CROSSING OVER TO KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA

1. Oct 31, Day 17, we set off from Miri early, expecting up to 10 hours of driving ahead. We were not sure how long immigration/customs will take at Entikong. We were uncertain about the road condition too.

2. The drive to Entikong was about 120 km, fairly well sign-posted, branching off to the right at Serian. We topped up our tank, including the back up tank in the car, at Serian, before heading for Entikong, as petrol is cheaper on the Malaysian side; about S$0.80+ to $1.00+.

3. All in all, we took about 1.5 hrs to clear immigration/customs at Teledu and Entikong; time mostly taken up at the Entikong end. Immigration at the Sarawak end was a breeze. About hundred meters ahead was the Indonesian control of Entikong.

4. We were happy to see an insurance company located next to the customs office. For a while, there was a little confusion as the JP Insurance agent, Ibastari, asked for the Malaysian permit for my car. We explained to him that there was no need for a permit for the Singapore car to drive in Malaysia and showed him the letter issued by the Malaysian Embassy in Brunei. Ibastari was still unsure and he referred our case to the Customs officer. Luckily, the Customs officer had a copy of the IMI recommendation letter issued to me by IMI in Jakarta pinned to the board in front of his desk. They were already expecting my arrival. After he made copy of the various documents, he proceeded to fill up the Carnet. After the Carnet was completed, we proceeded to buy 2 months of comprehensive car insurance from JP Insurance for about S$80. According to Ibastira, only comprehensive car insurance was sold there. After this was done, a traffic officer proceeded to issue us a "road tax" disc for putting up on the windscreen. Finally, Ibastari brought us to see the senior customs officer who gave the final clearance.

5. At all times, Yeow Pheng's ability to speak Bahasa was crucial in smoothing out the process. Otherwise, I am sure we would have taken more time. The officials were friendly and helpful though not too familiar with forms in English. In the end, we took a picture together with the Pajero, like friends. At 10.30 am, we were off, on way to Singkawang.

6. We set the GPS directly for Singkawang. We were expecting to hit Sg Pingyuh at the coast before heading North to Singkawang. As it turned out, the GPS took a more direct and shorter route across the hills, along narrow roads that could barely allow 2 vehicles to pass, though villages and oil palm plantations. It was slower traveling and certain more hazardous. But, we had the chance to see the more rural areas - the many distinctive wooden buildings, though rather run down, and the many beautiful wooden churches.

7. It was a common sight passing fully loaded buses with young students seated on their rooftops and others hanging on to the side. A times, they tilted precariously to one side and Yeow Pheng and I were just keeping our fingers crossed that they do not roll over.

8. We reached the outskirt of Singkawang at about 4 pm, local time (Singkawang is one hour behind Singapore/Malaysia time). We waited at a stall opposite a military camp to link up with Yeow Pheng's relatives, Ah Keong and Ah Lan.
While waiting, we had a durian. It was a big one and we shared that with the kids there. Yeow Pheng was the Santa Claus for the moment, distributing Hello Kitty stickers to the kids who lined up to collect them. Yeow Pheng certainly made their day.

9. When Ah Keong and Ah Lan turned up, it was unanimously decided that we should go and eat the popular chay kueh tiow here in Singkawang. So off we went. Passing through the town, Ah Keong stopped at Michelle's old house (this had since been sold), 2 units of a 2 storey shophouse. Yeow Pheng said it was huge inside. Further down the same street, at the centre of the junction, I was surprised to see this distinctive column with a very Chinese dragon coiled around it.

10. A short distance away was the shop that sells the chay kueh tiow. Unlike the Singapore's chay kueh tiow, the Singkawang noodles were thicker, fried with prawns, not cockles. It was just as delicious. Could see why Yeow Pheng was looking forward to it. Ah Keong told us that Singkawang has a population of about 200 000, with about 60% Chinese, mostly Khek. Lingua franca among the Chinese here is Khek.

11. After the chay kueh tiow break, we checked into Hotel Mahkota, reputed the best hotel in Singkawang. Very traditional looking, in Indonesian style. Only misgiving- hardly any power point in the room.

12. That night, Ah Keong and Ah Lan bought us a wonderful seafood dinner. Curry crab dish was really good, very fresh. Their friend, Mr Zhang, was also present. Mr Zhang, from Guangdong province in China, was here in Singkawang on a one year stint, conducting weekend classes for about 100 Chinese language teachers.

13. Next day, Yeow Pheng is going to mass and to pay respect at his in-law graves. I will jalan jalan around the town, before heading for Pontianak in the afternoon.

KUCHING

1. Woke up early to see Sibu's Central Market on Oct 29, Day 16 of the trip, before we we began the 400 km drive to Kuching.

2. It is a huge market, possibly 100 m by 400 m, reputed to be the largest indoor market in the whole of Malaysia. Ground floor contains hundreds of stalls selling fresh vegetables and meat, household items, plants etc. A food court is on the first floor with many stalls selling clothes. At 6+ in the morning, the crowd was beginning to come in. Coffee shops across the streets were filling up with people having their breakfast.

3. Strolling further to the other end of the market brought me to a Chinese temple and 7 storey pagoda and the river bank. The river bank was already busy with activities. A barge with a full load of logs, pulled by a tugboat, was sailing down the river to the coast. The temple, Yong Ang temple, must be about a hundred years old. A story board near the temple talked about the arrival of the Chiang Chuan clan from Fukien province in China in the mid 19th century, encouraged by the Brooke Administration and how it went on to make significant contribution to the development of central Sarawak and further inland along the Rejiang River.

4. Walking back to the hotel, I saw a park attendant issuing a parking fine to a car in the public car park. It was 8.15 am. Its serious business in Sibu. Car attendant hard at work at 8 am in the morning. The government here means business. In the square near the hotel was a Swan Garden, erected by the Lim clan of Sibu. Swan is a city symbol of Sibu.

5. Left the hotel at 10+ for the drive to Kuching. After a lunch stop and a couple of coffee stops, we arrived Kuching at about 5 pm. It was hard driving. After checking a few hotels near the river bank, we checked into Grand Margherita Hotel for RM170 ++. Our plan was to stay 2 nights, and then head for Kalimantan the day after, 31 Oct. Opposite the hotel was a cat artwork (persumably because kuching is cat in Malay). The origin of the city name, Kuching, however, remains a point of dispute. One version says that it came from the Chinese words, "old well".

6. We had a couple of things to sort out in Kuching the next day before our departure for Kalimantan. We wanted to have the car suspension checked as we could hear occasional noise when we drove over bumpy roads, and to buy the car insurance for our travel in Kalimantan.

7. We got to the EON workshop, which handles the servicing of Mitsubishi cars, in Bintawa Industrial Estate by about 10 am. The staff there were very service oriented and immediately asked a technician (Jafar) to check the car. After test driving for some 20-30 km, he concluded the noise was internal to the car and possibly came from the seat. When we returned to the workshop, he jacked the car up for further checks. There was no charge for the checks done. Cant say more about the friendly service given.

8. As for car insurance, we checked out 3 insurance companies but none of them sell insurance for coverage in Kalimantan. We will have to buy them when we cross over to Kalimantan, either at Entikong, Singkawang or Pontianak.

9. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the rows of shops that looked like the town's Chinatown for lunch. They were prewar buildings painted with charming colours.

10. We rested for the rest of the day, and did some blogging. With laundry completed, we are all set to begin our journey to Indonesia's Kalimantan. It will be nearly 10 hours of driving to Singkawang tomorrow.

TO KUCHING: SIBU

1. Oct 28, Day 15: Up at 6 am this morning at Niah Caves Chalets. We did more than an hour of qigong. Qi was strong, with many trees nearby, the adjacent river and the rising sun. Left the chalets at about 8 am, had "Kueh Chap" for breakfast at a coffee shop in Batu Niah town. All satisfied, we set off in our journey to Sibu, some 350 km away, on way to Kuching. Along the way, we passed through Bentulu at about 11 am.

2. We plan to stay Thursday and Friday night in Kuching, before crossing over to Kalimantan at Entikong on Saturday, and spending Saturday night in Singkawang. Singkawang is Michelle's (wife of Yeow Pheng) hometown. Tentatively, we will spend 2 days in Pontianak before moving on.

3. It was a relatively comfortable drive to Sibu; potholed and uneven road surfaces in some stretches, but otherwise good road, one land either way. Could see that timber industry is still a thriving business in Sarawak. Saw a number of sawmills along the way. Trucks carrying logs were also a regular occurrences along the road to Sibu. It was quite a challenge trying to pass one of these.

4. We arrived at Sibu about 3 pm and, with the help of our GPS, checked into Premier Hotel, at RM230 a night. With a population of about 260 000, Sibu is located at the confluence of 2 rivers. It is a gateway for tours to tribal long houses up the rivers. From our 12th floor hotel room, we have a great view of the town. The town hugs the North side of the wide brown river, as the river meanders to the sea. It has wide roads and looks orderly. Many 3 to 4 storey shop houses with English and Chinese signage, much like any Chinatown. I could see a church in the centre of the town, rising more than 7 storey high, and further out, 2 Chinese temples, one of them with a pagoda rising above the surrounding buildings.

5. In the evening, we had dinner at a colourful restaurant that served relatively good chicken rice, and walked the popular Pasar Malam (night market), a car park turned hawker centre in the night. It looked great, against the setting sun.

6. It served the familiar hawker fare, but was surprised to see the pau here is much bigger than usual and mee chiang kueh, which I have not come across for a long time.









7. Will take a look at the Central Market tomorrow morning before continuing our journey to Kuching. The Central Market is the largest indoor market in Malaysia.

EXPLORING THE NIAH CAVES

1. Our flight from Bario was punctual, leaving Bario at 9.30 and we were back at Grand Palace Hotel in Miri before 11 am. After checking emails at the lobby at the hotel, while Yeow Pheng "cupped" his troubled legs, we had tim sum lunch at the restaurant on the 2nd level. We were off to explore Niah Caves.

2. The Niah Caves are located on Sungai Niah, about 3 km from the small town of Batu Niah, some 100 km SW of Miri. They are huge limestone caves, with the Great Cave measuring some 60 m high and 250 m wide, with traces of human activities here going as far back as 40 000 years. Wall paintings were found in the Painted Cave. They are also spots for bird-nest harvesting.

3. Other than Niah Caves, the other popular cave destination in Sarawak is the Mulu Caves, accessible only by air, about half an hour flight time from Miri. Yeow Pheng and I decided that between them, Niah and Mulu, we would select one to visit; and since Niah was conveniently located on the way South to Sibu, we decided to visit the Niah Caves.

4. Roads to the Niah Caves were good and sign-postings were clear. We reached the Park HQ at 3 pm. After buying the ticket, the female officer told us that it will take about 3.5 hrs to tour the caves. In order not to rush, we decided to stay the night in the chalets at the Park HQ. Pricing of rooms was rather strange here- room with aircon, RM157 and room with just fan, about RM40. We nonetheless decided to take the aircon room, to ensure we have a good night sleep.

5. The caves are located on the other side of the river. After paying RM1.50 for the boat ride, we boarded the boat for the other side of the river. After going up the slope, it was a walk of 4.5 km along a board walk to the caves, with forest on both sides.

6. Along the way, before the Niah Caves, were patches of what looked like remnants of walls, with trees growing over them (much like those in Siem Reap), in the vicinity of a overhang cave - signs of earlier human settlement. A group of youngsters passed us and alerted us of possible attack by bees. One of them was badly beaten, with a swollen face and puffy eyes. We pressed on, but made sure we have something to fend off the bees if they do come.

7. The Trader's Cave was the first cave we reached, after passing through a security gate, at the end of the long and sweaty walk.
Its an overhang cave of about 100 m long. The wooden structures were probably erected for easy harvesting of bird nests. On the ceilings and floors, especially near the cave entrances, are the usual stalagmites and stalactites.

8. Walking further in along the wooden structures, we came to the Great Cave. Measuring 60 m high and 250 m high, the entrance to the cave is reputed to be one of the most spectacular in the world.
Torch light was needed here as we walked through the darkness, along boardwalk and up and down wooden staircases. In one stretch, we had to bend low, almost like a tunnel. We were not alone, as an English couple was not far from us.

9. From the ceiling to the floor were hung a number of long metal poles with small steps, with long cables securing them to the cave walls. They were used by bird nest harvesters to reach the ceiling to gather the bird nests. There were a number of them at work, near the ceiling, with lights strapped to their heads. Was told that in the old days, they would be using bamboo poles, tied to each other to extend their length, in order to reach the ceiling. And they would be doing all this in near darkness. Real hard life, to make a living.

10. At the end of the walk, we came to the Painted Cave. The area where the wall paintings were was fenced up. It was not possible to see the wall paintings from where we stood. There were a number of information boards that gave an idea how the paintings look like. From the info boards, it seems the paintings depict warriors and hunters, animals in the surrounding areas, and long boats carrying souls of the deceased to the land of the dead.

11. Backtracking, we emerged from the caves at about 6 pm and before the sky turned dark. It was a good work out for the day, all in about 9 km of walk, up and down stairs. We were drenched with sweat when we got back, and I poured in two 100 Plus at the canteen. After washing up, we took a short drive to Batu Niah for dinner. Luckily we managed to locate a restaurant, run by a capable Khek lady, that was still open.
We had a good meal and slept early. No internet anyway.