langkau fiction

11-13 May 2007

After buying the food and other necessary stuffs for this trip, we headed off to Bako village. Everyone was in a jolly exciting mood. While in the car, Bertran enthusiastically talked about his previous trekking experiences, and said how this trail was going to kill all of us despite having never done this trail before. He had probably conjured up some nasty images of the trail based on what I’ve told him before. Of course, I’d usually powder a tiny amount of exaggeration when it comes to narrating torturing experiences such as this but sometimes, the fellow at the receiving end of my story could transform a gecko into a crocodile. That is beyond my control, sorry. Then, Christine told Bertran “Oh, it’s not that bad, c’mmon, he’s just trying to scare you.” On another different wave length, Walter suddenly blurted “Did any of us bring Sahip or langkau for this trip?” Zahid quietly observed these interactions throughout the drive.

Taking a boat from Bako village to Telok Assam took 20 minutes. Upon arrival at Telok Assam, I registered our names at the office and declared our intentions to camp from two nights in the forest. Because this was Zahid’s first time in Bako, Christine and I decided to take him around the park HQ area before starting our journey. In different places, we showed him two vipers, a group of silver leaf monkeys (or langur) and some proboscis monkeys. He didn’t seem to be fazed by such creatures despite me telling him that not many tourists in the park has the chance to see these creatures and they don’t pop up everyday. “Oh, really. Interesting”, Zahid said unassumingly. Alright then, I guess we better get going to our first campsite.

We began our hike at 2pm along a plankwalk that took us through the mangrove. At the end of this plankwalk, we entered the forest and was immediately introduced to the first hill. Bertran asked “How many hills did you say we have climb?” I answered “Either 8 or 12, depending on what you consider as hills.” He kept quiet and probably thought “Thank you very much! That was soooo informative!” The first set of trails were relatively easy as we passed through different vegetations and geophysical formations. It started with the mangroves, then a typical rainforest, then kerangas, and then rainforest again. At our pace, I expected us to arrive at the first ‘campsite’ at around 4.30pm. Actually, there’s no proper campsite there. It’s just a space hidden tucked by the side trail where I know the national park staffs occasionally used it during one of their park monitoring activities.

After two short rests and one-and-a-half hours later, we arrived at Bako’s overrated Tajor waterfall. The distance of this waterfall from the HQ at Telok Assam is 3.5km and it’s an easy trail. Bertran, Christine and Zahid decided to plunge into the pool to cool off while Walter and I continued walking to our first campsite to get things ready. The spot is located 30 minutes away from Tajor and I told Bertran and co. to meet us up there.

Once arriving at the site, located near the Bukit Keruin/Telok Limau junction, Walter and I gathered firewood and set up our tents. He was disgusted with me surprised that I still did not possess the ‘proper’ jungle skills despite living with the Penan for one year (that many years ago lah). “What did the Penan teach you in the jungle?”, he asked. I told him I taught them how to operate my Swiss army knife. He sighed. About 72 paces from our campsite is a nice stream for our natural activities. An hour later, after that swim at Tajor, the three others joined Walter and I at the campsite.

Our accommodation on the first night

By dusk, the bonfire fire was ready for the highlight of the evening: BBQ! Bertran and Walter bought 4 small bottles of cheap brandy called Royal at Bako village and that night alone, we drank three of it. It tasted sweet, smelled like caramel and was easy to drink. Imagine drinking undiluted Ribena with added 30% alcohol. I don’t think I’d rate it as my favorite alcoholic drink.

However, we did not sleep well on our first night. No, it’s not because of the Royal brandy. Mosquitoes were in abundance. I realized that I didn’t wash my hammock since my last trip and so, sleeping in it was like feeding myself to the bed bugs! And although my hammock had a fine netting, thus preventing the mosquitoes from sharing my sleeping space inside, it did not stop them from making those irritating buzzing noises on the netting. For the whole night, I was struggling with itchiness (unwashed hammock) and mosquito noises (that didn’t enter my hammock), which is more or less equivalent to being bitten by mosquitoes anyways. It was a nightmare. In the other tent, I could hear Zahid tossed and turned in this tent. He didn’t get a good sleep. Christine’s tent was an ‘open’ one with only her sleeping bag as a protection. She made a good recipe for the mosquitoes to feast on her. Bertran had to struggle with three mosquitoes that managed to enter inside his tent and they were pestering him the whole night. Bertran lost. In the morning, Walter said he had problems with mosquitoes too. But among the five of us, he was the last to wake up and we even heard him snoring in his tent at 7am. Somehow, his story did not tally with our observation. He had a good sleep, I bet.

11-13 May 2007

A few days before the trip, my demented kanid decided to chicken out of this trip. What?! He cited “working in the saltmines of KK” as an excuse to skip this trip. Heck, I even divided this trip to two days to cater for his pleasure. I’ve never done this ‘modified version’ before but the itinerary looked like this:

Day 1 – Boat from Bako village to Telok Assam and walk from there to Bukit Keruing/Telok Limau junction — app. 2hrs; camping overnight

Day 2 – Trek from Bkt Keruing/Telok Limau junction to Telok Limau — app. 6hrs; camping overnight

Day 3 – Take a boat to Pulau Lakei, do a bit of hiking on the island and then back to Bako village (and home)

My usual route was straightforward (and a bit more challenging): Start from Telok Assam at 8am and trek all the way to Telok Limau/Kruin in a day. So, dividing it into two days of walking made the trail much bearable easier!

Selecting the “best of” trekking buddies was more complicated than Gandalf’s task of piecing together the Fellowship to accompany Frodo. In my case, the Frodo chickened out. I distributed the invitation via text. While some of my friends had other plans for the weekend, those who have walked with me on this trail before just said “Are you kidding?! What makes you think I’d want to go through that madness again?” *sigh* Some people ah…

The most important thing is that the group members had to click lest we’d kill each other on this trail. There’s no point in taking along the Incredible Hulk type of trekker if he/she couldn’t get along with the likes of us mere mortals. So, with David pulling out of this trip at the last minute, I had to reshuffle the lineup find a replacement. I was disappointed because for a long time I wanted to see the expression on his face doing this trail. Alas, that sinister brilliant plan failed to materialize. Damn. It was only natural that I find a replacement that would match my kanid’s character on this trip.

Bertran had to be included in this trip whether I want it or not because it was his idea to do this Telok Limau thing in the first place. Besides, we’ve shared a number of trekking experiences together before so we are familiar with each other’s pace, (dis)ability, usefulness and whatever lah. In the jungle, he considers himself to be the Superman of the ‘kitchen’. A useful cook and hardworking without much complaints (lots of questions though). He snores loudly when he sleeps. That can be a nuisance.

Walter tops the natural selection when it comes to this kind of activity. Born and bred in a remote pristine forest environment, his trekking skills and other Tarzan-like instincts can be extremely useful on this trail. The only issue with him is that he treats the jungle trekking in a national park like what he normally does in our village when it comes to the real jungle trekking: “Can I bring my blowpipe?” or “Can we kill the boar?” or “We must make big fire!” From time to time, there is a need to remind him what is allowed and what is prohibited within a national park. He’s got lots of stories to tell and takes in everything coolly.

Christine is a seasonal trekker, who’s probably clocked more jungle trekking time than me in her past two years in Sarawak! She (and her boyfriend, Folker) has been adventurous enough to tramp through Sarawak’s unknown jungles and unmarked trails. When it comes to this kind of trekking, she’s almost flawless.

And last but definitely not the least is Zahid, a candid replacement for David. Our Tepoi trip was the first time that we trekked together. Although not naturally accustomed to the humid forest settings of Sarawak, he seems to be enjoying himself everytime he’s put in this kind of environment. Before the trip, I asked him “Zahid, do you consider yourself a strong man?” He calmly but confidently answered “Yes, I may walk slow but I can do it” For this trip, that was good enough to get one through it. In any kind of conversation with him, he must sprinkle some elements of philosophical conjecture in order for him to understand the context of our conversation. The wittiness naturally accompanies it. The only slight problem with this fellow is that he can’t cook, can’t put up his tent and his geographical orientation in the jungle is catastrophic.

No one in this group — apart from Christine who went with me on this trip last year — knows what exactly to expect. I just tell them “there are some hills along the way” and “it’d take 7-8 hours”, no problem. It’s very niiiice…

11-13 May 2007

This trip was specifically tailored for my demented friend who kept nagging me for months “So, bradder, when are we going to do that Telok Limau thing lah?” Two weeks before the actual trip — and before asking anyone else — I asked the demented one “Is 11 May alright with you to trek Telok Limau? It’s a Friday, so you’d have to ask for leave from work? Is that okay?” Without any tinge of hesitancy or a short pause, he said “Eh, that’s no problem lah, bradder! Count me in, man!” Quite satisfied with this unexpected response, I then made a list of individuals to invite, planned on which route to take, calculated the amount of food and water to carry, and all the other essentials that this kind of trip required.

After our last trip to Bako, my cousin Bertran asked “Why don’t you gather your ‘best of’ trekkers that you’ve been trekking with before and do the Telok Limau?” I have previously done this Telok Limau trail six times. The first time was in 2001 and this was a memorable journey with my uncle! I even took a group from the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) to Telok Kruin some years ago. There were about 20 nature fanatics on that trip at the time, and man, dealing with all sorts of personalities (not to mention boosted egos!) really had my mind going berserk! Anyways, I told Bertran it was a good idea but to find that “best of” group is another question. Who should I tag along on this trip?

Walking one way from Telok Assam to Telok Limau hypothetically takes 7-8 hours. This is for the fast AND fit trekkers. However, some websites like the Forestry Department casually stated that the walk to Telok Limau/Kruin would take 6-7 hours. Whoever made that statement must have never walked this trail before. I’ve never met anyone who’s done this trail in 6 hours, not even the national park staffs (well, unless they use their secret ’shortcuts’ lah). The fastest I’ve walked this trail is 7 ½ hours and that was last August, and the slowest was 12 hours with the MNS in 2002 (loooong story…). There are two options of leaving Telok Limau/Kruin (usually the next day): walk back the same trail OR hire a boatman to pick you up. I’ve done the “walking back the same trail” part twice and would not fancy doing it again.

Please be reminded this is a national park. Preparations for “a walk in the park” dramatically differs from hiking in a communal forest or jungle trekking from one village to another through old abandoned jungle paths. Unlike being in a communal forest (secondary and primary forest), one can’t hunt for animals, cut trees and plants or even make bonfire fire for cooking. This also means carrying a heavier luggage. On this trip, water is essential. Carrying four bottles of 1.5 liter water may sound ridiculous to you but freshwater along the trail to Telok Limau is not always available especially during the dry season. The constant humidity won’t help either.

Along the way, there are several pools that contain amber-colored water (see above) which resembles the dark beer. If your tummy is strong enough to breakdown its chemical components to become compatible with your body system, then why not. Otherwise, be prepared for diarrhea or something akin to that. For the first-timer who isn’t familiar with the trail may find it difficult to go without freshwater. The last source of freshwater is about an hour’s walk from Telok Limau. So, 3-4 bottles of 1.5 liter of water on your back may be a worthwhile weight to bear.

Oh, one thing about the trails in Bako that you (may) need to know: most of the trails have one-way duration and distance indicators, and its main point of reference is primarily from Telok Assam. For instance, the length of the Telok Pandan Kecil trail is 1.5km but from Telok Assam, it would be 2.5km. Total time from Telok Assam: 1hr 30mins. For an average fit person, the duration would be less than that unless this person stops every five steps to take photos. In general, all trail durations can be cut shorter than what is indicated on the map.

HOWEVER, the Telok Limau trail is a ‘mere’ 5.75km and from Telok Assam, it’s 10km. Total time from Telok Assam: 7hrs (a 5.75km trail would take 4 ¾ hrs). While the indicated distance of this trail is fairly accurate, this is probably the only calculation of time that is not correct in Bako national park!

Yeah, rriiiiggghht….

Someone must have failed their Matematik Moden in Form 5 SPM. And oh, the best thing about all the trails in Bako is that it is clearly color-coded. To get lost in Bako, you’d have to be color-blind.