Day 3 of our road trip: Wednesday 6 July (for Days 1 and 2, see here)

The odometer was reading 72,733 kilometres when we set out from Daro at 0800 this morning. We'd had a good night -- apart from the infernal itching of a host of bites we must have picked up at the beach yesterday.

First up, another ferry (our fifth), and a slow, stately glide across Sungai Igan...





We had thought about stopping in Igan for a cup of coffee, but were discouraged by the notice inviting outsiders to stay away during the covid period... Don't know if that instruction is now out of date, and has just been left up by mistake. But we didn't want to risk showing up where we weren't wanted, so we headed onwards.

To Dalat, in fact. Which is absolutely lovely. It's one of those little towns that's bright and charming and perky, and exudes pride in itself (in the nicest possible way).



Below is Dalat's famous burial pole (known as a jerunei or kelidieng):


Deceased Melanau royalty underwent a two-stage burial process, it seems. Initially, the body was put in a kind of hanging coffin. Later, the bones of the king would be gathered in an urn, which would be placed in the burial pole. The next bit is somewhat grisly. According to the information plaque, during the burial ceremony, a slave's daughter would be brought by the king's family. The child would be hung on top of the jerunai, and left to starve. A male slave would be thrown into the jerunai, and likewise left. The idea was that these slaves' spirits would serve the king in the afterlife.



Interestingly, in the Catholic church of St Bernard, just down the river, you can see (but not photograph) the cross above the altar, whose vertical and horizontal arms have been carved to look like kelidieng (to symbolize the sacrifice of Christ).


Dalat is very picturesque:







We had a quick lunch before leaving. Kampua mee (this is the one that is notoriously NOT the same as kolo mee..., although today's version tasted different from previous kampua mee we have tried, so I'm guessing it might have been "black" kampua mee, to which sweet soy sauce has been added). I forgot to photograph it, so I can't show you. Very tasty, though...

On the way back to the main road to Mukah (we'd turned off to get to Dalat), we took a slightly different route. We followed the river through picture-postcard kampungs, full of stilt houses and flowers and cute little wooden bridges:





And finally, on to Mukah, after covering about 150 km in the course of the day.

We're staying at the Kingwood Hotel, which is where we stayed last time.

Night-time Mukah:




Day 4: Thursday 7 July

We walked a bit this morning. Old things, new things... Mukah is a very pleasant town.





And then we headed for the Tellian area. Here you can find Sapan Puloh, the Melanau Heritage Museum; a very picturesque bit of watery kampung; at least one burial pole; and Lamin Dana, a cultural centre that incorporates accommodation, tours, and classes.


















For two evenings running, we repeated the same procedure. First up, return to the little bar (Bistro 5) that we'd popped into on our last expedition to Mukah. This is a great little place. Open-air setting; family-friendly atmosphere; nice, unpushy waitstaff; good-value beer; and tasty snacks (over the course of two evenings, we tried their pandan chicken, cheesy tofu, crispy squid, spring rolls, fish balls, cangkuk manis with egg, and morning glory -- all recommendable). The second evening was enlivened by the unannounced arrival of the foggers (who smoke out the mosquitoes and anything else in the vicinity). Luckily, we'd finished eating by the time they arrived.




Our second stop on both evenings was La Fame cafe, a pleasant upstairs space offering good coffee:


Tonight, as we settled down, we were kind of wishing we were staying longer in Mukah. But it's no good going on a road trip, and stopping half-way through your itinerary. The road ahead beckons...

What we were also really wishing was that these wretched insect bites would settle down (our necks resemble the surface of the moon, and the damn things are still maddeningly itchy)...

Day 5: Friday 8 July (Part 1)

Scratch, scratch...

A quick trip to another beach (both Terns liberally coated in insect repellent), before checking out of the Kingwood. This one is a driftwood beach, and therefore not as pretty as pristine Belawai. But beaches rarely fail to be interesting.








As we neared the estuary (and the point where the sandy strip was too narrow to walk any further), we had a surprise encounter with a big monitor lizard. We completely failed to spot him, and I'm not sure who was more startled: the lizard, who hacked off into the sea, or us. I like monitor lizards. They're shy creatures, who are generally just interested in avoiding you, and I felt bad for giving this one such a bad start to his/her day.

Anyway, that was our last Mukah outing for the time being. Farewell... And onwards to Bintulu...