Christmas 2011: Palawan

"Maligayang Pasko", or Merry Christmas, from Palawan in The Philippines! 


Technically it's not our first Christmas abroad, but it is our first time spending the Holidays, well, on holiday! This year we went all tropical, trading in the fireside for the seaside, Christmas trees for palm trees and stockings for... well, actually we still had stockings... It was a nice change from the norm though. I'm sure every Christmas we'll spend for the rest of our lives will all be from the same mould, just like every Christmas we've celebrated thus far. So this will be a nice memory that we'll always have; the year we spent Christmas on the beach.

We flew out from HK to Manila on the 22nd, but we almost didn't make it... there's always something! We checked in online, got to the airport in plenty of time, went through immigration, baggage checks, grand, everything was fine, until we went to board the plane. Even though we had checked in online, apparently we still needed to check in at the desk... (it makes absolutely no sense...) and they said they couldn't let us on board! And nobody had thought to tell us this at any point before we got to the actual doors of the plane! In the end, we had to use our Irish charm and play the "we didn't know" card (we really didn't know! we still don't!) and thankfully they let us away with it. It was almost the worst Christmas ever...


We spent the night in Manila and got a few hours sleep in a cheap guesthouse nearby, as we were late in and early out the next morning, this time flying to Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan. Our travelling wasn't over yet though! As soon as we landed, we were off on a 5 hour bus journey up north to El Nido, finally arriving almost a full day after we left Hong Kong. Phew!

El Nido would be our home for the next four days, staying in a lovely little set of cottages called Treetops. On our first day, Christmas Eve, we went to a nice, quiet beach nearby called Las Cabanas. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves and the sun held out for most of the afternoon thankfully, so we decided to head back there again the next day for Christmas!

Hmmm... I know what you're thinking - where have I seen that picture before...? Oh, I don't know, maybe page 9 of Cork's Evening Echo! December 29th! Bamm! Famous! 


It was funny reading through the article actually. We got a pretty big picture too (compared to those other losers at the bottom...). We weren't exactly in keeping with the other stories either. It talks about these poor students, forced to leave the country to make a living abroad, setting sail from Irish shores to find work... and then there's us frolicking on a beach! No recession here!!


And so, we had a lovely Christmas morning on the beach, exchanging presents and working on our tans. Sure what else would you be doing!? After lunch, we got a tricycle to some hot springs that we had heard about. It was a bumpy 30 minute ride and then a trek through a forest. The amount of crap we had to go through to get there though... and not in terms of hassle, I mean we literally had to wade through tonnes of crap!

Well, it didn't matter we thought, we can have a grand old soak in the hot springs and freshen ourselves up a bit. How wrong we were. The water was absolutely boiling! And I don't mean 'a bit too hot', I mean actually boiling. We should've brought a couple of bags of rice along with us, we could have at least had a meal for ourselves! This was meant to be our plan for the evening, maybe spend an hour soaking in the water, wash the sand out of our pores. In the end we just spent about 10 minutes standing there, looking at it. It was all we could do.

I don't even know why it's a tourist attraction...


That evening we had a lovely Christmas buffet dinner in Treetops, not exactly traditional but still lovely - spaghetti bolognese, noodles, rice, veg, roast pork... There were only two other people staying there besides us, so there was far too much food to go around. The staff had decorated the place up all Christmassy as well, and even gave us all little presents. They really couldn't have been nicer to us during our stay there, especially considering it was the Christmas holidays and I'm sure there were plenty of other places they'd rather have been. All in all, a very unorthodox, but still quite an enjoyable Christmas day.

On St. Stephen's Day (or Boxing Day, if you're into that kind of thing...), we decided to get active again and spent the day island hopping around Bacuit Bay. We had a great old time, travelling around to various beaches and lagoons with a group of Irish, English, Scots, Swedes and Estonians.

Our first stop of the day was to the Secret Lagoon - a sunlit pool, completely surrounded by rocky cliffs and only accessible through a small opening in the rock face.

It was a really beautiful place, and after a quick paddle around, we stopped for food along a nice, quiet beach. 


We hit up another few spots after lunch, the Big Lagoon (as featured in the latest series of Survivor France, apparently) and Seven Commando Beach, where we relaxed with a few drinks, a lovely way to round off the day.

And that was all for El Nido. The next morning we were back off down the road to Puerto Princesa. We were only in town for a day and a half as there was really only one thing we wanted to see - The Puerto Princesa Underground River, recently voted one of the new "Seven Natural Wonders of the World"! It's not every day that you see one of the natural wonders of the world, so on occasions like this, you need to take as many pictures as you can, and don't do anything stupid like forgetting your SD card... 

Yeah, I forgot my SD card. I couldn't believe it. I was inconsolable when I realised. My camera was effectively useless for the day, just a fancy paperweight. And I didn't even need to weigh down any paper, so it was doubly useless!


As I couldn't take any pictures for the day, I felt a bit torn - part of me, obviously, hoped it would be brilliant, truly a wonder of the world, and yet there was another part that secretly thought, actually I hope it's not that good, just so I don't miss out on some amazing photos. Fortunately (or should it be unfortunately...?), it wasn't that great at all! Phew! The picture above of the cave entrance (which I obviously just found online) isn't really that special, and that was about as good as it got! The cave itself was pretty mediocre too, especially compared to the ones we had seen in Borneo.

Looking at the list of nominees, I have no idea how it beat out places like the Grand Canyon or the Great Barrier Reef to become one of the seven natural wonders. Even the Cliffs of Moher are a more worthy winner!

Also, considering we left our hostel at half eight and didn't get back again til after six, it certainly isn't worth spending an entire day just for a 45 minute boat ride through a less than impressive, badly-lit cave. Maybe if you happened to live next door to the cave, then I'd recommend taking a look inside, otherwise, don't waste your time. That was all we did really in Puerto Princesa. The next day we flew up to our final stop, Coron, on the island of Busuanga. 


Being honest, we were two thirds of the way through our holiday and I was a bit disappointed. Yeah, El Nido and Puerto Princesa were nice, but (and I don't mean to sound arrogant or snobbish) we've seen so much of South East Asia, so many incredible sights, that "nice" just doesn't cut it anymore. This holiday was rather unfortunately lagging way behind our other trips away and then, out of nowhere, Coron came along and firmly put The Philippines back on the map!

It was paradise. The town of Coron itself was nice, just a small, seaside town, but it was the outlying islands, the dive spots, the beaches and the lagoons that really made the place so special.


We flew in from Puerto Princesa and were collected at the airport by our accommodation, the Coron Village Lodge. I had made the booking myself, and so I knew there'd be someone at the arrivals area with my name on a board. I know it's just a little thing but I was all excited!

Yep, there I am, Marko Liary... 


And the thing is, I made the booking online. I mean I could understand if they got my name wrong over the phone. On the ride in from the airport, we met the nicest French family too. Unfortunately they were staying somewhere else, but we did bump into them a couple more times over the next few days. 


We had signed up for a tour package, so it was nice to know everything would be taken care for us for our stay here. As soon as we arrived and got settled, we were whisked off to Mt. Tapyas, where we made the steep climb up to the top just in time for sunset. The views over the town and harbour were really lovely.

And our day wasn't done yet. After sunset we were taken to the Makinit Hot Springs. We were dreading that they'd be the same as the ones in El Nido, but they were really beautiful. They were just like a really warm outdoor swimming pool, and all nicely decorated too with trees and nightlights all around. So, we relaxed for the evening with a nice dip under the moonlight (and starlight).

The next morning, we got up for an action-packed day of activities. First off, (after our boat eventually started) we went to the Siete Pecados, or the "Seven Sins", a group of seven small, rocky islands - a great diving spot with beautiful fish and coral.

Next it was onto the Twin Lagoons, where we had a nice swim around. The lagoons are made up of warm sea water and cool fresh water from the hills, so it was a strange sensation swimming around, going from pocket to pocket of hot and cold water. And just look at the colour!

We then stopped for lunch (and another swim) along Atwayan Beach. Sorry, I'm skipping from place to place so quickly, but there isn't a whole lot to say of interest about each one, and I want to show as many pictures as I can!

We did another spot of snorkeling and fish feeding, before ending our day in Kayangan Lake. We had some bread and rice to feed them with, and as soon as you produced it, you were surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of zebra fish, angel fish and countless others that I don't know the name of. It was like being in the middle of Finding Nemo.

That evening we took a stroll down into the town centre to watch a mini parade. All the tricycles were decked out in Christmas lights and decorations, and were driving around the town, waving and throwing out sweets. It was actually really fun!

We went shopping in the street markets too, and got some great bargains for ourselves! Things are ridiculously cheap here! I got a pair of flip-flops for €2, a t-shirt for €5, and all good quality ones too. And this was without even haggling!

The next day and our last, we had another activity-filled day. Our first stop was Lusong, to go snorkeling around a Japanese shipwreck from WWII, which was an amazing experience. The ship is now just part of the underwater scenery, encrusted with coral and home to countless numbers of tropical fish.

We also went snorkeling later on in the afternoon in the Coral Garden, another lovely coral area with giant clams and tiny jellyfish.

We spent most of the day though in a place called Pass Island, not a very exotic name, but it's the nicest island we've ever been (not including Ireland, obviously). Forget all I've said in previous blogs about beautiful beaches, I didn't know what I was talking about back then. Ko Phi Phi, Ko Tao - don't bother with them anymore, all piles of crap compared to this place!

Palm trees, warm turquoise, yet perfectly clear water, a spotless white, sandy beach - and I mean a big proper beach, not just a tiny little strip of sand - it's the perfect desert island to find yourself stranded on! It's only small too, maybe about two acres, and there's even a nice little hill with a lookout point. If I ever become a millionaire, I'll definitely buy the place.

We made a video diary here too (of course, it was the perfect place). Even if you don't to want hear us blabbering on about the holiday, have a look just to see the place.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xei4UlWxL20


That evening, seeing as it was New Year's Eve, we went back down into the town centre to see what kind of celebrations they'd have. We weren't expecting much really seeing as it's only a small place, a countdown, maybe a few fireworks, but we were pleasantly surprised! They had a great big fireworks show, and good fireworks too!

No countdown though... that's two years in a row now that we haven't had a new year's countdown!


And so, just like 2011 our time had also come to an end. The next morning we flew back to Manila and back home to HK. So, after a nice but unspectacular start to the holiday, Coron came in at the death to save the day. Even though we've only seen very little of it, The Philippines seems like a lovely country, and the people are among the nicest we've met anywhere, so hopefully we'll come back here again some time and see a bit more of the place.

As for now, it's the 19th of January and we're flying out tonight to spend the Chinese New Year in Myanmar (it's a tough life...). And so, that'll be the next blog entry in a few weeks time. Until then, peace out for now!

Weekends in China - Shenzhen & Guangzhou

Welcome to a pre-Christmas, bonus entry of the blog! Since our summer travels, we've been working hard - inspiring a generation of young Hong Kongers - but we have treated ourselves to a couple of weekends away up in the mainland. Firstly, Shenzhen, and then Guangzhou, two cities in the south of China, and strangely enough, after almost a year in HK, our first journeys across the border. So I guess technically... new country!

Our first venture up north was to Shenzhen in late October, a city just over the HK border, so less than an hour and a half from our front door. Although, it ended up taking us quite a bit longer...

You see, even though we're Hong Kong residents, you still need a visa to travel to the mainland, a visa that I had (because I'm so good and organised) but Aisling didn't. We had read online that there was a chance you could get a special temporary visa at the border if you're only going to Shenzhen, so we said we'd risk it. Alas, at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing, we were embarrassingly turned away at the immigration desk and had to do a walk of shame back into HK. Our weekend away had ended before it had even begun! We were told though, by a very helpful worker, that we might be able to get one at the other crossing point, about ten minutes down the road in Lo Wu. And he was right! Our Chinese weekend was back on track!

We only had like a day and a half here, so we just looked up a couple of things to visit - Window of the World and Splendid China - two miniature theme parks. The former with wonders from around the world - mini Leaning Tower, mini Statue of Liberty etc. and the latter with all of China's landmarks - mini Great Wall, mini Terracotta Warriors and all that kind of thing. They both just happened to be down the road from each other too, and we found a lovely and cheap hotel nearby, so we really had to do very little travelling all weekend. In the end, we may have only seen a small part of Shenzhen, but we saw so much of the world!

So, the first day after we arrived and got settled, we headed straight to Window of the World. And I've got to say, we loved the place! Yes, it was tacky and some of the miniatures were pretty poor, but we had a brilliant time! It's a great idea I think, as most people won't get a chance to see these places in the flesh. If it was done a bit better and given a bit more space, it could be excellent. We still had a laugh though (and got some amount of photos for the Frankie album too!).

The next day we went to Splendid China. As I said, it was pretty much the same thing again, just with Chinese landmarks. We didn't even recognise most of them, but it was still fun! And probably better laid out than Window of the World. It gave us a few places to note too when we do eventually make it up to see the rest of China. And spending the weekend walking around these miniature theme parks, not only made us feel like giants...

But also made Frankie look life sized!

In Splendid China, there was also a cultural village where you could see different Chinese practices and ways of life. It was mildly interesting, but we did go to see an ancient battle reenactment on horseback, which was pretty entertaining. Most of the entertainment came from what went wrong rather than what went right, but it was still good fun.

And here's a brief video diary from our time in Shenzhen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnTd14v6Ddo

Our next Chinese outing was in November, a tiny bit further afield this time, with a two hour train ride to Guangzhou. We had a more chilled-out weekend this time, just strolling around the city and visiting some nice parks and temples. Our first stop was the Canton Tower - the second tallest tower in the world. Guangzhou is a really beautiful city, so it was nice to look over it from 1,500 feet up.

We arrived there in the late afternoon, so just in time to check out the views by daylight, and after that enjoyed a nice stroll along the riverside, to see everything all lit up at night.

The next morning, we headed to Shamian Island, which was probably the highlight of the trip for me. It was nothing like we had seen before on this side of the world. It was just so... European! No surprise then that the island was a 19th century trading hub for European merchants in China. Even though the surroundings were so familiar to us, it felt so out of place! Nice, quiet cobbled streets, pillars, statues, churches - we really could have been anywhere from Madrid to Moscow!

Well, except for all the Asians...

Actually, speaking of which, there weren't just regular Asians roaming the streets of Shamian Island that day, but endless waves of Asian brides and grooms! I don't know where they all came from! Did they all just happen to get married at the same time? Did they just come here to get their pictures taken? Who knows! I'm not complaining though, it all added to the classic atmosphere of the place.

After lunch, we spent the rest of the evening strolling around the city, visiting the Sun Yat Sen Memorial, Guangxiao Temple and Liurong Temple (aka The Temple of Six Banyan Trees). They were all stunningly beautiful and really well maintained and preserved, but my favourite was probably Liurong Temple. It was kinda hard to find, but definitely worth the effort. I just love the look of the old style Chinese tiered pagodas.

Guangxiao Temple had a great ambiance to it as well, and there were even monks chanting away inside as we walked along. Here's a video if you're interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhMyyDYcSjA

We forgot to make a proper video diary for our stay in Guangzhou, and we did intend to. We even have an introductory video from the train station before we left HK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yZu13xpS-Y

So that's all there is. We're completely up to date now, and just in time as we fly out to the Philippines tomorrow night! Thanks for reading everyone and we'll see you all in the new year! :)

Summer 2011 - 7th Stop: Miri

And so, we face the final curtain. Our summer adventure has come to an end, but we'll always look back on this trip with many fond memories. We've walked along volcanic craters and lush rice terraces, seen ancient temples and endangered animals, stood high above tropical rainforests and swam down below turquoise seas, and gone from bright, white beaches to deep, dark caves. Four weeks, three countries, two happy campers and one amazing holiday!

We had a pretty action-packed month away, so we would be forgiven for taking it easy in our final city, but Miri was actually one of our more adventurous destinations. We had three full days here before we flew back to HK, giving us plenty of time to see the city and its surroundings.

Actually, one thing about Malaysia, before I start, they have flags everywhere! No matter where you go in the country, you'll see hundreds of them - along the roadside, hanging from shops, houses, cars, in the cities, in the countryside, just all over the place! And not just national flags, provincial ones too. Malaysian Borneo is split between the provinces of Sabah and Sarawak. If you ever find yourself here and are not sure which side you're on, just look around, you'll be sure to see a flag.

Our first day here was just a nice, relaxing one really, so nothing much of note to report. We arrived in from Mulu on the morning of the 28th, and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening wandering around the city, having a laugh, and doing a bit of shopping too! We also looked up some info for our trip the next day to Lambir Hills National Park.

We arrived there early the next morning, in fact, we were the first ones there! We even had to open the gate! We thought it might be quite busy as it was high-season, so we made a special effort to beat the crowds, but the crowds never came! (They probably heard about the imminent beating they were going to get...) So, we had the whole forest to ourselves! It was lovely!

After about half an hour of walking, we came upon a beautiful waterfall, backed by a leafy, forest canopy. It was like we had stumbled across some undiscovered, jungle oasis.

Well, apart from the warning signs...

After a nice, refreshing dip, we continued on our way, up to the peak of Bukit Pantu.

Compared to some of the other national parks we've been to here in Borneo, Lambir Hills didn't match up in terms of wildlife, no orangutans or bats or lizards to speak of. One thing it did have though was ants. Millions upon millions of them! In a good way though! They weren't crawling all over us or anything, they were just going along on their merry way (or rather, their Miri way... hohoho!). I'm always fascinated by ants. They're always so organised! (How do they all know what to do?!) So, it was incredible to see so many here. Have a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7829vKNsDDA

Not only were there millions (possibly even billions) of these tiny ants, but there were also a few giant ones scurrying about the place. Thankfully, we never saw more than two or three of them at a time.

I'm pretty sure if these guys had an army of the same scale, they could easily take over the world...

Eventually, we made it up to the peak of Bukit Pintu, and lazed about up there for a while, taking in the foresty views all around. As you can see, it was a pretty hot day, so after our dip in the waterfall we just wandered about in our swimming togs. Sure why not?! The place wasn't exactly swarming with people. And even if it was, they'd be lucky to see a couple of hot bods like these!

After scaling the peaks, and making it back down to ground level, we headed back to the bus stop. We waited there for a good twenty or thirty minutes, with no sign of anything, but then two guys in a car pulled up offering us a lift to Miri. I guess looking back on it now, it seems a bit dodgy... but we said 'sure! why not?!', and jumped in. (In our defence though, our hostel owner had told us that drivers travelling to Miri often pick up passengers to make a bit of extra money in tips. In fact, the guy in the passenger seat turned out to be just some stranger too.)

The one thing spurring us on that morning, as we climbed up and down Lambir Hills, was the thought of Pizza Hut for dinner! There was one right by our hostel, and we had been talking about going there all day. We asked our mystery taxi driver to drop us off nearby, but when we got to the door, we were told the electricity was gone! What are the odds?! The mixture of hunger and disappointment was excruciating... We did end up going there the next evening though, after another day trip. This time to the Niah Caves.

Niah Caves are one of the most famous tourist destinations here in Miri, but considering that we had just seen a lifetime's worth of caves in Mulu a few days beforehand, we weren't really too sure. In the end, we decided to go anyway, and we're glad we did. We had a lovely day out. We arranged through our hostel for a driver to take us there, and he couldn't have been nicer. He even made us a packed lunch!

There was another nice jungle walk leading up, and the caves themselves were definitely worth seeing. It was a very different experience to that of Mulu, where we were guided around the artificially lit caves in big groups. Here, it was just you alone in the deep, deep darkness, armed with nothing more than a flashlight.

I'm sorry, but isn't that a great photo?! I don't want to sound immodest, bigging up my own work, but isn't it though?!

We journeyed our way through the long and winding cave passages, our torch not even strong enough to see the roof above us. It was exciting though! As you moved into the heart of the caves, without the torchlight there was nothing. Absolute darkness. All in all, the caves were very impressive. Less impressive though were the "cave paintings" we saw at the end of the trail. I use quotation marks as they were little more than smudges on the wall. You wouldn't even notice them if it wasn't for the signs. We were expecting little sketches of men with spears, chasing a yak or something, but this was just rubbish! Still, it didn't take away from the day.

And here's our final video diary to wrap things up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g73OdEmExZM

The next day we flew back to HK, which is where we are now! So, that's that, the end of our summer holidays, written and posted a week before we head away for Christmas in the Philippines! You can probably look forward to reading about that next Easter!

Until then...

Summer 2011 - 6th Stop: Kuching & Mulu

Kuching!!! It's fun to say, isn't it?! And so, onto the next destination in our Borneo travels. Regrettably, we only had a day and a half to spend here, but it was certainly worth the trip out west.

Having previously been to peninsular Malaysia last year (KL and Penang), this was our first time jetting around the other half of the country. We did really enjoy our time on the mainland, and admittedly we've only seen a very small piece of it, but Malaysian Borneo definitely gets our vote for the country's shining light. Sepilok gave us a beautiful introduction to the island's flora and fauna, but Kuching and Mulu really took it to the next level!

We arrived in Kuching late on August 24th, fit for bed and eager to rest up for our trek the next day through Bako National Park. Bako is unique in that it is home to seven different types of ecosystem, from dense rainforests to tropical beaches. From swampy marshlands to... four other types... I dunno, I'm not an ecologist!

After a bus journey to Bako Market, and then a rip-roaring speedboat ride down the estuary, we landed at the park headquarters. There, we found out that you could spend the night, which probably would've suited us better. Ah well, you live and learn! As things stood, we only really had about four and a half hours to wander around, which actually isn't much when you look at the size of the place (that's only like 40 minutes per ecosystem!). We still got to see quite a lot, although we could've easily spent another couple of days here.

There were various trails and climbs through the jungle for you to explore, some which even seemed to be carved out by nature itself - with bedrock and tree roots inter-twining to form natural ladders and walkways through the forest.

Then, as you journey out to the coast, you've got a number of secluded, sandy beaches, backed by the jungle. It was like something straight out of Lost.

The natural environment was obviously stunning, but the real highlights for us was the animal life on show, in particular, the proboscis monkeys! These guys are unbelievable! They don't even look real! Just check out that nose!

Have a look at one of them in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB7VyfpsSpg

Native to Borneo, they are, unfortunately, highly endangered, with only around 3,000 left on the island, and therefore, the world. Roughly 150 of those are in Bako National Park, so imagine our delight to see, not only one, but two on our brief visit! They're so strange to see in the flesh. They even make a funny honking noise which unfortunately you can't hear in the video...

Everyone was gathered round trying to get a good look at them. I kinda felt sorry for the common-as-muck macaques, desperately looking for attention, but alas, nobody was interested...

We returned to Kuching that evening for our first and last real night in the city. And it's a shame really, cause it's actually quite a nice place! And quite clean too, in terms of SE Asian standards anyway... We took a lovely stroll along the waterfront after dinner, which was all nicely lit up. It was just a generally nice place!

Loads of statues of cats too! That must be a 'thing' they have here...

The next morning we were up and off again. This time up to Gunung Mulu, another national park. And if we could've done with an extra day or two in Bako, then we definitely could've done with an extra week here! In the end, we only had two days, but we certainly made the most of our time. As soon as we dropped our bags, we were off on a trek up to, first of all Langs Cave, and then, Deer Cave - the world's largest cave passage.

Langs Cave (as seen above), was just your average cave really, stalagmites, stalactites, all that kind of lark, but Deer Cave was where things really got interesting! As I said previously, it's the biggest cave passage in the world, and not only that, it's also home to around 3 million bats, dangling from the roof above. You might want to bring an umbrella...

We walked along the passageway, through the heart of the cave, listening to the army of bats screeching overhead. It was an amazing thing to experience; the sights, the sounds, not so much the smells... well, what do you expect! We were just glad to escape without being on the receiving end of a guano shower!

The place even had a famous face at the entrance to greet you, from a certain angle anyway.

The cave interior and its inhabitants were definitely something to behold, but the best part was still to come. What's more impressive than 3 million bats inside a cave...? That's right, 3 million bats flying out of a cave!

Every evening before sunset, Deer Cave's entire bat population takes flight in a constant, hour-long stream in search of delicious insects, 30 tonnes of the stuff! Which means, not only an incredible ribbon of bats across the sky, but also a delightfully, mosquito-free environment for everyone else!

For a closer view of the bat exodus, take a look at our video diary! (It's at the end, keep reading!)

The next morning, we were up early and off again, ready for another productive day - first travelling downstream to Clearwater Cave and Cave of the Winds, which, although probably not as impressive as the previous day's caving, were still worth the trip.

And then, an afternoon stroll across rickety walkways, stretching high above the forest floor. There were a few shaky moments, and I'm sure these swaying rope-bridges have seen better days, but it was all part of the experience. We even got to see some squirrels, dragonflies, millipedes and one craftily camouflaged tree snake.

There were some amount of millipedes (possibly centipedes... I don't know!) around the place actually. And some of them were enormous! They were pretty disgusting, but in a strange way, you couldn't help looking at them...

As our final evening drew to a close, we remembered that we never made a video diary! And we were back from all of our excursions, so no more interesting backdrops. There was only one solution... to the bat cave!!! I know we had already been there the day before, but it was only a half an hour walk away (the things we do for our fans), and it was certainly worth seeing again. So, here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoJTY6SmoY&feature=feedu

The next morning, we were gone again. As I said before, we could've easily spent another week here in Mulu. After all, we didn't even get see its most famous attraction, The Pinnacles, which require a three day trek themselves. They look amazing though, like a giant stone forest, so definitely one for the future.

For now, it was off to our final destination, Miri.