How 3 weeks turned into 3 days.

01.03.2019

'Can anyone explain to me why this monkey has a penis on his face?' Of course, no one has even a remotely satisfying - fitting word in this context - answer for that. I am speechless. I am in the midst of the Bako National Park jungle - the smallest but oldest nature reserve in Borneo - and I am watching two proboscis monkeys having - as expected - sex with each other. As you can tell from my exclamation, these monkeys are particularly known for their very large and conspicuous noses. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, I did my research beforehand and came here mainly to see these monkeys. But seeing them live and in color still shocks me a bit.

In general, Borneo has a lot of surprises in store for me. It starts with me standing in front of a locked door on my arrival evening, after 9 hours of traveling. I missed the latest check-in time for my hostel and honestly didn't think to inform them of my arrival time. Thank God I have the nicest Grab driver (similar to Uber) in all of Malaysia, who stays with me until the situation is resolved. The next shock awaits me in the hostel. I am the only guest. A 12-bed dorm all to myself. Well, almost. If it weren't for this Malaysian gnome who apparently works in the hostel and shares the room with me. This is not what I had in mind. Where are the people to get to know? I decide to cancel my stay for the next two nights and look for another hostel.

Even when strolling through the streets of Kuching the next morning, one thing immediately catches my eye - I can count the number of European-looking people crossing my path on one hand. Most of them are older couples. Where the hell are all the backpackers?

In the next hostel, I find what I'm looking for - or so I think. What initially looks very lively turns out to be my personal hell after I move in. After two girls leave the homestay on the same day, the only one left is a very, very, very strange guy from Taiwan in the next room, whose English is incredibly bad that I don't understand a word and every conversation becomes extremely awkward. And then there are the two girls from Bremen in my room who like to collect things from the street and sew them onto their clothes. Where the hell have I landed?

I adapt to the situation and seize the opportunity to catch up on my blog posts, continue reading my book, do nothing, hide from the Taiwanese guy, and stock up on an excessive amount of sweets and instant soups, which ultimately turns out to not be big enough according to the circumstances.

Finally, I gather my courage and plan the next few days. Including my flight back to Bali - because I definitely can't stay here much longer. As soon as the flight is booked and I know that my time here is limited, I finally find the necessary motivation to make the most of my remaining time. What do I absolutely want to see? What should be on the list?

Clearly: I want to see orangutans. That's why the next day, I go with the girls from Bremen to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, which is a large park where kind people take care of the few remaining orangutans on our planet. It is a sanctuary for abused monkeys, who can now move around completely freely in a huge rainforest. Therefore, it is only possible to come during feeding times, if the orangutans are in the mood and hungry. However, there is no guarantee for that. You need luck, and we have it. Even great luck. Because after a one-month absence, according to one of the rangers, Ritchie makes an appearance. He is the eldest of the tribe and therefore the big boss. You can tell by the inflated cheeks that male orangutans get when they are dominant. I am totally blown away, because I never expected to get so close to one of the monkeys. But there is Ritchie, sitting only about 10 steps away from me, eating his bananas and fruits totally unfazed. Borneo - maybe you will convince me after all.

Also on the list is the Bako National Park, located on a 27 km² peninsula on the South China Sea north of Kuching. And that brings us back to the beginning of the story. We are on our way back to the jetty to take the turbulent ride back to civilization on our small motorized wooden boat when we come across the proboscis monkeys. This is actually the only way to reach the national park - through a 20-minute boat ride across the open sea to a small jetty near the ranger station.

And there it stretches out. An untamed jungle with huge cliffs where the waves of the sea break - so beautifully untouched that I want to cry.

Before you can explore the park, you have to register at the registration office. They want to know who is roaming around here so that they can find out if someone gets lost in the jungle. Sounds unlikely, but it's not. In fact, right at the beginning of our first trail, we come across an old lady sitting on the ground, suspecting that she has broken her foot from the fall. So much for that. After we have gotten help and the lady is taken care of, we finally get started.

It feels incredibly good to finally move after sitting around almost continuously for two days. Even though sweat is running down my whole body with every step. I am completely soaked within a few minutes. And not because it's raining. The humidity here is really exhausting. Things that are already tiring suddenly seem impossible. Nevertheless, we keep going. After we have crossed the mangrove forest near the jetty, we continue through the lowland jungle, climbing up towards the plateau forests. The path requires our full concentration, as it is completely covered with roots and wooden steps. When we finally reach the top, we realize that it has already rained today, because large parts of the path are super muddy or even entire lake landscapes that we try to bypass. But in the end, all the effort is worth it, because at the end of the trail, we are rewarded with a magnificent view of a coastal section. For me, this is a perfect ending, as I have actually seen everything that was on my list.

All the small and big catastrophes during my stay here have resulted in me spending only 3 days exclusive of the arrival and departure day on Borneo instead of the originally planned almost 3 weeks. I am pretty sure that there is much more to see here and that it is actually not difficult to fall in love with Borneo. Because the nature, the animals, and also the people here are wonderful. But experiencing all of this alone, without the opportunity to get to know lovely people, just doesn't feel good to me. But that is exactly what is at the center of my journey: The good feeling. The people. Beautiful memories that can be shared.

I am not really sad, but really glad that I came. It was an experience, and I really plan to come back. For now, I am excited to see Lisa again, to be back in my familiar Canggu, and to finally have really good food again instead of endless instant soup. Bali, here I come!