Having hidden myself away in the depths of the River Kinabatangan for the past few weeks, I'm back in the land of the living and in 12 hours I finally leave for Australia. I've had an absolutely incredible time in SE Asia and am very very sad to be leaving. The pace and quality of life here really appeals to me and I'm not quite ready to go back to a westernised country. Won't be saying that when I finally get a bottle of red wine, fresh green salad and a hot bath eh...
In one of my most spontaneous moments so far, I completely changed all my plans and went to live and work as a volunteer at a river lodge in the jungle on River Kinabatangan for three weeks. I had a brilliant time, became part of their big 'family' there and found it very very difficult to leave. I will certainly be going back there. I was first up at 5.30am to make tea and coffee for everyone before the dawn river tour, I was the first point of contact for the tourists and I briefed them on all the activities, and I helped out with any oddjobs I could. I informally helped improve the staff's English and they slowly taught me Malay, as well as teaching me loads about the incredible wildlife. I could go along on any of the boat cruises and treks that I wanted and the rest of the time I just got to enjoy being in one beautiful place with a room of my own and a bunch of great people. I have grown very fond of them all, despite them driving me crazy with their laziness at times.
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