Malaysia

After a grueling day of 4 buses from Brunei we arrived in Miri and caught our 15 minute flight to Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Borneo

Where we had our sights set on their most challenging trek that they offered to help prepare for our Nepal trip - 'only for the super fit'...and us it would seem! Mulu is set in the middle of the dense Borneo jungle and it was great to see that not all of Borneo is palm plantations

Gunung Mulu NP is really well organised and they offered a whole series of trips ranging from canopy walks......

To Clearwater Cave, the largest cave system in the world....

However, before we knew it we were off on our 4 day trek up to the Summit at about 2500m - a 48 km round trip.

It was quite a pricey trip and we'd been lucky to meet up with Linus from Sweden to share the costs. Linus turned out to be an ardent Middlesborough supporter and he and Bryn were able to talk football for four days solid. We had a great guide, Henry, who was really keen on doing the trip. It turns out that only 10 groups do the summit trip every year despite the large numbers of visitors who go to the park so the guides don't often get to do the trip. We'd already been prepped that day 1 was going to be tough....and it was! 6km on the flat, dodging the mud swamps and crossing a couple of big rivers, and then 6km straight uphill to 1500m. It was really tough carrying all our gear and food for 4 days! However, we were truly impressed when we arrived at Camp 3. It had a kitchen, toilets and a great sleeping area to hang our luxury mosquito net!

Bryn and Linus cooked up a storm in the kitchen and did their best with the tins we'd been able to buy in Mulu.....cockle curry being one of their delights.

Day 2 was up and down....passing pitcher plants - carniverous plants which trap insects in their pitcher shapes which are filled with water. Thankfully day 2 was a lot easier than the previous day and we were able to take time to admire the views....

And arrive in enough time for a game of 500 on the helipad at Camp 4.

And assessing the summit....

Before getting up pretty early for our summit ascent.

Thankfully we were able to leave our packs behind in camp 4....because before we knew it we were hauling ourselves up ladders, hanging onto ropes next to sheer drops and generally scrabbling up the mountain anyway we could.

Getting to the top was a great moment

Just a pity that Fi couldn't see the view from the viewing pole....

After half an hour wait at the top the clouds finally parted as we had to start our descent! Note the pitcher plant on the side

Going down Tracker Fi spotted a tiny bright green frog on the trail.....which Bryn promptly picked up.......and then threw away quickly as Fi screamed it could be poisonous. Henry had only been telling us the day before that frogs can be much more deadly than snakes!! Turns out that this one wasn't poisonous and that actually it was quite rare. People have gone up the mountain for weeks just to see the frog and failed!!

Going downhill was pretty tough going and it took us all day to get back to camp 3 - where Bryn uncovered a near deadly leech attack.....

We'd actually been really lucky with leeches as it hadn't rained once on our trip - which was unbelievable luck as that would have made things even tougher!!

The next day, despite having trailed the lads all trip, the talk of post trip beers powered Fi down the mountain in record time...arriving at Camp 1 for a long river swim before the boys even turned up! Everyone was impressed to see us back in time for lunch. We were quite the celebrities down at HQ as all the staff seemed to know about our trip! Unfortunately Linus had to go catch a plane so we headed off on our own to Royal Mulu...the posh hotel in the area for our post trip beers.

The next day was a few more caves....Deer Cave, the largest open passage in the world....

With it's spitting image profile of which US president??

And Lang's Cave with it's impressive stalagtites and mites...

And then the bat exodus at 5:30pm. This was a really amazing sight.....as 2-3 million bats exit the cave for their nightly supper. They tend to leave the cave and swirl round until they have sufficient numbers to head off in curling ribbons made up of thousands of bats.....trying to stay as part of the group to avoid the bat hawks which in turn are after their supper. These ribbons went on for about an hour and we watched completely mesmorised by this display....we're told it is on Planet Earth for those with the DVD.

And then it was off to Singapore and a manic 48 hours there. We were staying in Chinatown which is a great place to stay and although we arrived at midnight we checked in and were straight out and enjoying our beloved dumplings...yumyum The next day we headed over to Raffles for our Singapore Slings, courtesy of a wedding present from Tom - thanks! We had fun eating the monkey nuts and chucking them everywhere.

Reeling slightly from the effects of a mid afternoon cocktail we headed over to Harbourfront where we were reunited with our winter clothes which friends of Katie's had been looking after for us - thankyou Nicci and Neill! We had dinner in Little India and the next day headed to Changi Airport which is definitely worth the hype. We were just upset that we hadn't arrived earlier in order to make use of all the facilities!! However, Bryn got himself in prime position for the Premiership roundup....

And then at 2am in the morning we were off on our flight back to China!!

Finally had to leave the wonderful Philippines with time ticking on and a RTW flight schedule to try and keep to.

Flew into the capital, Kota Kinabalu, and Bryn struggled on and off the full public bus into town at every stop with our full rucksacks in order to make room for people....not good in the searing humidity! Got our first taste of Malaysian food since a trip to Penang 6 years ago - as good as we remembered. We loved the Philippines, but the food really is poor (thank you America!)

We had a lovely trip to see the fireflies and Proboscis monkeys on a jungle river just outside KK, courtesy of Pip and Colin's wedding present - thank you! It was great to see the trees lit up like christmas, which considering it was lashing with rain was quite impressive, even if we were cowering under our lifejackets. Photos impossible though

On to Sepilok for the Orangutans at the rehab centre, which we thought was really good (others thought a little to captive). They really are all characters! They all live alone though which is wierd - what do they do each day?

Also came face to face with a roaming green viper!

Again - the heavy rain was a little frustrating but you just have to go with it.

On to our Jungle Lodge in Kinabatangan - The Last Frontier - which Bryn had booked up in advance....a bit of a treat really....a couple of slightly more luxurious days than many backpackers have in the jungle! French cuisine, ensuite bathroom, air con private 4wd transfer, private wildlife spotting boat cruises. Its a tough flashpacking life!

We got a better look at the human-like proboscis monkeys; plus got to see hornbills and eagles. The long lens came in handy....finally worth lugging it round for 5 months!

We went on a short jungle walk tracking animals and were upset to see palm plantations as far as the eye could see instead of pristine jungle

The pre-dawn boat cruise was all a bit much for some........

Our final destination in Sabah, Semporna, aimed to further capitalise on Bryn's newly acquired scuba skills and Fi's newly acquired dive buddy. We did three days diving at various islands, based from our resort on a wooden platform in the ocean - Singamata. Our resosrt had it's own aquarium which we could snorkel in....it had some really giant fish which was great fun.

Off on our dive trip, our boat actually got lost in the middle of the ocean on the first day as the rains came in and we weren't able to see more than a few hundred metres. We were literally going round in circles in the mist for an hour!

It was hilarious to see the fishermen fishing in their pants as it rained - although the dancing guy complete with Peter Stringfellow g-string and posing pouch was a little too much!

And although we're not complaining It was so cold from the constant rain that between dives we had to sit in the water to keep warm!

The coral wasn't as good as in the Philippines but we got to see massive turtles from a couple of inches away! Also saw schools of Jackfish, Devil Scorpionfish, an Octopus etc etc (god we are turning into dive bores! Bryn and Fi felt pretty good now buddying up together with perfect buoyancy.....a lot better than poor old Marco, the nice Italian in the group, who refused to let go of his inflator and shot up and down clattering coral left right and centre! Big let down was that we were unable to get permits for Sipadan, which is the premier dive spot (only a limited number of divers are allowed per day), but together with Mount Kinabalu, which we were also unable to get permits for, they will make for a great future 2-3 week holiday.

After a 10 hour night bus, and 7 hour boat trip we were now in Brunei, oil country! Picked up some duty free wine on the way and nearly got into problems at customs for not declaring it in a Dry State ..ooops.

This Sultan is seriously wealthy. Checked into the only cheap hotel in the country - the youth hostel....separate dorm rooms for Bryn and Fi. The capital BSB is immaculately designed and cared for, with immaculte roads, flower border, gleaming mosques and no crime issues. The problem is, it is a bit boring after a couple of days - even the locals say so! Dry state and everything closes at 6pm, even the buses stop running. However, the salaries are good and as the Sultan provides free education and healthcare, cheap efficient public transport and subsidised pilgrimages to Mecca(!) people seem to stay. Virtually all the museums and sights are free which is nice, as tourism revenue is small fry next to oil money. Don't know what will happen when the oil runs out in 10 years if predictions are correct?!?!

The beautiful main mosque..........

Over half of the capital's population live on the river villages - a complex network of stilt houses, so we thought we would hire a boat and get a better look........

Not quite a Barratt new build development, but similar.....

The villages are all fully self sufficient, complete with their own....

satellite tv, parking spots

schools

gas stations (possible the most scenic in the world!)

rubbish collection

exposed electrical switchgear!

Also good to watch all the locals having some banter down at the market....

Our main reason for staying so long in Brunei was actually to get our Chinese visa for Tibet. We'd been warned not to tell the embassy that we were planning on going to Tibet.....but the problem was they asked for our flight details out of China so we had to fess up. We had a tense half hour as the head honcho explained that we were supposed to have a pre-visa authorisation from officials in China. After some whining and glum faces, they eventually agreed to process our visas without this form...phew!

Off now to see the largest cave in the world and hike to 2500m at Mulu National Park in Sarawak - will keep you posted!