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So, yesterday we were up at 7 to get ready for a day of Kayaking coupled with. Visit to see the orangutans. We were told there ws no garauntee we would see them as they are wild and can do what they wish. We were picked up at 8by two local Bidayu blokes who happily told us we were the only ones on the trip!! Jobs a good un. They were very friendly and kept stopping on the way to point out local plants of interest to us like the carniverous pitcher plants etc. First main stop was Semmengoh wildlife reserve for the orangutan or 'orange man'. And there they were straight away! We seem to be very lucky on this trip where the wildlife is concerned, seeing everything we wanted and more. We saw a couple of mothers with babies attatched feeding Whig was amazing. So different to the depressed looking beasts you see in zoos. Full of life and character. This was at the start of the reserve so at 9 we headed to the main area to see if any of the bug lads were around. They weren't, but a young male was there on his own getting his fill of bananas and melons. At one point he had a mouth full of narnas, and melons in both feet and one hand and still managed to climb his vine. Greedy b*****. Waste not want not I suppose. No other orangutans made it to the main area but we spent about 30mins in awe of this beast, as well as a few cheeky ground squirrels and a bright orange centepede. Some of the other tourists were quite obnoxious with flashes going off every 2 seconds and loud talking so it was no surprise he was on his own. The thing with Malaysians is they avoid confrontation to keep the peace. Very nice trait to have but I felt like clocking a few of the Europeans mesen but there were about 30 of them so I let it slide just this once. On from semmengoh to the start of the river the guides filled us in with a bit of local bidayu culture on the way. Predominantly Christian, which wa a surprise and all the land around us at the time was occupied and owned by bidayu or Dayaks. The original locals of the area. Een the government had to get permission to build or use the land and then had to pay for the privelage.
Only one of the guides would kayak with us. Naih, quite a quiet chap but very informative and friendly. As we embarked onto the river donning our bright orange life jackets it became clear that we were miles away from any form of civilisation apart from the odd village. They say village but they mean a couple of houses and a well. The view from the river was astonishing. Nothing but jungle and caves and waterfalls and mountains. Katie pointed out it was like being in The Jungle Book. No singing bears though. Shame.
The guide kept pointing out the fact that there were no crocodiles in this particular river but I kept wondering how that could be as ajoining rivers were full to the brim with em? Oh well we never saw any ad it was well out of my head as we pulled around into a stream, parked up our kayaks and went for a swim in a secret waterfall. Absolute paradise. Naih said when there are more people he doesn't take them there as it ruins the feel of the place. You would have to look at the pictures to really understand how amazing this place was. But it only gets better.
After 20 mins having a chat and swim with naih we carried on down stream soaking up the atmosphere ( and the river) until we got to Danu village. Here we stopped to see all the herbs and fruit they grew, not for Market but for the village to sustain itself. It was a lesson in itself just seeing a pineapple plant. Not at all what I was expecting and Naih found it quite amusing that I had no idea what it should look like! We sat for some amazing food at the village hall wher a confused looking little girl stared the whole time at our bites and sunburn. As with every child so far Katie wanted to take her home! Proper madonna style. Like I said the food, mainly Chinese style and fruits such as dragon fruit, was the best yet which just goes to show if you know the right places...
After a good old chat about football (Naih faviorite league was of course the epl!! Katie Wasnt impressed!) we headed out again for the second half of our trip. We passed an unexplored mountain, a place called butterfly mountain, butterfly cave all of it more secluded and more beautiful than the last. Stopped for another swim an generally just floated through bliss. I'm no Shakespeare so can't really keep explaining how great it was without boring you! In all we did 11km in 4 and a half hours with perfect weather and the perfect host. Best day yet for me but then so far, they've all been great.
When we returned we booked our flights to Bali an sorted out a taxi with a nice Chinese man we met ( best chicken wings in Kuching) and spent the night drinking and soaking up what we could before getting an early night ready for the 3.30 rise. Katie really isn't a morning person so that should be interesting
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