Report from September 4 to September 8, 2023
From: Malaysia, Borneo
Kutching
Bako National Park
Our first morning
Already in Jakarta we got to know Maria. We got in touch with her when we were wondering how to actually get to the airport. We met her in the Jakarta airport just before we got on the plane. With her, we shared a cab from the airport to the city. However, since we were staying in different accommodations, we didn't see her again until a few days later. But now we were at Quick Caty, our hostel. We had barely slept the previous night, let alone slept well, but our room wasn't free yet. We hadn't seen coffee in what felt like 100 years and we were just knackered. After we managed to get into the hostel, the first thing we did was get our hands on some coffee, which helped for once. However, since we had no motivation whatsoever, we just sat down in the entrance area and waited for our room to become available. Here we met Danijela. She is also from Germany and joined us for a moment. She wanted to go out for breakfast and offered us to just come along. This was very convenient for us, because it allowed us to have a good breakfast without having to use our tired heads. On the way we also found an ATM and in the end we could even try one of the local specialties "Laksa". Laksa is a noodle soup that is usually eaten with shrimp or chicken for breakfast. Very tasty, if you ever see it you should try it. Back at the hostel we could also go to our room. Later we went with Danijela to the food market and ate our way through the stalls until we couldn't eat anymore.
The next morning, after we had gotten some sleep again, we probably had the most important task to do: laundry. While Janine took care of this task, I took care of the most important luxury good: Internet. We had gotten SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur, but they didn't work anymore. So I took care of reactivating them and making sure we had internet access again. Write in the comments if you have ever made a big trip before there was internet everywhere and anytime...
I have great respect for everyone who did something like this before the Internet age. Of course, we can get along without the Internet, but it's so much easier when you don't have to make any arrangements, but can just say, "Yes, if there's something, I'll get in touch." And more importantly who you can check on restaurant or just translate something quickly. Or how to get from A to B.
From durian to weddings, to the lawyer.
In the hostel we sat over the days again and again with pleasure in the entrance area. Here you could always get into conversation with residents. So we quickly established an evening round, which met to exchange experiences. So we heard Kevin, an Italian, who did not show that he was not a native speaker - from the dialect we would have guessed an English or American speaker. He learned his English in New Zealand and told us about his time there and in the Philippines.
Or we talked with Su about the cultural differences between different European countries and Taiwan in terms of children, marriage, divorce and much more. (Usually our first response was, "It's not that simple, you need a judge or lawyer.") Su got a big bucket of durian ice cream one day and tried to convince everyone to try it. We did, of course. Durian is also known as the "puke/stinky fruit." We had tried it before in Kuala Lumpur, but Su kept explaining that the ice cream was much better.
Durian is just so intense that it's just too much for our taste. But we've talked to some people about it, and it's just a cultural imprint. Those who grew up with it don't find it so bad. We could probably impress most people here with Handke's hunting stories for that. And yes, the ice cream is not so bad. A few people already knew it, and some even liked it.
Mooncakes
The first evenings we spent at the food market. No matter what you buy, you get it in plastic. We kept trying to explain that we would like the food in our own cans. Or that the drink can go directly into our bottles. We also don't need a straw because we have that ourselves. And yes, we bought two things, but there are two of us, carrying a backpack on our backs and carrying our own plastic bag. We don't need another one. Sometimes we get irritated looks, sometimes incomprehension. But sometimes there is an old woman who thanks us and with a wink puts another sesame ball in our bowl, or a young man who simply gives all the money back as change. We experience again and again that most people don't care how much plastic is in circulation. But then sometimes there are really warm people who are happy and encourage us in our efforts to avoid plastic. This food market is held on the occasion of the Moon Festival. This is always celebrated in the 8th moon of the year from half 🌓 to full 🌕 moon. Especially at this time the mooncakes are popular. Usually, they are not made by oneself. However, you do not buy them for yourself, but they are for giving as a gift.
So you give them to family, friends, colleagues or, if available, employees. The filling is very different. Depending on the region, a sweet or salty filling is made. And it is quite
usual that there are always new versions. Therefore, a chicken curry or a red bean filling (not kidney beans, red beans are sweet) is just a little more traditional than rainbow chocolate.
Pomelo is also very popular, as they look like a small moon. Traditionally, at this time people also like to meet with family or friends in the park or similar places for a picnic or BBQ. This is how people spend the time until the moon rises. But also independent of the Chinese festival, the old town is very much characterized by Chinatown. There are many old buildings, which are quite typically recognizable as Chinese immigrants.
What is remarkable in Kuching, however, is that things are made beautiful here, simply to make them beautiful. That is not common in Asia. Also, the people here are particularly friendly. Later, we learned that the residents of the old town have actually decided together to always be friendly and nice to create a more beautiful cityscape. So you never have the feeling that someone wants to rip you off. You immediately feel at home in this city. But it is actually not a real tourist town. All of Borneo is probably not that popular with tourists, or maybe not that well known. There is so much to see here in the various national parks. But maybe it is only because of the heraldic animal that we feel so comfortable. Kuching (the name of the city) is Bahasa (the official language of Malaysia and Indonesia) and means cat. So there are 3 cat statues in the core city. And the inhabitants seem to like their four-legged friends (dogs too) very much. No matter if bar, bank or café. So many stores have a cat lying at the entrance or nearby, waiting to be stroked when passers-by come by.
Bearded pigs and proboscis monkeys
We are now here on Borneo, the third largest island in the world. For comparison, the island is twice the size of Germany in terms of surface area. Many species have been able to survive here. The oldest and therefore most species-rich primeval forest in the world can still be found on the island. That's why there are several national parks here, where you can see animals and plants that are nowhere else. For example, in one of the parks you can marvel at the orangutans. (By the way, we learned on the farmstay on Java that orangutan freely translated means something like "man from the forest"). At the park where you can see the orangutans, they are provided with fruits to feed them, because otherwise you can hardly see the shy animals.
But right now is fruit season. That means at the moment there is plenty of food in the jungle and accordingly you hardly see them. We heard from others that some groups went to the park every day for a week to see them and never saw one. We wanted to spare ourselves this misery.
Instead we went to the Bako National Park, here we could see the native proboscis monkeys and sometimes hear them nasalizing with their big smelling organ.
We could also see flying lemurs. These nocturnal animals cling to trees during the day and rest. Unfortunately, we could not see them at night or in flight. We also did a guided night walk, but we didn't see that much here. Some insects and spiders as well as a bird that always sits on the tips of thin branches to sleep, so that it notices when a snake approaches. We could also see a water snake. Some monkeys we could hear, but they did not want to show themselves. After the tour we go to our tent, which we have built up before the tour. You can also book bungalows here, but your own tent is much cheaper. The campground is extra fenced, so that the cute bearded pigs do not come in.
Bearded pigs, are a species of wild boar found here.
The place is located directly at the jungle and is a bit away from all other accommodations. We were also warned not to pitch the tent before sunset and also to get up early in the morning, otherwise the monkeys would besiege us. Oh yeah, and the snakes.... We were alone here and chose a place where we pitched our tent. But the fear of stumbling over a snake on the way to the toilet at night was already very unpleasant, but was soon relieved. A few hours after we lay down, a thunderstorm began. As we learned later, it also knocked out the power to all the other accommodations (not bad for us, we had no electricity). Lightning and thunder were pretty much at the same time, almost. Janine feared that we might not be hit directly by lightning, but that if lightning struck nearby, there would still be a shock through the ground we were lying on. Especially if everything is wet. As we discovered, we also chose exactly the right spot for our tent, 2 meters further would have been at least 10 cm of water in the tent. When the lightning subsided, we lay down again, but the rain was so heavy that our tent could not withstand it. The rest of the night I then lay in the damp and it dripped regularly on the blanket.
At this point I was amazed myself how well I can sleep in the meantime. In the past, I would have gotten up here because sleeping was no longer possible, but today it must be pretty hot that I could not sleep. Today, I no longer mind if the blanket is only as big as a kitchen towel or if I get rained on.
Now I just need to develop a resistance to mosquitoes and learn how to stop sweating or become completely indifferent to temperatures.
In the morning we packed our wet tent again and had a snack.
After a little round we spent a while on the beach before heading back with the others.
The others?
Yes, I haven't even mentioned them yet. Here in the park we met with Coco and Oliver. The two are from France and have lived for a while on New Caledonia. There they bought a sailboat 3 years ago and are now traveling for 18 months.
But more of that in the next post.
Let's move on to the pictures.
📷 you can find more great pictures in Photo Album.
Comments