Posted by Dodie is forwarding e-mails from Brian as he leaves his job in India and travels home. This time he is spending time in Borneo. He is taking photos and video so I hope to add those when we get them. AL
April 11, 2001, Heading Back West 2 – Last email from Brian on his adventure. He should be arriving LA this AM – Dodie
when i arrived in kl i had to take an hour long bus ride into the city in order to find a hotel. on the bus i met a little boy and his rambunctious brother. they were traveling the worlld with their parents . there from new zealand currently living in bangledesh and soon to be living in vietnam. the kid speaks 3 languages(french, english and arabic) he’s only in 6th grade. the strangest part about the meeting was that his kid brother was exactly 6 years younger and their parents were both teachers. sound familiar? i offered a woman my seat when there were no more left but she wouldn’t take it. after wards she thanked me again and offered me a bed at her house with her family for the night. i politely declined and headed towards the Meridan hotel to splurge a little. sat by the pool most o the day today and ordered room service. the gerrado there is beautiful with two waterfalls and a water slide weaving through the fake rocks.
i will be in mumbai around midnight tonight and will write again.
love you
Brian
April 8, 2011 – Heading Back West
in a few hours i begin my trip back west. i fly into kuala lumpur tonight and have a day layoverbefore i head back to mumbai. i dont look forward to going back to india. everything there is complicated from getting a taxi to getting through security checks in the airport. an ignorant place. the employees will hold you for an hour just because they can. Jess found that out last time she was here. i hope it will be a smooth process this time. i will write again when i get to KL .
got a flight and a meal to catchlove you
Brian
April 7, 2011 Borneo Update
Just got back from an island off the coast of Kunta kintabalu, mamutuk. when i reached the island i treked into the jungle for an hour before i found my campsight. there was an old abandoned lintu overlooking a beautiful ocean with crystal clear water, suroounded by tropical wilderness. my first night went great, i had my hammock all set up under the lintu with and extra rain fly that i bought in KK positioned to the south west. i cooked my own food went swimming in the water with my goggles and saw all sorts of wonderfull colored fish in the coral reef. i kept an eye out for jelly fish but never saw one, thankfully.the night came quickly i put out the fire and crawled into the hammock with my journal and fell asleep to waves crashing and strange animals howling and squeeking in the woods. 2 hours later i iawoke to a tropical thunderstormn blowing sideways through my campsite not from the south west but from the NW.i scrammbled out of my hammock accidentally kicking the support beam for my rain sling and it went tumbling into the nearby brush.when i finally regained control of the situation the storm had passed and i sat out of breath and stressed out. luckily i moved things fast enough that nothing became soaking wet so getting back to sleep wasnt to terrible. woke up in the morning to birds churping and the gentle sounds of the ocean. went for a skinny dip to wash the sleep off and tried some unsuccsesful fishing.other than the catfish i caught on the river i havent had any luck. the reality of it is , you just need to through a hunk of meat in the water and wait for 5 minutes compared to throwing fancy lures into the water a hundred times.my second night was much the same except the storm was worse. i had prepared better this time and except for a few drips there was no problem.the next morning i wentback to the other side of the island and sat on a beach while awaiting my prearranged boat to pick me up. i have a belly full of italian food at the moment and am staying in a very dry hotel tonight. tomorrow is my last day in borneo and i leave at 8 pm for kuala lumpur where i will stay a night and catch my plane back to india for my connecting flight back home.im trying to arrange a white water rafting trip or wind surfing for the morning before i leave.
miss you
Love
Brian
April 4 – Kapit – Myrimar – Bakun – Belaga – Miri
From Dodie “Hadn’t heard from him for awhile, got this early this AM-He heads back to Mumbai April 9th, spends the night there, leaves for LA on the 10th and gets into LA on the 11th! Quite a trip!”
Just crawled back out of the jungle, hot and sticky, but with a smile from ear to ear. Im in Miri after a bus ride from the niah caves. Traveling in these rural parts of borneo requires an extreme amount of patience. there may be no boat or ATV that day and you have to wait for it the next day to get where you want to be. the river may be too low in the morning and you have to wait for the dam to release water in the afternoon. in some cases transportation may not come and you have to walk all day. ive been searchingfor a word that best describes the people of sarawalk and ive desided that nice is to much of an understatement “sweet” is the only word that comes close. everyone was so helpfull in getting me where i wanted to go, inviting me in for the night, feeding me breakfast lunch and dinner not asking anything in return. i have learned alot about kindness and good nature in the last few days. adventures include, staying in a traditional long house for a night then a logging camp, a crazy 4 wheel drive expedition across jungle mountains, a long distance boat ride over an island covered lake “the size of singopore”, staying at a shop owners fishing shop eating smoked catfish, cave exploring the Niah Caves, having to run through the jungle to make it back to the boat on time and staying in a hostil in Batu Niah. Today i decide whether i fly to kelabit highlands or to kota kinablu.
its nice to be back in civilization but im already missing the river.
will write again soon miss youLove
Brian
March 30 – Kapit to Belaga
I met with the guide this morning over some coffee. He’s been a guide in the Sarawalk region for over 17 years. He was accompanied by another boy who is his help i assume. Not a lick of English that one. we disgussed the different possibilities of getting up river. unfortunately their is a new damn being built up river that has reduced the flow of water significantly. the dam is forcing people from their villages, becasue it is flooding a huge mass of land. the governments idea is to let this water go once every so often annually in order to create power for the country. many of the locals are obviously upset about it and personally its stopping me from moving up river because the water level is too low. im faced with 2 options. Option 1: retreat back to sibu and take a plane or bus up to Miri, bi-passing the dam. Option 2: take a long boat inland toward the kalalabit border, meeting up with a friend of the guides who will take me along the logging roads through the jungle. After the jungle i take a boat on the upper side of the dam putting me in belaga in 2 or 3 days from tomorrow. Not a very hard decision for me, im taking option 2. we leave first thing in the morning, i hope to fianlly get to use this camping gear that i have been lugging around since kuala lumpur. As for tonight i meet the guide at 2pm and we take a long boat to a village 40 km’s away. There i will stay with a family of the Iban people. this is the part of the journey that may get very rural and remote. ill write again when possible. until then take care.
Love
Brian
March 29 – Sibu to Kapit
mom, i spent my youth running around the woods of course i have confidence. but i am very aware that to much confidence is a bad thing.
so much has happened since my last message. ill try to keep the topics brief. after i left the internet cafe i came across a buhdist temple with a 7 story pagoda. when i wandered into the temple i was greeeted by a very enthusiastic monk whos asked me if i was interested in taoism, yes i replied. I then spent a sweaty hour listening to him teach me the yen and yen, the heavens the earth and the elements. he taught me chinese caligrophy and the consicuences after 3 mistakes. he offered me tea and bread and then at tyhe end he litereally handed me a key that lead me up to the pagoda. all he asked was that i email lonely planet about him… after wards i went to the boats and asked a fisherman where i could buy a pole . he pointed across the street. i am now the proud owner of a malaysion spinning rod, and for lures, a top water frog, small spinner, hooks and sinkers. i went to bed aerly and was on the 5 am boat to Kapit. 15 minutes into the ride i climbed up on the roof of the boat and crused down the rejang in style. the sun was rising and the mountains were misty, lush green jungle coverred the baks of the rivers muddy water. when i arrived to kapit i got off the boat and trekked the permiter of the small town. i booked a hotyel an hour later. the bed was stained cockroaches lay dead but atleast their was air onditioning:) i was getting frustrated because the english language didnt seem to make it this far and i wanted a trip to one of the native towns long houses. i searched and searched and finally decided to go to the boats and start chatting, across the river i saw a small opening with floing clear water. i asked the fisherman to take me and he gave me a 50 ringit deal to take me to a water dall and fish. the pictures will describe it further. very very beautiful, there is nothing else like being hot and sweaty in a jungle and comming to a water fall to dive in. it doesnt look like i can make it to belaga in the morning due to low river conditions. but i just literally bumped into a long hyouse guide whos name is in the LP guide book. so im off to chat with him
wish you were here, love you
Brian
March 28 – Kuching and Sibu
i arrived in kuching early yesterday morning, sunday for me. there was no boat up to sibu that day so i grabbed a ride from the airport to baku national park.I hired a boat to take me the rest of the way where the trails were. it was a hike i will never forget, literaly a dream come true. i began at the base of a mountain. walked along a long shakey board walk up on stillts until i came to the base of the jungle, the temperature dropped significantly when i entered and there was a whole new world of sounds and sights. monkeys crashed through the trees, roots sprang out of everywhere. it was cooler but very muggy. i moved as fast as i could because i had to be back at the boat no later than 4pm or else i would be camping out. which i did consider a few times but i new there were other rainforests to see. I was out of breath in 10 minutes, climbing slimy rocks giant roots and narrow cave like areas. im kinda surprised they called these trails…when i sumitted i came to a beautiful opening back into the sun. this terrain was alot different. very dry with sand and clay base. i followed a sign that said beach, i knew i didnt have enough time to make it to the water fall, i still had 2 hours before i had to turn around and head back. i made my way over the rouhg terrain and unstable bridges, and then ha to decend back into the jungle. bamboo latters lead me down and down and further down until i stepped out on a beautiful white sandy beach surrounded by steep cliffs, i stripped down and dove into the ocean. i explored and basked in the sun a little more and then i was off back to the boat. it was the most intense hiking ive ever done and i loved every minute of it. i caught a bus back to kushing found a hotel had a steak and noodle dinner ($5) and searched for the internet, but no luck. it was sunday everything was closed. i went to bed early in a small little shack of a hotel. this morning i traveled across the china sea from kushing to Sibu. a beautiful sight the entire way. 5 hours later here i am. everyone is really friendly and helpful. they all want to know where im from and where am going. im excitted to continue up teh batang rejang river tomorrow. kapitt will be my next overnight stay and it is in the heart of borneo. i may stay in a long house with a local tribe. i may not have contact for a couple days until i reach miri or batang. appologies for the spelling, they charge by the minute.
wish you were here
Love
Brian
March 28 – hello from Kuala lumpur
jess, its like a more nitty gritty Singapore here. After 4 hours of sleep on the plane we touched down around 8 am KL time.the transit system was confusing beginning at the airport, everything has a nickname in malay. so its hard to know where your going without asking 2 or 3 people. i took a train to china town where the cheapest hotel stays are. after wondering around for a while i found one that was decent. 105 MR converts to about 35 US. so not a bad deal. the city is covered with markets, people trying to sell everything from scorpions to chickens to ripped DVD;s not much different from thailand. after the hotel i found a few really neat temples and then went to the aviary, “the worlds largest exotic bird aviary”. peacocks were everywhere. i was attacked by some kind of stork that thought i had food. dont worry i have it on video! the terrain here is like i said alot like singapore but not as clean. its hot and humid and the forrest creaps in as much as it is allowed. my room has no windows but is comfortable. the light flickers in the bathroom, so it feels like a murder scene everytime i go in there. i was going to go to the beach to surf but apparently the only surf breaks are hours away. KL is nice but its a busy place. i look forward to getting to the jungle tomorrow in borneo and being away from the camotion. my plane leaves at 745am so i plan on leaving the hotel around 5am. Murphys law is prevelent in south east asia, as jess an i learned last time, its better to be to early. im really tired so im heading back to the hotel for some r-n-r. another update coming soon.
i dont have keiths email for some reason. can you forward this to him.
Love you
Brian
March 23 – Lonely Planet Link to Borneo
Brian leaves for Borneo Friday—the below link sure makes it look like a great place to explore!