Sipadan

At one moment I reached to the point that there was time to get the open water diving papers, as Sipadan is one of the top 10 dive locations in the World and there are no introduction dive (as in Cairs to The Great Barrier Reef). Last 3 days I have been back behind the school table (1 day of theory and 2 days in the water) to get PADI open water papers. And tomorrow I will have 3 dives around Sipadan island.





Just from around the corner the boats are departing to Sipadan, isn't that view inviting to dive?! :)

Sepilok orang utan sanctuary

One of the 4 orang utan sanctuaries in the World. The orang utans live in wild but some of them come to the feeding platforms for food.




Mother and son











Besides orang utans there are also some other fellas and actually this time orang utans got kicked out from the feeding platform.

Kota Kinabalu

"Can I have.... tuna, please" Fishmarket in Kota Kinabalu






Rays. Fishmarket in Kota Kinabalu






Fishmarket in Kota Kinabalu

Life on the Rajang river vol.2

Getting up the river on the top of the boat. During the 3 hours trip it was rather cool to observe the life on the river and the longhouses by the river.




Lidi fishing, she was rather good - by putting the basket down the stream and then turning around some rocks she managed to be one of the best fishermen of our group.





Killing chicken for dinner, chicken in lower right corner; killer in upper left corner





Iban tribe longhouse





Iban tribe longhouse





Little town called Belaga






Further up the river






Belaga










Miri and view from the hostel window, local night life is not far





Already next destination Mulu National Park, mostly famous for its huge caves, biggest ones in the world - 159km. I managed to visit 5 caves. Also went for so called exploration tour, then spent some 3 hours doing underground climbing and getting to know the life down there (spiders, bats and snakes).





Bats from Deer cave. Going for a food, around 2-3 mil of them




Caves





Caves





Caves





Don't ask the name of this insect, but when it noticed danger - in this case us coming - it rolled itself nicely up





One of my favorite models





The mighty Deer Cave





Not a stick, but stick insect





Mulu National Park

Life on the Rajang river, vol 1

Finally got the see the life on the river. After 5 hours on Kuching-Sibu boat life started to sound like in Jack London's books, next boat from Sibu to Kapit was full but we were offered a place on the roof of the boat. Beautiful day, so threw myself and the bag there and off we went. During the trip wind blew few items of luggage in the river (luckily not mine) but otherwise the trip was pure fun.



Market day in Kapit, a small town on the bank of Rajang river






Iban longhouse





Fishing





Hyperactive Iban girl, my host's daughter
(I'll post more pics from Iban longhouse in upcoming days)

Arrival to Borneo Island

Actually Malaysian part of Borneo island.
First stopover in a town called Kuching to listen the ground a bit before heading to the road (well here it is also often "heading to the water"). First place to visit was Bako National Park not far from Kuching - an hour by bus and then 20min by boat.

Next places Kapit with a plan of visiting local tribes living in longhouses (houses built on the river). For getting to Kapit I need to take a fast boat for 5h to Sibu and then swap over to riverboat to Kapit, some 2-4h more.
In Kapit I might need few days, cause it is needed to be invited to longhouse. For this I need to listen around in the town and in local taverns. There is also option of going to longhouse with organised tour, but if possible I'd like to leave this as the last option.


Seems that whenever there is a market around, then I will be around aswell. Pictures from Kuching Sunday market. All the farmers and fishermen are coming to town already Saturday evening to be ready to start the business day already at around 5 in the next morning.




Kuching market






Preparing the fish for sale





Soft drinks in plastic bags. Seems the recycling system in Malaysia is working rather efficiently. For example if getting a Coke, they will pour it to plastic bag with ice and a straw and the can is kept in the store. The bags on the picture are filled with fresh juice.






Dreaming of his very first fish





Arriving to Bako National Park




Proboscis monkey (long nose monkey), Bako National Park






One of the beaches in Bako NP






A viper right next to the place where I stayed






Leaving Bako

Singapore 2

Life goes round and round and round, but you need to have one stable point in the middle






One more photo from Singapore Art Biennale






Carrots in Little India.






Weighting

Singapore

First set of pictures from Singapore. I hope in upcoming days I will still find some Internet to put up the rest of the photos.


Old traditions ...



... and modern traditions hand in hand




It is all about the lips, all the rest doesn't really matter :-()




Little India district in Singapore




Canned order




In the temple




One of the tourist traps in Singapore - Sentosa island. Well actually, Singapore itself is one big tourist trap




Sentosa island




Honest deal - you buy one and you will get one. Sometimes you need to make a poster to let people know about it.




Locked away rain




Works from Singapore Art Biennale 1




Works from Singapore Art Biennale 2 - mini plants, the dark side




Works from Singapore Art Biennale 3 - mini plants, the bright side




Works from Singapore Art Biennale 4 - book in the water




Works from Singapore Art Biennale 5 - invasion





Works from Singapore Art Biennale 6 - snails crawling to justice




Coming from work




View from my hostel window in Little India district



Little wonderer in Little India