My first few days in Borneo where great. I had mixed feelings to begin with, missing my travel pals, but at the same time, excited to experience something new. I spent an hour or so chatting to a group of girls in the kitchen over boiled eggs, toast and tea. We all agreed that Beds hostel was heaven on earth, providing us with unlimited eggs, and knowing me I was loving it. They had been telling me about their time in Borneo and where they planned to go next which gave me some ideas, considering I had arrived in Kuching with not a notion of where I actually was in the world. I quickly opened google maps and found myself, right there smack bang in Kuching, Borneo. I had no plans for a route and didn't have time to spend more than a week here so i thought I should get a move on with some ideas. They planned to go out sightseeing but after a previously heavy night, they opted for movies and junk food, which sounded appealing to me. Nevertheless I scrambled to get myself together and planned to get out and spend my day enjoying Borneo.
The best thing about the hostel was the friendliness of the staff. They gave me a lot of great tips and advice on what to do in Kuching and also gave me my own private room for the same price as a dorm, seen as their guests had extended their stay. I could see why! I took a map with me and headed out to explore the city. I walked towards the waterfront and admired the view of the small dainty river boats and the beautiful architecture of the government buildings across the way.
The best thing about the hostel was the friendliness of the staff. They gave me a lot of great tips and advice on what to do in Kuching and also gave me my own private room for the same price as a dorm, seen as their guests had extended their stay. I could see why! I took a map with me and headed out to explore the city. I walked towards the waterfront and admired the view of the small dainty river boats and the beautiful architecture of the government buildings across the way.
I kept walking the promenade until I came across one of the many shopping malls, called Riverside mall. I headed in for a look around which only teases me because my bag is full as it is, but whatever. I went in! It wasn't long before I came across a hair salon which turned out to be around €6 for a hair cut. I opted in, In dire need of one and I thanked my lucky stars I hadn't caved in India, and gone to the pop up barber near the ashram. I had a quirky junior stylist who washed my hair without bringing me to the sink, which was pretty cool. He scrubbed, washed and massaged to his hearts content before taking me to wash it out. The shampoo and conditioner smelled luscious. He cut my hair exactly how I had asked him and styled it perfectly, leaving me still haggered looking but with beautiful voluminous locks. I tipped him, and headed on my way to the city. I could see an 'India Street' on the map, and so I headed that way. The street as it turned out, had not one single Indian person, nor textile but was apparently named so because of past settlers. The street was lined with market stalls and knock of phone shops which suited me. I hadn't planned to buy a phone and it was just 'out of curiosity' as my mam's catchphrase would go, that I decided to inquire about one. With crazy prices for a 'real' one and cheap prices for the fake, useless ones, i thought id give it a miss. I set off instead to the textile museum, which i caught the last 15 minutes of, by chance. It was very interesting and reminded me of the textile museum in Sucre, Bolivia which I had liked. I made my way back through the city and stopped off at a roadside cafe where I ordered some yummy Fried Mee Hoon (Thanks Sarah), because when in doubt just order that. It was lovely! My Paneer Butter Masala addiction in India was now being replaced by this yummy veggie noodle dish and i had no complaints.
My second day in Kuching saw me take the same route towards India street and this time, actually make a purchase. I had stopped off at The Chinese History Museum which was very interesting and then carried on. I got chatting to two young stall merchants and an older man who had great English. It seemed easier to buy a technological item from someone you could mutually understand, who knew? We chatted for ages and the older man I later came to know as Musa, gave me some great tips on travelling Sarawak, Borneo. I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy S4 with screen covers and a phone cover for €65 which to me seemed fake, but i didn't care. A phone was a phone and until I could get another I phone, this would do! They set it up, registered my sim card for me and Musa even walked me over to my bus stop where I had planned to go to Semmongoh to see the Orangutans. Little did I know, he just heard Orangutans, and sent me off on the wrong bus, to my dismay. It wasn't until I got to Bako National Park an hour later that I embarrassed myself asking about the orangutans feeding times. When i realized where I was, It was too late, and too expensive to take part in any national park boat rides, or activities. I had wasted my time. Well, when i figured this out, and decided to go back to Kuching, I turned around and the bus had left, with not another one in sight for an hour. My patience was up. I would never make it back on time to go to Semmongoh. I just wanted to sleep!
When the next bus took me back, I pushed the button when I suddenly saw my hostel and rushed off the bus as fast as i could. I headed into a local Chinese eatery where, yes, I got very much stared at for asking if they had a menu. Nevertheless, the lovely woman made me some spicy veggie noodles which were just what I needed before settling down in bed to watch The Great Gatsby. The beds were amazing in Beds, and It suddenly made sense... 'Ding'! My last day In Kuching, saw me sat for two hours on my computer trying to come up with a plan, while eating eggs and toast, obviously. I finally came to a decision to take the bus to Miri which would be 14hrs, not so bad considering my record is 36hrs or something. It would save me accommodation too which was a bonus for us travellers. I booked it for 9pm with Mr Chong, via the lovely hostel lady, who told me he would pick me up at 7:30pm. Hmm ok then! I headed off for my last chance to see the Orangutans at Semmongoh, not before stopping off with Musa to purchase a memory card for my phone, at a discounted rate of course.I pretended I had wanted to go to Semmongoh today as if yesterday I had actually wanted to go to Bako, luckily he didn't ask how it was. After thanking him for all his help and chats, I took some directions and found the K6 to take me to the right place. I had noticed that everyone was very friendly here, they all said hello in the street and smiled as they passed by and if you needed any help, everyone was there for you. I loved places like this. When I got to Semmongoh, we all walked for 1.3km before reaching the sanctuary. As i approached the crowds, I noticed them looking up at the rare sighting of a grandmother and baby orangutan outside of their feeding times. We watched for ages, while taking pictures of them swinging around and eating bananas, typical! When we went to the feeding area at 3pm, there was only one cheeky orangutan there eating all the bananas and grabbing coconuts to smash off the trees. He was entertaining enough. After taking the last bus back, I walked back through the city, taking in the sight of the beautiful Indian Mosque, and then made my way back to my street where I had a beautiful dinner of.. guess what... Fried Mee Hoon, in The Hong Kong Noodle House. Afterwards I headed back to Beds, where I waited for Mr Chong who arrived at 8pm, due to his dinner time. When he greeted me, I couldn't help but think of Mr Chow in the Hangover. He spoke very fast, broken English but expected me to know what he meant. As I got into his brand spanking new, gleaming white, Mercedes Benz, I began to think of human trafficking. There had been many situations in my travel life where I have had this thought, but after seeing 'Taken', you just never know. I figured the lovely lady wouldn't be in on it, so I trusted that he was taking me to a bus. As I sat in the front seat of the air conditioned car, which smelled like new leather and floral, I tried to respond to Chong's questions, blissfully unaware of a single word. At one point he asked if i was married and if he could come to Ireland, which we both laughed at, me being the one awkwardly laughing. As we got to the terminal, he pulled up and walked me to the counter and at this point it seemed like I had entered into an Indian style deja vu situation. As I walked around the terminal, every face turned to look at me as if i was something out of the ordinary. Promoters popped out of the wood work asking where I was going, slowly moving on to the usual 'Where are you from' 'Are you married' questions to which I laughed at. I couldn't believe it. It was Malaysia, what could possibly have changed from the outside world to inside this terminal. As I walked to the supermarket, everyone came after me asking if i was ok, if i knew where i was going and that i needed to be back for 9pm. When i came back to take a seat, all prospective passengers turned to stare at me, so I put my earphones in and blared some crazy tunes to keep me occupied. On board the bus at 9pm, we got comfortable, and as the bus pulled away, there of course, was Mr Chong, hysterically waving up to me. I couldn't help but wave and consequently burst into laughter, considering this was just a long line of weird situations I have been apart of. I set off on the 14hr journey to Miri and I was very much looking forward to chilling out, watching movies and pigging out on donuts, crisps and cookies. Bye Bye Kuching, It was an entertaining few days!
My second day in Kuching saw me take the same route towards India street and this time, actually make a purchase. I had stopped off at The Chinese History Museum which was very interesting and then carried on. I got chatting to two young stall merchants and an older man who had great English. It seemed easier to buy a technological item from someone you could mutually understand, who knew? We chatted for ages and the older man I later came to know as Musa, gave me some great tips on travelling Sarawak, Borneo. I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy S4 with screen covers and a phone cover for €65 which to me seemed fake, but i didn't care. A phone was a phone and until I could get another I phone, this would do! They set it up, registered my sim card for me and Musa even walked me over to my bus stop where I had planned to go to Semmongoh to see the Orangutans. Little did I know, he just heard Orangutans, and sent me off on the wrong bus, to my dismay. It wasn't until I got to Bako National Park an hour later that I embarrassed myself asking about the orangutans feeding times. When i realized where I was, It was too late, and too expensive to take part in any national park boat rides, or activities. I had wasted my time. Well, when i figured this out, and decided to go back to Kuching, I turned around and the bus had left, with not another one in sight for an hour. My patience was up. I would never make it back on time to go to Semmongoh. I just wanted to sleep!
When the next bus took me back, I pushed the button when I suddenly saw my hostel and rushed off the bus as fast as i could. I headed into a local Chinese eatery where, yes, I got very much stared at for asking if they had a menu. Nevertheless, the lovely woman made me some spicy veggie noodles which were just what I needed before settling down in bed to watch The Great Gatsby. The beds were amazing in Beds, and It suddenly made sense... 'Ding'! My last day In Kuching, saw me sat for two hours on my computer trying to come up with a plan, while eating eggs and toast, obviously. I finally came to a decision to take the bus to Miri which would be 14hrs, not so bad considering my record is 36hrs or something. It would save me accommodation too which was a bonus for us travellers. I booked it for 9pm with Mr Chong, via the lovely hostel lady, who told me he would pick me up at 7:30pm. Hmm ok then! I headed off for my last chance to see the Orangutans at Semmongoh, not before stopping off with Musa to purchase a memory card for my phone, at a discounted rate of course.I pretended I had wanted to go to Semmongoh today as if yesterday I had actually wanted to go to Bako, luckily he didn't ask how it was. After thanking him for all his help and chats, I took some directions and found the K6 to take me to the right place. I had noticed that everyone was very friendly here, they all said hello in the street and smiled as they passed by and if you needed any help, everyone was there for you. I loved places like this. When I got to Semmongoh, we all walked for 1.3km before reaching the sanctuary. As i approached the crowds, I noticed them looking up at the rare sighting of a grandmother and baby orangutan outside of their feeding times. We watched for ages, while taking pictures of them swinging around and eating bananas, typical! When we went to the feeding area at 3pm, there was only one cheeky orangutan there eating all the bananas and grabbing coconuts to smash off the trees. He was entertaining enough. After taking the last bus back, I walked back through the city, taking in the sight of the beautiful Indian Mosque, and then made my way back to my street where I had a beautiful dinner of.. guess what... Fried Mee Hoon, in The Hong Kong Noodle House. Afterwards I headed back to Beds, where I waited for Mr Chong who arrived at 8pm, due to his dinner time. When he greeted me, I couldn't help but think of Mr Chow in the Hangover. He spoke very fast, broken English but expected me to know what he meant. As I got into his brand spanking new, gleaming white, Mercedes Benz, I began to think of human trafficking. There had been many situations in my travel life where I have had this thought, but after seeing 'Taken', you just never know. I figured the lovely lady wouldn't be in on it, so I trusted that he was taking me to a bus. As I sat in the front seat of the air conditioned car, which smelled like new leather and floral, I tried to respond to Chong's questions, blissfully unaware of a single word. At one point he asked if i was married and if he could come to Ireland, which we both laughed at, me being the one awkwardly laughing. As we got to the terminal, he pulled up and walked me to the counter and at this point it seemed like I had entered into an Indian style deja vu situation. As I walked around the terminal, every face turned to look at me as if i was something out of the ordinary. Promoters popped out of the wood work asking where I was going, slowly moving on to the usual 'Where are you from' 'Are you married' questions to which I laughed at. I couldn't believe it. It was Malaysia, what could possibly have changed from the outside world to inside this terminal. As I walked to the supermarket, everyone came after me asking if i was ok, if i knew where i was going and that i needed to be back for 9pm. When i came back to take a seat, all prospective passengers turned to stare at me, so I put my earphones in and blared some crazy tunes to keep me occupied. On board the bus at 9pm, we got comfortable, and as the bus pulled away, there of course, was Mr Chong, hysterically waving up to me. I couldn't help but wave and consequently burst into laughter, considering this was just a long line of weird situations I have been apart of. I set off on the 14hr journey to Miri and I was very much looking forward to chilling out, watching movies and pigging out on donuts, crisps and cookies. Bye Bye Kuching, It was an entertaining few days!
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