Travel around the island of Borneo has to be done using several forms of transportation. Bus, boat, auto or airplane. Today I leave Kuching, one of those never-to-forget towns, and catch the boat up river. I look forward on the 5 hour trip to sitting on the top deck watching the scenery slip past. But, alas, I could not sit on the deck or watch the scenery either!

I won't forget Kuching, capital of Sarawak, Borneo . Here I saw my first Rugby game, got up close to wild Orangutan, red-bearded hogs and proboscis monkeys. Here, I saw a huge Chinese parade that I still don't know what it was for. Maybe sometime I will return to this captivating city on the river.

But, it's time to move along to my next destination. I have decided to go to the river town of Sibu. I have the option of going by boat or bus. The bus takes 8 hours and the boat takes 5 hours and is scenic. The fare for the bus and the boat is the same. You get an assigned seat on the boat, but you can sit outside on the deck as much as you like. Easy decision!

The taxi picked me up early in the morning and dropped me at the boat terminal. I purchase my ticket and the man points me to the waiting area. The boat is scheduled to leave in about half an hour. There are boats docked all around but I have no way of knowing if any of them will be the one I will take.

About 20 minutes later I see some locals loading their bags onto a boat down a long gangplank . It's not time for my boat yet, but I go ask the man at the desk anyway. And, yes, it is my boat. They never announce these things. I guess the locals just know how it all works or something. He tells me I can board the boat. If I had not asked, I wonder if I would have missed the boat?

It's a little cloudy as we leave the dock but I find my assigned seat and store my baggage and head outside to sit on the deck. I get some photos from the back deck of the boat and wait for the skies to start clearing. They get darker until it starts to rain. We don't let the rain bother us much, we have a roof overhead. But, then, it really starts to rain hard and blowing in on us. The baggage is covered up with a tarp by the crew and everyone rushes inside to their seats. The air-conditioning in here is frigid. My jacket is in the backpack, covered by the tarp on the back of the boat. Two small kids run up and down the aisle between the seats, hitting every seat as they go....for the entire 5 hour trip . They keep this up, except for a few breaks they take for short periods of time to get more energy to run and annoy us some more. It's cold in here, the kids are annoying and I cannot see the scenery we are passing. Should have taken the bus!

Five hours later we dock at the city of Sibu. The rain has just about stopped. I didn't see anything on the trip and almost froze. I am just glad to get off this boat.

Sibu is still in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia on Borneo. It turns out to be not much more than a stop-over for people traveling between Kuching and my next destination, Miri.
 
However, I will spend the night here and continue my journey tomorrow. I find a hotel to stay in and leave my bags to tour the city.

Sibu, like Kuching, is situated on the waterfront paralleling the Rejang River. The wharf, where we docked, has many passenger boats like I came in on. They are lined up waiting to be filled . Travel by boat here is very common.

Sibu doesn't have quiet the draw and charm I felt in Kuching. It seems a little more ramshackle and subdued. There are over 285,000 people here in the city, the majority of which are Chinese. But it seems like a small wide spot on the river. Of course, I am just on the riverfront and have not been into the main part of town, and won't be going there.

Using google maps on my iphone, I follow directions to the tourist information building. The man working there is very helpful and gives me some good information.

I had thought about contining my trip up the river to the next town of Kapit. Spending a night there and taking the boat to Belaga. My final destination is the city of Miri. I can take a bus directly to Miri from Sibu, or I can take the boat, spend a night in the little town of Kapit, then the next day take the boat to the little town of Belaga . After a night in Belaga, I can take a bus into Miri.

I can get the boat to Kapit, alright. But if the river is low in Kapit, then a boat will not go from there to Belaga. In that case (and this is where it gets interesting!) I would need to walk to where some local men sit around having coffee every morning. I would ask them if anyone was heading several hours up the road to a road crossing. If they were, I would pay them to let me ride along. They would drop me off at the isolated crossroads, where I would wait for a bus to come along. There is no bus stop here, but I would need to wave the bus down. Then take the rest of the trip to Belaga. After a night in Belaga, I would catch a bus to Miri. I decide to skip the two small towns on the river and bus it straight from here to Miri tomorrow. 

Walking around Sibu, along the waterfront, I stop at the main attraction here, the 7-story pagoda. The man at the information place said they had trouble with teenagers going up inside the pagoda and doing teenager things, so now the pagoda is kept locked. But, the caretaker has the key and will give it to a tourist so they can go up and spend as much time as they like, then return the key to him. There is a wonderful view from the top tier, #7, of the Pagoda. You can see the city and a long way down the river from the top of the Pagoda. But, when I get there, I cannot find the caretaker with the key. I nevertheless take some photos and videos as I walk around the outside of the pagoda.

Back at the hostel, I discover my private room does not have wifi. I am only here for one night ... so that's that.
 
Next: The Death Ships!