Walking the jungle

Malaysia, and especially Borneo, has as main attraction walking in the thick jungle forest, crossing thick walls of green with human-size knifes, unseen but omnipresent wildlife looking at you from the canopy... We've all seen these movies with huge snakes / tigers / leopard / etc hunting humans in an inhospitable environment. Well, Malaysia jungle wasn't like that, but it was close enough. At least for the vegetation - huge ferns growing from the ground or hanging from the trees, real-size banana trees, giant trees with roots three meters long... - and the atmosphere - the temperature averaged 30°C daily, if not 35°C with a very high humidity.

The smells in themselves are quite amazing compared to the clean, dry forests of Europe. The air, thick with dampness, smelled of rotting wood, wildlife, and the forcefulness of Nature. Entering the jungle, you'll find yourself sweating shortly, if not for the humidity then for climbing between trees and ferns, trying not to get your feet trapped in the exposed roots, avoiding the ferns with thorns that try to catch you...

Walking in the jungle makes me think of Mowgli and the Book of Jungle that I used to watch when I was a kid, Tarzan and all these stories from Englishmen lost in the jungle... It was a fantasy that I wanted to see for myself while I was there. Of course I didn't come face to face with the White Tiger, King of the Jungle, neither with Kaa (aie confiance...), but the feeling of making your way in ancient trails from Borneo tribes is somehow overwhelming...

First experience of walking the jungle, in Bukit Nanas park in KL - Malaysia Day 1

I couldn't refrain myself from dragging G., on my first day in KL, through the Bukit Nanas park in the center of KL. Pretaste for what awaited me in Borneo, some huge bamboos and ferns...

Bako National Park - at first the trail was all clear, apart from a few macaques here and there...

Haaaaa, here we are Sarawak! Landed in Kuching, one day to visit the city, and we're off to Bako NP for one day walk. At the beginning the path looked as above, and we worried we wouldn't get enough proper trail (the one without the wood floor), but soon enough...

Lintang trail, top of the hill and view of South China sea

We also crossed some dry lands where the flora was very close from the one in the mountains in Australia (say our Australian friends)...

Walking...

Getting there...

...to the beach!!!

Obviously one good day of walking wouldn't be complete without going for a swim at the end of the day! If you expected the water to cool yourself down, think again. But the water was 25°C, clear as cristal, and felt very very good...