Welcome to the island of Borneo! Specifically the Malaysian side, based out of a little city called “Kuching”, which in Malay means cat. So this is cat city and there’s plenty of cat statues to prove it.

Unfortunately it is timely business moving around the island of Borneo so I’ve just based myself in Kuching and have done some lovely day trips out into the jungle. I would have loved to camp out in the jungle here but everything is fully booked so oh well!

On the first full day here I joined some Australians and my Malaysian friend to climb Mount Santubong. The last kilometer of the hike was a real challenge, it was almost all uphill, we had to climb most of it!

Also I had decided that I wanted to do a hike in flip flops. I never gave up even when the hike turned into one of the hardest hikes I have ever done. The reason is I have seen people from all over southeast Asia doing the most badass shit in flip flops, normally also while leading a crew of Westerners wearing their fancy hiking gear.

Kicking back with my flip flops at the top of Mount Santubong

On the way back, we ended up hitch-hiking (something I have never done before) and it was awesome!

The guy that picked us up, Dennis, was an absolute legend and ended up taking us for dinner and refusing to let us pay for it, then he dropped us off at our hostel. What hospitality!

It took a few days to recover from the massive climb, but I made it out to the jungle again, early in the morning to go spot some proboscis monkeys. I was succesful but I couldn’t take pictures because I don’t have an actual camera. Also saw some other monkeys (not sure what type), a turtle, and carnivorous plants! I love that they just let you walk around in the jungle here!

Steve Irwin-ing in the jungle in Borneo, crickey! I think I just heard a big one over there!

Where the jungle meets the ocean

Om nom nom

Going into dark scary places

Aaaand then I went to a music festival, the Rainforest World Music Festival, which was fun, but I like that one in the desert better.

It was cool though, it showcases music from all over the world. I got to see a group from Borneo, an Indian Malaysian group, an Aboriginal group, an Irish group, and a Sumatran group. They also have workshops during the day and I got to be part of a drum circle for the first time haha

Opening ceremony

Indian group

Now I’ve decided I need some time to attend to health issues, specifically my tooth, and I am going to try and get it “taken care of” tomorrow. I hear the dentists in Malaysia are top notch and I have a nice private room to stay in for a couple of days to recuperate.