Day 92: Jungle Trek #10

Did you know that Windows 2000 is set to launch any day and take the PC market by storm? Or that there's a growing wine industry coming out of Australia? That news courtesy of the PC magazine from February 2000 and the Wine Spectator from 1997 that are in our hotel lobby. Have I said it before? Malaysia is just kind of stuck in time - like a town planner who has ADHD and loses interest in the plan as soon as its committed to paper.

When we were here last time, there was a set of a dozen or so jungle trails that sounded like a great opportunity to pass the time while getting some exercise. We found that most of the trails lacked any marking and that they were poorly maintained. I remember we kind of "rescued" a Canadian girl from Saskatchewan who was "lost", and she proceeded to follow us everywhere and ended up being quite annoying.

Things haven't changed. We are still up for a good hike and the trails have not changed. When I say they are not well marked, I mean you have to rely on anecdotes and treasure map-like hints to find the start of the trails and sometimes which branch of a trail to follow. After reviewing trip advisor for recent information and talking to hotel and tourism staff (contrary to popular heresay, no locals seem to have ever been on the trails) we opted to go on trail #10 this morning - an anywhere from 1 to 3 1/2 hour hike up (seriously, reports were that far ranging) to a lookout point atop one of the local mountains.

We walked down to the main road and checked the clock - 9:50. We used a combination of an out of scale tourist map, my phone's GPS and some cryptic notes Beth had written from her research, including the gem "near Tam's Camillia garden" (I mean, WTF?!). We found a little side road that ended at what seemed like a southern U.S. Junkyard/garden, with a set of dodgy looking apartments next door. We found a small path and went for it. After walking up the path, with a few forks branching off and on, we found the most professional sign we would see all day....

That was a big confidence booster (?). We continued on, and were soon joined by a little dog that was happily jogging along at our feet. The kids quickly named him Gary, though I'm not sure how gender appropriate that was. I even managed to give Gary a boost when he slid off the path at one point, so add that to the list of people and animals I've saved on this trip (it had been a while since I'd saved the Korean lady from drowning in three foot deep water, have you already forgotten??).

The path wound through the jungle for a while, then it took a sharp turn upwards. It was fairly hard going, as we worked our way up and over roots for about 30 minutes or so until we got to gentler terrain. Robin was having a tough time, so first Beth kept her talking and encouraged her, then I went to the back and had her set little goals along the steep path. She is finding a second level of toughness through some of the harder treks we've done on this trip, which is really nice to see.

Soon enough, we were almost at the top, and we passed a group of elderly Japanese trekkers that were coming down the path. We always get a kick out of greeting them in Japanese, as they always immediately respond with the appropriate customary response before they figure out that we are speaking Japanese. Then you invariably hear the customary, in Japanese, "eh, your Japanese is so terrific, wow, amazing". We all miss our former compatriots!

We got to the top and enjoyed the nice view and cool breeze. The kids did a short video. Sadly Gary decided to join a French family who were hanging out at the top. I will never figure out why Gary left us. Was he ashamed of almost dying and needing my help? We will never know. Abby actually wanted to somehow force him to come with us - chalk that lack of understanding of dog behaviour up as one more reason we will not get a dog....

The way back was much easier. We snapped this pic - Abby is fine, she just wanted to give a Norseman Project shoutout...

We made it back to the departure point in town at 11:50 - exactly two hours after we'd set off. We weren't that hungry yet, so we hiked back up to the hotel and cooled off. For lunch, it was Kumar's again! 3 out of 4 meals. Delicious again. Even the guy that seems to run the place is laughing at us for how often we've been there.

I was in desperate need of a hair cut, so the girls headed back to get started on some math homework and I went over to a place called the Hair Palace... What could go wrong? This was one quick cut by the affable Indian barber that trimmed away while watching a Tamil soap opera on TV. I was a little nervous when he got the straight razor out - he had very shaky hands - however I escaped without incident. Beth was joking how much she was saving us by not having her hair done every month (seriously, that's no joking matter, you shouldn't bring that up... We could retire early if she was bald....), but at 10 Ringett ($3.33 CAD), I was doing ok.

The kids got a ton of math done - I'm very impressed with how hard they're working here... Maybe it's the cooler Canadian air up here. This is technically the half point of our trip, so we figured we'd do something special for dinner.... So.... You guessed it.... Kumar's again! We also let the girls pig out on ice cream for dessert (luckily there were leftovers for Beth and I!).

When we got home, the three girls immediately went in to spa mode. Thank god for adjoining rooms - my room becomes a man cave, while I can hear baths being run, hair dryers and other preparations, followed by an hour of massage in their room... So weird, but so fun for Beth and the girls. Maybe one day I will visit their spa.....