I think last time you heard from me, I was grizzling about how grim Malaysia was in comparison to the other places I've been. Well, it's seeming less grim now. It's still not as good as the other places I've been, but I'm growing more accustomed to it. Borneo is certainly much better. I think the main thing (apart from the predominantly horrendous food) is that Malaysia just feels so soulless after the other four. A bit like England in being so damn multicultural that it's lost so much of any national identity it had. I think if I was a foreign tourist visiting London or Edinburgh I'd feel the same - where are all the locals?! In Malaysia, it seems to be that the muslims run the politics, the Chinese run the economy, and everyone else fits in around that.
Anyway, since arriving on Borneo my plans have, well, not really been plans but more a following of my nose. The stop-off for getting to Borneo (Johor Bahru) was horrendous - the biggest shithole I've ever seen, and the guesthouse was the biggest shithole I've stayed in and I got food poisoning from the shithole restaurant and... Oh, it was just horrible. I then had to spend my first few days on Borneo taking it easy, which meant that I was soon getting grumpy in Kuching (which is actually dead nice and has a cat museum). I was feeling better, so on a complete whim at 9pm I decided to join a trip at 8am the next day to an Iban longhouse.
The Iban are one of Borneo's tribes and they live in a semi-communal dwelling. It's literally a long house divided into 2-room apartments and a communal 'veranda' down the length. The one I went to had 22 apartments and almost 100 people living in it. Myself and an elderly Swedish couple spent 4 days and 3 nights living with one couple, observing life in a longhouse and joining in where possible. It was so untouristy, it was brilliant. A PROPER homestay. I stayed another 3 day after the Swedes left. It was supposed to be 2, then the rain set in and the river was too high to take the boat down it for another day. I can't properly express how amazing an experience the Lalang longhouse was. The majority of the people there speak no English, but we had a really good laugh and they really opened up to me once the Swedes had left. I learned so much about their way of life, which is mainly spent harvesting rubber and a whole variety of fruit and plants from the forest around them. They are millionaires in food terms - if you're peckish on a walk, you pick fruit from the trees. You stuff your pockets with ferns for dinner later, catch a couple of fish, and if you're thirsty, chop open a vine or some bamboo for a drink. I saw them building boats, helped them weaving baskets, bathed in the river... It was very sad to leave.
Since then I've made on the spot decisions and worked my way up to Brunei, where I am just now. It's one of the smallest and wealthiest countries in the world and it's quite odd. Nothing to write home about (although I have just sent mum and dad a postcard), but there's some nice stuff to see for a day or two. It's a no-alcohol muslim sultanate with very British tinges and high prices. It's an oil-state and the only thing that's not expensive is petrol - 15p a litre. Even cheaper for diesel.
Tomorrow I head further north, back into Malaysian Borneo. I'll be going into the jungle again for 3 or 4 days - hopefully seeing orangutans - before climbing Mt Kinabalu. Then it's a couple of days in Singapore before jetting to Oz on 6 February. I can't believe it's come round so soon! I'm ready for it though. I've loved SE Asia, but it's time for a change and for some home comforts.
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