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(sorry folks, it's my longest blog yet, as it's been a busy couple of weeks - once again, you have been warned - enjoy.)

"Borneo to be Wild (sorry)"

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 17:28:08

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There's shopping centres, about 2-dozen banks (this, I oh-so-happily know as I had to visit half of them before one would accept my stained traveller's cheque), food stalls selling great food for 50p, and frantic markets selling anything you dare to eat and much you wouldn't. The buildings are pretty grotty - mostly just concrete boxes as the Allied bombings pretty much destroyed everything except a clock, but a diverse mix of people fill them. In the compacted centre, there's a wonderful mixture of Malay, Chinese, Indonesian and Philippino cultures all intermingling in the markets and on street corners - it's a bustling, busy place, lit up at night by the lanterns set up for Chinese New Year.

My girlfriend wisely asked me not to do anything dangerous on Friday 13th, so I hope camping on a desert island, surrounded by jungle that houses a family of wild boar and 3 feet monitor lizards doesn't count as dangerous. And I lie - they're 4 feet; just kidding, I didn't have the island to myself, about a dozen staff live on the other side, which is good as it means a response time of only 5 minutes after hearing the screams. Nah, it wasn't dangerous (honestly hun) but actually a really cool couple of days. I went across to the island with a gentleman called Mark. Briefly, Mark is a character I won't be forgetting - a 42y/o British skinhead with tattoos and a put-on posh British accent, a cyclist, photographer, masseur, and travel & self-confidence lecturer, and an honestly decent bloke. There wasn't a single person that met his gaze that he wouldn't start talking to, compliment or help, and after 2 hours it was as if the entire beach knew him. Just an honest friendly guy who's life's goal is to cycle through 100 countries, while seemingly passing on every scrap of knowledge in his head to those who'll listen. I'm not sure why I'm telling you this, except occasionally you meet someone when travelling ...