A change of plans
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2007
1
46
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Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
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Dabong,
Malaysia
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The station eventually opened, and the train came, and we were off. We reached Dabong soon, and the eight of us exited. As the train pulled away, and we looked around at this very small town, we realized we were the only white people in the entire place. We found the only place you can stay at in town, and there were exactly eight beds left in the place. Perfect. We threw down our packs, and headed back to the train station, which housed the only restaurant in town, for some lunch. When we arrived, all eight of us sat down, and waited for someone to ask us what we wanted. No one came, and eventually we wandered over to see what was going on. We figured out that breakfast was apparantly over, but lunch hadn't started yet. The place was a hive of activity. 100 people or so were preparing for a trip up the mountain, and had loaded their packs just across the way. The restaurant was full of people, drinking and eating, so, we were confused. After some bargaining we were able to get them to make us eight plates of chicken and rice.
The Jungle Train
We ate, and then found a mini-bus to get us up to the waterfall.We had gotten different information about the waterfall from different people, and were told that to get to the top we would need a guide. We just started walking, thinking we were headed to the lower pools, and after about half an hours climb, for something they told us was near 20 minutes, we realized we were on the trail to the top. Amanda and I continued ahead, leaving most of the group far behind us, and in a little over an hour made it to the top. We were greeted by David, with a welcome cup of tea, and a short chat about life here at the top of the waterfall. He directed us out to the view, which, was incredible, jungle stretching far below. We shared it with a few Malaysian boys, whom we conversed with in very broken English. We had started to think the rest of the group was not going to make it, when we turned around and saw that they had just got to the top. A photo op, and a short rest, and the we were all off to the swimming spot at the back of the camp.
A sheer wall of rock, with water running down it, lead to the shallow swimming hole. When I got to the hole, I saw the Malaysian boys I had been talking to earlier, halfway up the rock, and then sliding down the falls. They urged me to give it a try. The rock was very slippery, and on my first attempt it was difficult to get to the small cleft in the rock to start climbing. I moved myself into position to try and get to the difficult part, and ended up slipping and sliding on my belly down the dry rock into the pool. And so went the next few goes, with varied little more success. Each time I fell, the boys sitting easily on the steep rock face, would laugh and laugh. But they would also encourage me further, and give me advice on how to get up. Eventually, I figured out the positioning and got myself over the transition bit, only to be faced with scaling the hight pitched rock. I slowly, but surely, got myself to the small spot that was flat that they were all sitting at. It took a few minutes rest, and I was ready for the slide. Manuevering myself over the the water proved to be even more difficult than the climb, and as I got myself close, I lost the friction, and off I went down the slide, and sploosh.
The walk back was much more pleasant than the walk up. The sun had gotten lower in the sky, and was not beating down on us, not to mentioned we were all a lot cooler from the swim. We had loved our trip up and got back in good spirits if not tired. Our lovely host got us a watermelon from his neighbors garden, which turned out to be not too sweet, so he got us a second as well. We munched on that, showered, and napped. Everybody did. We had a simple dinner of Roti Canai from across the street due to the heavy rain, and then enjoyed the conversation on our porch before an early bedtime.
The day had just worked out perfectly, and sleep came quickly.
