The trek to Lubok Baji took its toll on the muscles. Climbing the stairs to my hotel room was a painful ordeal. The falls I had taken and the walk on the slippery earth had strained the muscles badly. We turned in early as we had quite a day ahead at Kubang Hill.
Early next morning we drove to Teluk Melano, loaded ourselves with provisions for lunch at the market. Two speedboats were arranged and we sped off on the river, Matan. The river bank was lined with tall buildings with tiny square openings on them. When asked, we were amazed to know that these buildings were a part of the 4 billion dollar industry. Swiflets would make nests inside and these nests were exported to be a part of the bird’s nest soup, a delicacy of the orient.
In 45 minutes we were at Batu Barat where we shifted to boats and had boatmen and guides to row us through the jungle stream – the backwaters with mangroves growing densely on both sides. This boat ride was completed in absolute silence, only broken by bird calls and animal sounds. Occasionally the boatmen would excitedly point towards colourful butterflies, flowers, monkeys and snakes. Suddenly, our boat hit a huge tree which had fallen across the channel. The men immediately got to work with machetes. They chopped a way out. The water was a queer reddish colour. Then, from nowhere, the stillness was broken by a motorboat coming right behind us. All of us were rudely jarred out of our trance. A forest official was on tour in the smoky motorboat! All the birds disappeared in a jiffy and the magic of the moment was broken.
We finally climbed on to a tiny jetty jumping out of the boat trying to avoid the water. Got myself a sturdy walking stick, procured in an instant from the forest.
We walked into the dense mangrove where there was a semblance of a path overrun by roots and trailing branches and the soil was quite slushy. So we slipped and swayed and barely had the opportunity to look up. Our guides would point out Orangutan nests, Durian trees and beautiful birds and butterflies. After an hour’s trail we had to stop to catch our breath. I felt stinging pain on my feet and removed the sandals to investigate and was horrified to find two fat leeches sucking away my blood. Our guide expertly pulled both off. I discovered more in between the toes as did the others. It seems we were lucky, the mangroves are generally submerged in ankle deep water and then the leeches simply climb all over!!! After a short rest which included snacking, decided to turn back. This time all of us were alert to all insects trying to climb on us, and this included some pretty dangerous looking ants, and hoped it wouldn’t rain. Before we boarded the boat we had a sparse meal of steamed rice and boiled vegetables.
Our ride back was quite exciting. Since it was close to sundown, the forest came alive. Birds began their return to roost, butterflies disappeared, snakes were seen hanging from boughs. What had us mesmerized were the Proboscis monkeys. Around a dozen of them decided to give us an exclusive show of their antics. We hung around enjoying ourselves.
As we returned to Batu Barat the boatmen insisted we alight and come into their village. A few huts were lined up in a row a little away from the river. All was peace and quiet. Our motorboats then took off at high speed towards Sukadana. The sun was setting and we were witness to a glorious riot of colours in the sky. I doubt there was any colour that we missed. These are moments when life seems worth living.
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