Bako National Park, Sarawak, Borneo

Bako National Park is a wonderful location less than an hour outside of Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo. The park includes rustic cabins (for overnight stays) and a visitors center that serves food. To reach the park you must take a 20 minute boat ride.

view from boat dropoff for Bako National Park

When the boat dropped us off here in the morning they said they would pick us up on the beach. I couldn’t really understand why, but this photo shows the tide has made the path to the stairs impassable, which explains why (I should have figured that out but my brain doesn’t always work as well as it should).

photo of sign showing Bako National Park trails

I only spent a day in the park. There are several intersecting trails. The “small” loop trail includes the Lintang trail and intersects with Pandan Kecil path, Pandan Basar path and more. I hiked through several trails and completely exhausted myself, actually. It was a wonderful hike.

There are probably enough trails to keep you busy for 2 days of hiking though I think you can get a good feel for the different settings in 1 day.

photo looking back at Bako National Park from the boat as I leave

Looking back at Bako National Park from the boat as I leave (the visitor’s center is just off to the left).

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Zee Avi to Perform in Kuala Lumpor, Kuching, Penang and Singapore

Zee Avi posted her music to You Tube from her home in Borneo and was spotted and signed by a producer based in the USA. She is back in Malaysia on a tour and will be performing at the following locations:

  • Rock Corner, The Curve Shopping Mall, Kuala Lumpor, Nov 16th
  • KL Live, Kuala Lumpor, Nov 17th
  • Straits Quay Convention Center, Penang, Nov 19th
  • TAB, Singapore, Nov 22nd
  • Damai Central, Kuching, Sarawak Nov 26th

From her bio:

just four years ago, Avi was a former art student in Kuala Lumpur who posted a song on YouTube to catch up with a friend and was quite surprised to find herself the toast of the Internet when thousands of strangers discovered her effortlessly stunning voice. Literal overnight success can easily poison young minds, but Avi is no ordinary mind โ€” while critics were comparing her chilled-out, jazzy, ukulele-based songs to Billie Holiday and Cat Power she was continuing to make visual art and remaining her buoyant, whimsical self. โ€œIโ€™m 25 going on 12 and a half on a good day,โ€ she laughs, flipping through a notebook filled with colorful drawings and lengthy notes.

via: Capturing Penang

Related: Tourist choices in KLLooking into Kuching, Sarawak, MalaysiaHollie Steel

There are Lots of Blogs Connected to Kuching and Borneo

As I posted a few weeks ago I took a look at Kuching and was as I learned more I have been looking into moving in Kuching. Kuching offers some really nice benefits. It is less expensive that places like Kuala Lumpur and Penang. It also is said to be a very livable city. I plan to look at it in soon.

One thing that drew my interest is the active bloggers from there. Borneo Colours and Sarawak bloggers provide a forum for bloggers for all over Borneo and Serawak and are great places to find related blogs. And also just searching for blogs I found several. Some of my favorites are (including some from the rest of Borneo and even the rest of Malaysia, too):

By far my favorite though is Miao & WafuPafu. The cat is from Kuching, though he lives in Melaka now. This comic is awesome!

I also have found the start of a network using Google+ (John Hunter on Google+).

When looking at the others areas in Malaysia, other than Kuala Lumpor, I don’t find many blogs (and many that I do find, are by expats). That might partially be that I am just missing what is there for blogs in other locations. The blogs are a great way to get a peak at Kuching before I make it there (I should make it next week, or the week after that).

Related: Tourist Stuff in Kuala Lumpurphotos of Penang