Sarikei to Bintangor

Navigating the Rajang River is a bit of a waiting game - waiting for the tide to be going in the same direction that we want to go. We had plenty of time to wait so we took a trip in the dinghy across to the town and went to the morning markets. The Sarikei market must be the cleanest market in SE Asia we have seen so far. The fruit and vegetables were also pretty good so we bought a few things to top up our stores before visiting the pork market. Here, there were pigs' heads, pigs legs and feet, and strips of pork of almost unidentifiable cut. We bought a strip which was apparently shoulder, after being encouraged to buy a foreleg which we declined - if only because it would take longer to cook and one of the things we consider when cooking is length of cooking time and the gas it will use.

One of the many fast ferries

The outgoing tide was now slackening so we decided it was time to leave. It was a relatively short leg to Bitangor so we were in no hurry. The scenery was similar to yesterday, with palm- and mangrove-lined banks, interspersed with longhouses and timber yards. River traffic saw the long, skinny fast ferries, tugs and barges laden with logs or coal, and the smaller local boats, all with waving people hanging off them.


Kids waving from a longhouse

Local on the river