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The Malaysian part of the island of Borneo is my first experience of being in the jungle. We spent 4 days around the Skrang and Arab rivers (east of Kuching), 7 days around Bario (east of Miri), and 6 days around the Kinabatangan river (south of Sandakan). These are remote areas where there are most times not only no phones, email, banks, or banking machines, but no electricity, running water, nor access by road. We traveled in by boat along rivers, or flew in by twin otter plane. I have seen and done things I never imagined!
We have seen crocodiles, orangutans, proboscis monkeys, macaques, monitor lizards, kingfishers, hornbills, snakebirds, owls, egrets, snakes, and Bornean bearded pigs.
I have become used to all sorts of large insects (most of which I cannot identify) on or in my clothing, and on my body. My total leech count is 13. We have slept under a much needed mosquito net because not only were the malaria-prone mosquitos plentiful, but all sorts of other crawly and flying insects were too. We have trekked over a small mountain in the jungle heat, and have walked for hours in our bathing suits in opaque, coffee-coloured jungle river water ankle to waist deep. We have bathed in brown water pumped from a jungle lake, washed clothing by hand with this water, and poured the pumped water down the squat toilets for flushing.
Finally, we have climbed Mt. Kinabalu which overlooks the Bornean jungle. At 4100m, it is about half the height of Mt. Everest. The first day, we climbed 1400m in elevation, trekking 6km in 5¼hrs. The second day, we climbed 700m in elevation to the top of the mountain for sunrise, trekking 2.7km in 3hrs, and then hiked down the entire mountain for the rest of the morning and afternoon - 8.7km in 7¼hrs. We used ropes, handrails, and flashlights. I used a walking stick too. For me, it was a hard 2 days! gM's dedication to me for the 2 day steep trek was noted by one of our hiking companions who said that if she finds a husband as nice as gM, she will work hard for her whole life.
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