Camp 5, Mulu National Park (Day 2)

Sleep alluded me. Where is my bloody bag?!

I kept checking my phone on the latest updates on the flight that is carrying my precious gear from Kota Kinabalu back to me. Right before we were due to set off, I received a call which made me whoop. Officer McDougall was coming with my bag! I was so overjoyed that I could hug him!

Uncle Chong kept saying that the officer was my knight in shining armour. To a certain extent McDougall is for putting up with my incessant calls on tracing my bag. It is unfortunate the ground crew over at Miri had decided my baggage belonged to Air Asia and not MAS. It was also tagged correctly!! How could the mix up happen when the amount of people who heads to Mulu per flight don't even number more than 30 people!

After meeting up with Susan (our guide) and our porter, who lugged our water supply, we prepared to set off.

Us with the porter, Tegung Getting ready for the longboat to our destination up river As we made our way up river, lush forest greeted us. Think of it like those Cuti-Cuti Malaysia ads that you see promulagated everywhere outside of Malaysia to increase the GDP of the country. When we reached our destination (which I have no idea what sort of land mark could have designated it as a starting point but the boatmen knew where to stop), we had to climb up a steep embankment. The reality of what I had to do really sunk in then. So we trekked 8.8km to reach Camp 5. Luckily it was the dry season and we had trusty MosiGuard to ward off leaches. I had one bugger land on my leg but couldn't sink its nasty teeth in with the amount of bugspray I put on. There is a bridge just after the 5km mark for you to break out your pre-packed lunch and rest by the side of a clear stream. A couple of times porters passed us carrying gas tanks and provisions. They were wearing mere Adidas Kampungs and boy, could they walk. They were literally racing through the forest! While we city dwellers, walked in our hiking boots and picked our way around mud and cautious of blood suckers. Just when I was thinking how far could 8.8km be, the forest opened to reveal Camp 5. The history of this camp is that it was used by the Royal Geographic Society (yea, it was NatGeo. CL and I were doing the slow-mo moves that normally accompanies the NatGeo soundtrack) set up this camp to survey the area. It sits beside an icy cold river sandwiched between 2 mountains. The river never felt so good on a sweaty body and muddy feet. CL jumped into the river, floating about in happiness. Unfortunately I am not permitted to post a picture of CL in his blissful state as he feared disbarment. Living conditions at Camp 5 with communal kitchen We checked in with the lady in charge of Camp 5 and went stright to the kitchen to whip up a 5 course meal. It's pretty amazing, I tell ya. We had a proper Chinese wolfberry herbal soup in the middle of the tropical forest! Turned in around 9pm for our 5am breakfast. We set up mosquito coils in a tin can to kill off those pesky suckers. A tin can on rocks is a good idea when there are 10 to a wooden room. There are mosquito nets for rent around RM10, but there is only so much a net can cover.