May 7, 2007

Sibu (BORNEO)

Boat Ride to Sibu and Needed Rest

I earned a couple extra hours of sleep this morning as my boat didn't leave the dock until 8:30am. From Kuching, it was a five hour boat ride through various muddied rivers and even across part of the South China Sea. However, it was freezing cold below deck so I unlocked a hatch and snuck onto the roof of the boat. This made the ride somewhat better, but the sun in Borneo is dangerous and I don't want to be held up by bad sunburns. Also, most of the view was destroyed by the heavy logging that has left the water polluted with topsoil and other detritus.

When I arrived in Sibu, which is no more than a logging town at the base of the mighty Rejang river, I stopped in at a small cafe to eat lunch and collect my bearings. I was planning to board another boat within the hour to continue my upriver journey, but after inquiring at the docks I found a better option is to continue all the way upstream on a 5am boat the next morning. I have been coping with the onset of a cold, so half a day's rest seemed like a better idea than pushing onward today.

I checked into a hostel where I had the room to myself for the first time on this trip, and I even had a few drops of hot water in the shower. The heat was more of a tease than anything, but it helped clear up my sinuses.

I picked up a government permit for my upriver travel, and I stopped in at a supermarket to buy food for the long journey.

I will continue onward early tomorrow morning.

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