Morning All
We left you with the news that we were flying to Guning Mulu National Park. The flight was 30 minutes from Miri and as we flew inland huge banks of clouds started building over the forest. As we descended all we could see out the windows was a few tree clad hills peaking up through the clouds. It was a bit worrying entering the clouds, knowing that we were already below some of the nearby hills. Then our little prop plane started getting a right old bumping & shaking until the pilot suddenly gunned the engine and went up again. After a second similarly aborted attempt at landing he announced that the cloud was down to the ground and we would have to circle until there was a break in the cloud. Ten minutes later a break appeared, and like a dueling fighter pilot he dived through the gap and headed for the air strip. As soon as the wheels were down he put on maximum air brakes and foot brake before doing a handbrake turn at the end of the runway. No wonder he'd wanted to see the runway, Linford Christie could probably cover it in 20 seconds!
That first afternoon absolutely poured down so we lazed around a bit and made plans for the next couple of days. It's the rainy season here but that was the first time we've had really consistent rain rather than a heavy but short afternoon shower.
We spent the next couple of days doing short treks and river journeys through the national park. These included a forest trail to a small waterfall (alledgedly good for swimming below, but in reality the walk was better than the destination) and a tree top suspended canopy walk. We also visted 4 different caves, each pretty spectacular in their own right. Deer cave in particular was a sight worth seeing. The locals claim it's the largest known cave in the world and home to between 3 or 4 million bats. We walked through it in the late afternoon, and 3-4 million bats make an awful lot of guano with enough ammonia to clear the stuffiest of blocked noses. On leaving this cave we hung around just below the entrance in the hope of seeing one of natures phenomenal shows; the bat exodus. After 20 or 30 minutes a few small groups of bats exited the cave. We were just beginning to think that this wasn't all it was cracked up to be when the main body started leaving. For the next thirty minutes bats were pouring out of the cave and circling above before heading off for their nightly feast. Luckily for us they were not vampire bats and were only interested in insects. I have to admit though that it was pretty special and a we did feel quite privileged to witness this event.
We flew from Guning Mulu to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah yesterday (Wednesday). Although Sarawak and Sabah are part of Malaysia, they are semi autonomous and have their own immigration checks and passport stamping procedure. As such I'm claiming Sabah as the eigth country we've visited on this trip.
Tomorrow (Christmas Eve) we head to the five star Pacific Sutera Resort in Kota Kinabalu for a bit of Christmas luxury. We've booked in for three nights in order to make the most of the golf course, the spa, the gym, the Olympic swimming pool and the messing around pool with pool bar. In order to look presentable I decided today to get a haircut. Unfortunately all I could find was a 'salon' with a couple of nice Gok Wan type chaps. A bit over the top for a grade 1 buzz cut all over, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Now it normally takes me or Carol 5 minutes to complete the job but that was never on the cards in the Gok Salon. After 10 minutes of using the clippers . . . . and a comb!!!! I thought he was finished; but no!
I'll hand you over to Carol for her version . . . . .
The salon was in a massive hypermarket so I decided to have a browse while I was waiting for Tony to finish. I headed off and said I'd let him know if I left the level we were on. A few minutes later I popped by and said I was off to the other end of the mall but I'd see him back at the salon. A few more minutes later and I was back outside the salon and it looked like he was nearly finished because the guy was putting the clippers away, so i decided I'd wait outside. A couple more minutes passed and I turned around to see where he was and I couldn't believe my eyes - he was having his hair blow dried! At this point I'm now on my own in the middle of a huge mall absolutely bent double, crying with laughter! I compose myself and look around again and I can't see him anywhere, then see that he is out the back having his hair washed, this I thought was a nice touch to get rid of the stray hairs. The next time I glance over I see Tony walking back to the cutting chairs wearing a towel turban! This completely finishes me off, I can hardly breath and am now attracting the attention of onlookers. Tony spots me through the window and quicker than you could say towel turban it's gone and he is using the towel to dry his hair, trying to act like nothing happened.
Back to me. . . . . Having finished cutting my hair Gok picked up a hair dryer and said he'd use it to get rid of stray hairs. This was new to me but made a bit of sense so I thought ok, let's go along with this. He then removed the gown, but instead of going to the till he strolled to the back of the salon telling me to follow. Though slightly confused I followed him. He then indicated I sit in the chair by the hair washing basin. I told him I didn't need it washed but he explained it was also to get rid of any remaining stray hairs. Fair played I thought, you can't knock the guy for being thorough, although I did have to insist that he didn't shampoo also! He then wrapped my head in a towel and directed me to the front of the salon again. I was now caught between the embarrassment of everybody who walked past seeing me with my towel turban, and the hilarity of seeing Carol rocking with laughter. I asked him what the next step was, and when he said he needed to blow dry my hair before applying some products it was all I could do not to laugh in his face. I quickly removed the turban, handed him his money and joined Carol outside. For the next five minutes she could barely talk due to laughing so much. Even 10 hours later when she insisted on adding her version of events the tears were rolling down her cheeks again!
Our plans for after Christmas include climbing Mount Kinabalu before heading down to Sandakan and Sepilok on the east coast, but more on that next time.
That's all for now folks.
Lots of love
Mr & Mrs McK Xxx
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