History of Sarawak

Day 5: Thursday, 25 April 2013 - Kuala Belait to Miri - 70km (31C/88F 66%humidity at 1pm)

Team RAB Day 5 Route

Heather:

The alarm went off when it was still dark, but I felt rested. The Thermarest was a good choice- light, and comfortable*. Moving slowly we began packing. I was surprised to see a tray of food on the table. The previous night Ra had organized breakfast, which Helen had prepared at 4am. We had egg and cheese sandwiches with coffee and fresh milk before setting off.  It was a real treat and raised our standard for making the most of the cool early hours.

Sunrise from verandah of Kuala Belait Boat Club

Thanks to the Kuala Belait Boat Club for offering comfortable shelter and hospitality. Thanks to the Sultan of Brunei for letting us pass through.

The ride was straight forward. With word from Simon Sandi, who was a day ahead of us, we knew that the longer coast road would be better than the shorter road which was under construction. In an effort to be more of a team player, I chose to ride behind today to be sure we stuck together. It allowed me to focus more on my form and take the hills in a higher gear to build strength. The plan was to check in at Miri and consider carrying on to Lambir Hills National Park.

Early in the day we saw the head of a crocodile break the surface of the river, but it disappeared before I could get a good photo. The major excitement on the way was a quick swerve to avoid a crab crossing the highway. There wasn’t much on the road sides until 5km from Lutong when we stopped for watermelon.

Just down the road we stopped to fill up water and were greeted by June. She had seen us in a paper and came to take photos and chat. She is involved in a local charity to rescue animals. The idea came from ex-pats working for Shell and has spread to some locals. Animal rights and care are lower priority in Malaysia, so the group need to educate the population to gain support. The Body Shop is big in the region and they have a campaign going to put forward some legislation to protect animals. Awareness is growing. We wish June the best with her project.

On the way into Miri I wanted to see the Grand Old Lady- Shell’s first ever drilling point that has now become a petroleum museum. Rahim waited at the bottom of the hill while I climbed up for a 360 view of the area. The climb was only 600m at a 10% grade. Again the peace and quiet off the road was astonishing.

We’d been invited to stay with Simon Sandi’s Uncle Ambrose, but I wasn’t sure if it was an open invitation. We were scheduled to be there with Simon and miss the chance as he moved on ahead. He was expecting us so we dropped in and he welcomed us to stay. We cleaned up and I took a nap while Ra hung out with Om Ambrose. Later Ra and I went into town for lunch and errands.

Ra is used to being connected 24/7 and has had a culture shock being off line. I’ve come off 4 months without a sim card- using my phone as an alarm clock. This trip we need to update the blog and facebook and meet people so it’s better to be available. We might have avoided some issues if one of us had a data plan, so he upgraded.

Later on it was Ra’s turn for a rest and I got a history lesson: Sarawak was formerly ruled by the Sultan of Brunei. He couldn’t control the violence and quarrelling, but a British man did. In return for bringing peace he was given an area of land. Fighting continued to the west and the white Raja brought peace there as well. This whole area is now Sarawak. There are many tribes with varying histories. Written records only go back to the 19^th century so that is really as far as genealogy can be traced. He shared a bit about the various tribes and their cultures as well over drinks at his favourite watering hole.

Uncle Ambrose - Team RAB's Miri gracious host

Editor's / Team RAB Base Camp Manager's note:  Thanks heaps Uncle Ambrose for taking care of the both of them for one night in Miri.... Cheers mate!

We are aiming for Niah National Park tomorrow. Within the park is a cave where human remains dating back 40,000years have been found, along with cave drawings.  It could be a scorching day. The riders ahead of us reported temperatures of 43C/?F. We’ll be making our own breakfast and getting on the road early.

*When team RAB met for the first time in Kuala Lumpur, David Lee took me to CoreZone to look for camping gear. I was in heaven. It was the best collection of high quality gear that I’d seen since leaving the states. I picked out what I needed and enjoyed browsing all the things I wished I had space for. Sharon Tan was there to help us and offer advice. She’s become a supporter in many ways and I’m so grateful. If you need to buy good quality camping equipment Core Zone is the best place in all of South East Asia. www.corezone.com

Ra:

What happened on day 5? Gosh, i needed to catch up on my writing. Ok, we were at Kuala Belait Boat Club taking shelter for the night. Woke up to a decent breakfast prepared by Helen. We got up really early though and start packing. This packing thing was now getting routine and a lot more efficient. I just know what goes into which bag. I hope to be able to do my packing blindfolded by next week. I enjoyed staying at the Boat House, and wanted to say my big hello to everyone from there if you are reading this.

We moved out at 6.40am. From where we were at, Kuala Belait Boat Club, we had 22km to the Brunei side of Border Crossing. It was a straight forward ride averaging 23km/hr all the way to the Border crossing. We were on a bridge just after the toll on the Brunei side when Heather began screaming something, “Ra, look look, crocodile”. My immediate reaction was to stop and whip out my camera out. Took two shots of the croc.  After that little drama, we went on pedalling towards the border crossing. We had 16km to go with nothing on our left nor our right. We kept cranking and at the border crossing itself, it was straight forward no dramas. We made it quickly to the Sarawak side and the same no dramas. After clearing both immigration points, we had 36km to go to Miri town and from what I read, and with the information I got, there will be absolutely nothing along the way. True enough, there was indeed nothing. We clocked 20km/hr until I gave up pedalling and decided to take a 5 minutes break.

By now, my water was running low and we were already on the coastal road going in to the small town of Tutong. Panic set in as I didn’t see any small stalls along the way. Unlike the Peninsular, here in Borneo, there was absolutely nothing. About 8km outside Tutong town, we saw a watermelon stall, and I immediately signalled Heather to stop. We finished the whole water melon, paid the RM6 and I was a happy man. We had about 14km to Miri city centre from here. We took a slow ride into Tutong and stopped at a Shell station for a water top up. A lady came to say hi and told us she had read about us in the newspaper. Cool.

I called up Uncle Ambrose from the Shell station and arranged to see him when we reached Miri. It was straight forward to Uncle Ambrose’s place but before that, Heather rode up to some hills to see the Grand Old Lady.

We arrived at Uncle Ambrose’s place feeling hot, hungry and dirty. Though it was just a short 70km ride, I felt it like a 100! We cleaned up, did our laundry and after a short reprieved from the heat, we went into the town for lunch and did our errands.

Back at Uncle Ambrose, Heather caught up with him and learnt about Sarawakian culture and history.