From Miri, we endured a boring eight hour bus journey to Sibu, where we checked into the nearest hotel, which was, surprisingly very cheap. Flopping straight into the huge bed, and to sleep, we awoke the next day to climb aboard yet the millionth boat to continue our journey onto Sarawak's capital, Kuching.
The boat ride took a little longer than anticipated, as the sea was treacherous, and at times, I'm sure we were going to capsize, but it made it all the more memorable. Probably for the severe nauseous feeling, rather than any enjoyment however. Still, five hours at sea, has got to be better than eight hours on a bus. Especially when the buses are falling apart, like every one we have ridden on lately seems to be doing.
Arriving a little disorientated, and feeling a little sick, we hauled our bags into a taxi and headed for our hostel. The sign outside looked new and modern. Stepping inside, we were pleased to see a proper reception desk, clean floors and smiling staff, who showed us around the whole building. Sharing with around ten others, with beds on the floor, didn't even seem so bad, as the room was big, airy, clean and spacious. We were very impressed.
Bags dumped, and shoulders eased, we decided to go and explore the state's capital Kuching, which when translated, means 'cat'. Already, i liked this place. Cats are everywhere, huge statues, sculptures, and god, the souvenir shops have gone Kuching crazy! Lucy and I immediately felt a positive vibe about this place. The waterfront is designed really well, with spacious walkways, playing host to a buzz of activity, from runners to sellers. After an evening of exploration, staking out the shops, and making some rediculous purchases...mum you will soon see!, we headed to bed to await the following days excitement.

The next day was of course the first day of the annual Rainforest World Music Festival, which we had been eagerly awaiting for some time now. The festival is set among the foothills of the rainforest, and plays host to indiginous bands, and also has performances from various bands from around the world, showcasing some weird and wonderful sounds.

We took a free shuttle from town to the event, and from the minute we stepped through the gates, we loved it. It is the perfect place for a festival, incredibly beautiful and picturesque. Every building is carefully handcrafted out of wood, and on stilts, which are incredible works of art. There is a whole variety of local handicrafts and workshops at the festival, along with performances of various genres of music and dance to watch. I've never really enjoyed classical music, but I've obviously never heard it in this way before!

In typical fashion, just as night was falling, and the first band was preparing for their set, the thunder echoed around the mountains. Soon after, the rain followed, huge drops, bouncing off of the grass, turning it into mud. Perhaps we should have worn welly's and not flip flops...

I tink the bad weather, which got worse from the start. put a dampner on things, particulaly the atmosphere. We stayed a litle longer, but the acts playing really weren't our thing, and far too mellow for any kind of festival. At times everyone sitting under the shelter with or on their poncho's looked more like refugees waiting to be housed, than festival goers!

Saturday was pretty chilled out, and was spent exploring Kuching. We had considered going to Bako National Park, where there is rainforest trails leading to beautiful beaches, but we decided against this as the weather wasn't up to much.

Sunday was festival time again, we figured this would be the best day as it was te finale. However, we were told by numerous people that Saturday was the best, but hey, two outa three aint bad, right. Many people jsut go to the festival at night when the music is due to start, but we arrived around two in the afternoon, as we were eager to see more of the workshops. The workshops tend to combine individuals or a few people from various bands, who work together to teach us abut their instruments, style and genre of music and finally an improvised jamming session. Some of the sets were incredibe, and the musicians so tallented, all of tem able to play a number of instruments. It was also really good to see people from all over the world combining their music and styles with others from tribes and suchlike.

The evening events, too were much better, and thankfully the weather stayed dry. All seventeen bands who had performed over the past three days came together for the finale, which was quite impressive, each band continuing to play, whilst each was introduced and played a small set. The whole event was eclectic in every sense, and that was definately the appeal. Of course, not all of the music was to my taste, but I still managed to appreciate it for the performers talent, and in such a beautiful setting what was not to enjoy?

Our last day in Kuching was spent souvenir shopping and doing boring but neccessary errands, before we flew to our new favourite city for the second time, Singapore!