Wednesday, September 21 – Belum Rainforest, Malaysia (near Thailand border)

Belum Rainforest.  We ARE Intrepid! Today was our big trek – bigger even than the canopy walk. Last night Cathy announce that we’d be doing reduced version of the excursion and many of us were disappointed. So it turned out, what we did was plenty.
At 10 o’clock we walked down to the docks and boarded 4 motorboats. We all got into our life-jackets and off we went down (or up?) the lake at high speed. We saw very few signs of life (except, of course, the trees of the rainforest) for the next 45 minutes. At one point there was a loud thump and our boat pitched wildly and stalled. Scary! Both Larry and I immediately looked for a hole in the bottom, but there was none and the driver got us going very quickly.
We beached the boats and started along a trail by the lake, climbing over logs and boulders, eventually coming to a long bridge (5 people at a time max) and then a large shelter. After a brief rest, we started climbing. After some time we came to an area with restrooms and large picnic shelters. We decided to leave our extra belongings there with the drivers while we continued climbing. At that point it became quite treacherous, steep and slippery. We forded the stream a few times on rather unsteady rocks. A few people slipped and got “soakers” and one person fell right into the stream. The rope handholds were slack and difficult. That all added to the fun! I think the several people who acquired leeches on their arms or legs didn’t that added to the fun, but Rthyuan was ready for it. He dripped citronella on the leech ‘till it dropped off, then put tobacco on the wound to stop the bleeding. Very effective and I’m told, painless.
Eventually we reached the lower falls, where several of us decided to stop, but quite a few continued to the upper falls. Very beautiful sight, in spectacular surroundings. After a while there, we climbed back down to the picnic shelters for lunch. By then we likely would have eaten anything, but what we got was delicious. Salmon sandwiches – crustless and 3 for each of us! A large piece of fried chicken, lots of bananas and apples and water. A feast!
Then the climb back down to the boats and the fast ride back. We were ready to hit the showers by then for sure! I suspect most of us had a nap before we gathered on the terrace for BYOB happy hour. Dinner was another delicious meal, and then we all dispersed to our rooms. What a great day!

Photos 21 Sep