plants with very unique apparatus for catching and digesting bugs and other insects. OH “did I mention that on about the ½ mile marker, it started to rain??????” Well it did! Were we prepared, NO! No slicker, no hat, except for an umbrella that we brought (only good for one) and too big for getting through the jungle and the steep climbing. Well let me tell you this 67 year old made it to the top, soaked to the skin, and the others made it quite well also. I was very proud of myself, albeit a bit wondering why we did this to ourselves. After seeing three out of the four species of pitcher plants we stopped the guide and said we have had enough. Seeking shelter in a small shelter, we rested and watched as the rain increased. After climbing the 3-1/2 miles, we were not looking forward to descending in a downpour but that is exactly what we did. While we were resting a couple from Singapore joined us and we enjoyed some talk with them. The wife was from Kuching and the man was originally from Australia, now working in IT in Singapore. He was an avid photographer with a large Nikon digital D-200 camera and enough lenses for National Geographic. They, unlike us, had been here before and were spending the night in the park. They were wearing rain gear and hats and we must have looked very strange to them. He turned out to be rather an odd geeky type of guy but nice. We visited a bit after we made it down the mountain.
After looking like five drowned rats we arrived back at the ranger station and were treated to a buffet lunch which surprisingly was quite good and welcomed after our trek. After lunch, the rain at stopped and we again set out to see some more monkeys. We had nothing to lose because we were about as wet as we were going to get but again we were treated to another long narrow uphill path. This time however we were a bit smarter and only went for about 1-1/2 miles, about 45 minutes and we said that was enough. The guide was very nice but I think he was disappointed in not going further. We had opted out of walking across the mangrove mud to see another species of something. We just looked at the mud and said “no thanks”. So we turned around and back to the ranger station. This was about 2:15 pm and we then were informed that our boat was scheduled for 3:30. The guide tried calling but failed so we sat and visited with the geek photographer and his wife for another hour. Meantime the weather had cleared and it was bright sunshine. Ah but the sage continues.
The tide was now wayyyyyyyyy out. Probably about three football fields from the shore, and the only way out. So off came the shoes and we slogged through the muddy flats to the shoreline, into the ankle deep water and to the boat. Back the 30 minutes to the dock and into the van for a very wet and soggy ride home. What a day. Needless to say the hot shower was very welcomed and we slept the night very well.
Amazingly, there were only a few sore muscles the next day but a lot of mosquito bites on this old body. I seem to be the sweetest of the bunch because I was bitten the most. After an itchy night, we set off again for another trek, this one much better prepared for. Of course with our mosquito repellent, rain slickers, sandals, and plastic bags for the camera, etc. The skies were clear and there was very little walking.
We visited the Orangutan Park and saw none of them. This is the fruiting season and they tend to have enough food for themselves so they don’t come to the feeding station where we were. We were a bit disappointed but certainly not heartbroken and took off for our second visit of the day, a typical “longhouse.” This is a series of apartment type houses all built to house the entire village. One long house with many different rooms or “dwelling” probably very important in the older days of the “headhunter” for protection but not so much anymore. No headhunters now but still some people chose to live in this fashion.
Have been having a bad time trying to get into the Internet with wifi in Kuching. And now since the earthquake in Taiwan it is even worse. I will try to update the blog in a little while. This computer is not equipped with wi-fi so I have to compose on this one and then go to Internet place downstairs and update.
Anyway, we made it to Kuching with very little problems. The nice people at Air Asia got us again for overweight luggage. Seems they make more money on overage than with the price of the ticket. But all is not lost. We spent the first three days in Kuching just roaming around the city, doing some gift shopping and eating. The restaurants are quite nice here and inexpensive. The city itself is really very modern. You would think that you were in America. Many upscale buildings, high-rises and many new cars. Not many motorbikes as in Cambodia and Bali. Oil money we think. The name “Petronas,” (as in the tallest building in the world in Kuala Lumpur, is very evident.) They are oil and gas people so that may be where the modernization is being funded. Many new three story complexes housing shops downstairs and living quarters upstairs. Seem to be in groups of about 20-25 units in each building and lots of them. The river winds through downtown and is very clean and upscale. Nice walking paths with eateries and food kiosks along the way. Beautifully lighted and very well used by the people. See many couples strolling along the riverside enjoying the nice weather.
Weather here has been very nice. Raining everyday but we have been fortunate to be inside when it does rain. Mostly at night the thunder and lightening presents quite a show from our 13th floor apartment. We have a very nice two bedrooms, two-bath apartment much like the one is Bangkok. Large living room, kitchen, and dining room. Very nice.
The country is mainly Christian, so that may be the reason for the very big show of fireworks, firecrackers and related celebrations on Christmas Eve. At the stroke of midnight the world light up, much like New Years Eve. The celebrations went on for about 30 minutes and were quite spectacular. About 3-4 different places were seen from our high vantage point and it was quite enjoyable. I wonder what they do on New Years?
We spent a quiet Christmas, just walking, eating and shopping. Most shops were open but many Christmas decorations were around. Two days after Christmas, on Wednesday we took a memorable tour. We visited Bako State Park. About an hours drive outside the city, this is a very large reserve. We drove to the dock and onto the boat, very small, and cruised up the river (very fast) for about 30 minutes to the entrance to the park. A series of Ranger station building in the middle of nowhere, many monkeys, and jungle greeted us. Our guide, Paul, was a very nice 30 year-old, and I mention his age for a reason. We are a gaggle of ages of 67, 63, 27, and 19. He is 30. The reason will become quite evident as I continue. We started our trek by walking across a series of elevated walkways, really quite nice and well designed to keep us elevated above the mangrove swamp of mud. The tides are really tricky here and they were in as we arrived at about 10 am. The boat docked and we could very easily jump onto the dock, not the same at the end of the day, but I digress.
We walked for about 20 minutes on these elevated walkways looking for different types of birds, rather elusive monkeys, and various plant and fish species. It is known for the populations of little silver monkeys and proboscis monkeys with the “Jimmy Duante” noses. Really strange looking, just sitting in the treetops and eating leaves. Well after the walkways came a path, little did we know that the path through the dense jungle would last for about 3-1/2 miles of uphill, narrow, tree root crisscrossed narrow, steep and not so friendly trekking. After we reached the top of the plateau, we found that we were in for an education of the three different species of “pitcher” plants. There are carnivorous plants with very unique apparatus for catching and digesting bugs and other insects. OH “did I mention that on about the ½ mile marker, it started to rain??????” Well it did! Were we prepared, NO! No slicker, no hat, except for an umbrella that we brought (only good for one) and too big for getting through the jungle and the steep climbing. Well let me tell you this 67 year old made it to the top, soaked to the skin, and the others made it quite well also. I was very proud of myself, albeit a bit wondering why we did this to ourselves. After seeing three out of the four species of pitcher plants we stopped the guide and said we have had enough. Seeking shelter in a small shelter, we rested and watched as the rain increased. After climbing the 3-1/2 miles, we were not looking forward to descending in a downpour but that is exactly what we did. While we were resting a couple from Singapore joined us and we enjoyed some talk with them. The wife was from Kuching and the man was originally from Australia, now working in IT in Singapore. He was an avid photographer with a large Nikon digital D-200 camera and enough lenses for National Geographic. They, unlike us, had been here before and were spending the night in the park. They were wearing rain gear and hats and we must have looked very strange to them. He turned out to be rather an odd geeky type of guy but nice. We visited a bit after we made it down the mountain.
After looking like five drowned rats we arrived back at the ranger station and were treated to a buffet lunch which surprisingly was quite good and welcomed after our trek. After lunch, the rain at stopped and we again set out to see some more monkeys. We had nothing to lose because we were about as wet as we were going to get but again we were treated to another long narrow uphill path. This time however we were a bit smarter and only went for about 1-1/2 miles, about 45 minutes and we said that was enough. The guide was very nice but I think he was disappointed in not going further. We had opted out of walking across the mangrove mud to see another species of something. We just looked at the mud and said “no thanks”. So we turned around and back to the ranger station. This was about 2:15 pm and we then were informed that our boat was scheduled for 3:30. The guide tried calling but failed so we sat and visited with the geek photographer and his wife for another hour. Meantime the weather had cleared and it was bright sunshine. Ah but the sage continues.
The tide was now wayyyyyyyyy out. Probably about three football fields from the shore, and the only way out. So off came the shoes and we slogged through the muddy flats to the shoreline, into the ankle deep water and to the boat. Back the 30 minutes to the dock and into the van for a very wet and soggy ride home. What a day. Needless to say the hot shower was very welcomed and we slept the night very well.
Amazingly, there were only a few sore muscles the next day but a lot of mosquito bites on this old body. I seem to be the sweetest of the bunch because I was bitten the most. After an itchy night, we set off again for another trek, this one much better prepared for. Of course with our mosquito repellent, rain slickers, sandals, and plastic bags for the camera, etc. The skies were clear and there was very little walking.
We visited the Orangutan Park and saw none of them. This is the fruiting season and they tend to have enough food for themselves so they don’t come to the feeding station where we were. We were a bit disappointed but certainly not heartbroken and took off for our second visit of the day, a typical “longhouse.” This is a series of apartment type houses all built to house the entire village. One long house with many different rooms or “dwelling” probably very important in the older days of the “headhunter” for protection but not so much anymore. No headhunters now but still some people chose to live in this fashion.
posted by LarryKiesel | 8:21 PM
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