South-East Asia

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Until recently, the world’s largest caves

Today I head back to Mulu National Park, home of the world’s largest caves after 21 years. There are many ways of measuring “largest” (eg. volume, length etc) and Mulu still has the crown by some measures but has lost it in perhaps one way to a newer discovery in Vietnam. Mum and stepdad dropped […]

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Family time again

Above:  Kuching is a bit hazy this visit with the slash-and-burn of forests in preparation for agriculture in Indonesia.  The transit “hassles” in Colombo made the 2h10 transit go really quickly. We boarded the Malaysia Airlines B737-800 for the 3h40 flight to Kuala Lumpur departing at 0055 and arriving at 0705 due to the time […]

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Around old town

Today we took the boat (tambang) across the river into old town Kuching for a walk.  I do this often enough in order to get errands done but Kim doesn’t get here so much. So it was somewhat of an experience on the boat, and a walk down memory lane in old town.  

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Dentist for peanuts

Last trip back in April, I had been to the government polyclinic for a dental check-up which cost me a MYR1 (USD0.26) registration fee.  They were ultra-comprehensive in marking down the condition of all teeth and the work required.  They booked me an apppointment three months later which timed well with this visit. Today I […]

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Orangutans

It’s only an hour from my apartment to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre where they rehabilitate rescued orangutans.  As Kim doesn’t get to Kuching often, I took him there.  As the apes roam the forest, sightings are not guaranteed especially during the fruiting season when they do not turn up for supplementary feeding.  

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Moving on to the beach

We had a leisurely morning before checking out around 1130 and walking to the bus terminal. It was a breeze taking the bus to Batu Ferringhi for our one night at the Holiday Inn Resort. On the bus I chatted to this woman who had an El Nido bag. As it turns out, she (and […]

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Kek Lok Si temple

We took the bus to Kek Lok Si temple today at Ayer Itam. The walk up was lined with stalls selling commercial and religious items. Strangely, for a Buddhist place, the traders were selling pictures of the Last Supper and Catholic icons too. Whatever makes money! Partway up was a pond full of tortoises. I […]

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Old town exploration

We explored the old town by foot today. Starting from our hotel, we walked north passing many beautiful old Chinese buildings. We found our way to the main street which passed by the Kapitan Keling mosque. The surrounding areas were rather Indian with flower sellers and eateries. We continued to the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion […]

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Clan jetties

One thing I didn’t do in Penang five years ago was visit the clan jetties. These are stilted homes built over the water with a jetty serving as the main access way. We took the CAT (free bus) from near our hotel to the ferry station, from which it was a short walk to the […]

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Pearl of the Orient

We woke before 0600. The hotel transport took us to Siem Reap airport but dropped us outside to avoid paying the USD1 entry fee. It is a good reminder that USD1 is a significant sum in this country. We didn’t mind the short walk to the terminal. The bag-drop and check-in queues weren’t exactly short. […]

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