We both woke at 05:30 and soon drifted off to sleep again. At 08:30 I got up to face the day and showered and made my final efforts at packing my gear.
After checking out of the Hotel Grand Central we took a taxi to Queen Street bus station from where we boarded the Johor Express bus to Johor Bahru. We all alighted the bus at the Singapore checkpoint and passed through passport control, then we all queued and boarded the bus again, travelled across the causeway and repeated the procedure at the Malaysian checkpoint. We acknowledged the need to declare our bao board and seeds and my cowry shell, yet again, but we couldn't see any obvious quarantine section nor customs desk so, like everyone else, we found ourselves outside, apparently in Johor Bahru, without the bus. It wasn't clear to us that we had arrived so we checked with the persistent guy who was offering us a taxi service.
Despite Ian's insistence to be taken to a Malaysian Airlines office so we could check availability of flights to Kuching and then driven on to the airport of we were successful in purchasing tickets today, we were driven directly to the airport. Luckily we were successful in buying flights today and we packed our taxi driver off with twice the amount of money that he asked for. Nice one, Ian.
At check in it was revealed that I am now carrying 19.1 kilograms in my backpack alone. So much for the chaps in Silver Trek that looked at me like I was potty when I asked them to load a prospective backpack with 14 kilograms to check its suitability!
We sat around in the airport for over 3 hours. Our flight departed at 15:36 and 1 hour 14 minutes later we arrived at Kuching, in Sarawak, the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo, at 16:50. I surrendered my window seat to Ian who had the added benefit of plenty of leg room given that the seat in front of him was absent, being next to the emergency exit over the wing.
After deciding to be real travellers for a change we agreed to take a taxi to Kuching centre and arrange accommodation on the fly. The taxi itself is well beyond its prime and rattles uncontrollably all the way through the rush hour traffic. Ian asked the driver if he could recommend any good cheap hotels. His English wasn't all that great but he drove us to Jalan Green Hill and we removed our luggage from the boot. The receptionist was all smiles greeting us and we made an inspection visit with our backpacks up three flights of stairs to the third floor to find a damp, dingy, dirty, humid, unpleasant room. Without knowing the price we debated whether or not to accept the room, agreeing that we should save money where we can and settle for less than luxurious from now on, but on the same token we weren't destitute and there were plenty of other hotels to try. We declined the room and found a pleasant hotel for MRN 58 per night, equivalent to USD 16, which was just round the corner and has air conditioning. That suits us fine.
Straight away we went wandering with cameras and found the Tua Pek Kong chinese temple which was just beginning to glow in the dusk, and the waterfront by Sarawek river. I took a couple of long exposure photographs of the fountain in front of the chinese temple and catching Ian up I found a North American guy chatting to him. When I joined them the chap asked Ian if I was his daughter! He's the second guy that has asked the state of our relationship now! Terrific! Being by the river was very calming and peaceful although singing could be heard from the other side of the river bank. After establishing where the tourist board is we returned to the riverbank and enjoyed dinner accompanied by a jug of Tiger beer, then we made our way back to the hotel via an eatery that served Ian a wonderful banana juice and a slice of carrot cake. The toilet there was like visiting a little oasis at the back of the restaurant.
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.