Sorry it's been so long, it's been a crazy few weeks! Sabah, in Eastern Malaysia has been incredible!! We had such a great trip with the highlight obviously being reaching the summit of 4000m Mount Kinabalu which was by far the hardest thing I have ever done but so rewarding to be looking down on the earth from far above the clouds!
After a very turbulant flight in a tiny commuter plane, we were put up in a gorgeous apartment in Kota Kinabalu, it is wonderfully tropical there and we went snorkelling and swimming off the little Island of Sapi which we had to take a banana boat out to. We enjoyed some amazing markets which almost saw me buying a couple of dogs but didn't think I could get them back through customs! We drove from KK up to the tip of Borneo which is really stunning and then onto Mesilau to stay overnight before we started our hike. It was SUCH heavy going up the mountain in the heat with a 6kg backpack on and was literally like climbing stairs, no gentle incline! It took us 6 hours to reach the rest house and at points I was on my hands and knees but as the 6th girl in I did very well! We were all in bed by 6.30pm that night and then up again at 1am to continue the hike in to the summit for the sunrise. It was exhausting. Already tired from the day before, it was sooo cold at that altitude, the air was so thin and the climb was vertical up the cliff face, we had to walk with ropes with our bodies at 90 degrees to the cliff; no harnesses just our strength to keep us going. At 5.30am we reached the summit and it was worth the 3 degree temperature. I have never seen something more beautiful in all my life, the clouds were playing with the peaks around the mountain and we watched the sunrise over the whole of Malaysia. We were only able to stay 45 mins as it was so cold but that was long enough to appreciate what I had achieved.
A few hours later after breakfast we had to start our decent which was agonising and knees and ankles will never be the same again! The next few days saw up in pain walking up the steps onto the bus and relaxing in the local hot springs and natural warm waterfalls around the Borneo area.During the free time, I visited a water village; a community entirely built on the water whose livlihood relies on fishing. We arrived in the middle of a severe storm and children as young as 3 and 4 were diving off their houses into the ocean and there was not an adult in sight: so unlike England!
After 8 days in Borneo we headed back to UKM uni and have spent the last week enjoying our last few days with each other and writing up our reports. We just had our closing ceremony and I gave a speech which I thoroughly enjoyed and we gave traditional dances. I was involved in the Sabah dance and had a SERIOUS costume malfunction mid-dance!
Last night, the whole group through me a surprise party for my birthday which was incredible and a total shock! They had all been moaning about having no money left, were ill etc so I wasn't expecting to do anything but as I came back from the cafe with a friend they had decorated the uni living area and got cake and say happy birthday to me in 6 different languages! It was amazing! We are all about to go out tonight as it is our final night and then tomorrow (my actual birthday) we are having a large breakfast with everyone before we fly back to England.
Sorry for the brief update but there is a lot to do in the 16 hours before I leave Malaysia including turn 22! I will also try and add some photos soon! xxxx
Friday 23 July 2010
Friday 9 July 2010
Field work in the depths of the rain forest!
So...where to start? I have finished lectures now and have been on field work for a week. It's amazing the variety of places, people and cultures we are experiencing! We went to a local village and they showed us and taught us how to weave, carve, traditional dance, use a blowpipe and demonstrated a traditional wedding ceremony...it's very different from the ones back in England! We then went to Taman Negara national park to observe and meet the Bateq tribe there; they were amazingly friendly and gave me so much useful info for the 15 page report I have just discovered I have to write at the end of the trip! The communities are so close and share every aspect of their lives together, each member has a vital role to play; it was awesome to see how everyone from the oldest to youngest has a say in all decisions including where they base their tribe (they're nomadic!). They also showed us the tree where they leave their dead; they believe if the body is still up the tree in a month, the spirit of the person is going to heaven! We heard so many amazing stories about their lives and it was facinating to see how globalisation is affecting them. The chief was hunting wild boar with a blowpipe which wearing a fake rolex!
There were no paths in the jungle so we had to travel everywhere by boat along the rivers; the time on and in the water was probably the highlight of my time there. The boats; although they are made of wood and look like canoes; have motors and so are so fast and take jump the rapids at crazy speeds. As you drive along, the canopy stretches high above you; revealing the insignificance of us in the scheme of things. While in the rain forest, we were taking on many walks by local guides and saw snakes, monkeys, giant spiders etc, there were so many Tarzan moments as we played with the strong Lianna vines which allow you to swing through the jungle! We also were taught how to survive with info such as what is poisonous, antidotes to certain poisons, a plant which acts as an antisceptic when you add water to it and place it on a wound and much more. We also took a canopy walk 30m above the jungle floor which was spectacular and was the first time I had seen the treetops! We took an 8km hike to the top of a hill which looked out across the tope of the rain forests and all you could see was great; it was beautiful and refreshing not to see any civilisation in any direction; knowing that this was what the earth looked like before man built on it!
The whole group is really bonding and I am already forgetting what life was like before I saw all these people every day! They are wonderful and quirky and learning from the 9 nationalities we have amongst us is brilliant! We have had a couple of birthdays and have gone out to celebrate but because alcohol is not really drunk here there are no bars or pubs so we have done Karaoke twice and been to the late night markets and restaurants that are open until 3 or 4am. This place really never sleeps!
Today, we went to Melaka which is the most historic town in Malaysia, it has Dutch influences, portugese and English. There are ancient temples, mosques and churches. You can be walking down a street with European arhitecture from the dutch colonisation and turn into another street with red lanterns everywhere and you are in a Chinatown. We took a trickshaw ride around the sights which was touristy but great fun although our guy was old and I worried we would give him a heart attack getting up the hills. This evening we went to the new students welcome ceremony at the university, it was EPIC! We have nothing like it in England but it was performance on such a grand scale with every student in the university getting involved, they were chanting and dancing in the audience and so patriotic and they all took photos of us as we joined in and sang to us and waved as we left, I felt like a total celebrity!
I am really loving life here, I have adjusted to the heat and a lot of the time lately we have been next to the river so I have been able to swim, many of the locals can't swim so those from the UK and Australia have been teaching them which is great fun; they've all so excited by the water and water fights and doing gymnastics in the river are daily occurances! It is very tiring, breakfast is at 7.30am every morning and I have been to bed before 1am since I arrived so I am worried that I may crash soon as it catches up on me! I am enjoying the food and have had the opportunity to try Dorian, jack fruit and many other great dishes which I can't remember right now!
It's 12.30am here now and we are leaving for our flight at 4.30am to Eastern Malaysia so I will be up again in 3 hours but I am so excited to be staying in the wildness of Borneo and staying in the village with the Indigenous communities, next Thursday we climb the 4,000m Kinabalu which I am so excited for as our recent time in the jungle has shown that I am ready for it!
That's all for now! Tomorrow is my half way point and I am already getting nostalgic for the wonderful time I have had and wish I had more than a month to get to know this place and the people who have welcomed me so whole heartedly, this next week should be so exciting but then we're back to the university to write up our 15 page reports, write individual presentations and hand in the journal we have been expect to keep throughout so its a lot of work!! Totally worth it though to experience all that I have done. The others are planning my birthday which falls while I am here and it has had me reflecting that I am so blessed to have experienced and done so much and I am only 21! This time in 3 weeks I will be in South Africa on another adventure; I honestly am supremely grateful to God for giving me such a wonderful life and protecting me and giving me everything I could desire wherever I go. He truly makes my life the wild, wonderful, exciting adventure it is and I pray, long may it continue!!
There were no paths in the jungle so we had to travel everywhere by boat along the rivers; the time on and in the water was probably the highlight of my time there. The boats; although they are made of wood and look like canoes; have motors and so are so fast and take jump the rapids at crazy speeds. As you drive along, the canopy stretches high above you; revealing the insignificance of us in the scheme of things. While in the rain forest, we were taking on many walks by local guides and saw snakes, monkeys, giant spiders etc, there were so many Tarzan moments as we played with the strong Lianna vines which allow you to swing through the jungle! We also were taught how to survive with info such as what is poisonous, antidotes to certain poisons, a plant which acts as an antisceptic when you add water to it and place it on a wound and much more. We also took a canopy walk 30m above the jungle floor which was spectacular and was the first time I had seen the treetops! We took an 8km hike to the top of a hill which looked out across the tope of the rain forests and all you could see was great; it was beautiful and refreshing not to see any civilisation in any direction; knowing that this was what the earth looked like before man built on it!
The whole group is really bonding and I am already forgetting what life was like before I saw all these people every day! They are wonderful and quirky and learning from the 9 nationalities we have amongst us is brilliant! We have had a couple of birthdays and have gone out to celebrate but because alcohol is not really drunk here there are no bars or pubs so we have done Karaoke twice and been to the late night markets and restaurants that are open until 3 or 4am. This place really never sleeps!
Today, we went to Melaka which is the most historic town in Malaysia, it has Dutch influences, portugese and English. There are ancient temples, mosques and churches. You can be walking down a street with European arhitecture from the dutch colonisation and turn into another street with red lanterns everywhere and you are in a Chinatown. We took a trickshaw ride around the sights which was touristy but great fun although our guy was old and I worried we would give him a heart attack getting up the hills. This evening we went to the new students welcome ceremony at the university, it was EPIC! We have nothing like it in England but it was performance on such a grand scale with every student in the university getting involved, they were chanting and dancing in the audience and so patriotic and they all took photos of us as we joined in and sang to us and waved as we left, I felt like a total celebrity!
I am really loving life here, I have adjusted to the heat and a lot of the time lately we have been next to the river so I have been able to swim, many of the locals can't swim so those from the UK and Australia have been teaching them which is great fun; they've all so excited by the water and water fights and doing gymnastics in the river are daily occurances! It is very tiring, breakfast is at 7.30am every morning and I have been to bed before 1am since I arrived so I am worried that I may crash soon as it catches up on me! I am enjoying the food and have had the opportunity to try Dorian, jack fruit and many other great dishes which I can't remember right now!
It's 12.30am here now and we are leaving for our flight at 4.30am to Eastern Malaysia so I will be up again in 3 hours but I am so excited to be staying in the wildness of Borneo and staying in the village with the Indigenous communities, next Thursday we climb the 4,000m Kinabalu which I am so excited for as our recent time in the jungle has shown that I am ready for it!
That's all for now! Tomorrow is my half way point and I am already getting nostalgic for the wonderful time I have had and wish I had more than a month to get to know this place and the people who have welcomed me so whole heartedly, this next week should be so exciting but then we're back to the university to write up our 15 page reports, write individual presentations and hand in the journal we have been expect to keep throughout so its a lot of work!! Totally worth it though to experience all that I have done. The others are planning my birthday which falls while I am here and it has had me reflecting that I am so blessed to have experienced and done so much and I am only 21! This time in 3 weeks I will be in South Africa on another adventure; I honestly am supremely grateful to God for giving me such a wonderful life and protecting me and giving me everything I could desire wherever I go. He truly makes my life the wild, wonderful, exciting adventure it is and I pray, long may it continue!!
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