Narrative essay

A Journey from Brunei to Sarawak

Thirty years ago, Hedley, with his wife Mary and daughter Katie, visited
the Niah Caves in Sarawak, East Malaysia. They travelled by car ,
large ferry , and small boat .

They set off from Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei and
drove to the border with Sarawak. They crossed two large rivers by
ferry, stopped in Miri for lunch and then continued to Niah, a small river
township. Then they hired a small boat and sailed upriver to a
government rest house, where they stayed the night. They ate dinner with
the small group of scientists who lived in the rest house and shared the cold
drinks they had brought with them in a cool box. It was a remote
spot, deep in the jungle. They slept in bunk beds with no airconditioning. It
was a novel experience.

The next morning, they walked along a jungle path for half an hour until
they reached the Niah caves. Inside the caves, which were very high,
they saw men who climbed up tall bamboo poles. The men had
lights on their hats because it was so dark. At the top of the poles they
scraped off birds’ nests from the roof of the caves. The nests were collected
by their mates on the cave floor and put into sacks. These nests were
later sold and made into bird’s nest soup, a Chinese delicacy.

That afternoon, they said goodbye to their new-found friends in the rest
house and departed on the long drive home. It was quite an adventure and
one they would never forget.


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