Borneo to Burma

After canopy walks, waterfalls, caves and bats in the jungle at Mulu we make our way to Burma... a jounrey which takes us a week. First we have to fly out of the jungle and spend the night in Miri, before flying back to Kota Kinabalu where we catch our return flight for Kuala Lumpur on main land Malaysia. Before we can fly to Burma we have to apply for visas at the embassy, but because we arrive late on a thursday they won't be ready to collect until after the weekend. So we have three days to kill and we don't want to spend them in one of the largest cities in the world. Instead we head to near by Pangkor island for three days which we treat as a holiday (day to day travelling is not a holiday!). We swim and sunbathe and eat sea food and ice cream. One moning when we are having breakfast outside our hut a huge Hornbill flies down and sits on the near by telephone wire. Having spent four days in the jungle looking for these with no success we are amazed when more come down to join it.

Next its back to Kuala Lumpur for a night to collect our visas and change money into US dollars. This takes a very long time. The Burmese currency, Kyat, can only be purchased within Burma and only with crisp, unfolded, 2006 or later dollar bills. The slightest mark, tear or bend means they wont be accepted. To make matters worse, Burmese ATMs don't accept foreign cards, so if your dollars get bent before they're exchanged, your stuck. After explaining to eight money changers what were after we finally get our dollars, carefully stored in an envelope which is between a book and in a plastic folder. Boarding passes printed we head to the airport at midnight for a disturbed sleep on a bench before our 6:00 flight.