Wanderlust of the Asian Variety: Malaysia

We hopped on the bus the next morning, and after a 6 hour ride the driver told us it was our stop. This was confusing as we were just pulled over at some random intersection along the road, but we climbed off the bus and grabbed our bags. Right away our new friend Osman found us and ushered us over to a car where an Irish couple was also waiting to come stay at his house. We took the car to the river, and then a boat to his house which was on stilts right up along the water. Osman, his wife, and his 6 kids live in this house making money any way they can. Osman was a very nice, optimistic, and ambitious man who had learned English on his own because he saw it as a way to make a better life for his kids.

Here is a shot of Osman's house. There was a nice porch out front facing the water and a big open room inside surrounded by the bedrooms. There was kind of running water - it ran out of 2 faucets into big buckets. To shower or to go the bathroom you had to use a smaller bucket and pour water over your head or into the toilet. In Malaysia and many other countries they don't use toilet paper, but instead give you a hose or a bucket of water near the toilet to clean off your bum. This is one custom I did not get used to and stuck to toilet paper.

We ate all our meals on the living room floor. They were all home cooked by Osman's wife and were all delicious.

Me and Helen and the whole family.

He had 6 kids running around, including the two youngest who were twins. They were not shy and full of energy. Meeting his children I learned that people are the same all over the world in one way - all 12 year old girls LOVE Justin Bieber

As the house was right on the river, we took a bunch of boat safaris through the jungle to spot wildlife. A few times we climbed off the boat to explore, but we actually could see the most right along the water.

On the first day, we were in the boat when Osman pulled to the side of the river. He climbed to the front of the boat and said 'OK girls, I'm going to bring a python down, don't freak out'. I barely had time to process this statement when he shook a tree and a snake fell right at my feet. Luckily it was only a baby and not TOO big.

Osman had no fear and scooped it right up. He was a really smart guy and had the right balance of knowledge and respect for the animals to show us things but not hurt us or them.

We took a walk through the forest and saw some really cool stuff. Like in the Taman Negara it was full of leeches and giant insects, but here we saw a lot more of the big mammals.

This is a large millipede (i think) that curled up in a ball when it saw us and was scared.

Another giant guy Osman said was safe to hold. It tickled a lot when he crawled across my hand.

Ant hill that looks like...?

Some Japanese researchers had found a monkey on the river bank that was half eaten by a crocodile so they built a bunch of bridges to allow the monkeys to safely cross the river.

These are prawn traps that fishermen leave through out the river. We stole a few for dinner shhhh!

Here is a monitor lizard hiding in the tree. He has a big notch out of his tail, probably from a fight with another lizard.

There were horn bills flying around everywhere. They were hard to see without the binoculars because they were so far away, but had stunning beaks.

Borneo is famous for the proboscis monkey, one that is found no where else in the world. The males have a giant pot belly and a giant red nose sticking out. Apparently the bigger the nose the more handsome they are to the woman, which is important as these guys live in harem groups with about 10 females each. In the mid afternoons they can be found lounging in the trees along the water.

The men are also known for a second large red appendage and like to sit showing it off to the world.

There were also a lot of macaques in the trees. This one has a little baby clinging to its belly.

Osman found an umbrella floating in the water and put it to use.

There were giant crocs sun bathing on the shore. I would guess the ones we saw were around 15 feet but Osman said he had seen some up to 25. While we were sitting on a the boat looking at them he decided it would be a perfect time to tell us a story about a boat that once got attacked by crocs on this very river. But usually they don't bother people. Thanks for that Osman.

While the jungle was beautiful and an amazing experience, I could also easily see the damage that humans have done, and the impact of our actions on this amazing place. Borneo is full of palm oil plantations and although this is good because it provides a lot of jobs, the palm trees have just taken over the land. You can see the line where the forest stops and the plantations begin and it's a very sad sight.

The jungle is also home to the pygmy elephant - a name that is misleading because they are still giants compared to us, but simply smaller than the African elephant. There is a herd of about 70 elephants that live near Osman's home, so one day we went out to find them. Unfortunately, the day before one of the elephants wandered onto a palm oil plantation and ate a plant that had been treated with pesticides. This killed the elephant, which is even more tragic considering how few are already left in the wild. When we came across the elephants they were in mourning for the death of their friend. They were stomping through the jungle knocking down trees and trumpeting their horns and crying. Osman said normally they are very quiet and peaceful animals but they were so upset.

Although it was really sad to think about the loss of this elephant, it was still really exciting to be so close to these animals. When we could hear the elephants we climbed out of the boat onto shore and up the river bank. The whole herd of elephants was walking past us only about 5-10 feet away. They were angry but for the most part ignored us and continued on our way. Osman advised us to stay close to the bank in case they got angry and ran towards us so we could run quickly down the steep hill to the boat. He warned that we should check for crocodiles before jumping down though, because they could be waiting in the water. We crouched in the bushes watching the elephants in awe for a while, ignoring the leeches climbing up our legs and the mosquitoes swarming our heads. All of a sudden one of the elephants noticed us and seemed a little agitated. Acting protective over his friends he started towards us while staring with a menacing look. We bolted down to the water, which was clear of crocodiles, and made a jump for the boat. As I was stepping through some mud to get in my boot sunk in almost all the way to my knee. I couldn't move my leg and freaked out while picturing both the angry elephant above and the crocs that were probably close under the water. With some help I was able to pull my leg out and returned to the safety of the boat.

My boots after being stuck in the mud.

After stalking the elephants Osman spotted an Orangutan in the trees and we climbed on shore to run after him. They are very shy animals so we only saw him from far away, but watched as he jumped from tree to tree. You can kind of see him in this picture, he is the orange-ish blob in the middle.

On the way back from the jungle we made one last stop at a giant bat cave. This cave is famous because it's the home of the birds who make the nest used in Chinese birds nest soup. The birds make a nest using their saliva and the Chinese believe it to have tons of health benefits. The nests are located very high in the caves, and it is a dangerous task to retrieve them. The workers string ropes from the ceiling to climb up and get the nests, and every year several people fall and die. This makes the birds nest one of the most expensive animal products that we eat, and so it is in high demand. Once they find nests in the caves, many workers will actually build houses to live in so that no one else can sneak past and steal their treasure. The cave is enormous, and when the birds are out during the day it is occupied by a ton of bats. This means the bottom of the cave is covered in bat poop which provides food for the millions of cockroaches that live on the bottom. When the poo falls from the roof they scurry up to eat it, and so if you spit on the ground they think it is food and will attack.

This is one of the houses built in the cave. I for one would not like to live among the roaches.