Somehow my internal alarm clock woke me at 7:30 after only a handful of hours asleep. When the girls (Christina and Nydia) arrived back the previous evening, we decided to go out for “a drink” at a nearby bar which doesn’t have a name. It’s decorated like a long house and owned by a local celebrity, Peter John.

Peter used to be a pub worker and a DJ before finding himself suddenly a pop star. Not bad for a lad who grew up in the jungle. He used the money he made to buy himself the bar and it had been recommended by our hosts. So, one drink, then back to watch a DVD.

As if.

Peter introduced himself and showed us a load of photos he’d taken at Uncle Chang’s on Mabul Island as he’d just come back. Then more photos of Bako. BY which time I was on my third and the girls on their second beers. More flowed as we were enjoying a good chat, then the girls managed to look pathetic and girly and got free rice wine shots from the bar tender. I’m not complaining as they got me one, too! I should wear a skirt and shave my legs more often.

By 3am, we were well sozzled and were chatting away with a bunch of locals. And got an invite to a party the next night. Thing is, my plan is to depart on the 8:30 boat on Sunday morning, so I’m either going to risk missing it, travel with a hangover, or have to stay an extra night.

I’ll worry about that later.

As I said, I miraculously rose at 7:30 and banged on the girls’ door as they wanted to go to Bako. I think I was hammering for almost a minute before I heard any response! I’d intended to wake at 7:00 so I had no time for breakfast, instead just grabbing everything I needed and running out the door to catch the 8:00 bus to Semenggoh.

This used to be a functioning wildlife rehabilitation centre, but now it’s just a reserve playing host to the animals that were reintroduced to the wild here. The area’s not actually big enough to support the number of orangutan, so they supplement their diet with feedings in the morning and afternoon.

To get there, you hop on a minibus outside the tourist office at 8:00 or 2:00. The journey’s around half an hour and it costs MR25 return, including park entry. All of this is given to the driver when you return to Kuching.

There isn’t really a lot to say about Semenggoh apart from that it’s small, pretty and chances are you will see some orangutan, but they can’t guarantee it. If it’s raining, don’t go as the orangutan don’t like to come out in the wet. The advantage is that if it rains in the morning, then you’ll likely see more of them for the afternoon feed should the weather clear up. The girls did this the day before and saw seven of the animals. I saw five including a baby, so Im not complaining!

They are magnificent animals. Despite their bulk and gangly looks, they move remarkably slowly and gracefully through the trees, traversing up and down the trunks effortlessly. To move around, they sit in one tree and wobble it until it bends close enough to the next for them to grab and swing over.

Contact with the animals is a strict no-no and generally there’s a warden around to make sure nobody gets within 5m when the animals are low down. At the end of the day they are wild animals and the adult males are more than capable of removing puny human limbs from their sockets if they feel in any danger.

There are also other animals loose in the area, but it’s highly unlikely they’ll be seen. Three crocodiles are penned up in cages towards the back of one of the feeding areas. I’ve no idea if the plan is to set them free or what. They just sit there looking very annoyed.

I talked to a Dutch guy in the bus both ways and it passed the journey time well. A bonus given that I should still have been asleep. Most people follow the same kind of trail north, so perhaps I’ll bump into him again in Kota Kinabalu.

The sun was baking, so I had a quick look at two of the mosques then walked back to the hostel to do a quick shirt-wash and type this lot up. And to check out the hundred or so photos I took of the apes. Oh, and I did find out where the name comes from. “Orang” simple means “person” and “hutan” means “forest” – so they’re “people of the forest”. Cool, eh?

(more pics at the bottom) Today I’d decided to visit the Bako National Park, the oldest in Borneo. It covers 27 square kilometres of mangrove swamp, rain forest and rocks with quite a few species of birds, lizards and monkeys. It’s pretty close to Kuching, being around a 50 minute bus journey from the town centre, plus 20 minutes by boat. The bus you need is the yellow number 6 – there are three bus companies in the city, all use a different coloured bus and all use a number 6 so make sure you get the right one! The fare’s a bargain RM2 (around 30p) and will take you to the park reception.

I caught the 9:20 bus, though there are earlier ones. Should you be staying overnight, aim for this time or later as often they’ll turn you away on the boats and make you wait for a later one if you’re staying on. The earliest boats are prioritised for day-only visitors. On the bus, I got talking to a schoolteacher who looked remarkably sane given that he was in charge of 18 late-teen girls. His job was to just make sure they didn’t die or anything. The trip had to be co-ordinated, budgetted and researched by the girls themselves. They’d worked their way down from the north east where they’d laid part of a wooden walkway for a village in the jungle (the wood ran out so they couldn’t finish).

Well done to him. Had I known I was being shepherded onto a bus going the wrong way (for instance), I’d find it hard to just go along with it – but those were his instructions.

The park fee is MR10 and has to be paid on the mainland. You’ll need some photo ID with you as well. You’re then given a form with your details (or those of your entire party if you’re in a group) with your passes stapled to it. The next step is to jump on a boat. This is where it’s handy if there are a few of you, or you’re good at asking people if you can jump in their’s.

Most boats are MR47 for the journey, split between however many get on. They usually carry 6 people, but I squeezed on as a 7th on the way out (and we were then charged MR9 each – more than splitting 47 in seven directions, but cheaper than splitting it 5 ways as well). The girls arrived a short while later, shoehorning ten onto each of two boats. More than half the people on my boat were staying overnight, so I declined the boat pilot’s offer to arrange a time for pickup as I wanted to be sure I’d not be on a boat by myself on the way back.

Across a wooden walkway is the café and park office where you have to register upon arrival. The staff will give you a map and point out anything you need to know, as well as answer any questions or recommend things according to your preferences. I wasn’t too sure what I wanted, but though I’d just do a wander to one of the beaches and try to spot some animals. Before going on any of the trails, you must tell the wardens which one, and then check in again when you return.

A huge bearded pig snuffles his way around the offices all the time and seems happy to pose for photos. I was after the proboscic monkeys, though. Much harder to spot! They apparently feed at regular intervals by the mangrove swap where the boat drops you off so I walked over that way. It must have been the wrong time, so I kept walking out past the viewing platforms and to where the walking trails began.

It was a very hot day, and ridiculously humid so I was glad I’d packed 3l of water. I guzzled a lot of it as I took the Jalan Telok Paku, the shortest trail. The signs reckon this as being around 45 minutes despite it only being 0.8km in length. It reminded me of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore, though with somewhat less artificial stepping. Partway along, I encountered a couple who were staring into a tree. Only it wasn’t the tree that had their attention, it was the proboscis monkey sat up it, examining the branches.

I managed to get three snaps of him before he bounded off into deeper foliage and was lost from site. Annoyingly, when I checked the photos on my laptop later, the camera had focused on the branches in front of him so they’ve not come out well. At least I saw one!

The rest of the walk to the small beach was uneventful but worthwhile. Only four other people were on the beach when I arrived and they were all being nice and quiet. It’s a lovely spot and I don’t think I’ve ever felt seawater so warm. I had a quick break, drank more water and returned back along the same path. I made it to the café in even less time and I’d taken to get out there, though I was drenched by the time I sat down to lunch.

After my chicken curry and rice, I walked around the accommodation block and almost got bitten by a macaque. Evil little things if you get too close. There must have been 30 or 40 of them crawling along the fence by the camping area, clambering up trees and throwing fruit skins on to the ground (and me) below.

I spent far too long taking photos of them which didn’t leave me with enough time to walk another trail. Instead, I parked my bum in the café again, and plotted out my next moves Borneo-wise. And watched someone’s lunch being stolen by a macaque.

A Dutch family behind me got up to leave and I managed to beg my way onto their boat, so my return fare was a nice small share. Just as we pulled up at the dock, the wind picked up and loud rolled in. Thunder broke and the heavens opened. I’m rather glad I headed back earlier than I had planned as the rain came down very quickly indeed.

I chatted to a local guy for half an hour as I waited for the bus, then snoozed on and off during the journey back. It was still raining in Kuching so I darted into the nearest foodhole… which happened to be a KFC. Just a coincidence, honest.

Still, I’d like to give this one special mention – with the exception of the manager, the rest of the staff are deaf. All of them. If you don’t “speak” sign language, you order by pointing at the menu charts. If I read correctly, a portion of the profits go to various schools in the area. Full marks to whoever owns this franchise. I’m not even sure it’d be legal in the UK if you decided to only hire people with a hearing disability. I’m sure someone would complain that it’s unfair against those with functioning lugholes.

And from there back to the hostel where I’m typing this up after chatting to two German girls who arrived after me last night. Fortunately they’re studying English and French at university so I can communicate with them. After all, my German’s almost non-existant, my French sounds like a primary school child and my English… well, the less said.

Oh, and those plans I was talking about for the next week or so? Well, they involve a couple of buses, some express boats, a bit of 4×4 travel, 2-3 days trecking in the rainforest and another country. I’ll get to the details as and when!