From Sabah to Brunei (And the passport stamp marathon)
Batu Niah caves Sarawak




About one month spent in Sabah Malaysia..! Travelling around, east, west, north, up, down, here, there. When time to leave after great time spent I headed for Brunei.. I had already hitched the road before, almost all way to the border.. Same road, i even ate in the same places.. First, border to Sarawak, Malaysia.. Same country but something is different.. Cant put my finger on it. Lawas.. Im going with a man heading for the TV-repairman in Lawas, as we go fast on the bumpy road the TV bounces back n forth in the backseat. (well its broken anyway right). Walking walking lah! Along the road, allready afternoon.. The rain have caught up with e few times but i always seem to get a ride before it gets really bad. The dark clouds heading southwest just like me.

Before the border to Brunei I get a ride with a Chinese man to his Timber factory in Brunei and he invites me to stay the night. Eating well with his family.. Truck from there in the morning.. This is in the eastern province of Brunei and the city is called Bangar.. Walking walking lah. Sun is hot but i feel like walking. A couple of hours just to see if anyone stops without me hitchhiking. Suddently I arrive at the border. get my exit stamp and see a car has stopped for me, young Chinese man,
- Wanna come with me to Bandar Seri Begawan?
- Sure do, thanks!
Brunei, 3000 Brunei dollar = 2340 USD

Into Sarawak again, Into Brunei again, my passport getting smashed with stamps! Bandar Seri Begawan.. a few hours.. My new-found friend takes me to the museum of the Sultan. In cold aircondition we walk around and look at different pictures of the sultan. Gifts from other countries. This n that. Few more hours a bit of food and i leave BSB. Walking again lah! Brunei is easy for hitchhike, however its just a little bit complicated cause the roads kind of looks like in western europe, there are sidewalks and the roads are narrow and fast. So i cannot find a safe place for cars to stop. Doesn't matter.. As long as someone stops before dark(or before the rain starts again). Finally getting some rides out of the city, get treated with some Bruneian hospitality in a restaurant(Im eating some kind porridge which im not sure what it contained, tastes funny eh) That night i sleep on the beach(or i actually never see the beach but i was told it was a beach)
Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan


Next morning i hitch from the highway, almost first car stops, even if going fast fast. A young girl with long black hair. Short ride, conversation goes something like this(good example of a short conversation while hitchhiking in Brunei,Sarawak,Sabah,Indonesia where the concept of hitchhiking, getting a ride for free hardly exist):
- Hi, are you heading South, towards Seria?
- Noo Seeeeria, its faaaaaar (its about 60 - 70 km but ofcourse far cause across the whole country), You have to take a taxi, or a bus.
- Im travelling by hitchhiking,(trying to explain hitchhiking but there is no word in melay, closest is "Tumpang" but is not the same thing)
Quiet moment, - Ah ok!
Moments later
- So i drop you here, you can take a bus from here to Seria!
- Oh.... ok....., Thanks alot!
(Leaving the car going out to the road again to catch another ride)
Contractor getting free fuel from his constructing site.. Diesel costs 0.32 BND per liter in Brunei($0.25 (1.6 SEK))

Sarawak, Malaysia

I make it to the border with few cars.. Into Sarawak again, heading south south, A driver told me about some caves I JUST HAVE TO visit, so I do. Batu Niah caves.. nice! I spend the night in my tent at the start point to walk to the caves. I've found out my newly Indonesian $15 tent is not as waterproof as i hoped so i usually try to find some kind of roof when setting up the tent. Here i didnt find and i was luckylucky, no rain that night.. Nice caves, nice walk.

Bla bla bla bal bla bla bla bla bal alalal bala balaballlalallaa lalala hehe haha lala.

I end up on a rest area in middle of nowhere. Gets late and I get stuck. Tired, im offered to sleep in a room above the restaurant, great sleep! The longest i've waited in Asia to get a ride but in the morning a driver comes up to me and offers e ride almost to Kuching! Yahoow. All day we go! until 2 hours before Kuching where he lives. Invites me to his home but im in little bit rush and wanna go to Kuching. Arrive in the evening. Look around, nice! Yah really, nice city. So different from other malaysian cities ive seen! I sleep in a strange place, i dont even know what it is myself its so strange. Lets just say its kind of benches for outdoor theater or something(Pls someone tell me what it is if you know, i'll send u a candy from Indonesia)
Sleeping sleeping lah, This spot behind a building in Serian, Sarawak also worked as a studio for painting a t-shirt.


Indonesia satu lagi kali

Leave Kuching. Slow short rides. Finally ride with policeman to Serian where i sleep behind a shop and meet an kind of constantly talking hobo, but that story is just too long to write here(or write anywhere acually). Again short rides to the border. Easy border crossing $25 Visa On Arrival, indonesian 1 month visa. Walking walking lah! End up in perfect place truck stop in Entikong. All trucks is going to Pontianak in the afternoon after loading barang barang from Malaysia. Get a ride with friendly man in heavy rain we go all evening into the night, sleep, up 5 arrive 8 in Pontianak.

Last night a friendly man from the harbor hosted me in his house and tonight im taking a 36 h ferry to Jakarta, hah!

(My plan was to take a boat to p.Riau, south of singapore but the boat leaves in 10 days so bah! And i've tried to ask my harbor friend about cargo ships but no no on that one. Where's my cargo ship captain friend from Surabaya when i need him?!)


One foot in the Southern hemisphere on in the northern.. THE EQUATOR, Pontianak Kalimantan Barat, INDONESIA

Calm before the storm?! Yesterday afternoon in Kuala Penyu.. Sabah, MALAYSIA

Education, with detail.
Made this one for a school in Kota Kinabalu

Painting for Mei, and Canvases

4 of my helpers when painting "Education" Thanks!

This is what i've been up to for the last 10 days or so in Kota Kinabalu.. Taking it easy and painting.. I made it in a few days from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu, hitchhiking was allright.. had long ride with a truck almost the whole way.. Now abit of more travelling in Sabah to be done before going to Brunei-Sarawak... At the moment in Tenom, South sabah...!

Leaving Yogya / Ferry to Borneo

I left Yogyakarta after great time spent there! Got more or less one long ride with a truck from Solo to Surabaya. There i waited for the ferry to Banarmasin for about 24 hours, was about 10 hours late.. Sleeping at the ferry terminal together with 100-200 other people.. Once on the ferry, found a nice spot, lay out my tent as a sleeping mat, slept, talked, slept, ate (small portion of rice) for about 22 hours. Arrived in Banjarmasin in the evening of the 12th october, my birthday. Was hosted by a family i met on the ferry.


Hitchhiking Kalimantan!
The first day of hitchhiking in Kalimantan i dont even put my hand out for a ride.. The first truck i see parked on the side of the road gives me a couple of hours ride north. The second ride, two girls on a motorbike helps me get, they have seen me on the side of the road outside Banjar and insists on buying me dinner. Then helps me getting a ride with a truck, i squeeze in between 3 guys in a small truck heading for Tanjung. Many hours and coffee breaks later we reach Tanjung which was my goal for the day. The truck driver suggests i can sleep outside the mosque, there's already a person sleeping there. So i do.. Atleast until 4 in the morning when the prayers start(and im not to far from the speakers!) I move 100 m away and continue sleep.

A couple of trucks towards Balikpapan, a few short rides with motorbikes.. The road ha so far been O.K not to bad.. Many big mosques and quite nice houses along the way! East Kalimantan is rich, alot of resources here! Timber, Petroleum, Coal.. And sadly the forests and nature suffers from this..

I reach Balikpapan with a truck transporting stone for a government project. Two persons in most trucks, one person driving the truck, one person unloading, in this case a truckload of 20 - 30 kg stones, by hand.. That day i make it to Samarinda where im hosted by a young couple with a little babygirl.

Heading up towards Bontang, the roads get worse(but still not that bad) Crossing the equator somewhere around there but not really sure where.. To Bontang with private car, otherwise mostly trucks, which is what im aiming for, little bit slower, but for free.. Up here on theese raods more and more cars are shared taxis. Another truck to Sangatta, in the evening i reach an rest area in the middle of nowhere north of Sangatta, Spend the night on a carpet in a restaurant. In the morning i get a ride with a convoy of three brand new pickup trucks heading for Palm oil plantations. They even have police escort, cause their vehicles are not yet registered.. From the morning to the evening we drive on _bad_ roads, very bad, keeping 20 -30 km/h slowing down, turning, trying to avoid the holes in the roads(many places more holes than road) They invite me to stay with them for some time and i gladly accept their invitation. spend two days there, Dayak village.. Checking out palm plantations, huge areas. Lots of beautiful forest exchanged for palm oil used for Biodiesel.. The day I've planned to leave north for Berau my new friends have to go there to get spare parts so i get a ride. few hours to get there, still bumpy road. Just one hour before Berau the roads is allright again. Berau to Tanjung Selor is pretty good road, got a ride in the afternoon and made it to Tanjung Selor in the evening.

Took me 6 days from Banjarmasin. Im not sure how far, maybe Banjarmasin - Balikpapan 800 km, Balikpapan - Tanjung Selor another 1000 km. To bad i didnt have more time(my visa finishes in few days!)

This morning i took a ferry from Tanjung selor to Tarakan where iam now.. Tomorrow i plan take a ferry to either Nunukan(close to the border) or Tawau, Malaysia. No border crossing by land possible here.. The ferry goes in rivers and deltas, thick jungle surrounding us and im sure lots of crocodiles hide in the mangroves..

Hati Hati!!!

I spent few days painting this one for Tiphaine! (Yogyakarta)

I Spent a week or two making this mural in Yogyakarta

I slept here a week or two while painting the mural

This is Couchsurfing JOGJA

Yogyakarta is full of art and after around 3 years of hardly any inspiration to draw and paint i have inspiration again. Thanks to Yogya.. Im still here for a bit of time. Want to do a few more paintings before leaving. Then Kalimantan...

Short entry about equipment.
This stove im no longer carrying, i left it in Bali, it served me well during some months, the pot i got for under a dollar in Fiji the stove is made from two beer cans and is used with methylated spirits. It worked O.K, not more than O.K.. Decided to leave it cause its so easy to find food in Indonesia, and cheap. It wasn't so much the stove but to carry the fuel with me, to much weight.
Aluminum foil as a windshield worked well. Everything fits nice and well. Small and light. The little soya sauce plastic thing i must picked up in sushi place in Australia. Right picture shows everything on the left picture + ziplock bag with couscous.

Left Tent change. Right last time sleeping in Black wolf, during walking on the beach in Bali

I changed the left tent for the right one. The left one is called Black Wolf and an Australian made tent(made in china?) It was a gift from Ben from France, he gave it to me in Cairns but now ive decided to give it away and change it for the smaller, lighter, definitely worse quality one from Indonesia (150 000 rupiah=$16.9) The Black wolf is an excellent tent but to heavy and big for one person. I don't use tent often here in Indonesia, either i get hosted by people or sleep outside without tent(rainy season is about to start, ha ha ha ha)

This would be my fourth tent since i left Sweden, the first one, from LIDL for about $10. Quite heavy but served me well. Gave it to my friend in Martinique. Found my second tent amongst junk on the beach in Martinique, fixed it up a bit,(Actually the same design exactly as this new Indonesian one), Great tent but in Australia water started leaking in when it rained(from the ground and the ceiling). Gave it to Italian friend in Cairns.(lets hope it wont rain when he uses it)

My backpack still going strong with few repairs, North Face 45 l.

As for me im still in Yogyakarta.. :)

Hitchhiking Java..
On 2nd September I arrived in Ketapang, the ferry from Gilimanuk took 45 min or so and cost me around 60 cents. Happy to be in Java i start to walk out of the city. Lots of motorbikes. Hitchhiking went slow in the beginning but it didnt really matter, walking in the sun, talking to people on the way, smiling, laughing! I get a couple of rides, I were heading to Jember to meet up with the hitchhiker Taylor. I get one long ride with a man who has a small ice-milk factory in his home, i get a plastic bag full of ice-milk (yeah ice-milk, tasting funny and icey-milkey) I get snacks from another driver and I must refuse another one. I've eaten to much sweets in one day. Finally making it to Jember i meet up with Taylor at the central square(we were lucky there was a central square) We sleep in the park that night.

Taylor and wood

Volcanic adventures and sketchy car accident

Going down in a car from the beautiful Mt. Bromo the breaks of the car stop working. The road is narrow, steep and curvy. Its me and Taylor, 4 indonesian guys heading for a hiking trip. Our driver try to use the handbrake when both breaks fails but we're going to fast for the handbrake to work.. Slaloming a bit, keeping the car on the road(not to go down the steep hill on the right side) Our driver has no choice but to crash into the mud-wall on our left side. Despite no seatbelts all of us were allright, the car is a bit smashed but not to seriously. We get help from a passing car, changing tyre and a lift down the mountain. No hiking on Mt.Bromo that night.. After a long day of walking and hitching we sleep well outside a shop(or was it a house) in a small village.Perhaps 2/3 from top of Merapi

We continue hitching west.. many nice rides, sometimes in cars sometimes going in small trucks filled with bricks, wood and plants. Some drivers spoke a bit English some didn't. Over cold mountains, beautiful scenery's meeting with good people everywhere. Finally we make it to Merapi, an active volcano(not close to as boiling as Mt.Yasur in Vanuatu thou) close to Yogyakarta. We arrive in the evening to Selo, starting point for hiking Merapi. Asking to set up a tent in a front yard of a house we are invited to sleep on a carpet in the house. Next morning we head out to reach the top of Merapi, takes us a few hours(we take special, extra exciting path involving climpbing and losing the path) The last bit, summit, is the hardest, steep and lots of rocks and ash. Finally up we enjoy a gorgeous view and noodles with a special tomato relish made by an Australian real man(inside joke).Taylor n clouds n top Merapi
Taylor n Henrik on top (photo taylor)

That day hitchhiking is slow down the mountain and we end up in a city with the funny name Blablak. There we find shelter and sleep in an indoor badminton court. Next day Taylor head north to hitch to Bogor for a wedding and i south towards Yogyakarta. Few hours walking before getting a ride(overlapping villages, loads of buses,minibuses). Finally arrive in Yogya and arrive to a couchsurfer Taylor were supposed to surf with(im substitute) Here im in the middle of extending my visa for 30 more days.

Some weeks in Java perhaps then finding a way to Kalimantan!