The latest bout of noise to afflict our apartment building was the reason we decided to bring forward our projected trip to Sibu, in the hopes that we could at least escape the (generally worse) early stages of renovations.

It's actually our fifth Sibu expedition. The first and second times, in 2018 and 2019 respectively, we came by boat. But sadly, that facility was one of the casualties of covid. It stopped, and never reappeared. I honestly don't understand the reasons for the discontinuation of this service, because it's still the quickest public transport option from Kuching to Sibu. The boat trip used to take five hours; the fastest bus option takes nearly six. And the boat delivered you right to the heart of the town, whereas you need to take a Grab from the bus station.

The next visit was in 2022, and then, last year, Sibu bookended the Kapit leg of our Bintulu expedition. Both those times we were travelling by car.

So this was our first bus trip to Sibu... I must admit I was a bit apprehensive. I'm not good with buses. I invariably find the seats uncomfortable; I get wriggly and headachy; and I can't stop myself comparing these unfortunate vehicles with the joys of train travel.

But actually, the bus trip way surpassed my expectations. Kapit Express. That's the way to go. Good seats, with lots of leg-room; and a decent lunch-and-loo stop at the Midsar Cafe, which does very decent (Sarawakian-style) fast food. We left promptly at 0930, and were in Sibu by 1515. OK, we were lucky in that the bus wasn't full, and it wasn't a super-hot day. But, all in all, no problems.








Observations from the road:

It was somewhat surprising, given that the Pan Borneo Highway is not that old, to find it quite bumpy in places (so much so that the driver had to slow down at times to avoid the worst of the roughness), and to see that they're repairing the road in several places, and doing a more thoroughgoing rebuilding job on one stretch. Our climate really treats the built environment mercilessly.

We were sad to see that Taman Danau, the pretty little park that used to sit on the edge of Serian, has been dug up, and is on course to become yet another same-as-everywhere-else commercial development. The project is being undertaken by the same developer who was doing "Greater Bau". I'm sure there'll be some kind of pretty area in there once it's finished, but that pretty area will exist in the context of lots of retail and other commercial undertakings. It won't be just a bit of park that's largely left to itself. Maybe that's an "improvement" that local people want. Maybe I'm just too old for this world...

Anyway, here we are in Sibu:









Our hotel room is a bit bijou. Definitely a step down from our amazingly luxurious pad in Miri. But we have a nice view of the river. And do you know what's really fab about it? No-one is hammering...