The Journeys ... The Current Trip

The day before, we passed the 3'000 kilometers mark for this tour! Yay us.

We have left Malaysia (for a short while) and are now in Brunei Darussalam - a tiny country wedged between the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
It's a curious little country. Seriously rich, as it has plenty of off-shore gas and oil resources. And it's visible here in Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the country's capital: big mosques, big parade squares, wide streets, clean...the whole lot. But our ride into the city and the surrounding water villages show: it's not old golden here. There are plenty of poor people around, many of them immigrants from the Philippines, India and Indonesia. Somebody has to do the dirty work after all. It's a phenomenon that you can also witness in other oil rich countries, especially in the Middle East.

How was the rest of our trip in Sabah. Well, a lot better the the first part. Instead of heading down to the coast (which we suspected to harbor plenty of palm oil plantations), we stayed inland and headed west through a valley beyond the Crocker Range. And it was really nice for most of the way: secondary forest, hills, more pleasant temperatures and nice places to camp.

One place we stopped at was the Sabah Agricultural Park, a state sponsored research center for everything plants. We headed there mostly to see the orchids (and get some pictures of them for my sister Andrea). The park lay totally abandoned by tourists and we had it all to ourselves. We camped within the park itself and it was really nice and peaceful.

From there crossed the Crocker Range. What a day it was. Nuts. I don't know who engineers roads out here...but 19% grades on a road that is used to transport logs over a range? Seriously. Not surprisingly, we found an abandoned logging truck on the road which just couldn't deal with it anymore. it was a monster of a day and we actually arrived in Sipitang after dark...which was an adventure in itself.

From there we headed over the border between the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Curiously enough, we had to go through the full immigration process: Malaysian exit stamp and then a new Malaysian visa. Sarawak is a semi-autonomous state. I get it. But still: new visa?

From Lawas, we took a speed boat to Brunei (see our poor bicycles strapped down on the boat below). We arrived in a small town in Brunei's east (Muara) and cycled into the capital.

The plan is to leave tomorrow, despite the fact that BSB is quite pleasant. The problem is: it's also very expensive. 30 Australian Dollar for a so-so room. That's a lot in Asia. We intend to ride west along the coast and cross back into Sarawak near the city of Miri.

After our Sabah experience, we have decided to avoid the risk of boring palm oil plantations in Sarawak and plan to head inland. It's a bit of an adventure, as towns start to thin out there, but we'll manage. Once in the town of Belaga, we plan to take boats down the Rejang River. Yay, boat trips in the heart of Borneo. Although, I doubt that they'll be romantic slow boat trips, but rather fast and furious speed boats. Still. It's better than palms, palms, palms.

I've uploaded several pictures over the past few weeks. As always, they'll be available on the Last 50 Photos page for a while and always in the country galleries.

I hope this was more cheery than the last entry! ;) We do feel that way!
Enjoy, everyone.
Adrian