Naughty Monkeys

So Kuching continues to delight -- where else in the world do city busses run regularly to national parks and even an orang-utan sanctuary?

There are four places in the world where you can see orang-utans -- one we went to in 2003 on Sumatra, Indonesia. Another is at the end of Kuching city bus route 6, which runs from downtown by the huge mosque out to the sanctuary in about 40 minutes and costs 60 cents.

On the day we were going there we got mixed up on the departure time and got to the bus area at 5.45 a.m. Learning the bus did not leave until 7.30 we had breakfast at KFC. If you're used to KFC's American status as Nascar food it's difficult to describe the spectacle which is KFC in Asia. It's not a restaurant, it's an event. At 6 a.m., however, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. This KFC was unique in the world as being run entirely by the hearing impaired. Laura got to order our meal in ASL.

Then we got on the bus.



From the sanctuary gate we walked a half hour through misty primary rainforest to where the orang-utans are fed. A worker took a basket of fruit out to a platform and called into the forest. Soon the trees overhead rattled and leaves fell as the animals came.

It's a crappy photo, but here's a kid, a mom and a baby:



Continuing our city bus tour of Borneo, we also went to Bako National Park. Bako is a 45-minute ride from town. You get let off at a boat dock and then zoomed out into the South China Sea to make a wet entry at the park.



While there are four places in the world to see orang-utans, there is just one to see the proboscis monkey. A troop of them was waiting near the landing.



There's probably plenty of places to see pitcher plants, but it's still rather amazing.



We also saw a 6-foot long monitor lizard, a big black scorpion walking through tall grass, and silver-haird monkeys. At one point is a sign warning: "Beware the naughty monkeys."

We hiked 4 miles through dense rainforest and dripping slickrock canyons, took the boat and the bus back to Kuching, took a shower, and ate dinner. Would someone back home please learn to make this for me:



Black pepper beef and rice: $1.30!!!!