Kuching to Miri
After one of the sweatiest, most uncomfortable nights of my life, we had breakfast and hightailed it into our dugout to head downstream. The river was very low and our guide and boat owner had to push us off sandbars and rocks many times but we finally got to the Hilton Batang Ai.
A nature walk there was almost as scary as hiking in the jungle with the Ibans. The naturalist kept telling everyone..."watch out for those hook-like thorns...they'll rip your skin off"....or ..."stay away from that hole...there could be a poisonous snake in it"... and the jungle trails were very narrow. Borneo is not a tame environment...and I was already scared *#*#**##! At times like these, I have to rethink the whole adventure scenario...
But we survived "another fine mess, you got us into Ollie" without having killer thorns rip us apart, returned to Kuching and caught an afternoon flight to Miri. Miri is a resort area and oil town on Sarawak's northwestern coast largely made up of natives, Malays, Chinese and expats. Lots of open air markets and an excellent place to purchase artefacts and souvenirs from many areas in the region.
A dinner had been arranged for us with some English-speaking Malays, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hii, to learn about local culture. Mrs. Hii cooked an overabundance of different foods for us (in case there was something we didn't like), and after dinner we overnighted at the Rihga Royal Hotel Miri.
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