I suffer, but why?


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Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Sibu
January 21st 2013
Published: January 21st 2013
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As I lay sweating on a matrass, with unseen bugs dropping on me or crawling over me, and confused roosters crowing loudly at random hours of the night, while less confused dogs kept howling and barking at intruders only they could see, I asked myself why I had thought it was a good idea to pay top dollar for this particular experience? Here I was in a semi-traditional longhouse, on a river close t... Read Full Entry



Photos are below
Photos: 55, Displayed: 21


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Batang AiBatang Ai
Batang Ai

Going towards Batang Ai National Park
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Batang Ai

In the park
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Batang Ai

For some of the rapids we needed to get out.
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Batang Ai

Beautiful creek in the jungle
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Batang Ai

Cooking and grilling our fish
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Batang Ai

There they are, there is more fish stuffed inside the bamboo
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Batang Ai

Taking a swim
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Batang Ai

View of our longhouse
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Sibu

Swan statue at the riverfront
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Sibu

Tua Pek Kong Temple
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View of Sibu and the Batang Rejang River
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Boat on the Batang Rejang
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Another swan statue



21st January 2013

Beautiful!
Wow Ralf, what a lovely photos once again. The park looks fantastic and the colours of the animals are so vivid!! Love, Linn
22nd January 2013

Thanks Linn!
But to be honest, the vibrant colours are all Picasa's doing ;)
21st January 2013

An authentic Westerner!
At first I thought this was going to play out like a scene from 'Can Fat Teens Hunt', but when you started questioning your own motivations it brought to mind a quote from Anthropologist, Roger Sandall. "Westerners are bored, westerners are idle, westerners have too much money, and they look around the world and think, 'will I try base jumping, will I try going up a rocky canyon in a high speed boat? what will I do next? Oh, well you know, Monty said we should go and look at natives in Papua New Guinea, lets try that! And we might even be shot at!" ;-)
22nd January 2013

Glad to hear I am at the very least an authentic Westerner ;)
And being shot at by natives in Papua, sounds like my kind of place. As long as I get to pay a lot of money for this experience!
21st January 2013

Classic song
Ah, you suffer but why. A classic song from Napalm Death. Listen to the lyrics, and you will get the answer to your question.
22nd January 2013

I did listen to it...
But, their answer was rather unsatisfying :)
21st January 2013

Authentic doesn't have to mean suffering...
Buddha found that all mankind suffers due to unsatisfied desire. So if everything is suffering, but not everything is authentic, then logically they do not equate. Anyway, do you think that this has anything to do with being in the inner core of the backpacker life? Does being a backpacker mean that you choose to suffer because you think that is authentic...staying at the cheapest rooms, traveling on the cheapest transportation, etc. even though spending a couple dollars more will provide that fan and a decent toilet or get you from point A to B in two hours (think Air Asia) instead of twenty four hours of scams. I'm reminded of the musings of AspiringNomad who transitioned from that inner core to being a family man...and your own musings on your own transitions. As for me, I enjoy comfortable authenticity!
22nd January 2013

Or maybe everything is authentic... Who knows?
Buddha never really spoke much about authenticity, so we don't know what he thought about it. As for your question, do I choose to suffer because I am a backpacker. Probably not, because as I have grown older I find myself wanting more comfort, however, sometimes there just isn't any, like in the longhouse we stayed in. I don't always have the choice, also considering my budget requirements, and I don't always consider staying in the cheapest place a chore. Of course I could choose not to go to the jungle or a traditional longhouse at all, but I doubt that I would forgo that experience just because it would be uncomfortable. No suffer I must ;)
21st January 2013

I think we have all had moments where we are laying there thinking, I must be delusional!' Great blog!
22nd January 2013

Yes, I suspect we do.
And I'll be thinking it again in less then a week from now, I am pretty sure of that!
22nd January 2013

Why suffer?
Your intentions seem noble, astute, well intentioned, adventurous, even inspired...and the bottom line...someone has to do it!
22nd January 2013

Right you are ;)
I am taking one for the team...

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