Sarawak

Sawawak, Borneo; home of some of the richest remaining wildlife of the planet.

Our limited time for Sarawak saw us hit a few key places and hit them hard.

We spent 3 weeks in Sarawak, flying Air Asia from Johor Baru on the peninsula. Our original plans included many many national parks. However, a lack of public transport, a lack of anti-venom for tour packages, and Chris's dislike of bus-tour touts meant that we didn't make it to Kubah. Alas, the cities are far more enjoyable that the equivalent in NZ. We based ourselves in two key hubs: Kuching and Miri and took a 16hr bus ride in between

Kuching, the capital is a fantastic little (?1Million) city - a pretty main river, park, museum, vibrant markets and stores, and really well priced food, from the all-you can eat self-cook Chinese thingee (note: not a good idea to be sitting next to a table-top BBQ if you're just coping with the heat). As a white-skinned female, and a tall-western female, you'll endure stares from just about everyone from kids to public service anywhere in Sarawak (except the highlands). Whilst the taxi and bus drivers are always out to cut you a less-fantastic deal, people are friendly the best way to break the language and cultural barrier is to share something as simple as a smile.

On the whole, Sarawak is a place of contrasts - poorer rural community-oriented kampungs and longhouses vs. growing cities with apartment blocks and share-houses, the full range of municipal services and all they might want (but not need) from the west (excepting good coffee houses). Historically, it was separate from peninsula M'sia and it still see's itself this way with separate customs procedures and a desire for separate high court proceedings. Culturally, it's exceptionally diverse - over 30 different groups of people with their own languages. M'sian government has had some affect on this - local languages are not allowed to be spoken in schools and Melayu (Malaysian) now dominates. You'll also see a mix of religious beliefs, including Hindi, Buddhist, Animist and Christianity (RC) which is dominant in some  upriver areas, in addition to Muslim.

We loved traveling here - transport takes time in sarawak, particularly in inland areas where there is sometimes no transport. So why not take your time? This is an area of the world where natural resources (oil, sugar palm plantations and oil) still drive the economy and is one where indigenous peoples are marginalized in  large-scale decision making processes. It is definitely a place worth taking some time to explore.

Thanks to everyone who made our time as enjoyable as it was.