Lions and Tigers and Bears - oh my!

Our surly tour guide ran through the itinerary for the next few days, explaining what else was (and was not) available for us, making a really big deal about getting our passes for using cameras and walking in the rainforest sorted out as soon as possible. Apparently we would be fined 10,000MYR if we didn't take our passes with us.

He also gave us a whistle-stop tour of where to find our accommodation, and I was a little bit embarrassed at this point: as he was describing the accommodation, he made a really BIG deal about how expensive the 5-star accommodation was over the other side of the river is. When he asked if anyone of us was staying at the REALLY EXPENSIVE 5-STAR accommodation, I put my hand up slowly, and he looked at me, my luggage (again) and rolled his eyes, smiling.

After all that, we were left to our own devices to check in and relax, which meant for me (and the two French girls) getting a taxi across the river. They were not French after all – one was Estonian (Kristiina), the other was Irish (Helery) and seemed really nice. I suspected they were together as they had the air of lesbanon about them.

We checked in (they were staying in the hostel on this side, so it really was just me staying in the expensive bit!) and I had chalet 93 – about 250m away, which doesn’t seem that far, but in the sweltering heat, carrying luggage, it was. I was not sure about the 5-star standard, but at least I had air conditioning, a toilet and hot water.

I hate mosquitos

I had arranged to meet Kristiina and Helery at the jetty to get a taxi back over the Floating Restaurant for dinner – chicken rice (again) before our guide met us for the night safari. Off we trekked with our torches and mosquito repellent into the jungle. I wasn’t sure what to expect really, but it was a little bit disappointing – not much more than a walk along a path into the very outskirts of the rainforest and whilst I was expecting to see some decent nocturnal wildlife, all we managed to find were about three stick insects, a glow work and a couple of humungous spiders – I wanted lions and tigers and bears!

Oh my.

Still, it was quite good as a bonding session for the group, as we all were getting on with each other really well by the end of it. It’s amazing what a spider or two can do…

The end of the safari took us to just about where my chalet was, which was a bit of a result and I left the group for the night. It was a bit creepy in the room – strange noises and a few insects buzzing about the place… well, what did I expect? I did have the additional mice poo on one of the beds, which sort of made my mind up which one to sleep in!