And that was...Kuching, Borneo, Malaysia
Today ends my Borneo expedition and indeed this years visit to Malaysia as its time to move on to another country, another culture. The Indonesian Island of Bali, should be there by 11.30pm and hopefully my Internet reservation holding firm! No direct public bus from Kuching to the airport but with a little effort a bus to the Kuching Sentral Interchange and from there the airport is about 15 minutes hiking, according to research. A taxi from Kuching downtown to the airport is fixed at just over ￡5, cheaper of course if guesthouse owner Frankie can sweet talk her friend (and handyman) into a favour. The ride costs ￡4 and is shared with another guest - ￡2 to avoid some hiking and sever sweating is a pretty good deal.
Time to kill before the 3pm flight to KL and onto Denpasar, so a hike round to the close by Kuching Sentral bus interchange which coincidently houses a giant shopping centre and food courts. Priority is the find a replacement power supply for the laptop - the original died just a few hours ago, after nearly 4 years of service! Plenty of computer stores in here, ￡20 for a compatible power supply, and it seems to work just fine. Better get back to the airport and complete the formalities.
Time to reflect as tea is once again served at 34,000 feet above the South China Sea. Kuching, a small city where the folk go about their business without any pretentious pandering to tourists. No pushy touts, no troublesome taxi drivers - a polite no thanks, they don't seem to bothered. Tourism is of course a means of income for many, and as such there is no shortage of souvenirs, tee shirts and pricy resin moulds, made in China! Not to mention those vastly overpriced tours - the chinese seem to be lapping it all up though, in their hundreds. Western tourists make up a tiny fraction of the visitors here, well, from what I have seen in 2 weeks anyway. Plenty of scope to skip the touristy stuff and go local in Kuching, a thoroughly enjoyable visit without denting the finances. They seem to have created something a relaxed vibe emanating from the waterfront through to the Chinese streets - very appealing indeed.
Today ends my Borneo expedition and indeed this years visit to Malaysia as its time to move on to another country, another culture. The Indonesian Island of Bali, should be there by 11.30pm and hopefully my Internet reservation holding firm! No direct public bus from Kuching to the airport but with a little effort a bus to the Kuching Sentral Interchange and from there the airport is about 15 minutes hiking, according to research. A taxi from Kuching downtown to the airport is fixed at just over ￡5, cheaper of course if guesthouse owner Frankie can sweet talk her friend (and handyman) into a favour. The ride costs ￡4 and is shared with another guest - ￡2 to avoid some hiking and sever sweating is a pretty good deal.
Time to kill before the 3pm flight to KL and onto Denpasar, so a hike round to the close by Kuching Sentral bus interchange which coincidently houses a giant shopping centre and food courts. Priority is the find a replacement power supply for the laptop - the original died just a few hours ago, after nearly 4 years of service! Plenty of computer stores in here, ￡20 for a compatible power supply, and it seems to work just fine. Better get back to the airport and complete the formalities.
Time to reflect as tea is once again served at 34,000 feet above the South China Sea. Kuching, a small city where the folk go about their business without any pretentious pandering to tourists. No pushy touts, no troublesome taxi drivers - a polite no thanks, they don't seem to bothered. Tourism is of course a means of income for many, and as such there is no shortage of souvenirs, tee shirts and pricy resin moulds, made in China! Not to mention those vastly overpriced tours - the chinese seem to be lapping it all up though, in their hundreds. Western tourists make up a tiny fraction of the visitors here, well, from what I have seen in 2 weeks anyway. Plenty of scope to skip the touristy stuff and go local in Kuching, a thoroughly enjoyable visit without denting the finances. They seem to have created something a relaxed vibe emanating from the waterfront through to the Chinese streets - very appealing indeed.
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