July 2010 I spent 10 days in Thailand, the land of smiles. The first 2 days I stayed in Bangkok, visiting the floating markets, night markets and a day trip to the Bridge over the River Kwai, Hellfire pass the Thai/Burma
Hellfire passThai Burma railway
railway all built by the WW2 POW’s and some local Thai people. Kanchaniburi war cemetary is one of the many war cemetaries in Thailand.
View from Hellfire Pass
May 2009, Again I set off for Sabah, Malaysia , Borneo. With my 2 girls aged 11 & 14 we boarded a plane at Melbourne and headed to Sandakan, Sabah. My youngest daughter had been asked by her paternal grandfather if she would take some time on her holiday to locate the war cemetery and to find and photograph the 2 graves of his army mates who had died whilst they where on patrol in Borneo. Kuching is on north-east side of Borneo and the second largest city in Sabah. The Japanese occupation of Sandakan occurred in January 1942 during world war 2. There are only a few building still standing after the end of the war. One of the most significant is St Michael’s and all angels church.
We spent 4 days in Sandakan viewing the church the waterfront and town and taking a tour of the probiscus monkey sanctuary and the botanical gardens. We spent a few hours wandering around the memorial gardens which is the site of the POW camp, where prisoners were kept before being sent on the 3 death marches from Sandakan to Ranau through the jungle and mountains. The gardens are lovingly maintained with a memorial building and lake. The start of the death march trail is no longer visible from the town after being reclaimed by the jungle but you can take guided tours which start further into the jungle. My fitness level would not have stood up to this, neither would my children.
Probiscus Monkey
Sandakan Waterfront
We then flew across to Kota Kinabalu to spend the next 7 days. During our stay we visited the local Hypermall explored the town and the eating establishments. One day was spent catching a ferry ride from Kota Kinabalu to Labuan island, this is where the commonwealth war memorial cemetery is located and all the soldiers from Australia, England, New Zealand and india are buried. My enquiries at the travel agents only told me that you could fly to Labuan or take the ferry which was a 2 hour trip. We purchased our tickets and set off about 9am only to find out once on board that it was a local ferry and would take 3 hours allowing us 1 hour to get a taxi to the cemetery, locate and photograph the 2 soldiers graves and be back in time for the only return ferry. To say that things got lost in translation is true. Taxi driver did not wait for us at the cemetery and it was a 20 min fast ride from the ferry terminal. Blazing hot day and the walk back was looking like the only way with then having to either try getting on a plane or finding a hotel for the night. If not for the saviours a couple from Queensland who had a private driver and van and gave us a ride we would have still been walking. Seeing the graves was a very moving experience and the ages of the men so young. A very rough ferry ride back arriving at 4pm with our hotel pool and snack bar in our sights.
Water lillies at the memorial gardens
Memorial
War Cemetary Labuan
Mt Kinabalu
After spending a couple of days in Kuching I boarded a plane and headed to the other end of Borneo to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The highest mountain in south-east Asia is Mt Kinabalu which sits high overlooking the city. Here I spent several days enjoying the local town, my hotel and venturing out into the countryside. An evening boat trip along the Gamera wetlands was a treat, seeing the native Probiscus monkeys in their natural environment, watching the sun setting and the fire flies. Dinner was served at a local outdoor eatery on the edge of the wetlands. A trek up Mt Kinabalu was out of the question with my dodgy fitness level so a tour bus trip was taken. Along the way stopping at the Poring hot springs, a natural spring high in the mountain. I was also lucky enough to be taken to a small conservation park where a local family manage a small area where the Rafflesia plant grows. taking up to 12 months from when the first bud appears to full flower the flower only survives for a week. The flowers measure up to 1 metre in diameter and they have a pungent smell of rotting flesh. On this occasion I happened to have a sinus infection so the smell was not so bad. Visits to the butterfly sanctuary and the botanical gardens also a delight.
Rafflesia flower
Whilst staying at Sutura Harbour Resort in Kota Kinabalu and enjoying the sunset from one of the bars I got talking to 2 english veteran world war 2 soldiers who fought in Borneo during the war. They come back to Sabah every couple of years and meet up with other veterans. Over a drink I listened to there stories and to say they where horrific is an understatement. What those men and the thousands of others that were in the war saw and had to deal with is nothing I would ever wish anyone to encounter. With this in mind I made the decision to return to Borneo the following year with my 2 children and document via my photography some of the sites from the world war 2 battle.
Kota Kinabalu is becoming a more modern city with shopping centres, resorts and tourists. It is well worth the visit before this place becomes to overdeveloped.
May 2008 I took my first overseas holiday in 20 years and headed to Kuching, Sarawak. I had previously been to Kuching in 1977 with my mother as a teen, when tourist where not common and I wanted to see what changes had been made. A lot of new building, shopping complex and hotels had been built but thankfully the old buildings from the time of the British rule of James Brooke still stood proud. The Museum of Sarawak is a must see with all its history. I spent 3 days wandering and photographing the history and the people of Kuching. I found the new riverfront boardwalk the best place to sit, eat and watch the local activity.
Mosque located in Kuching.
Locals enjoying a dance in the middle of the afternoon along the riverfront boardwalk.
Museum Sarawak. Built in 1891.
Display local arts and crafts and collections of local animals as mainly encouraged by the famous naturalist, Alfred Wallace, who was then collecting specimens in the country.
Round building
My view of the world through photography. Several years ago I began my journey with photography starting of with a compact camera and then 5 years ago purchasing my first digital SLR camera. This opened up more opportunities for me to photograph the world around me where I live and to record the places and the history on my travels overseas. In 1976 as a teenager I had the great opportunity to travel to Singapore, Malaysia and Sarawak part of the island of Borneo. In 2008 and 2009 I took a trip back to Sarawak and Sabah, Borneo. This was the beginning of my photographic look into this world and the history from World War 2. 2010 found my self on a trip to Northern Thailand where I visited to Thai Burma Railway constructed by POW during World War 2. I hope to travel to other places throughout South East Asia over the next few years.
