It's hot, hot, hot, right now.  Even for Borneo.  The last two or three days have been almost cloudless, allowing the Sun to suffuse the countryside with a buttery yellow light and making the temperature almost unbearable.  Yesterday evening Sue's colleague Catherine invited me on a cycle ride to a nearby longhouse which she had visited recently and where there was a promising bike trail. About ten kilometres out of Saratok we turned up a backroad which quickly became a dirt track.  It was hard work with the Sun still above the tree line and passing four-wheel drives throwing up clouds of dust, their occupants peering at us inquisitively, then smiling and waving.  Eventually we came to a turning off the track down to a longhouse, which to my surprise turned out to be the one of which my friend Ambrose is Headman.  I had been taken there by Ambrose about three months ago and could not  remember the way back.  The picture above was taken ...

In the UK I felt in the grip of two opposing forces - guilt and concern for Dad on the one hand and on the other the desire to get back to Borneo as fast as possible to carry on with what feels like my "real" life.  After two weeks the dynamic equilibrium shifted from Lincoln to Sarawak and I felt able to book my ticket back.  I arrived in KL on Thursday morning after a twelve hour flight from Heathrow feeling tired, bewildered and very old.  Sue had been spending a few days with a fellow Mentor, Catherine, in the Cameron Highlands, high in the hills of the Malaysian Peninsular and the plan was to spend the night together in KL before flying back to Sibu the next day.  I got to the hotel at about 9am desperate to get some sleep and crashed out in a sun-lounger by the pool until our room was ready after lunch. It was good to touch base with Sue that evening.  We're both finding that the variety of experiences we've had over the last ten years is making us det...