In Pursuit of a Bear

“Travel is the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown” Anthony Bourdain. Flying from the conservative kingdom of Brunei into the neighbouring Malaysian state of Sarawak, it’s not likely to be very different, is it? Absolutely wrong. Kuching is full of life and adventure.  To put this into perspective, in 1839, a British adventurer called James Brooke was handed the state as a thank you from the then Sultan of Brunei for helping him put down a small rebellion. James went on to work extensively with the local tribes to rule and stabilise the land. Charles, his nephew continued to expand the territory and unite the locals to live peacefully with each other. Rather than having fiercesome battles, in 1872 Charles introduced a long boat regatta to allow local tribes to challenge each other and decide the champion with less blood shed. The regatta happily coincided with our visit along with an international dragon boat. The traditional long boats have a hornbill head on the bow, the...

 The Sultanate of Brunei is a place that we've all heard of, however who knows exactly where it is on a map - it is in Borneo between the two different Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Not easy to access by road, the simplest way is to fly. The Sultan, (whose official name is nearly as long as this blog), is 78 and is the ruler and Prime Minister of Brunei. A wealthy country with lots of lovely oil and gas means that the citizens are well provided for, creating a relaxed and harmonious feel to the country. This is quite helpful as there is no alcohol anywhere and believe me, we triple checked. The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque was opened in 1958, it welcomes visitors and is quite spectacular. The Taj Mahal was used for inspiration, if anyone was thinking that there's a similarity. The $5 million dollar mosque Nice Lampshades Brunei is not really geared up for foreign tourists, so a week long visit requires attendance at all the attractions. The Regalia Museum has everything ...

The search for the Wild Men of Borneo begins in Kota Kinabalu, in Sabah on the island of Borneo. There is also a subplot to find probiscos monkeys, crocodiles, sun bears and turtles. However, no visit could start without a view of Mount Kinabalu. 4095 metres high, standing on its own in the national park. It takes only 2 days to climb if anyone is interested.      Mount Kinabalu The Rafflesia flower (or less romantically called “the stinking corpse lily”) is the largest flower in the world and by chance, there was one which had just started to flower en route to the next stop. This flower was 78 cm in diameter and was expected to last for another 6 days. It is the largest one that this local family has ever grown, however they were kind enough to allow foreigners to visit. The $5 entrance fee allows them time off from farming to grow and protect stinky flowers.  Rafflesian flower with 78 cm diameter     The Rainforest Discovery Centre was close to the jungl...

 Following a short, grey break normally referred to as the British summer, it is time to continue on to exploring new countries and strange places.  The jetting off point is Cyprus - hardly unknown territory but a hire car and extra travel insurance allowed us into the north. It is referred to by many names depending on your historical roots, religious ties or political bias. To me it's Northern Cyprus.  The best route to follow is the coastal roads. These have been gradually replaced by EU subsidized new roads in many cases, so not quite as rural as before. The scruffiness is gradually being replaced and the landscape is filling up with horribly modern new builds. However, who can refuse a water park included in the accommodation’s facilities. The inner child is still live and kicking. Caesars Water Park Andreas Apostoles Monastery is the obvious location for any trip to the North. The route goes up the eastern side of the country then switches cross country to the north...

  Greetings to all following the Covid pandemic that is now history to most of us. For me, it was a turning point and I find myself moving in another direction and onto new adventures. When Covid reared its head, I was working for a humanitarian organisation based in Iraq but with programmes in North East Syria that we could visit only sporadically. I tried to get back to Cyprus but airports and airlines were closing rapidly and the prospect of a 48 hour transit in Cairo seemed pretty dire. Instead, I asked a good friend in Beverley, East Yorks if I could stay for a couple of weeks or so until Covid was over.  Needless to say, Liz and Keith made me so welcome I stayed. After my humanitarian contract ended I split my time between the NHS and dog walking. This was two years ago. Since then I have met Steve, who shares a love of travelling and we have just embarked on a 6 month tour. We visited Split in Croatia where we found a lovely Airbnb in a grand old house, on the third flo...