On the Shore of the Sulu Sea

Just came in today from the jungle around the Kinabatangan River. Difficult and dirty, but also wonderful. Saw many proboscis monkeys, some long-tailed macaques, two small crocodiles, a couple of eagles, many cranes, a silver langur (silvered leaf monkey), a monitor lizard that ran along the bank and then dove into the river and out of sight -- and best of all, TWO different species of hornbill! Both the rhinoceros hornbill and the pied hornbill were sitting in trees when we first spotted them. Then they took flight -- fantastic!

Now we are in Sandakan. Tomorrow we go to see the sea turtles.

9 Days in Sarawak

This is just a quick update from an Internet cafe in Kuching.

Before I started this trip, I had never hiked 8 km (5 miles) through the jungle in the rain with a full 25-liter pack on my back. I had never encountered leeches. I had never bathed in a river while wearing a sarong. I had never traveled by longboat up a river. And now I have.

This has been a wonderful experience so far, although it has not been easy. The jungle is beautiful, filled with butterflies and gigantic clumps of incredibly tall bamboo. The heat and humidity are unbelievable. The view of Sarawak from the plane as we flew from Mulu to Kuching was all trees. I have read that the Malaysian government is turning a blind eye to clear-cutting on a massive scale, but from the air that was not apparent. I kept thinking about the completeness of the tree cover while the Iban took us upriver in the longboat, with all of us hopping out to push every now and again -- the rivers are the only roads here.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll fly north to Kota Kinabalu to begin the Sabah half of this trip.

World66 Is Like Flickr for Travel Buffs

I took a quiz on the World66 site, and this is what they told me (about me):

	Your travel type: Travel Yup The Travel Yup likes exotic and adventurous travel, but prefers big cities with fast paced life. He has a keen interest in other cultures and always brings home a few souvenirs. Shopping in Bangkok, getting a tailor made suite in Kuala Lumpur, that's the kind of thing the Travel Yup is into. Even though he likes to get away, he prefers his travels to be comfortable.
	top destinations: Amsterdam Beirut Hong Kong	stay away from: North Korea Tokyo Darien Gap

How right they are. My silk suit is at the tailor's as I write this ...

(Get your own travel profile.)

Before Borneo

I know some of you are waiting to see the photos from Langkawi. Well, I don't think I will have time to edit and upload them before Thursday, when I leave for my Borneo adventure. I also doubt that I will have time (or the inclination) to upload photos from the road, so check back here after July 1.

My first stop in Sarawak will be Miri, which was recently declared a city. I read somewhere that Malaysia has only 10 cities. This list shows only nine, and it counts both north and south Kuching. Now, I know the two sides of Kuching have separate mayors (one for the Chinese side, one for the Malay side). But is it really two cities?

After Miri, we'll visit the Mulu National Park (four days), where there are caves and bats.

From there, it's south to Kuching (capital of Sarawak), a boat ride up the river, and an overnight stay in an Iban longhouse.

Next, we fly north to Sabah and the state capital of Kota Kinabalu. That's our staging point for a trip to Mount Kinabalu, at 13,455 feet, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia. (I'm not climbing to the top -- too scary!)

After the mountain, we go for a soak at Poring Hot Springs.

Then we go into the Kinabatangan River area for an overnight in the jungle.

We continue east to Sandakan, from which we will visit the Sepilok Orangutan Reserve and Turtle Island.

After that, it's a short flight back to Kota Kinabalu, and our adventure is finished.

For anyone who's not up-to-date on Malaysian geography, the two states of Sabah and Sarawak are on the island of Borneo. The larger, southern side of Borneo is part of Indonesia. The total area of Malaysia is 126,873 sq. mi. (328,600 sq. km). Peninsular Malaysia (the western piece) is 50,811 sq. mi. (131,600 sq. km). As for the eastern piece (Borneo), Sabah is 28,456 sq. mi. (73,700 sq. km) and Sarawak is 47,606 sq. mi. (123,300 sq. km). Peninsular Malaysia is separated from Sabah and Sarawak by 447 miles (720 km) of the South China Sea.

For comparison, the total area of Florida (U.S.A.) is 65,758 sq. mi., and the distance from Florida to Cuba is 90 miles.