I really had no idea how much sweat my body was capable of producing until I came to Borneo. It's mind boggling, really. I mean, I don't want to turn this into a big philosophical thing, but there's a certain zenful rite of passage that everyone travelling through the tropics must undergo. You go from furiously wiping your brow, your neck, your upper lip and any other part of you that's publicly acceptable to wipe, to just letting the sweat slide gracefully off your chin (sometimes into your dinner); from being completely disgusted with the smell of your sweaty, rank body to recognizing that smell but accepting it as your own. eau de you.
So I said "fuck that." I found a guy on a travel forum who freelanced as an adventure tourism guide. He was testing out a new trail and needed guinea pigs, so I signed up. The 3-day hike took us through rivers and meadows, along mountain ridges, and into the jungle. At night, we camped in villages dotted along the foothills and ate, drank, sang and danced with our gracious hosts (well, for the first night anyway. The second night we were sort of accosted by a drunk villager who just wouldn't shut up...) Anyway, it was nice.
All in all, a good start. The plan for Borneo was to bounce between its bountiful varied natural environments, partake in a steady diet of Mountains, Jungle and Ocean. So it began.
It doesn't take much to get you all hot and bothered in Borneo. It could be as simple as getting a bad seat on the bus. Walk a few steps and you sweat. Walk a lot of steps and you're fucked.
I found this out early, as I started my time in Borneo with a trek. Every hour or so, at a rest point, the guys (it was 4 dudes and lil old me) took off their shirts and wrung them out. About half a beach pailful of sweat. Disgusting. Me, I just carried all that sweat with me (which no doubt made me heavier) and tried to admire the prettiness around me through my fogged up glasses (humidity percentage sits in the high 80s throughout the day). And my, was it pretty...
Ok, I must pause here to rant a bit about Malaysia and the Sabah government. Everyone comes through these parts to hike Mount Kinabalu, which sits some 4000m over the region, a tempting peak to bag. Unfortunately, the Sabah government has sold all the accomodations in their public national park to one private enterprise, Sutera Lodges. In the past few years, this monopoly has quadrupled the price of accommodations in the park, making the climb ridiculously expensive, something in the region of 700RM, or over $200CDN for a 2-day climb. Ridiculous. The mountain hut that every hiker is obligated to stay in costs over $100CDN a night. Ridiculous.
So I said "fuck that." I found a guy on a travel forum who freelanced as an adventure tourism guide. He was testing out a new trail and needed guinea pigs, so I signed up. The 3-day hike took us through rivers and meadows, along mountain ridges, and into the jungle. At night, we camped in villages dotted along the foothills and ate, drank, sang and danced with our gracious hosts (well, for the first night anyway. The second night we were sort of accosted by a drunk villager who just wouldn't shut up...) Anyway, it was nice.So here's a plea to all the backpackers en route to KK: don't do the summit trek. Tell the Malaysian government they can't sell off their public parks and expect people to shut up and pay out. If you put up with it, the price'll just keep going up. Besides all that, there are prettier mountains to climb, tougher peaks to bag. Don't do it for the bragging rights. It ain't worth it.
Onwards.
After the trek, I headed to Poring Hot Springs to chill. The hot springs themselves weren't that exciting (no hot springs will ever be the same after Lisong...), but I did have my first close encounter with a wild orangutan. Well, semi-wild. Her name was Jackie and she came down from the jungle every day to pick up various edible goodies from the park rangers. I was totally awed by how human her facial features were...
After the trek, I headed to Poring Hot Springs to chill. The hot springs themselves weren't that exciting (no hot springs will ever be the same after Lisong...), but I did have my first close encounter with a wild orangutan. Well, semi-wild. Her name was Jackie and she came down from the jungle every day to pick up various edible goodies from the park rangers. I was totally awed by how human her facial features were...
All in all, a good start. The plan for Borneo was to bounce between its bountiful varied natural environments, partake in a steady diet of Mountains, Jungle and Ocean. So it began.
June 9, 2009 at 8:37 a.m.
I lived in Borneo as a kid - the clamminess is crazy.