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...

Back from Malaysia

So this is my first message! I've just been around Malaysia for the past 3 weeks and had an awesome time. These few weeks have gone by incredibly quickly, and at the same time I've had the impression of living to the fullest, as if I had spent not 3 weeks but 3 months there. The places I've seen, and on top of it the people I've met have made this trip really amazing, something to remember aftersuch a long while not travelling very far.
My first impression when I came back home, after 18 hours of travelling - plane + train etc - was a one of closing a loop.
When I first arrived in Kuala Lumpur, after the same tiring trip from Paris, I set myself to sleep in a hostel, and even if I was exhausted I couldn't find my sleep because of the noise. Street noise from the cars, people walking down the streets in this lively area of Bukit Bintang, the expat and "rue de la soif" area of KL. I finally managed myself to sleep by fitting in the earplugs from the plane.
And 3 weeks later, here I am setting myself to sleep in my own bed, appreciating the comfort of a real mattress and warm cover I haven't much enjoyed in the past weeks. And before falling asleep I find myself somehow disturbed by the silence around me... After such a short time in Malaysia I've actually got used to sleeping in noisy areas, hearing the cars or planes or trains from outside, not mentioning the neighbours or party downstairs. And I didn't record it to set myself to sleep :)