The first night here I got hammered in a bar with three local medical students (warning - expensive beer here). We played pool but I kept winning - I was at that point where you've had just-the-right-amount-to-drink! Some Chinese lads challenged for a beer per game. I had a lucky run and won 5 in a row before losing - I was wrecked! It was a good laugh and put me at ease with the country which is a great place to visit - very friendly.
To sober up I sat at a 24hr coffee bar. These places have a very Arab feel about them. The lad who worked there finished at 0800 and said we can get more booze and drink it at his house. So off we went to meet his family over breakfast beers! His father wore one of those Muslim hats and prayed every now and then. It was quite an experience. Welcome to Islam - pissed!
I took a walk along the river with an ex-Royal Navy lad to see the Kampungs - traditional Malay villages with houses on stilts. As we approached the village, the riverbank was swarming with mud skippers, but more impressively, massive monitor lizards! These things are as big as a man with big fat bellies. They were perfectly at home sheltering underneath the houses and swimming in the dirty river. This was to an acoustic background of Islamic chanting from one of the many Mosques. These chants are broadcast through loudspeakers and happen regularly throughout the day - it was a first for me.





I enjoyed taking a dusk stroll through the mangrove swamps to watch the Proboscis Monkeys feeding. These monkeys have a massive red nose which adds a touch of comedy to life. On one occasion I didn't know where to look as one of the males started masturbating right in front of me and Chinese lass.

There are many hiking trails and I went on long treks everyday to waterfalls, secluded beaches and hill tops offering glorious views across the South China Sea. These hikes were exhausting. I did 11km one day but it felt like the equivalent of a 30km trek in the Lakes. The heat and humidity really take it out of you. The effort's worth it though as you find yourself enchanted and overwhelmed by this exotic wilderness.

I did a night-hike with two Swedish room mates. After listening to monkeys clambering across our roof and crashing back into the trees, we walked into the jungle, stopping occasionally to listen to the deafening night chorus. We stopped and switched the torches off. What happened next was magical. Many of the decaying leaves were luminescent and glowed in the blackness of the night. We didn't expect this - beautiful. A perfect backdrop for fire-flies doing their intoxicating night dance.
All in all, these four nights in the jungle have been one of the greatest experiences of my life. Wow.
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