Back in Borneo

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 detached from friends and family in the UK and that more and more the people we have most in common with are ourselves and other travellers.  This feels both sad and inevitable and doesn't reflect badly on anyone, it's just that if you spend a lot of time in cultures other than your own, your frame of reference changes and what you have to say has less relevance to people from your home culture and somehow you feel less connected.  Don't get me wrong, I still like going back to the UK and seeing family and old friends, it's just that the experience is different.

We touched down in Sibu on Friday afternoon and far from arriving in a strange and threatening environment, it was like stepping into a warm bath into which I immediately relaxed and felt "at home". Such is the pace of change here that the shabby concrete terminal that I described when I landed six months ago has now been replaced with a brand new building, complete with smart luggage carousels and new counters for the Immigration Officials, who even seemed more friendly.  It's good to be back, for now at least.