Malaysia

My grand trip started on November 1, when I drove over to Dave Taylor's house. I had managed to pack everything into two bags, one big bag held my camera case, and the other held the clothing, books, and miscellaneous stuff one needs when one travels. A small backpack held reading materials and the prescriptions I might need on the trip. I also packed an emergency water supply, in case I got thirsty. I had picked up $3200 in travelers' checks for spending money. I also packed a few hundred dollars in cash, for emergencies, and fifty one dollar bills to use as tips where appropriate.

Dave and I had lunch at Max's before he was to take me off to my plane. I had to catch a flight to Los Angeles, where the next morning I was catching a flight to Kuala Lumpur. I was hived off to a window seat for the flight, since all the aisle seats were booked. The flight was packed; Delta had their usual quality of service. A bag of peanuts and a glass of soda was adequate for the flight.

I was met at LAX by Bob Snader; I'd spend the night at his house in Brentwood. We first went to dinner at Versailles, where I had shrimp with yellow rice, and Bob had chicken with yellow rice. The Versailles, like usual, was good, and crowded. I suspect Bob and I were to the oldest men there. The night was uneventful, I managed to get a good night's sleep. I'd need it.

The next morning, Bob dropped me off at the airport. I quickly discovered that I had failed to pack my hair brush, so we stopped to get one on the way. I also picked up a can of cashews to nibble on the flight. (This can actually lasted for a few flights, until I arrived in Singapore on the 11th.) I discovered, though, that I had left my jacket back at Bob's house after he had dropped me off. Damn. I called and left a message for him to ship it home; I figured I'd need to buy a new jacket when I reached Beijing.

Bob is an amazing gentleman. (One would expect Amy's father to be pretty amazing, but sometimes it surprises even me!) After boarding the flight, but before pulling away from the gate, one of the ground crew approached me, and asked if I was James Armstrong. I affirmed, and he gave me my jacket! Bob must have received the message when he got home, and braved the LA freeways to get me my jacket before the plane left. I wrote him a note on the plane and sent it to him once I reached Malaysia, thanking him for that.

The flight was quite crowded, I don't think there were more than ten empty seats on the 747. I was on the aisle, in the middle section. The three seats next to me were occupied by a husband and wife traveling with their baby. I had an overhead bin to myself, which was nice; I was up against the galley, so I had no seat in front of me. We left Los Angeles about an hour late. While waiting, I made three other phone calls, one leaving a farewell message for my parents, one to Dave thanking him for the lift, and one to my sister Lillian. Waiting in airports is quite boring. I mentioned my failure to bring my jacket to Lillian, I called her from the flight to let her know Bob got it to me.

The first leg of the flight felt interminable. It went from Los Angeles to Tokyo, had two movies and two meals. Neither movie was worth watching; one was Kazaam, and the other was The Cable Guy. The food was much better! I had a snack of smoked trout, barbeque chicken with a mango relish, and vegetables. It was delicious, and the quality was on par with that served in first class for domestic flights. The can of diet coke was oddly shaped; I later learned it was the standard can shape for Japan. A little bit taller and a lot thinner than the regular American cans. Bottled in Osaka...

Flight announcements came in three languages. First, they were made in Malaysian, then English, then Japanese. I had some minor trepidation about this trip at this stage, since I don't speak any Asian languages. Communication could prove to be a problem at many places. I had some phrase books, for Thai and Mandarin, and the Lonely Planet guides gave a few expressions in Malay and Cambodian.

The dinner was even better than the snack. The main course was ayam masala merule, a very spicy chicken dish. I was initially told they were out, but I prevailed upon the flight attendant to check for more, and there were more. It came with soba, and pumpkin pie for desert.

Since the movies were dreadful, I read. I completely read In Suspect Terrain by John McPhee, and I read from cover to cover the latest issue of Granta. I finished Granta on the Tokyo-Kuala Lumpur leg of the trip.

In Tokyo, we had to de-plane and re-board, after passing through a metal detector. I bought an iced tea in Tokyo, I paid US$5, and got back US$2 and 50 yen. The re-boarding was by cattle car mode, none of this boarding by row numbers we have in the United States. Almost everyone remained on board for the flight to Kuala Lumpur.

There were quite a few infants on the flight, and for the first leg, they were quiet. It was on the second leg that they were noisy, and that was when I wanted to sleep. I managed to get a couple hours, but not as much as I wanted. The movie was Japanese, so I didn't watch. I forgot to record the last meal of the flight. We passed over Manila, and the South China Sea was fairly turbulent. In the end, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur on time, at 1AM. I passed through customs, and was met by a representative of Pacific Holidays, who took me to my hotel, the Swiss Inn. Alas, one of the bags that my sister loaned me was broken, a wheel had been sheared off. A strap on the camera bag had broken in Los Angeles, too. My night was short, I was to be picked up at 6:30AM to be taken to meet a shuttle bus for the trip to Taman Negara. It was 2:30 when I checked in. I caught a couple hours sleep, then showered and cleaned a wound on my finger (I gouged my finger when unloading my luggage from Bob's truck) with iodine. It was 5:30, when I went out to explore Kuala Lumpur a bit.

The first thing that hit me was the heat and humidity. It was just before sunrise, at what is usually the coolest time of the day, and the heat was wilting. I wandered about in the area around my hotel, and found some hawker stalls that were already open, for the morning commuters. Since the hotel restaurant wouldn't open for breakfast until after I'd already left, this seemed to be the best option. I picked up some fried noodles and a diet Pepsi. The total cost for this meal was rm$2.20, which is less than one US dollar. Amazing. I was picked up, and taken to the Istana Hotel; this is a fancy hotel that was probably too comfortable for my tastes. The shuttle to Taman Negara picked me up here, and eventually filled to a full nine passengers by the time we left Kuala Lumpur.

To get to Taman Negara, you take a shuttle bus to Kuala Tembeling, which is about a four hour ride. There, you board a long boat for the three hour boat run up river to Kuala Tahan. It's not an easy place to reach.

We stopped about midway for a short break, I wandered around a bit, and bought some water, iced tea candies, and a pork bun. The iced tea candies were more than enough for the full month, I even have some left over now. It was on this van trip that I met some people with whom I'd spend time in Taman Negara. One was a couple from South Africa, Marvin and Joan Ward, the others were a couple from New Zealand, Malcolm and Mary Gordon. Not only did we share the van, but we later shared the long boat to Taman Negara.

During the drive, I spotted my first (and only!) honey buzzard (pernis apivorus ptilorhynchus), as well as some swifts that I couldn't identify. There were some black kites (milvus migrans) present in the area, too. I was noting down the birds I recognized in my journal, which caused some conversation.

At the pier, we had a wait for the boatmen, so we had some lunch. I had fried noodles for rm$2.50, which is just over a dollar. During the trip down the river I got to see kingfishers. I saw both black capped kingfishers (halcyon pileata) and blue eared kingfishers (alcedo meninting). The common trait between these birds is a beautiful rich azure set of feathers along the back! The black capped kingfisher has a black head, and the blue eared has a blue bead. A common sight was the common kingfisher (alcedo atthis). These were perched over the river, and when they flew, there was a flash of blue and red. These were the most beautiful birds I saw on the trip.

Also spotted while heading down river was a crested serpent eagle (spilornis cheela). I saw one soaring high over the river.

The dock for Taman Negara is fairly imposing. It is a floating platform, and behind it is a series of staircases that rise about seventy feet. When you have heavy luggage, this is a difficult climb to make. To add insult to injury, my cabin was about as far from the check-in office as you could get. On the walk to the cabin, I did see a black hornbill (anthracoceros malayanus). Its wing was injured, so it could not fly. Apparently someone there had been taking care of it.

I put my head on the pillow, and nearly missed dinner. I had been on the go effectively since I left Bob's house in Los Angeles, with only a short breather in Kuala Lumpur. I was exhausted. I needed food as much as I needed sleep; the resort had a buffet dinner for rm$39.60. The food was decent, but not great.

The one thing that stood out the most, in my opinion, was the lack of light at night. Maybe I've become too accustomed to the well-lit areas of California, but Kuala Lumpur was dark at night, as dark as you'd expect for the country. I like it dark when I'm back with nature, but in a city with people living on the streets, it is very unnerving.

I slept quite well, from about 8PM to 6AM. I needed a lot of sleep! The next morning, I had breakfast. The resort provided an American buffet breakfast with a single Malaysian dish. I was to discover this was quite common; eggs, bacon, sausages, and potatoes for breakfast. And the token local dish, for local flavor.

That morning, I joined the Wards for a walk on the canopy. We walked down a trail that paralleled the river. The Wards had hired a guide with their package, and he provided a lot of interesting information. We saw a column of army ants digesting a tree, a spiny lizard, and we heard many birds, including bulbuls. The start of the canopy walk was about a mile from the resort. I'm fairly accustomed to hiking, but this was perhaps the most exhausting mile hike I've taken in a long time. Not from climbing; there wasn't much of that. The heat and humidity really sucked the vitality out of you. Walking out of the cabin was enough to raise a sweat, and by the end of the mile, I was soaked. I drank plenty of water.

The canopy walk was interesting. You climb a tower, and from there you get to walk across hanging bridges from platform to platform. Taman Negara has the longest hanging bridges in the world, on this canopy walk. When you look at it, it looks like a 'V'. Two thick ropes are strung at a level above the head, and a web-work of ropes hangs off them, holding a series of planks, about nine inches wide. Each step on the planks sets the bridge oscillating. Attempting to carry my camera and 300mm/f2.8 lens was very difficult, the shoulder mount would keep getting caught in the web-work. All the time, it feels like you are going to fall when the bridge fails.

However, when you reach the platforms the effort is worth it. Even though the birding was not great, you could see the circling eagles a bit better, and we also saw a red-eyed bulbul (pycnonotus brunneus) and a banded woodpecker (picus miniaceus). At times you'd be 100 feet off the ground, as we crossed a ravine. That was the longest bridge.

Photography in the jungle was next to impossible. Even at the widest aperture, there was not enough light to get a picture without a tripod. I was already carrying a lot of weight, and a tripod would be been unmanageable. This was quite a disappointment, as the jungle was exquisitely beautiful.

After completing the canopy walk, I went back to my room. I changed clothes (the sweat made these days two outfit days), and went to a floating restaurant across the river from the resort. The food was uninspired, a boiled chicken soup. However, I decided to try a new soda, Sarsi. This is a sasparilla soda that was quite common in Malaysia, and I liked the taste. I did not see in any other country.

I wanted to do some more jungle exploration that afternoon, but jet lag took a hold of me, and I fell asleep, again. The afternoon "nap" ended at 5PM, way too late to do much hiking. Sunset was around 6PM, and there is not much twilight in the jungle. So, I went down to the activity areas. Here, I saw my first monkeys, long tailed macaques. These monkeys are about the size of a four year old human child, and are quite active. I watched as one monkey stole a bag of popcorn from a spectator, and another monkey did some dumpster diving.

This is actually very bad for both the monkeys and the people. The monkeys have become accustomed to human food, and even demand it from people. Twice, I had monkeys barring their teeth at me, and one actually chased me when I was in Bako. It is rather like the behavior of bears in Yosemite, they become trained to think of humans (and red Hondas) as sources of food. Only difference, a monkey can't rip open a car like a tin can.

Dinner was back to the buffet, the only game in town. They did add a fried ice cream desert, which was tasty. Same price. Not quite high food value compared to the rest of the trip.

I barely got back to my cabin in time that evening, as a thunderstorm developed. I heard it start as I closed my door, and it passed directly over the resort. It was as loud as the thunderstorms I remembered from my youth, with flash/thunder separations of less than one second, so it was very close! When the rain began, it pounded on the roof so loud that it drowned out the sound of the air conditioner. It was to this music that I fell to sleep.

The morning was cooler, with a crisp scent to the air. I observed a lesser racket-tailed drongo (dicrurus remifer) and many magpie robins (copsychus saularis). I was up with the sun, and very few people are awake at that time. I was determined to beat the jet lag, so I planned a very full day of activity.

One problem I noticed, that dogged me in the jungle, was condensation. This was first noticed in my hotel in Kuala Lumpur; the luggage had been kept cool in the airplane for 20 hours on the flight, and when it entered the hot, humid air of Malaysia, naturally, the moisture condensed on the cool surfaces. This was particularly frustrating with the camera gear, as water would condense on the glass surfaces, and threaten to distort images. A lot of lens cleaner was used to keep my images sharp.

That morning I decided to set out on a moderately long walk, up Bukit Teresesk, and around to the Tembeling river, and back to camp. It looked to be about 3-4 miles, with some climbing. I started out, and took the fork for the hill; it was a bit more steep than I had imagined. Before the climb, though, I saw and photographed an olive-backed sunbird (nectarinia jugularis). Instead of cutting switchbacks for climbing, the trail went straight up the side of a 45 degree mud slope. You used ropes to pull yourself up the side of the hill, and again used ropes to steady yourself on the descent. Interestingly, the branches of the trees tend to grow on the surface, and they can retard the erosion of the mud. This can create, in many places, a step-like effect, and with the ropes, I maintained my balance for the entire trek.

Total climb in half a mile was around 1000 feet; every now and then the trail would take a short breather before climbing even higher. The jungle canopy was thick, so there wasn't much to see here. At one point, it opened up to look down on a part of the resort. A nice, if hazy, view. Climbing down was worse than climbing up. It is here that I suspect I got my one, and only, leech of the trip. I found it affixed to my shoulder, though my shirt. (The blood stain did not come out after three washings.) That leech is no more.

After climbing down and back on the level jungle areas, one needed to cross several streams. These streams cut canyons in the mud, ten to twenty feet deep, and since the rains came the night before, the streams were running fast. One descended the canyon wall, forded the stream at any likely crossing, and ascended the far side. What other options did one have?

The three miles took three hours, and at the end I was as exhausted as if I'd just taken an eight mile hike in the Sierras. Plus, I was filthy, covered with mud and sweat.

After a quick lunch, I was to take a boat trip to a waterfall. The main purpose of the boat trip wasn't to see the falls, but to see the wildlife on the banks of the river. To that purpose, I tried to arrange to have the boatmen float the boat down river, instead of running the motor. On the trip upriver, the motor was needed, and I saw orang asli, some white faced gibbons, and a lemur. The waterfall was OK, more of a cascade than a major falls.

I met my first American at these waterfalls, Barbie Simmons. She had been traveling for over a year, and had a lot of interesting stories to tell. I met up with her again back at the resort, and after looking at a lizard, we ended up chatting through another thunderstorm until dinner time. I had hoped we'd be able to meet up in Singapore, but our schedules didn't mesh.

Floating down the river was nice. I saw more kingfishers, but the real highlight was a lesser fishing eagle (ichthyophaga nana). This bird would silently skim the surface of the water, quiet as an owl, looking for fish. It would then ascend to a branch to eat its latest catch. I saw this eagle on three separate occasions.

Alas, just before the point where I saw the lemur, the boatsman turned the motor back on, despite my requests to keep floating. "Must get back in time" was the answer I received to my query. I came across the usual rip-off; instead of doing what I thought I had paid for, they had a separate agenda. At least it wasn't as bad as one story I heard, the boat took these two women one way, for rm$80, and at the destination, they were told to come back it would be an additional rm$200. For many of the people there, we're not guests, we're wallets. I was also upset at the relative lack of knowledge of the park rangers. I want to identify an animal, and I describe it, or I point it out, and the answer is, "Oh, that's a bird." I'd ask where one might go to see a certain type of animal, and the answer would be "the park" or "I don't know." These are the park's caretakers, you'd think they'd have more knowledge about the park, and have more interest in learning about the park they care for.

On getting back, I saw a monitor lizard. A crew from National Geographic were photographing the lizard for the travel magazine, and I met up with Barbie again by the lizard. The monitor was about four feet long, and ponderous. It was eating plants and grass, and generally paid us no mind as we photographed it. If we got within about four feet, it moved away, but six feet was safe, and with a good telephoto lens, pictures were easy.

Listening to the prayers broadcast from the mosque was interesting. I don't speak the language, but the sound was definitely mournful.

Dinner was back at the buffet. Yawn. The night passed too quickly, I woke at 4AM and watched a sambar deer outside my cabin. It was my last night at Taman Negara, I had to leave at 9AM. A last breakfast, and I arranged to get some luggage down to the boat. In the 60 hours or so while I was there, the river rose three meters. In the rainy season (which was just starting) it can rise fifty meters or more. The Wards and Gordons were in a different boat this time. I did see another American girl, this one about 6'2", college aged. She was on the boat with me, but I didn't get the chance to speak with her there.

The boat trip back started OK, but it quickly became a disaster. While on the river, another thunderstorm came, and dumped several inches of rain; it was an open boat. I feared we might swamp, and I did get drenched to the bone, as did a lot of luggage. Any thoughts of photography, or even viewing the river, were quickly lost as we all huddled down to stay as dry as we could. It was not a pleasant boat ride, as the deluge stayed with us for much of the trip. Back at the Tembeling dock, it had stopped, and we managed to get unloaded.

Coming back at the same time was a group of students from the International School south of Kuala Lumpur, they also got soaked. The dock area was packed with people, waiting for busses, and waiting to dry. I had another Sarsi, and waited for my bus. This time, the wait was not long (coming in, we waited two hours for the boat). An hour later, we were on the road for Kuala Lumpur. Instead of four hours, though, this time it took six. It was three and a half hours to the city limits, but it was another two and a half hours to the hotel. Most of the time was spent just sitting in paralyzed city traffic.

The drive was tiring. I had a quick dinner of satay and nasi goreng in the hotel restaurant. I tried to walk around outside, but the area was packed with people. On re-entering my hotel, I ran into that American girl from the boat, she was lost, looking for the Backpackers' Inn, which was next door to the Swiss Inn. I pointed her in the right direction.

The next morning I was leaving for Kuching, and had to be met at the hotel at 7AM. I had an Air Malaysia domestic flight; this was quick, but I had to pay an excess baggage fee of rm$79. This was my biggest purchase in Malaysia; shipping my camera and luggage to Borneo.

Kuching is on Borneo, in the province of Sarawak. Interestingly, I needed to pass through immigration again, to enter Sarawak, the visa is valid for only 30 days, as opposed to 90 days in peninsular Malaysia. I was met at the airport, and was driven to the boat for Bako national park.

Kuching is Malaysian for "cat", so the city is also known as the cat city. There is a cat museum, that I'd like to have seen. Alas, I didn't have time. Kuching airport is interesting, it is almost entirely open-air, with only a few areas kept air conditioned. It is very spacious, though, and has good circulation, so it doesn't feel hot.

I had to take another boat to reach Bako national park. Bako is pristine rain forest on the coast of the South China Sea, and to reach it, the boat leaves the Bako fishing village and skirts the coast. We arrived there just after noon, and that's when the office is closed for lunch. Still; my boatsman found the registrar, and I was checked into a guest house. This was very primitive accommodation, the room had three bed frames and five mattresses. I had to make the bed; I used the others to store my gear. The only cooling was a fan, that was fairly noisy. The bathroom was outside; the floor of the bathroom was rather vile, and the water was brown. I purchased some sandals to keep my feet off the floor. Yeesh.

I wasn't at the park to enjoy the accommodations, I was there to see the wildlife, so after settling in, I set off on a hike to see if I could see the probiscus monkeys. There were two areas where they are likely to be seen, and I went to the first. Most of the trail was flat, but at the end, one needed to climb. Again, instead of switchbacks, there was a rope, and there were ladders in places. Economy of distance? I enjoyed the hike, but didn't see any monkeys. I did see a hermit crab, that was reminiscent of my pet crab when I was a child. I then ventured and explored the beach, and I saw the sunset into the South China Sea. The beach is a beautiful white sand beach that gently slopes into the sea. You could walk out at least one hundred feet, and keep your head above water, that's how gentle the slope is.

Before going for dinner, I saw a bearded pig outside my cabin. Dinner was uneventful, the park canteen just serves basic noodle and rice dishes, nothing more. No diet sodas, either, but I was already getting used to that. On the flight, I was given a copy of the Borneo Times, and since there was an article in there about UCLA firing Jim Harrick, I tore it out and wrote a letter to Matthew Merzbacher, pointing out that it made the news in Borneo. I also wrote my last postcards from Malaysia. Turns out, there is no post office in Bako, so I ended up mailing these a few days later from Brunei.

I slept reasonably well. Better than I expected, given the circumstances. I woke very early the next morning, so I could go hiking before breakfast. This I did, I went out on a platform walk, where I did get to see the probiscus monkeys. They are very shy, and were visible only in the distance. They are related to the orangutans, and have the same bright orange fur. The males have large "Mr. Magoo" noses, that is where the species gets its name. I managed to get a few pictures of them, at a great distance. They came out OK, and I'm trying to get a cropped enlargement.

After watching those monkeys play, I hiked in the jungle for a bit before getting hungry, so I then hiked back. On the platform, I saw some silver-back monkeys. These are about the same size as the long tailed macaques, but are much less aggressive, and, in my opinion, a bit more attractive. They watched me, and then started to move along the path in front of me. I followed, then heard something to my rear. More of the party was following behind me. They were wary of me, but not terrified. I was respectful of them, and we walked down the path together for a few hundred feet before the ones behind me ran past, and the rest of the party went into the woods. They were mainly black and silver in color, except for the infant monkey that was dull orange. This was perhaps the highlight of the day for me.

Lunch was back at the canteen, then I hiked my way to an overlook over the park's main visitor area. Overlook is a misnomer; while it may have been an overlook years ago, now it had become a hill, blocked by the jungle vegetation. The climb was tough, too, since it was all at the end, and even steeper than previous trails. There were some probiscus monkeys in this area, too, but the highlight was a second lesser racket-tailed drongo that I attempted to photograph. Alas, not enough light, the photo was a blurry failure. Damn.

In the afternoon, I explored the area around the campsite, looking for monitor lizards. Apparently, they can grow to six feet there, but I didn't find any. I was also looking for a bearded pig to photograph. Again, I struck out. So, I hung out at the canteen, and chatted with an Austrian who was visiting the park. Small talk, I don't remember much about what was said. More noodles for dinner. The bearded pig showed up after dinner, and I got a poor photograph. The long tailed macaques showed up almost continuously.

The other cabin was occupied that day by a party of Malaysians, who looked to be late teens, or early 20's. They stayed up late as I went to sleep early. I woke at 3AM, and found they were still playing scrabble in the kitchen. When I woke permanently at 5, one was still awake. I showered in the cold brown water, and prepared for my 7:30AM departure. I went walking just after sunrise, and had my best wildlife sighting of the trip: a civet. This is a large, wild cat, bigger than a bobcat. He was perched on the top of a telephone pole, looking down at me. I looked at him. We stood off for a minute or so, then he moved away. I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't photograph it. It was an amazing sight, though.

I did see more probiscus monkeys, too. And more long tailed macaques. In less than a week, I grew to dislike them. The previous night, when I wanted to go from the canteen to my cabin, one blocked my path for a while and tried to chase me back into the canteen! I went around him. Or her.

The night sky was spectacular. It was clear, and you could see more stars than I've seen since I was at Ayers' Rock.

Since it was low tide, I had to catch the boat out on the beach. The sea was at least 300 feet further away than at high tide, so we had a long way to lug my luggage. I also gave my ankle quite a severe whack when I got on the boat, it is still hurting now. The boat ride back was uneventful, I was met at the dock by my driver, who whisked me to the airport for my flight to Brunei. Excess luggage was rm$109 this time.

Next Stop!