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I just got back from an amazing journey! My last post was about the trip from Miri (on the coast) to Long Lellang. It proved to be challenging, but it was no where near as difficult as what I just finished. Here are my journal entries...

11/20/05 and 11/21/05 -- Long Lellang to Long Sabai

In Long Lellang, I met a Kelabit man who was known in the village as a great hunter. I went to him in order to find a way to walk to Bario. Bario is another Kelabit village lying near the Indonesian border, and it would be no small feat to walk all that way (no roads, few villages, only jungle). I had in mind a route going through the small Penan village of Pa Tik. I wanted the most pristine of forest, the most traditional of people. He advised me against going through Pa Tik as there was recent logging in the area. What he suggested seemed impossible... Walk for 7-8 days along a disused trading route over the Tama Abu Range. The only people that knew of the route were some of the semi-nomadic Penan people of Long Sabai as the route hadn't been used in decades.

So, after a hearty meal of Bario rice (fine-grained which some consider the best in the world) and wild boar, I was off on a 8 hour walk towards the Penan village. The was was trecherous at times--lots of walking across logs and fording deep rivers. Some of the rivers were higher than waist deep and quick moving. There had been a blow-down so we had to hack our way through sections of newly grown jungle. After 5 hours, we found some people with a longboat. From there we headed upriver towards Long Sabai (20 mins).

I was lead into the raised hut of one of the men in the village. He would be my guide for the next 8 days.

11/22/05 -- Long Sabai

Today was a bit discouraging w/ regard to my proposed journey--my guide's neighbor died in Sabah. He might not be able to make the journey to Bario.

This morning was fun though. The children brought me with them swimming in a set of rapids and pools. Even the young Penan boys are extremely athletic. They jump into the fast rapids, float down a ways and grab a thin overhanging branch. In a few seconds they have scaled the branch and are sitting high in the tree. (And I thought I was adventurous when I was young.)

My favorite foods here are smoked wild boar or deer, Kelabit sticky rice, pounded tapioca leaves (salty, fresh grass taste in a good way), and fried cassava. Staying in highland people's homes is very upsetting to me. They feed you very well; and yet they have very, very little. I'm always afraid of being a burden as they don't expect anything in return (as I'm told). I always try to give some non-monetary gift. In Miri, I bought mushrooms, coffee, etc for use as gifts. That stuff has gone quickly, so I have recently given my Breckenridge playing cards, my top-of-the-line Scuba mask (to a local spearfisher), and my watch will go soon.

11/23/05 -- Long Sabai

Good news! My guide sorted everything out. Hopefully we can leave tomorrow. Six days in the jungle will be interesting. I only brought 10 cans of food from Long Lellang because I thought I would only be travelling with one guide. But, two are necessary in case one gets hurt. It's too late to go back for more food now.

11/24/05 -- Jungle

Today was easier than expected, or am I just getting used to the jungle? We walked for 5-6 hours and then set up camp in a small clearing surrounded by massive trees. We built some raised shelters and strung up tarps above.

There were so many leeches today! Now, there are tiger leeches too! These guys can hurt when they bite. It is certainly a challenge to watch for flora and fauna because nearly every step has to be carefully placed in order not to slip and get injured. RESCUE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE AN OPTION HERE--I don't see how it could be done.

11/25/05 -- Jungle

Today was spectacular! We climbed a lot and the forest is changing from thick, swamp-like forest to something different. More specifically, big, moss-covered trees, less undergrowth, and tangles of tree roots. Everything is covered in moss of different colors. Since there was less undergrowth, we were able to see 4 or 5 groups of monkeys--difficult to identify, but one had a blue face and a red body.

Again many leeches today. Pulling my shoes off is a nasty sight! Luckily only the small ones have gotten through my socks. Also, today was the first sight of the Tama Abu Range--the mountains we're climbing enroute to Bario. My guide doesn't think anyone has been to the top of the range's peaks--tempting!

Last night and this morning was very rough! My guides insisted the tarp be set up in a certain way. It rained a lot and big pools of water formed above me. I took out my poncho and laid awake most of the night with water drops hitting my forehead every few seconds. By 3AM I was wet and chilled. So, I pulled out my sleeping bag. When I woke in the morning, the rain had stopped, but many bees were buzzing inside my sleeping bag. I got stung a dozen times--must have been attracted to the salt on my feet.

11/26/05 -- Jungle

Today was amazing! Last night's camp was at the foot of the Tama Abu Range. It took about 3 hours to get to the top. The route was extremely steep. We climbed and crawled under massive moss-covered roots. I was a bit nervous of our remoteness and getting hurt up on the mountain. At the top, it was all clouded in. The trees were dwarfed and the pitcher plants were different too. They covered everything and were 5 inches wide and 8 inches long and the leaf was much wider too.

We climbed down the far, less steep side and eventually picked off leeches and had a tiny portion of beef curry. Our food was dwindling quickly, even though we already had to skip meals.

11/27/05 -- Jungle

YES! I managed to stay dry last night! And I slept like a baby. I set up my poncho above me to protect myself from any storms. Oddly, it didn't rain.

Today we walked over undulating terrain for about 6 hours. Near a river, I saw my guide's hand go up, signaling--WAIT or QUIET!

BANG!

Nothing made a sound... Walked forward slowly--each of us with parangs (machetes) in hand. Then a large deer flew through the underbrush just 20-30 feet in front. We sprinted after it, parangs slicing through the air. I wasn't able to keep up with my guides--they were fast! 20 minutes later, I found them hunching down looking for hoof prints and broken twigs. The deer had gotten away.

We saw many monkeys--short-tailed macaques and different types of gibbons. The gibbons wooped to each other and crashed through the trees. Thankfully, the guides didn't have any shotgun shells left. We also saw a tapir (?) from a distance. Lots of tiger leeches too.

Not much food today...I'm going to turn into a glutton when I get back to civilization.

11/28/05 -- From the jungle to Pa Brang

Crazy dreams last night! Well, I'm not sure if they were dreams. They were so vivid. One involved a large tiger leech crawling and searching for my face. Some sort of large animal came into camp too. I heard something shuffling the leaves near me and I woke up. Then it stormed off into the brush. Not sure what it was...

Initially I thought today was going to be easy compared to the rest--it wasn't! Most of the day was spent slashing my way through swampy, short-treed, tangly jungle--there were so many wait-a-whiles! Wait-a-whiles are vines with rows of hooks that bleed skin and rip clothes.

The challenge of the day was a deep river that needed to be crossed. Definitely daunting! 5 feet from the river bank was already above my head. The river wasn't treacherously fast moving, but I was concerned with losing all of my belongings. We built a raft out of logs (fastened with rattan vines) to carry our packs. We had to judge where to push off from in order to make the mud beach on the opposite side (as the rest of the bank was covered with downed trees). I swam across first and they followed with the raft. It went very smoothly and I was happy that my clothes got a little cleaner.

After a few more hours of walking, we made it to the small village of Pa Brang. After pulling dozens of squirming leeches off my shoes, we ate dinner. Dinner was boar heart and fat/skin 1-inch cubes (with rice of course). I'm still not too keen about this kind of food, but I welcomed a large meal after 2 days without food.

11/29/05 -- Pa Brang to Bario

The walk today was not too difficult, just sloppy mud everywhere. We walked for 3 1/2 hours through pools of reddish mud. We also had to cross the same river that we swam across yesterday. This time we crossed on a bamboo bridge--a tangled mess wrapped in rattan vines.

Once we neared Bario, the scenery changed dramatically. The area is used as ranch land, so it had a very pastoral feel--not unlike the English countryside, except it was surrounded by jungle. Rolling hills, pastures (with water buffalo), fences with walk-overs, and flowering hedges...back in civilization!

I've had so many obstacles along the way that I never really felt like I'd ever make it to Bario. Here I am...time to eat!

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