Last day in Sarawak

We finally, finally, finally got up in time this morning to catch the bus out to Bau, a former gold-mining town, and from there make our way to the excitingly named Fairy Caves.

Unfortunately we found no fairies, but the caves themselves were amazing.

After that we managed to half walk, half get a lift from a nice man called Anthony who is going to visit Alfie in London, to the next caves in the area - The Wind Caves. I have no photos of these caves because it was pitch black and terrifying and neither of us had a torch and we ended up following a French family out again just to steal their 'lumiere' as it were.

The weirdest place I have ever been in my life.

Alfie made me go to the Cat Museum.

It was so weird I don't even have words.

It was basically this weird mix of cat sculptures, cat jigsaws, cat birthday cards, famous people who liked/ didn't like cats, random lies about cats that they seemed to think everyone believed, and displays of cat food.

Semenggoh and Gunung Gading

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is used to rehabilitate animals which have been found injured in the wild, or kept as domestic pets. A bit like our SeaLife centre back home... but with orangutans and crocodiles instead.

We headed out early to catch the morning feeding time, and were rewarded with seeing 4 fully grown orangutans and one baby clinging to its mum.

These pictures can feel a bit 'spot the primate' as I have no zoom function on my camera, but it was great to see them anyway.

The next day we went to Gunung Gidang National Park, in search of the biggest flower known to man.... Dramatic pause... The rafflesia! This trip was pretty last minute as we'd just been told at about 6pm that this rare plant was flowering - an occurence that lasts for only 4 or 5 days after a nine month budding process. It's also supposed to stink of rotting meat, to attract the flies that are needed to transport the pollen between the male and female flower. The one we found didn't smell of much but it was near the end of its days.

We also got some great swimming and hiking done, and made it home happy and hungry. Gunung Gading had such a different feel to it than Bako - much more like a jungle, and so much more remote feeling. We only saw one other family the whole time we were there. Best hike so far.

Bako National Park

Last week Alfie and I got up crazy early and hopped on the Number 1 bus out of Kuching, which, along with a little boat, took us out to Bako National Park. It's the oldest park in Sarawak, and covers almost 30 square kilometres. The park is home to about 150 proboscis monkeys (none of which I managed to get a proper photo of, but they were on the ground only ten feet away from us). There was also an abundance of plants, birds and cheeky macaques trying to steal our lunch leftovers. We stayed for the day and took the last boat home at 4pm, but there are also chalets available and camping is permitted on some of the beaches.

Mangrove trees

Pitcher plants

After getting back to Kuching, we headed out for dinner then to the waterfront for waffles.

Great day.

Thank you various computer cafes!

So, I found a computer that recognises my camera! Great. My mum will be pleased.

After our time in Bangkok we flew to Malaysia, spending a few days in Kuala Lumpur. It's a great city with incredibly friendly people. We spent our time wandering around the sights, and exploring an area which is packed with museums and parks. Unfortunately a lot of them were closed due to Hari Raya, the celebration which marks the end of Ramadan, but we wandered the streets anyway, and found ourselves in an amazing butterfly park.

The two of us in Dataran Merdeka, or Independence Square. The first place where the Malaysian flag was raised in place of the Union Jack after independence was achieved in 1957.