This time I'll openly admit it. Ive been slack. Sorry it's taken so long...
Much has happened since I last wrote. Mostly good news but without the odd taint of bad to benchmark against, the good would be uninspiringly neutral. Incidentally while I think of it, one of the greatest quantifications of the jungle is it's neutrality. Freddy Spencer Chapman, one of the forebearers of jungle warfare, once said "the jungle is neutral" it will give you back what you put in. I have pondered this. I initially took a dislike to it's faux Buddhist simplicity, however, having tested it (gently - because the jungle is bigger than me) I agree. Why this tangent? I write this in the pitch black. In my hammock. In the jungle. On my own. I meet a friend here tomorrow morning but I wanted to see how I'd handle the solitary coexistence with nature/ jungle/ leeches... Mud. I've enjoyed myself. I bought MORE than enough food and kit and LOVED the peace and testing my skills BUT I am looking forward to seeing my friend again. It's the start of rainy season which is wet and remarkably cold actually! I'm in a fleece and trousers in my sleeping bag.
As usual I digress. I liked the tangent I built out of the neutrality though. Commendable no? Glad you liked it too!
So we circumnavigated Mount Kinabalu. It was fun, beautiful, tiring with a whole bunch of other superlatives thrown in too.
We end up back in KK (Kota Kinabalu) and readied ourselves for desert island, beachfront living. A 20minute boat ride later and we were on the island of Mamutik. Gorgeous warm blue seas. Pure white sand. Heavenly. Hold on. 13RM for a beer. Oh god WHY! We found a secluded cove on the Western side of the island where I watched the sun set from my hammock - a definite highlight of the trip for me. Wake up and head to the beach. Stayed there all day frolicking every-which way you could imagine. Strangely this was not satiating my and two of the other fellas desires so we headed back to the mainland (after what can only be described as the worst camp cooked meal of the trip) after 2days. I guess the lure of cheap(er) beer, proper bed with air-con and real food with vegetables and actual ingredients was too much. It resulted in one of the greatest 'lad' weeks I've had in YEARS. Plus the benefit of reinforcing two wonderful friendships. Tom. Mike. The Wolfpack. We repeatedly destroyed The Loft - a shitty bar and then 'skanked' all over Bed (the nightclub not the sleeping apparatus). I've repeatedly pondered whether Bed is a good name for a club or not. "we're going to Bed, do you want to come..." you decide. On one of these forays Mike and I ended up in a random suburb at a random club. With Tidak Ada Wang (Malay for no money). We had to barter a lift off some lovely guys on the back of their scooters. It. Was. Awesome. Lovely and airy in the groin region.
KK treated us well. It's apparently the culinary capital of Borneo. It truly is. Roast salmon with truffle linguini. Don't mind if I do. Sushi? What? 8 different fish, caught that morning? Yeah go on. Chicken satay in abundance. Alright but you're spoiling me. Whole crab in right tangy barbecue sauce? Fuck YEAH. I almost choked when they put that in front of me. I'll stop. That world is far away now.
Sadly KK spelled the end of the course. Tommy was first to go after he'd got his tattoo that he'd been thinking about for a few years. I was very sad to see him go. We shared some brilliant chats, banted some of the world's finest banter and talked about music a lot. A truly great man. Jimmy and I left next and did so under the cloak of darkness. I'm not one for good byes. I love most of the people I spent this time with but I do not want to put a cap on it. I'll see some of them again so I'm not too fussed about saying good bye.
Jim and I Went to Miri. Drink happened. Oz was in attendance. Hilarity was served with gay abandon. Miri was both relaxing and frantic. Jim confidently cocked a leg to fart and fully shat himself in a restaurant. I stayed up for 48hours for no reason but I did get to watch the sun rise from the roof of our building. Now I'm back in Bario in the Kelabit Highlands. I am happiest here. This, by no coincidence brings me 'back to the start' of this mail. 10RM to the first person who gets the musical reference.
I THINK I just shit myself OR it was a very wet fart. I've got to go and investigate. Think of me with your 3ply quilted loo roll and hot showers... I'm going in
Love you longtime
Ads x
PS. Turns out I didn't!! WOOOO
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