Brunei

I was a stones throw from Brunei so I couldn't resist paying a visit to this rich little country out of curiosity and also to tick another country off my list. Thanks to the riches it has gained from oil and natural gas fields the Sultan of Brunei has long been one of the worlds richest men and the population enjoy free education, healthcare and subsidized food and housing, along with not having to pay income tax. Everything I had read about Brunei told me that a 2 day visit to the country was more than enough as there wasn't any tourist attractions to see but I thought I'd find that out for myself. Brunei certainly isn't  a cheap place to visit and taxi prices are very high so I thought what better way to explore than by foot. This would've been a great idea except that it was a very hot day and it was the middle of Ramadan, which I found out everybody must follow, including visitors, after walking for most of the day I was more than happy to return to my hotel room for a drink and a sneaky snack. I visited some very impressive mosques, the water village, museum and markets, it was certainly an interesting experience but I was happy to leave this quiet little Sultanate behind and return to the bright lights of Kuala Lumpur.

Borneo

I had quite enjoyed hanging out in Kuala Lumpur, but a week stuck in a city as a tourist was getting me down, what better way to find a little excitement than flying across to Borneo for a bit of jungle adventure while I waited for my bike. I arrived in the city of Kuching and was immediately surprised, I'm not sure what I expected, perhaps an underdeveloped town, what I found though was a well planned and well organized, neat and tidy little city. I stayed at Nomad hostel, which was a great decision, the place was full of character, as was the travelers I met while I was there. The staff were also great, especially David who worked behind the counter, although he was deaf communication was never an issue and his big, genuine smile would always seem to improve your day, no matter how good it already was. I set about exploring the laneways of the local Chinatown area with some of the friends I had made at the hostel and after visiting a few of the trendy cafes that were dotted around the place we eventually we ended up at a local wateringhole called the Monkey Bar. I was told that half the proceeds from the bar go towards Orangutan conservation so not only was I enjoying myself getting drunk but I felt as though I was doing it for a good cause. A little into the evening I accepted an offer to  join a group of friends on an overnight trip to Bako national park the next day. With a slight hangover we caught a small boat to the national park and arrived on a picture perfect beach full of monkeys , we soon set about exploring this little paradise and the walking tracks let us enjoy hours of jungle trekking. One of the main reasons I came to Bako was to see the proboscis monkeys and in the evening I wasn't disapointed with many of the strange looking monkeys filling up the trees along the beachfront. A guided evening walk introduced us to quite an array of insects, frogs and snakes, including a beautiful and photogenic green pit viper.

Kuching was a great place to visit and as always there was much more to do in the area that I didn't have time for but the real reason I came to Sarawak, Borneo was to visit the famous Mulu caves, I organized a flight with my new Dutch friend Jasper and we soon arrived at Mulu airport ready to explore.The expanse of cave systems in Mulu is mind boggling, it is famous for having the worlds largest cave entrance (Deer cave),  and the worlds largest natural chamber (Sarawak chamber), which is approximately 700m by 400m, with a mix of show and adventure caves my 3 day visit was going to be non stop. Deer cave is probably the most well known of  Mulu's caves, it is home to over 2 million bats from 20 different species and every evening in what is referred to as the "bat exodus" they leave the safety of the cave in search for food. Using the safety in numbers method, groups will circle around the cave entrance until they have enough bats in their group, then they leave the cave in huge swarms, some of which have hundreds of thousands of bats, its a very spectacular sight indeed! We visited some of the show caves and they were very impressive, showcasing the natural beauty of this underground wonderland but the highlight for me was the adventure caves, having to crawl through mud, squeeze through tight spaces and coming face to face with the creepy crawlies that live in the cave was pure excitement and I loved it.
Once again time and money weren't on my side, I could of quite happily spent another week exploring Mulu conservation park but I was happy with what I'd seen so it was time to say goodbye. I had initially intended to visit Sabah in the North East and hopefully climb Mount Kinabalu, Malaysias highest mountain, however it was closed due to a recent earthquake so I decided to make my way bake to Kuala Lumpur via the small Sultanate of Brunei.

 

Kuala Lumpur

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of my bike and decided to start exploring the city so when the bike arrived I would be ready to take off into the countryside. I must admit I am not the biggest fan of spending too much time visiting cities, although most capitals have there own style and tourist attractions, it seems one metropolis tends to blend into another in  a haze of crowded people, concrete, shopping malls, traffic and pollution. I based myself in Bukit Bitang (translated to Star Hill), this colourful area is the hub for tourists and backpackers looking for cheap accommodation, it boasts a mix of street food, western style restaurants/pubs/clubs, ladies offering dubious massages at reasonable prices and a string of colourful and at times nefarious looking characters. It was only a short walk from my modest hotel to jalan Alor, the street dedicated to local food and I found myself dining on the delicious but afforadable cuisine there most nights after a long day of sightseeing.
Between the train system, monorail and a little good old fashioned walking, Kuala Lumpur was an easy place to get around, I had soon visited China town, little India, central market, the botanical gardens and a number of temples that are spread throughout the city. Petronas Towers was one sight I had to see, the iconic building is probably KL's best known attraction and a visit to the 170m high sky bridge that linked the two towers was quite impressive. The observation deck on the 86th floor also didn't disappoint, the views over the city were amazing even if  I was feeling a little giddy from the height. KL birdpark was another attraction I wanted to tick off my list, as the worlds largest walk in free flight aviary the variety of birds was phenomenal, I spent a relaxing half  day strolling along the walking paths in absolute wonder at some of the amazing and beautiful birds on display.
I managed a visit to the famous Batu caves, with  its series of caves, many of which house temples, statues and shrines, Batu caves was another must see for my visit to KL. A 42m golden statue of the Hindu deity Murugan stands imposingly in front of the 272 steps that lead to the main temple of Murugan. As you ascend the steps you are soon greeted by curious monkeys that are more than happy to steal any food that is not well packed away. It was quite funny watching a tourist chasing a monkey to get back an orange that had been stolen only to have the monkey turn around and chase the tourist when it was sick of the game. Batu caves were impressive  and I enjoy visiting temples but it just seems as though there was a little too much neon in this place, which for me took away some of the magic that it offered.
My friend Ellyne advised me that I should pay a visit to the Islamic arts museum of Malaysia, I was in the mood to soak up a little culture so I decided to go along for a visit. The artifacts housed in the museum were amazing, bejeweled weapons with intricate designs that dated back hundreds of years, beautiful century old clothing  and examples of calligraphy that are as much a masterpiece as any painting hanging in a gallery. Spending half a day learning about such a vast history was a great way to spend the day, the museum was well worth the visit and was much better than my other option which was spending a few hours  watching a movie at the cinema.
I had enjoyed exploring KL but when the opportunity arose to head out of town to do some white water rafting I jumped at the chance. 2 of us jumped on the train to Kuala Kubu Bharu to join up with our rafting company and a group of locals. I have yet to have a bad rafting experience, everyone was in great spirits and we shared plenty of laughs as we made our way down the river. The river was barely a grade 3 at best so it wasn't a thrill packed, white knuckle ride all the way down but there were some decent rapids and drops, plus the company on the boat made it a great way to spend the day. When the rapids ended we jumped out of the raft and spent the last hour floating on our backs peacefully along the river, marveling at the jungle that surrounded us.
I had spent almost a week in KL and seen most of the tourist attraction, I was keen to do some travelling to quench my thirst for adventure and what better way than a week in Borneo... I booked my tickets and headed to the jungle

 

Good Bye Indonesia, Hello Malaysia

I had spent a lot longer in Indonesia than I had originally anticipated and although I had a great time and met many amazing people it was definitely time to move on to the next country and continue the adventure. Most people ship their bike to Malaysia from Medan, Sumatra but because I had made my Sumatra trip a return journey back to Java I decided to ship direct from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur to avoid back tracking the same roads. I knew the ride from Jogja to Jakarta would be a challenge for one day of riding, it was only 550km  but the traffic and road conditions meant that it was a 14 hour ride. The minute you get even remotely close to Jakarta the traffic comes to a standstill, the road was often that packed with cars and scooters that even weaving in and out of the traffic wasn’t an option. I was lucky to meet some local riders amongst the congestion and we took a little time out from the frustratiom of finding a way through the traffic to grab a coffee. These guys were kind enough to accompany me for the next 50 km (about 2 ½ hours) and I must admit the task of finding a path through the clutter of vehicles was a lot more bearable with the company.

I knew that the traffic would only get worse when I was in the city so I planned to stay the night in Bekasi, which was only 30km from Jakarta and do the ride into the city in the early hours of the morning. I hadn’t booked a hotel and by the time I had got into town it was 11pm and I was riding by myself again, I really wasn’t confident that I was going to find somewhere to stay. All of a sudden another local rider came up beside me at some traffic lights and asked to take a photo next to my bike. We talked for a while and I asked if there was any hotels in the area, he said he knew a cheap but good hotel and by the time we arrived 10 minute later a bunch of his motorbike friends there to greet me. This was a great example of the comradery that Indonesian riders share, we talked for a while and took a few photos before I headed up to my room to get some sleep before my 4am start the next day.

All my local friends had advised me to give Jakarta a miss on the motorbike and for good reason, the traffic is an absolute nightmare. Jakarta is the capital city of the worlds most populated island and with a population of around 29 million people in its surrounding areas it is an extremely congested city. The other thing that I found quite difficult to handle was the pollution, I was riding with my visor up because of the heat and at the end of the day my face was black with dirt and my skin broke out in a rash. Fortunately my GPS lead me to the office of my shipping agent without too much of a hassle and after a few hours of sorting out paperwork it was time to leave my baby in the hands of somebody else and for me to jump on a plane to Kuala Lumpur to do some exploring while I eagerly awaited my bikes arrival.