Voyage on the express boat...to the park!

Village along the river
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The next few entries can't even begin to do justice to the things we saw, the people we met and the feelings we experienced in the Bornean wilderness.  Of course, we'll do our best.

Our voyage started with a crack of dawn minivan trip to the harbor.  No time for coffee...our van was pretty quiet especially after last night's party!  We arrived at the harbour and got into the express boat.  The express boat looks exactly like the fuselage of a 1970s passenger airliner, with a deck wrapped around the middle...inside it is about a foot shorter.  We had to bend at the waist to fit inside, and then cram our Canadian frames into distinctly asian seats.  No problem though, as soon as we were underway the doors were opened up and we spent most of the trip on the roof watching river traffic pass, and jungle  steadily get thicker.  Lush doesn't really describe the jungle on the banks of the great river...crawling with life, impenetrable maybe...and  we were still on the major shipping highway section.  Massive logging barges passed us spewing dirty smoke and carting away priceless pieces of the jungle.  We had been told that the government owns most of the logging operations that are stripping the jungle bare, and has another major stake in the palm oil plantations that prevent it from recovering...on this multi-lane highway, that was easy enough to see.  It was a relief to pass Marudi and move away from the heartbreaking destruction that is progressing at a frightening pace in Malaysian Borneo.

As another bonus, we had beer in this boat, which made for a nice, relaxing cruise into the National Park

"clothes billowing"...how flattering.
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We transferred to a slightly larger boat where we had to stay below for a good part of the trip.  It was interesting, we knew that the festival was coming up, and the boat was full of families heading home for the holidays.  School was out for about two weeks, and there seemed to be a mass exodus...we came to realize that this is THE holiday in the Bornean year.  We were definitely happy to be going somewhere to celebrate as well!

As the boat continued to drop people and supplies at villages along the river, the sun broke through the monsoon that had started up and the river got progressively cleaner and less crowded.  Once the cabin was down to about 10 passengers, we were allowed to go up on the deck, and we sat right on the bow of the ship.  It moved so fast that our clothes billowed around us, and we were very content to enjoy the scenery.  As we went further upriver, Mount Mulu became clearer, and the jungle got thicker.  We were starting to see birds, bats and butterflies, and it seemed that every bend brougt a spectacular new vision of jewel-green hillside or mystical tangles of vines and new trees.  As the sun sank lower, it seemed to light the sky and forest on fire, highlighting a new spectrum of green, and turning the sky into a mosaic of pink, orange and blue.  As Michelle busily snapped pictures, a logging camp came into view and we were instructed to photograph it as well.  It was really sad....we pulled up to the camp and let a family off...they were going home to the jungle, but it was gone around them.

In the long boat
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The express boat finally pulled into the last stop, and our group was one of the last to get off.  We chartered a longboat for the rest of the trip.  Riding in the long low boat was a nice change from the noisy express-plane-boat.  Willie started to point out individual trees and naming birds for us.  We were lucky enough to spot 4 black hornbills flying home into the trees for the night.  As the sun kept sliding down, more and more bats started fluttering over the water, skimming for bugs.  As another bonus, we had beer in this boat, which made for a nice, relaxing cruise into the National Park.

Deforestation
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We pulled up to the dock as the sun finally set, and checked in to the beautiful park dormitories.  We were busy talking about the trek we were to start tomorrow, and two English guys perked up.  It turns out that they were looking for a guide for the same trek, so we invited them down to chat with Willie.  Our dinner was equal parts safety briefing and introduction to rice-wine...always a good combination.  Peter and Edward decided to join us, as had their friend Catherine, and then we were eight!

Sky on fire
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After a long day of boat travel, and with some help from rice wine, we crashed pretty early...ready to start our jungle trek!