29 Jul - 30 Jul 2009 Mukah

Southeast Asia

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia

Malaysian Borneo

Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills

Mukah

Hotel Sri Umpang

Basic twin room with air-con for MYR 35.- or US$ 10.- per night.

 

Click below for an interactive road map of the Hotel Sri Umpang in Mukah and for directions:
N 02° 53.82' E 112° 05.72'
 

Exploring the coastal town of Mukah (population: 55% Melanau and 35% Iban) and her beaches near the mouth of the Sungai Mukah, learning that the Melanaus turned sago into their main cash crop and staple food (since the sago palm is the only crop that grows well in the mangrove swamps) and visiting a tebaloi (sago crackers) processing factory (monthly wages: MYR 500.-) and additionally discovering a few local delicacies such as (i) umai ikan (a spicy salad of raw marinated fish with shallots, salt, lime juice, chilli, wild ginger and ground peanuts), (ii) dabai (savoury fruits resembling big black olives in appearance and to some extent in flavour) and (iii) fat live sago worms - not for the squeamish (neither as food nor as a sex toy).

Hitching a lift from Mukah back to Dalat and occupying the last two free spaces amongst all kinds of luggage on the roof of the Gen Sung 250-hp speedboat (MYR 20.- or US$ 5.65 per person) from Dalat which for the first 20 km cruised slowly through the narrow, tree-lined, man-made Sungai Kut canal with its picturesque water villages where the local Melanau people were wearing their colourful terrendaks (sun hats made from sago-palm fronds) and which later accelerated to a breezy 30-kn cruising speed and thus took us on a wild ride for the remaining 90 km over the brown and murky water of the wide Batang Igan back to Sibu, the largest port and commercial centre in the Rejang Basin, located at the confluence of the Rejang River and the Igan River, approximately 130 km from the South China Sea.

Click below for a summary of this year's travels

2009 Map Konni & Matt

Click below and see more Konni & Matt Pictures

Photos 2009-12 Central Sarawak


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28 Jul - 29 Jul 2009 Mukah

Southeast Asia

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia

Malaysian Borneo

Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills

Mukah

Kampung Tellian Tengah

Lamin Dana Guest House +60198495962 drose102@hotmail.com

Standard twin room with fan in a traditional Melanau tall house, for MYR 70.- or US$ 20.- per night.

Click below for an interactive road map of the Lamin Dana Guest House in Kampung Tellian Tengah and for directions:

N 02° 52.76' E 112° 06.17'

Strolling together with local guide Ambrose over the plank walks between the stilted houses of his traditional Melanau water village and stopping at a 200-year-old kelidieng (a sacrificial burial pole, made from a hollow belian [Borneo ironwood] tree trunk decorated with ornate carvings, which was used to ward off disasters by placing a young maiden inside the pole and giving her only water until she finally died).

Hiring a local sampan (MYR 10.- for the four of us) for the 3-km long ride on the picturesque Sungai Tellian to the bustling fishing harbour in Mukah.

Click below for a summary of this year's travels

2009 Map Konni & Matt

Click below and see more Konni & Matt Pictures

Photos 2009-12 Central Sarawak


Recommended gear - click below for your order from the United Kingdom

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27 Jul - 28 Jul 2009 Sibu

Southeast Asia

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia

Malaysian Borneo

Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills

Sibu

New Hong Kong Hotel +6084319168

Clean double room with air-con for MYR 40.- or US$ 11.30 per night.

Click below for an interactive road map of the New Hong Kong Hotel in Sibu and for directions:

N 02° 17.26' E 111° 49.68'

Exploring down-to-earth Sibu, a rugged frontier town and busy trading post between the coast of the South China Sea and Borneo's hinterland, with a plethora of well-assorted hardware stores, timeless newspaper stalls, rowdy bars and cafes, textile wholesalers, CD/DVD sellers, food and fruit juice vendors, cheap Chinese hotels, and interesting markets: (i) the recently refurbished Central Market aka Pasar Sentral Sibu (where Foochow poultry sellers offer their live chickens and ducks neatly wrapped up in tubes fashioned from old newspapers), (ii) the vibrant and exotic Night Market aka Pasar Malam (where we could buy a package of four cans of ice-cold Tsingtao beer for as little as MYR 10.-) and (iii) the many colourful "floating supermarkets" (berthed right opposite the Tua Pek Kong Temple) which service the riverside kampungs and longhouse communities along the Batang Rajang and its tributaries.

Leaving our reliable Vietnamese Deuter backpacks in the reliable New Hong Kong Hotel, teaming up with our reliable friends Jessie & John from Singapore and Australia respectively, taking the rugged, torpedo-shaped 20-knot Ing Choon express boat (MYR 12.- or US$ 3.40 per person) for the 90-km long ride on the wide and stately Igan River from Sibu to Kampung Kut, then sharing a Toyota van for MYR 3.- each (with a boozy and/or stoned Malay driver who was driving under a lot of influence...) to the Melanau town of Dalat, situated by the Oya River, and eventually hiring a boring Proton taxi (MYR 45.- or US$ 12.70 for the four of us) from Dalat to Kampung Tellian Tengah near Mukah, nicknamed The Melanau Heartland.

Click below for more blog posts about Sibu
14 Aug - 16 Aug 2009 Sibu
30 Jul - 03 Aug 2009 Sibu

Click below for a summary of this year's travels

2009 Map Konni & Matt

Visit the Konni & Matt online albums and order high res travel photos

Konni & Matt Travel Photos


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24 Jul - 27 Jul 2009 Kuching

Southeast Asia

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia

Malaysian Borneo

Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills

Kuching

Jalan Tabuan 24

May’s Borneo B&B +60145823100 borneobedbreakfast@yahoo.com

Basic double room with air-con for MYR 30.- or US$ 8.40 per night; wifi free of charge.

Laundry: MYR 6.- per kg.

Click below for an interactive road map of May's Borneo B&B in Kuching and for directions:

N 01° 33.34' E 110° 20.90'

 



Calibrating Matt's Magellan GPS, greasing Konni's Leatherman Multitool and buying a few bottles of Sarawakian "organic and natural" but rather ineffective insect repellent (some kind of snake oil based on citronella oil, jojoba oil and tea-tree oil), thus preparing our upcoming upriver journey on the 560-km long Batang Rajang deep into the interior of Borneo, right into the heart of darkness and into potentially dead dangerous head-hunter country - once again we are back on a mission.

“I saw you this morning.

You were moving so fast.

Can’t seem to loosen my grip

On the past.

And I miss you so much.

There’s no one in sight.

And we’re still making love

In My Secret Life.

I smile when I’m angry.

I cheat and I lie.

I do what I have to do

To get by.

But I know what is wrong,

And I know what is right.

And I’d die for the truth

In My Secret Life.” 

(Leonard Cohen)

Taking a local taxi (MYR 18.- or US$ 5.-) from Kuching to the Pending Express-boat Wharf  and then the Ekspres Bahagia ship (1st-class ticket for MYR 45.- or US$ 12.50 per person, one way, for the 230-km long combined sea and river journey, with a cruising speed of 25 knots over ground, about five times faster than SY “Kamu II” through the Suez Canal) across the South China Sea and then upriver on the lower Batang Rajang to Sibu, a rough frontier town and the third biggest city in Sarawak, located at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers, some 60 km from the South China Sea, with a population which is dominated by Chinese especially the Foochow as well as indigenous Melanau, Iban and Malay.

Click below for more blog posts about cheerful river trips
13 Mar - 18 Apr 2013 Bangkok (Chao Phraya River)
01 Dec - 07 Dec 2012 Xingping (Li River)
28 Jan - 05 Feb 2012 Inle Lake (Nyaungshwe Canal)
06 Jan - 07 Jan 2012 Jerantut (Pahang River)
12 Sep - 13 Sep 2009 Marudi (Baram River)
  
Click below for a summary of this year's travels

2009 Map Konni & Matt 

Visit our Konni & Matt Online Albums and order high-res travel photos

Konni & Matt Travel Photos

Recommended gear - click below for your Amazon order from Canada

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