Thursday 19 December. Kayaking Day.

I had come across a company that offered kayaking on what looked like a beautiful river and booked for today. When it came, it seemed a bit close in time to Kubah which had been tiring and this involved a modestly early pickup. Anyway, it was well worth while with a very professional company who ferried me and five others to the base out in the Highlands. The only hitch was we waited around for a further six to join us who were making their own way and were apparently lost. In the end we gave up and set off. We had a British expat schoolteacher working in Brunei in one Kayak The other three people were a family - husband wife and daughter - from KL. The wife and daughter took one Kayak and the husband and I the third.
We started off in a very gentle river that quickly joined the faster flowing main river.

 We all proved reasonably adept but there was definitely no chance of stopping to take photographs, Indeed we kept up a pretty fine pace until eventually reaching a point where we could beach the kayaks and have a break. This was an intreseting backwater teaming with fish.

Before long we set off again, incentivised by the thought of lunch.

The length of the trip was about right for me. My back was in fairly constant protest, closely followed by my knees. As if to contradict that, I would have preferred a slower pace enabling a better savouring of the delicious countryside through which we were passing. Oh well.

Showered and late lunched we set off back to Kuching with our bags f wet clothing. By the time we were back at the hotel, there was not a vast time before setting off for supper. I went back to Lepau to enjoy the Umai again. It was another nice meal, though the fish - Tilapia - could have been better - a rather small portion of not the greatest cuts. Same as the catfish last time.