25-Aug-2022
Mount Singai is an important natural habitat, with considerable biodiversity. It is traditionally the home of a subgroup of the Bidayuh people, called the Bisingai.
The Catholic Memorial and Pilgrimage Centre (CMPC) stands on the flanks of the mountain, reachable by a series of wooden stairways. This was our objective for today. There is a track that carries on to the top of the mountain, but we're risk-averse at the moment, and just wanted to go as far as the Centre.
Getting to the start of the stairways was a bit of a farce. It was still dark as we set out from home (we like to walk in the coolest part of the day), and we soon found out that this hire car has absolutely abominable headlights... One was covered by a sort of perspex layer resembling a cataract, and neither had a reach of more than a few feet. We'd have got more light out of a pair of glow-worms... Add to that the fact that it was raining, and the windscreen was steaming up more radically than we'd ever experienced before, and you'll appreciate that it wasn't an easy drive. But we got there.
The entrance gate
A rare bit of flatness
Most of the trail looks like this
But there are plenty of benches if you need a rest
At intervals along the stairways you will find the 14 Stations of the Cross:
The forest is really magnificent here, and we also had great views from the lookout (totally obliterated by cloud by the time we were heading down again):
This is how constructions should accommodate trees...
We think this is the amorphophallus hewittii, aka titan arum or corpse plant... This specimen was past its prime, and so didn't have the distinctive odour
The CMPC itself is very picturesque:
This is the church, still under construction. It's built in the shape of a ceremonial Bidayuh baruk
Lunch next, in Telaga Air. Which turned out to be really good. I forgot to record the name of the cafe, but it's right next to Royal Mango Shake, and it serves top-quality ready-prepared dishes. We sampled sweet-and-sour chicken, chicken curry, beansprouts and tofu, eggplant and squid, and -- first time eating this -- jellyfish salad (top in the picture below, very palatable, would definitely have again). With drinks, the bill came to MYR 12 (GBP 2.30). Excellent value.
And afterwards, of course, you can always pop next door, and buy a mango shake to share:
Fresh mango, vanilla ice cream, and mango smoothie
After lunch, we did a little expedition to another of Sarawak's roads to nowhere. You probably won't remember our trip to the Jubilee Arch of Rambungan last October. Well, this road was going to be the access road to the planned Federal Administration Centre, but when that project fell by the wayside, the highway lost its raison d'etre.
When we arrived at the barrier, in the now drizzly late morning, we were greeted only by a very surprised-looking dog.
You can in fact go a little way beyond this barrier, and from the bridge you'll get nice views of the hills and the river:
But then you have to turn round, and retrace your steps. We'd just got ourselves heading in the right direction again, when we were overtaken by a car... What the...? No car had passed us as we were heading the other way, and we'd seen no car parked at the end of the line...
On the way home, we had coffee at Brew, in MetroCity Matang, an outgrowth of Kuching that we didn't even know existed. It was weirdly chilly by now, and a hot latte (drunk outside to avoid the air-conditioning) was just the ticket:
The view from Brew