Miri, Sarawak - The oil town of Malaysia

After our Guah Niah trip, we were too tired to do anything else except head to the hotel to check-in. But on the way to Miri city centre, looking at the map, I realised that the road leading up to Canada Hill was just opposite our hotel area.

Malaysia's first oil well (Miri Well No. 1) is situated on top of Canada Hill, a limestone ridge overlooking Miri City. Now affectionately known as the Grand Old Lady, it began production in 1910 and produced 660,000 barrels of oil until it was shut down in 1972. I figured then that we should make a quick detour just to see this monument that was instrumental in according Miri as the oil town of Malaysia. After all, we still had the rented car.

Canada Hill in the evening was full of locals exercising - jogging, cycling, playing football. The area around the Grand Old Lady was deserted though. We spent a short time there taking photos of the monument and the Nodding Donkey next to it. To be fair, there was nothing much else to do as the Petroleum Museum (which we had planned to see) was closed.

Walking towards the oil well monument

The Grand Old Lady - Malaysia's first oil well

Replica of oil driller

We then walked towards the back of the museum where we found a vantage point overlooking Miri city and the South China Sea at the distance. The sun was setting, a good way to end our day in Miri.


Watching the sun set over Miri city

Finally, we headed to the hotel which was only 5 minutes away. Let's just say that there's nothing boutique about M Boutique Inn. This hotel is part of a row of shoplots. The room that we got is best described as no-frills. The cleanliness could be improved, especially when there was a large spot of damp and mould stain on one of the walls which I tried to block with  a chair. I was too tired to ask for a change of room.

But we couldn't really complain as it cost only RM129 for a room with 1 double bed and 1 single bed. We were looking for a budget hotel anyway.

Entrance to our hotel

Its redeeming quality is the close proximity to Bintang Megamall (3-minutes walk away) from which you could buy food from one of the many fast food joints or kopitiams. Especially useful when all you wanted to do was to have a TV dinner in the comfort of your hotel room, and then curl up on the bed nursing your aching feet.

 

Gua Niah, Sarawak - The making of a spelunker

While planning for our Miri-Brunei trip, I toyed with the idea of going to Niah Cave but somehow the idea was binned as I was not sure whether it would be suitable for a child. My biggest worry was the long walk from the entrance of the park to the cave itself. I trawled the net looking for other people's experience with kids but could not find any.

So we flew to Miri with only a loose itinerary to visit Canada Hill and the Petroleum Museum. At Miri Airport, while looking for taxi to take us to the town centre, there were lots of posters on Gua Niah and Gua Mulu which got us to think that it would be a sin to be in Miri without going to one of the caves. We saw the car rental desk at one corner and the rest, as they say, is history.

Our car was an old-ish Proton Saga rented for RM180 for the day. I thought it was quite expensive but by that time I was already hooked with the idea of Gua Niah. Then, it was off to a convenience store in the airport to get some supplies for our last minute caving trip - bottled water, buns, chocolates, snacks, torchlight. Alas, we could not find any shops selling shoes (at least for Snufkin) so all three of us had to be content with the slippers that we were wearing!

The journey to Niah National Park, based on directions from the car rental guy and signboards, took us close to two hours. 

1) Niah National Park headquarters

Entrance tickets costing RM10 can be bought here. You also need to register your names in and out. When we registered, there were only around 5 other names in the log and that was already past 12pm.

At the entrance of the Niah National Park Headquarters

Niah National Park map

2) Sungai Niah crossing

This is where you would need to take a boat ride to the other side of the river. It cost RM1 one-way per person - I have read some complaints on these extra charges but it's only RM1 and it provides extra employement opportunities to the villagers.

The journey took all of 2 minutes. You can swim of course, but be mindful of the crocodiles.

Crossing the crocodile-infested Niah River

A short walk after the crossing was the Archeology Museum and a shop selling drinks and basic supplies (torchlights can be rented here for RM10).

3) Trek to the caves

This was the part that I dreaded most. I was not sure how Snufkin would take the 3.5km walk to the caves, in the caves and another 3.5km back to the carpark. He was not even 5 after all. If your kids are still using strollers/pushchairs, I would recommend bringing one of the lightweight ones (this could be "parked" at the bottom of the staircase right before the caves). At least it would help to conserve their energy before the walk in the caves itself.

The trek to the caves was via a raised plankwalk enclosed on both sides by dense primary rainforest. In many parts, giant trees (including tapang trees) provided the much needed shade. We walked under the green canopy, crossed wooden bridges over mendearing streams and trickling brooks, with the chorus of birds chirping and insect sounds in the background.

Snufkin's main source of entertainment was the bright red milipedes. We made it into a game: "Count the milipedes". He got 20 easily. He also found himself a stick, purportedly to fend off elephants, tigers and jungle bandits.

The trek seemed never-ending. I nearly gave up until I saw the Iban stalls selling souvenirs and snacks. From here, it was a short walk to the rickety staircase that led to Traders' Cave. We had already walked for close to one hour.

The route from the park headquarters to the caves

Some of the red millipedes that we saw along the way

4) Traders' Cave

The stairs leading to Traders' Cave

This cave was used by the local merchants as a trading spot for the swiftlet birdnests and guano, hence the name. What remained from those heady days of trading were just falling structures of the huts and sheds erected by the birdnest traders and which was used up until the late 70's.

It was cool in the cave, a respite from the tropical heat. We spent some time there cooling ourselves with nature's air-conditioning system, admiring the huge and impressive stalactites on the roof of the cave.

At the far end is the staircase leading to the Great Cave

To get to the Great Cave from here, we ascended another set of rickety and steep staircase (cobweb-ridden - so I was squinting my eyes all the way), then walked a short distance on a plankwalk along the limestone wall and then were rewarded with the sight of the spectacular West Mouth entrance of the Great Cave.

5) The Great Cave

This is the main cave within the Niah cave complex. It is a vast cave consisting of many chambers connected by narrow passageways. Standing near the West Mouth entrance, the hugeness of the  high-ceilinged chamber that we were standing in was jaw-dropping. You could easily build a whole village here.

The main inhabitants are bats and swiflets, the products of which (birdnest and guano) are a source of the local economy. We could hear the squeaking sound of the bats and even saw a few swooping around near the roof of the cave. The game "Count the millipedes" turned to "Count the bats".

Niah cave is also one of the most  important archeological sites in the world. The oldest modern human remains discovered in Southeast Asia were found here in this very cave by a team led by Tom Harrison, then a curator in the Sarawak Museum. The site of the fenced archeological digs could be seen towards the left as we walked to the other side of the cave.      

My little spelunker

West Mouth entrance of the cave

The house that Tom Harrison stayed in while researching the site

Doing his own archeological dig.

Background: The stairs leading to the inner chambers



Stalactites galore

6) The looong trek back

There were more flights of wooden stairs towards the back of the cave, leading to more chambers. It was time for us to turn back to the same route that we came. We did not want to risk going to the pitch-dark chambers wearing only slippers.

Now, if you are training for weightlifting, I would suggest a trip to Gua Niah with a young child. There is a high probability that you have to carry the child on the way back. We had to. Snufkin begged to be carried and he looked so tired that we did not have any choice but to take turns and carry all 18kg of him . To me, it was a combination of pass the baton, endurance race and mind control. To say I was knackered at the end of the trek would be an understatement.

But it was a trip worth making. It was Snufkin's first caving-related experience and he enjoyed walking in the cave with the torchlight and his "staff", looking for bats. And I got to be reminded again on the difference beteween stalactites and stalacmites.

Note:

Park headquarters opening hours: 9.00am to 5.30pm.
Entrance fees: RM10 (free for kids under 6).
Boat ride:RM1 per person per way for 9.00am to 5.00pm, RM1.50 for 5.00pm to 7.00pm.

Gua Niah day tours  from Miri are available for around RM200 but it can easily be done on your own (just follow the plankways). You'll save a lot too.

Best places to eat with kids in Cambodia

I'm pretty sure that there's no shortage of good food in Cambodia but we don't take meat while on holidays and hence our options were limited to seafood-based or vegetarian meals. Being a pescetarian in Cambodia was not too difficult as the Mekong River ensured constant supply of seafood. However, having had the same dishes over and over again, there were moments when I could not stomach another plate of rice with fish/squid/prawn, kampot green pepers notwithstanding. Snufkin too is a not a rice person so and there was no way that I could persuade him to try fish amok.

But all was not lost. As in Laos, Cambodia has its share of bakeries and restaurants serving Western/fusion food suitable for kids who prefer their comfort food.

Here's three of our favourites:

1) Blue Pumpkin

 
The Blue Pumpkin is an all-in-one french bakery, patisserie, ice-cream parlour and restaurant. They have several outlets in Siem Reap but the one we frequented was the one on Sivatha Street, just a couple of minutes walk from our hotel. The restaurant also had a nice set-up, with day-beds on which you can lounge the afternoon away.

The first food that I had there was their goi cuon springrolls (with shrimp and vegetable filling, served with hoi sin sauce). It tasted homemade and fresh - I was hooked. Snufkin's favourite was the margherita pizza, and of course, the ice-cream. There's a lot of other options for kids and adults alike, both Western and Asian (including Khmer) food. Suffice to say that most of Snufkin's meal in Siem Reap came from Blue Pumpkin.

So if you're wondering what to eat in Siem Reap and do not feel adventurous enough to try the Cambodian street food, then this is a good place to start.

My staple food in Seam Reap



2) Kaya Cafe

We came across this place by accident. We had been walking in the Old Market area in Siem Reap for ages and was looking for a place to sit down and have coffee. Kaya Cafe was chosen because it had the least crowd - in fact, there were no customers at all when we got there. I later got to know that it was just recently opened (by the same people who owned Senteurs d'Angkor) so probably that explained the lack of customers at that time.

We ordered mango sorbet for Snufkin, iced coffee, passionfruit smoothie and a Khmer dessert which was a mixture of steamed banana, grated coconut and palm sugar. These are common ingredients in Malaysia but that dessert I had in Kaya Cafe tasted out of this world. It has got to be the perfect texture of the banana and the freshness of the ingredients, especially the palm sugar. I am salivating as I write this.

This cafe would be one of my main reasons for any repeat visit to Siem Reap.



Photo credit: Kaya Spa & Cafe

 

3) Le Jardin Restaurant

 

This restaurant in Phnom Penh has got to be the one of the most kids-family restaurants that I have ever come across. I just wish that we have something like this in Malaysia.

You can enjoy your food while your kids run loose in the sandpit/treehouse area. I have written a bit more about this place here.

And of course, at the end of the day, there's always the banana and nutella pancake that you can get from one of the carts!

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Things to do for free

Siem Reap can be quite expensive once you have factored in the entrance tickets to Angkor Wat and the tour to Tonle Sap. Most of the things are priced in USD so if you are coming from a country with a weaker currency than USD (like us) and want to watch your spending, here's a couple of things that you can do for free:

1) Artisans Angkor

We went to the workshop of Artisans Angkor for want of something to do the evening of the day we went to Angkor Wat. It was located a couple of blocks behind our hotel (Apsara Centropole) and easy enough to locate using the map in the Lonely Planet guidebook.

The Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples, with its intricate carvings, statues and bas-reliefs, are a testament to the greatness of Khmer arts and crafts. Artisans Angkor strives to preserve and revive many of these traditional and ancient Khmer skills, e.g. silk-making, stone and wood carving, lacquering and painting. At the same time, it helps young, rural people with limited education opportunities to obtain professional skills and to improve their lives.

At the workshop, you would be allocated a guide for free, who would show you the various workshops in which young craftsmen were busy producing items for sale. A word of warning if your kids are asthmatic: some of the rooms were very dusty and may not be suitable.



A woodcarver in action

One of the popular items in the showroom - elephants carved out of woods

  

Some of the finished products

 

A craftsman working on a reproduction of an Angkorian era statue

At the end of the tour, we went to the boutique / showroom where the items produced by the craftsmen were on sale. The prices were rather expensive but the quality was top-notch, nothing like the tourist tat that flooded the Old Market. If you want to go shopping in Seam Reap for souvenirs for yourself or people back home, then this is the place to shop. And there was an ice-cream shop at the back to deposit your kids (with someone to watch over of course) should you want to feel less like having a bull in a china shop.

My only regret that day was not having the time to go on the free guided tour to the Angkor Silk Farm. The tour on mulberry trees cultivation, silkworm farming, cocoon unwinding and silk making would no doubt be very educational.

 

2) Senteurs d'Angkor

 

The night before we left Seam Reap, while having a break at Kaya Cafe, we came across an outlet of Senteurs d'Angkor which was just next door to the cafe (both are in fact sister companies). I fell in love with the frangipani-scented products and was even more attracted to see the items that I bought came in eco-friendly packaging made from weaved sugar palm leaves.

 

The next morning, we took a tuk-tuk from our hotel and squeezed in a visit to the workshop to see how the products were made. The workshop was in a beautiful colonial villa and the guided tour was free. Although it was just a short tour, it was a good introduction to show kids how soap and candles were made.

 

Entrance to the workshop



Sugar palm leaves are dried, dyed and then weaved into boxes called

"smoks"which are used as eco-frindly packaging

Bars of coconut oil-based handmade soaps - All made from

extracts derived from plant oils and 100 % natural ingredients

The making of aromatic candles

After the tour, we proceeded into the shop. I am not usually into shopping in my travels but in this case, I felt like buying everything - perfumed massage oils, body creams, body scrubs, handmade soap, bath salts. All was beautifully packaged in a rustic way and came in a range of scent which included jasmine, orchid, cinnamon, lemongrass, green tea, mango, lotus, orange and of course frangipani. You could also buy locally produced/grown food like Cambodian spices, Kampot pepper, coffee from Ratanakiri, wild honey and mango jam.

I asked Snufkin to pick something for him to buy and he chose a set of mini elephant-shaped soap, which to this day still stays in its packaging.



The shop with the nicest smell ever

Outside, you could also get free coffee or buy fresh sugar cane juice for USD1.

The products are reasonably priced. Best of all, they are not "made in China" as its raw ingredients and packaging materials are mostly sourced within Cambodia, so you will be supporting the local industry.

As a disclaimer, I would have to say that the above tours are free as they are probably banking on you to buy their products at the end of the tours. But you don't have to buy - just go for the tours and get yourself acquainted with Cambodian arts and crafts.

My only problem now is how to get a constant supply of the frangipani products from Malaysia!


Note:
Artisans Angkor - Address: Chantiers-Ecoles, Stung Thmey Street, Siem Reap 855500, Cambodia; Opening hours: 8.00 am – 5:00 pm (boutique closes at 5.30pm)

 

Free shuttle bus to the Angkor Silk Farm departs daily from the workshop at 9.30am and 1.30pm.
 

Senteurs d'Angkor - Address: No. 145, National Road No 6, Krous Village, Sangkat Svay Dangkum (Airport Road); Opening hours: 7.30 am - 5.30 pm daily

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Tonle Sap and the floating villages

 

Welcome to Tonle Sap

 

If you look at a map to Cambodia, you would see a relatively large body of water towards the west of the country. This is Tonlé Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A tour of this lake and the floating villages located on it is one of the things to do in Siem Reap besides temples.

 

You have the option of accessing Tonle Sap via Chong Khneas, Kompong Phluk or Kompong Khleang. The latter two are further away from Seam Reap and consequently receive less tourists. Chong Khneas is the nearest (15km away), but the crux of the problem of Chong Khneas is the scams and rip-offs, ranging from exorbitant boat fare and being forced to "donate" to a school for orphans. On the latter, the modus operandi is that the boat driver would take you to a grocery store to buy stuff to donate to the school. I'm all for spreading love and joy to children in need but not when the bag or rice you are supposed to buy cost USD50 and certainly not when you know that only a fraction of the money you part with goes to the children.

 

So, against our travelling norm, we booked a private "Authentic Tonle Sap" tour through Smart Tour Travel. The Tonle Sap tour price that we booked was USD120 for us 2 adults (free for kids under a certain age) for the tour which started at 8am. Probably still expensive but at least we knew that that was the max we would pay and the rate included transportation by car from and back to our hotel, private guide, lunch at a decent Khmer restaurant and the boat trip itself. Further, the tour started at Chong Khneas and ended at Kompong Phluk so we got to see both floating villages. 



1) GECKO Environment Centre

We had a brief stop here while on the way in the car from Siem Reap to Chong Khneas. The centre has displays and information on the ecology and biodiversity of the lake area as well as the lives of poeple living in the floating villages.

 

Front entrance of GECKO Environment Centre

Playing with the displays with a couple of Cambodian kids

 

2) Chong Khneas Floating Village

At the jetty, our tour guide sorted our tickets for the boat so that saved us from all the hassle. We boarded a long-tail fishing boat that could fit at least 10 people. There were lifejackets on the boat but all were adult-sized. So remember to bring your own if you are travellng with kids. We always bring Snufkin's own child-sized lifejacket when we have boat tours in our itineraries.

The floating village was a village in every sense, with sundry shops, petrol station, schools and of course the village houses. You see women rowing their boats, probably to get their provisions for the day. I was told that the villagers there were mostly Vietnamese. But Vietnamese or Khmer, it was obvious that these were very poor people and I am not sure whether they appreciated having tourists with their expensive gadgets peering into their impoverished houses on a daily basis.
 

Grocery shopping on the Tonle Sap

Floating school

3) Crocodile and Fish Farm

We stopped at a Crocodile and Fish Farm, which was nothing if not a tourist trap. There was a small crocodile pit and a smaller enclosure for catfish where you can purchase fish food and keep the young ones entertained for 5 seconds. Apart from that, there was a souvenir shop, a restaurant and a viewing deck on the upper level.

 

This was also where we were approached by beggars - a small girl with a snake wrapped around her neck; a woman with a face full of sorrow, her small child in a cradle at the stern of her decrepit boat.

 



 A mere prop used by the beggar? I still gave some money



We then made our way across the great lake towards Kompong Phluk. It was quite a long journey, probably more than an hour. Only then I could sense how big the lake was - at some parts I could barely see land. I had a good time chilling on the bow of the boat and Snufkin even joined me for a couple of minutes (the water was very still, Snufkin had his lifejacket on and I was assured that there was no crocodile!)

 

Boating across the Great Lake

 

4) Flooded forest of Kompong Phluk

This was my absolute favourite part of the tour. We were dropped off at a small floating restaurant and from there boarded a paddle boat rowed by a Cambodian woman who brought along her little girl.

 

The boat navigated through the narrow waterways of the flooded mangrove forest. It was serene and tranquil. The trunks and boughs of the trees reflected clearly on the still water, rippled only by the movement of the boat. We saw only two other boats; for most of the time it was quiet, save for the splashes of the oar. Snufkin enjoyed himself tremendously - he even gave one of his Hotwheels cars that he brought to the girl who, by the way, had one of the saddest faces I've seen in a child.

 

I would do this tour again just for this boat ride.

 

Rowing through the flooded forest

Flowers plucked by our rower - I had no idea what she said when she gave it to us

5) Kompong Phluk floating village

We saw more of authentic village life here than in Chong Khneas. The houses soared high on stilts and many had boats parked at their doorsteps. The villagers were going through their daily lives - the men sorting out their catch in the fishing nets, the women washing dishes, doing their laundry and the kids splashing in the water. Their lives literally and figuratively centred around the lake.


Houses on tall stilts

Police station

School run Kompong Phluk style

Snufkin fell asleep on my lap as our boat drove through the village. And he stayed asleep as we docked at the "jetty", transferred from the boat to the waiting car, had lunch at the Khmer restaurant and all the way to the hotel. All in all 1.5 hours of sleep.

I would recommend a trip to the floating villages if you plan around the potential scams, include the boat trip to the flooded forest and do not mind feeling like a one dollar dispensing machine.

Kompong Phluk "jetty"

Siem Reap, Cambodia - The ruins of Angkor

Further to my earlier post on planning for Angkor, here's how we spent our day there:
 

Sras Srang

It was pitch dark when we got here. Snufkin, who was carried from bed to tuk-tuk in his pyjamas, woke up. We gave him a torch light and he was no longer sleepy. It was pretty cold then and even colder in the moving tuk-tuk earlier. On hindsight, I would have brought a thick shawl to cover him up and slathered mosquito repellent before getting off the tuk-tuk as as the little buggers were having a pre-dawn fest.

Sras Srang is a man-made lake located across the road from Banteay Kdei. The stand-out feature was a landing platform/terrace with serpent balustrades flanked by two lions. It was built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII as a royal bathing pool.

Alas, it was a cloudy day so the sunrise was not spectacular. But we were there with only a handful of other people so it was a serene way to watch Angkor wakes up to a new day.

Sras Srang at dawn

Ta Prohm

I have seen photos of Ta Prohm teeming with crowds and it was like a scene from a horror movie.  But Ta Prohm in the morning, with no other soul in sight, is magical and other-worldly. Crumbling walls, slabs of stones piled on top of another, giant roots of silk-cotton trees wrapped around roofs and pillars, carved doorways leading to impassable corridors - it was all somewhat surreal. You would have to be extra careful if you were travelling with young children as you would have to step over rubbles in many parts of the temple. I can imagine that it would be a Health & Safety Inspector's worst nightmare.

But it's a small price to pay to entertain the budding young explorers. Snufkin got himself equipped with a stick as we went from one corner of the temple to another. I am not sure whether he was pretending to be Indiana Jones or Lara Croft - I hope it was the former.

The single best advice I would give is: Make sure you get to Ta Prohm first thing in the morning when it opens, or else you would not be able to take the photos below without having 10 other people in it holding up their fingers in the "V" sign.

Man-made and nature at one



The "Tomb Raider" tree that we spent ages to locate



Solitude in Ta Prohm

Angkor Thom and Bayon

Next, we past through one of the entry towers into Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire, via a long causeway flanked by a row of stone figures on each side. At the heart of Angkor Thom is Bayon. The most distinctive features of Bayon are the faces carved out of the stone towers. Everywhere you turn, you would see these faces smiling somewhat knowingly. Or was it smugness since they are older than all of us there put together?

Not to be missed are the two galleries of bas-reliefs depicting scenes of legendary and historical events.

By this time of the day, the crowd was swelling up. But Bayon has many nooks and crannies where you could just escape to. Your option of said nook and cranny is increased the more stairs you are willing to climb.



One of the 216 stone faces carved into the stone towers



Apsara dancers posing for photographs

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is vast and it deserves its title as the largest religious monument in the world. The causeway over the moat leading to the West entrance extended for a quarter of a mile. French explorer Henri Mouhot wrote:

"One of these temples—a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome..."

He, of course, had the fortune of not having to share it with thousands of other people.

This mostly sandstone monument is made up of three levels, with the third level supporting five lotus flower towers - four in the corners and one in the middle. The series of stairs to the upper level are frighteningly steep, with impossibly narrow steps. It gives a new meaning to the phrase stairway to heaven. When we were there, only one flight of stairs was opened and you have to queue to go up. They have erected wooden stairs right on top of the original ones, complete with handrails and all, no doubt to cater to the rising number of tourists. But even then, I don't think it's suitable for young children. I held on to the handrails for my dear life as I descended from the upper level.



The famous view of Angkor Wat over the water basin



The (still) steep stairs to the upper level



Gallery of the bas-reliefs - Depicting scenes from the 

Ramayana and Mahabharata 

View from the upper level

Altough we spent close to 8 hours in Angkor, we were finished by 1pm. I know many tourists make full use of the day-pass by returning in the evening to continue their temple tours. But we were done. We went back to the hotel, ordered room service and slept the afternoon away.

The architecture and the artworks in Angkor are astounding. And to think that all that was built in the 12th century, that's doubly impressive. I'm just glad that Pol Pot, in his psychotic craze to obliterate anything related to culture, arts and religion, left Angkor pretty much alone.