Today, we had an excursion to the Serikin Border Market at one of the border crossings with Indonesia. It is about 1h30 from the apartment and to avoid the heat ,we left at 0545 with a detour to Aunty Margaret’s. We ended up proceeding with a headstart and arrived at 0730
We paid for parking and started walking around. Mum rang asking why I hadn’t sent her any photos on WhatsApp. At over 90 years of age, she has grown accustomed to the instant-everything world of the 21st Century!
The border market sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snakcs, produce, furniture and many other things. Some stock are different from what you’d get in Malaysia as they’re sourced south of the border.
All I bought was some buah jering (buah jengkol in Indonesia) to make some Rendang Buah Jengkol which I had tasted only about a week ago in Palembang.
With some congestion, we didn’t drive all the way up to the border crossing. I had read that it wasn’t a full official border crossing but locals told me I could cross with a passport.
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- Border market at Serikin sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snacks, produce furniture and many other things.
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- Gonjeng dried fish.
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- Kuini is like a mango but it isn’t. It has a much stronger fragrance.
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- Border market at Serikin sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snacks, produce furniture and many other things.
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- Border market at Serikin sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snacks, produce furniture and many other things.
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- Emping melinjo/belinjo (left) is a whole nut pressed into a flat and then deep-fried to a crisp. Keripik singkong (right) is a tapioca crisp.
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- Border market at Serikin sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snacks, produce furniture and many other things.
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- Border market at Serikin sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snacks, produce furniture and many other things.
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- Border market at Serikin sells clothing, fashion accessories, luggage, homeware, snacks, produce furniture and many other things.
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- Strawberries all they way fro West Java (presumably near Bandung), brought all the way to steamy Borneo.
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- Sarawak (Malaysia) souvenir t-shirts made in Indonesia.
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- Sarawak (Malaysia) souvenir t-shirts made in Indonesia.
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- Dayak crafts like these are hardly seen or made locally now. Good on the Indonesians for keeping the art alive.
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- Dayak crafts like these are hardly seen or made locally now. Good on the Indonesians for keeping the art alive.
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- Produce section.
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- Cane-ware. Food covers for the table. Amusing for foreigners to mistake them as hats.
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- Cane-ware. Furniture.
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- Cane-ware. Baskets.
We left around 0915 to a small Buddhist temple set in a small cave. There was some shade which allowed us to catch up with the rest of the group from the other two cars.
Continuing to Fairy Cave I was quite surprised by the scale (even having visited Mulu, until recently the world’s largest cave system). I had been to the nearby Wind Cave and expected something modest but we were greeted by a staircase that went up about four storeys to the entrance of the cave.
Inside, it was impressively large as well with two sections of dimly lit steep stairs which were ladder-like. Aunty Julia who was 78 years of old managed well in both directions but we all needed some additional lighting from our cellphones.
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- Farmer’s market at Kampung Duyoh. But they appeared to be jungle produce rather than farmed products.
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- Farmer’s market at Kampung Duyoh. Pitcher plant. It’s wild, not grown.
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- Buddhist Temple near the Kampung Duyoh and Ferry Cave area.
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- Fairy Cave was more impressive than expected even though I’ve been to Mulu Caves twice (formerly the world’s largest cave system).
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- Fairy Cave was more impressive than expected even though I’ve been to Mulu Caves twice (formerly the world’s largest cave system).
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- From viewpoint near the opening of Fairy Cave.
We treated ourselves to fresh coconut outside afterwards before driving home, reaching there around 1300.
After a swim, I had a simple meal of instant noodles with Mum while the rest of the family went out for dinner. I didn’t want her to be alone cooking and bathing as she was less stable than usual.