Singapore Adventure: Borneo!

One of the less well-known travel destinations in Southeast Asia is the Eastern part of Malaysia. Malaysia is situated on both sides of the Strait of Singapore with its capital Kuala Lumpur and more than 75% of its total population living in “peninsular Malaysia”, the Southeastern part of mainland Asia. The Eastern part of Malaysia then is situated on the third largest island of the world – Borneo. Borneo is also the only island that has three countries on its surface: Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The southern part of Borneo-Malaysia then is located around the multicultural city of Kuching – the destination of one weekend travel adventure for Ana and Simon.

Borneo is not only the third largest island in the world but also contains the oldest still-existing rain forest. This is home for populations of the Orang-Utans, besides Chimpanzees and Gorillas they are the closest relative of the human in the animal kingdom. Close to Kuching is a wildlife reservation for these Orang-Utans that are endangered by the excessive use of their habitat by humans and this is one of the main draws for visitors. Ana and Simon went there on an early Saturday morning with their own Malaysian tour guide. The reservation has two feeding hours per day and when you are lucky, the visitor can see up to 10 different Orang-Utans coming for bananas, pineapples or carrots. The sight of the Forest People (literal translation of the name Orang-Utan) is quite impressive. They are very gracious and athletic, moving from one tree to another or also just climbing up and down on one trunk. Ana and Simon took many pictures and it is probably best to let the pictures speak.

The facial expressions of the Orang-Utans and their social behaviors among each others really resemble humans. Their arms are much longer in relation to their body and they can also grab onto trees or branches with their feed, effectively they have 4 hands. You may also see one of the Orang-Utans hanging down from one branch with its two feet grabbed firmly around the tree and eating a banana hanging upside down; impressive. There were also a number of baby Orang-Utans that would hold tightly to their mothers and be pretty ok with any movement from one side of the jungle to the other.

Another stop on Ana and Simon’s tour of Borneo were the long-houses. These places are inhabited by the original people of Borneo and are basically houses about 2 m above the ground on long palisades to prevent animals or occasional floods to enter the living area that are joined to each other and thus may form a row of houses a few hundred meters long. Ana and Simon imagined these houses to be a bit more rustic as in fact, the “benefits” of civilization (esp. TV and beer) had already made their way through the jungle. It looked a little less remarkable. However, the drive to the long houses was a scenic ride and their guide would show them a pepper plantation on the way – quite nice to see where the pepper comes from!

Raw pepper

And processed

A creek in the jungle where most of the longhouses were located

While Ana and Simon were only in Kuching and surroundings for a bit more than 36 hours, they quite enjoyed the relaxed and multicultural vibe of the capital of Sarawak (the Malaysian state). Interestingly enough, Kuching and Sarawak were part of a “private kingdom” until World War II that was founded by the British adventurer James Brooke in the 1800s and run as a monarchy of the so-called “White Rajahs”. Only after World War II, it was governed as a part of the British Malay colony and gained independence in the 1960s. Kuching had a great history as a trading port with a lot of Chinese influence. Besides the Malay population, there are also a lot of indigenous people from Borneo living there. While Malaysia is a primarily Muslim country, Kuching has a number of Chinese temples and Christian churches and while this may be reason for troubles in many parts of the world, it creates diversity with a laid-back charm that Ana and Simon found unique in their Southeast Asian travel adventures. They enjoyed delicious seafood in one of the hawker centers, beers on the promenade at a Lebanese restaurant and they even listen to Un Canto a Galicia from Julio Iglesias (Galician music!!!) in one of the colonial bars.