Where: I bask in the sun of Malinau; my fashion taste is conquered by the colourful Indonesian shirts; I reach Tarakan; I realise that the way back from there will not be straightforward either, and also that a smile can stand in for a valid visa sometimes.
[February 2016]
Continue reading “The end of the crossing, and back to the border”
Summary of the previous episodes: I found my way from Miri to Bario across the forest by truck, boat and on foot. Not content, once in Bario I involved my new kelabit friends Julian and Philippe in a suffer-fest to reopen the trail to the mythical mountain of Batu Lawi. After that my body and mind were so worn out that I took a break and flew back to Miri to pull myself together and decide the next steps: give up or carry on? Go big or go home? Are you dying to find out what I chose? Read on and find out [spoiler alert: I carried on]. Continue reading “From Bario across the border”
I would like to spend some more words on Bario and its inhabitants.
Continue reading “Bario, or a Bornean Shangri-La”
Day five in the forest is long, and full of surprises.
Continue reading “Even Penan get lost sometimes”
Fourth day on the trail. Perhaps we’ll get to Bario tomorrow, perhaps not. I don’t really worry about it. On one hand I begin to feel the tiredness, I realize it from my walking pace slowing down more and earlier during the day than it did in the past days. On the other hand I am now used to the weight of the backpack, and I am not in a rush for leaving the forest and the company of my silent guides.
The second day on our way to Bario is short. We set camp at 14 by the last sungai and before a long, steep climb on the side of a hill. The trail has started going up.
A Bornean walkabout 