Crazy busy... Writing, writing, writing... But The Premier has offered a pleasant place to do that writing, and Sibu has provided a fascinating backdrop.

Highlights:

1. Getting the boat from Kuching. This normally takes five hours, and is by far the quickest way to travel. You power down the Sarawak River (all the waterways round there seem to be called the Sarawak River), sail the hypotenuse of the triangle of sea at the end, and then power up one of the convolutions of the Rajang River. You stop a couple of times (at Tanjong Manis and Sarikei). Unfortunately, for reasons no-one was really able to explain, we had to swap boats (literally midstream) a little after Sarikei. The second one offered a lot less visibility than the first. Never mind. It was still a good trip.









2. Eating Sibu specialities. First up, kampua mee: noodles, lard, pork, shallots. Wait a minute, I hear you saying, that sounds like kolo mee. And yes, it's definitely the same family. There are differences, but they're too subtle for neophytes like us. The same eatery also did the kompia that Sibu is famous for (little bagel-like buns stuffed with pork), and a good version of red beans and ice. The Payung Cafe is worth a mention for nice veggie rojak, a different take on otak-otak, and ice-cream with thick durian puree.



3. Walking Death Row. OK, a little over-dramatic. But the wall of the cemetery next to the old mosque sports a long series of warnings for the edification of passing pedestrians and motorists... Trouble is, you can't argue with any of them.









4. Walking other places. (It's worth popping into the little museum, to get some background on the town, and acquire one of their heritage maps to guide your strolling.) There's the river, of course. Who could resist a huge river like that, with all its goings on? Coal barges, grit barges, "flying coffins" (named for the shape, not the safety level), the trusty motorbike ferry, bumbling back and forth. By the riverside on our first evening, we got talking to a young man from the locality. He'd been to KL once. But "here is paradise for me". Then there's the Tua Pek Kong Temple, with its lovely pagoda and pretty courtyards, And just as we hunted cats in Kuching, we hunted swans here. So many places to do your 10,000 paces.

























5. Enjoying the nightly bird show, put on by thousands of swifts. They circle, they swoop, they wheel. They perch, they plunge on again. It's quite magical, and I've never seen anything like it.





We have plans to return next year, and press on further into Sarawak's interior. May it be...