01-May-2024
Road trip Day 3...
The day started in Kapit. Wanting to check out the river at dawn, we were up early. Not as early as the locals, though. Pretty much everything was in full swing already: Eateries open, markets buzzing. And so many markets... There's the big market in the centre of town, but there seem to be many other additional selling spaces. It's a hive of commerce.
Kapit in the early hours
The town square is full of stalls, ready for the Trade & Food Fair
Morning on the river
Kapit's lily pond goes back to the early days of the fort
The market in the light
Unfortunately, the Ung Tong Bakery, which is famous for its buns, was closed for the public holiday. Next time...
We'd only planned one night in Kapit, which in some ways was a pity. But it's a very small town, with not many walking opportunities, so more time here might have been problematic. But I do feel a bit as though we breezed in, and then breezed out again.
Anyway, come leaving time, we fought our way through the melee of cars that was besieging the town centre, and headed back down the picturesque road.
The hornbill clocktower, on the roundabout as you head out of town
Off down the road again
This time we stopped off in Song, another traditional little riverside town, and also very busy on this day off from work. It's nice to see these little places thriving, but it all felt a bit frantic, and we didn't stay very long. What we did do, though, was buy some fried banana (pisang goreng) from the market. Fresh, hot, and crispy, with an almost liquidy banana interior, these were nothing short of sublime... We stood in the shade by the river, making appreciative noises, and watching the vast flow roll by.
Views of the rivery world of Song. This is the petrol station
Little craft kept disappearing up side-rivers that don't even figure on the map
Once back in Sibu, we'd hoped to get lunch at the Payung Cafe. But that was closed for the public holiday too. So we went back to the good old Coffee Code, and fulfilled a longstanding ambition to try their cheese and durian pizza. Nice... Very, very nice... An excellent crispy crust, and very duriany.
We were in the upstairs bit with the Hello Kitty lighting, hence the pizza's confusing pink glow
The little stretch of promenade facing Sungai Igan is always nice for a Sibu stroll, and especially so at sunset. This waterway branches off from Batang Rajang, Sibu's main river (and is therefore, Nigel tells me, a distributary, as opposed to a tributary...).
We're in a different hotel tonight (different from Monday's, that is). This one, De House, is in the new part of town, slightly to the west of the traditional centre. It's modern, comfortable, and well equipped, and it has its own coffee shop.
The downside of its location, though, is its proximity to several bars, restaurants, and karaoke joints... So, although I really liked it, it's probably more suited to people who keep later hours than we do.