09-Apr-2025
Today: Just the teentsiest bit of dull shopping. Mostly just enjoying Sarawak.
Up early. A road trip is no fun if you don't start well before the crack of dawn.
These early morning scenes look so cool in black and white
Unfortunately, the 24-hour food court we'd headed for wasn't open... But never mind. You don't have to wait long in Malaysia before somebody is rolling up the shutters:
After breakfast, the first stop was the Indian temple at Matang, last visited in 2021 -- yikes...
On the path up the hill to the temple
We didn't go up the steps to the temple this time, as only naked feet are permitted. (Feet to brain: We DIDN'T like doing this last time, and we DON'T want to do it again. Brain to feet: OK lah...) But you can still get some nice shots from the bottom:
Milk for the gods
The birdsong up on this mountainside is wonderful, and we'd spotted some unfamiliar calls on the way up. Which figures, apparently, as it's migration time for many birds, and this forest is a stopping-off point.
On, after that, to the little ferry that crosses the Batang Rambungan, last used in 2020 -- yikes again -- we really must get out more... It still costs just MYR 1 per vehicle per way...
They'd started building a bridge all those years ago, and we were surprised not to find the work more advanced:
No pisang goreng on the far side this time... Sigh... Never mind, there were cucur udang, and bags of keropok to supplement them with.
And on to Lundu. Again, that 2020 trip was the last time we'd actually stopped there, although we passed through last year on our way to various beaches.
It's a picturesque little place, but it was mid-day by the time we got there, and it was extraordinarily hot by then:
This time we visited the exquisite little Tua Pek Kong temple, which last time -- with covid looming -- we'd just looked at from the outside:
The only disappointment about today was the lack of coconut shakes... Our favourite place in Telaga Air was shut; the perky new place in Lundu likewise. We consoled ourselves instead with a visit to Coffee Code on the way home. Always a good close to a road trip, even if it's only a short one.