8th April 2010, Los Angeles, California, USA

Hello blogfans,

Since our last post we’ve been quite busy, visiting 5 different countries (counting Borneo and mainland Malaysia as different countries which isn’t quite right) and 2 different continents.

After leaving KK we flew deep into the rainforest and landed at an airport which was basically just a strip of land cleared in the rainforest (sorry tree-huggers). Our destination was Gunning Mulu National Park, known for its famous caves, the biggest in the world until a recent discovery in Vietnam, and it’s bats. The place we stayed was really nice, based on the traditional longhouse design and set in the rainforest with boardwalks connecting the different areas. The first full day there we visited the show caves, in the morning Clearwater and Wind caves, known for their clear water and, you guessed it, their wind. In both caves there we plenty of amazing stalactite and stalagmite formations, as well as other weird and wonderful rock formations to admire. In the afternoon we visited Deer cave, named as the natives used to hunt deer there, which had gone in the feast on the guano (bat droppings). This was the big one and it didn’t fail to impress, although even more impressive was when the sun went down. As night started to set in and estimated 4 million bats started to make their way out for an evening of hunting for insects and fruit. The bats first swarmed to the cave entrance where they formed a donut shaped cloud, then as the cloud got big enough they headed out in a stream. As they started to leave the next group of bats started forming up leading to a continuous stream of bats snaking across the rain-forest. The next day we decided to do a little adventure caving, this wasn’t too strenuous but hiking though cave system was made a little uncomfortable by the humidity and the constant smell of guano. Along the way we saw a surprising large amount of wildlife, including, racer snakes (which eat the bats), big spiders, sticky worms (which use a sticky web to catch flies, crickets with long antenna which they use to feel their way round, cave crabs and, of course, bats. It was great fun as well but we all came out covered in muck and smelling like a bat toilet. After that ordeal we decided to subject ourselves to something even more demanding, The Pinnacles. This was basically a three day trek in the rain-forest which involved climbing a ridiculously steep mountain to view some geologically interesting rock formations. The first and the last days were fairly easy going, apart from the humidity, trekking on the flat through the rain-forest. The day in the middle was not so easy, it first involved getting up at 5 in the morning, never good, the first two minutes of the hike were along the flat, but after that we were scrambling over wet limestone/jungle at an angle of 45 degree for a couple of hours, after that came an even steeper part which required the use of ladders and pegs knocked into the rock face. The way down was even more difficult due to the steepness and the wet, slippery stone and the trek took 8 hours in total. The limestone formations at the top were impressive (see pictures of the worst parachute drop zone in the world), but even better was the sense of satisfaction at completing such a tough trek/climb. The day after we got back we just took it easy and nursed our sore limbs, we did however get time to take a canopy walkway through the trees close to where we were staying.

Still exhausted from The Pinnacles, we then made our way back to the rain-forest airport for the capital of Sarawak, Kuching (the city of the cat). We only had one full day in Kuching so spent some time exploring the old White Raj era buildings, Chinatown and the waterfront. We also found the world smallest and puniest looking fort, but when you think that the intended attackers would be wielding blow-darts I’m sure it was fit for purpose. We also saw many of Kuching’s cats, went to a large market and bought some tribal pottery (which Ulrike later broke in Taipei).

Next stop was Singapore, which while a very modern and efficient place (they even have escalators in the park) lacked the character we found in most other south-east Asian countries. We only had a short time there and spent a significant proportion of that in the various malls in order to escape the stifling heat and humidity. The big highlight though was the zoo and night-safari. The zoo was full of weird and wonderful animals, a lot of which we’d tried to find in the rain-forest without much luck, as opposed to some other zoos the animals seemed genuinely happy (as much as they could be) and very mostly very active. The encloses were not built with walls and were all roomy and supposed to mimic their natural habits, giving the place a much more natural feel. The night-safari was also very impressive. First of all was a show during which a raccoon knocked over a dustbin and a group of otters picked everything up and put it into the correct recycling bins (one of them juggled with a coke can for a while as well, but I’m not sure that was part of the act). Then we took a jeep through the park, although some of the animals were the sfe as were in the zoo it was very different to see them by moonlight and they were often much more active. We also got to walk around some of the areas and saw everything from mouse deer to leopards.

Next was Kuala Lumpur, where we had unwittingly arrived in the midst of Grand Prix fever, however we were due to fly out the day before and so only had time for a bit of a look round, including the grand Petronas towers, and to take high-tea at posh hotel.

After KL we flew on to Taiwan (we’re going to have to plant so trees when we get back to offset all our carbon emissions). Originally it was only supposed to be a stopover on the way to LA, but we thought that as we’d be there anyway we should take a few days to explore, and we’re very glad we did. The first day we had a bit of a look round and went to some of the cheap electrical goods markets, the first surprising thing was how helpful the Taiwanese people were, you can’t open a map on the streets without people trying to help you find out where to go, the second thing was that a surprising large amount of signs were also in English, making navigating, eating etc. much easier and more enjoyable. Speaking of eating, the night markets in Taipei were some of the best we visited in the whole of south east Asia, loads of freshly cooked kebabs, noodle soups and fresh fruit juices. The second day we visited the National Palace Museum which houses everything the Taiwanese “rescued” from the communists of mainland China before the “cultural” revolution. They made some truly extraordinary pieces, the best surviving examples of ancient Chinese art apparently, including some beautiful porcelain and some ivory carving which seemed unbelievable in their intricacy. After a walk back through a couple of parks and another night market we made it back after a long day. The next day we treated ourselves to a bit of relaxation and went hot spring just north of the city, but easily accessible by the metro system. Apart from the sulphurous smell and the fact that some of the pools were extremely hot, it was a very pleasant experience and we got to see all the locals going about their bathing rituals, including beating themselves again large rocks!!! We also went to where the springs originated but didn’t see much as the place was enveloped in huge plumes of steam. The last day we went to the (formally) tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 and travelled in now the second fastest lift in the world for some spectacular if a little cloudy views over Taiwan. We both agreed that we didn’t have long enough there a hopefully one day we’ll find our way back for a longer visit.

So currently we’re in LA, we actually arrived at LAX before we’d left which is still messing with our body clocks, so far we’ve been pretty lazy and after a breakfast of donuts we’ve been shopping for some camping supplies and done some laundry, hopefully we’ll be setting off for Las Vegas and the national parks on Saturday so watch this space for some interesting photos.

Ulrike's blog to come later, she's being lazy at the moment...