A few weeks ago I went to Borneo. My friends Andy and Kasia had left Hanoi to work there a few months before so it was a good opportunity to visit them, see the wildlife and walk up Mt. Kinabalu.
They were great hosts, not least because they were
good enough to share their salt n vinegar crisps
with me. That might not sound like much to you but it is when the nearest
packet is 4 hours’ drive away …
Andy & Kasia have an interesting job. They also work for the British Council but their job is different to mine – they mentor Malaysian English teachers at local schools. These jobs are available all over Malaysia, some in cities and some in the middle of nowhere. Andy & Kasia live in the middle of nowhere. At first I thought they lived in Telupid. The address of Telupid is simple: Telupid, The Back of Beyond, Borneo. However, when we got there, they told me that they didn’t actually live in Telupid, that was just the nearest town. No, they lived in a village called Linayukan, about 15 minutes’ drive away. The address is Linayukan, Beyond the Back of Beyond, Borneo.
The job comes with a company car. This is because they have to travel to each school, often quite a way. Once a week, Andy has the best commute in the world – he has a 16km off-road drive to a village school in the jungle. I was itching to have a go at the drive – you pay a load for 4x4 driving experiences in the UK - so he drove me to the start of the track and in I jumped. It reminded me of whitewater kayaking – keep right here, mind that rock there, go around the big hole etc etc … You can’t take your eye off the road (well, bumpy track) for a moment and the few times I made the mistake of thinking I could move up to 3rd gear I very quickly realised my mistake and it was back to 2nd. On a good day, it takes over an hour. On a bad day, the road is impassable and he can’t go to work.
The local children are very curious of course. They
often come up to the house to see what's going on. They were very good at saying 'Good morning’ and said it over and over, despite the fact that it was
afternoon. After a short while ‘chatting’ I went for a walk with them around
the village. Well, not exactly walk; we hopped, ran, jumped and skipped until I
was too hot to continue.
The most noticeable thing about this area, and in fact everywhere I went, is that everyone smiles.
Over a few days we visited the orangutan centre,
the sun bear centre (the smallest bears in the world)
and the probiscus monkeys centre.
You can only see these in the wild in Borneo so it
was a real treat. They were everywhere – about 30 in all – and a few of the
males got very excited when the food arrived (that often happens to me too),
thumping across the wooden walkway and causing a huge commotion. It was best to
just get out of their way.
Pitcher plants and other exotic flowers were common too.
At the end of my stay with them, Andy & Kasia
dropped me at a hotel next to Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain in this part
of Asia. I’d been itching to walk up it since I had hatched the plan to visit
Borneo. I had also heard of the ‘Low’s Peak Circuit’ – billed as the highest
via ferrata in the world. I had to have a go at that.
The walk up on day 1 was a steep 5 hour trek to a
hut, where we stayed the night.
From the hut we could see a white line snaking across the face of the mountain.
This was the line of the via ferrata we would
follow the next day.
The next morning started at 2am. We were out by
2.30am, trying to get to the top for the sunrise. Parts of the sections were
roped. You just followed the line, which was all you could see in the
torchlight.
To get down, I followed the via ferrata. Basically,
a via ferrata is a series of metal steps in the side of the mountain with a steel
cable running beside them. All you have to do is use the steps and clip
yourself to the cable. It’s a lot safer than rock climbing and a whole lot of
fun.
Back at the hut, we had a ‘second breakfast’ and
then a walk back down to the bottom. All in, a 15 hour day for me. To say I was
a bit tired is a wee understatement.
*****
I had a few days back in the main city, Kota Kinabalu, before flying home. I came across some interesting signs.
I had a few days back in the main city, Kota Kinabalu, before flying home. I came across some interesting signs.
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| the smelliest fruit in the world |
*****
A few months ago I went to Hue, the old capital. I
went there to run a teacher training course for REACH, my favourite Vietnamese
charity. You can find details of their work here: www.reach.org.vn Basically, REACH trains young (typically
20-somethings) disadvantaged people who have little chance of a job. Over 5-6 months
they give them a skill to equip them to get a job. At the end of the course
many of them find work in local hotels, shops, hairdressing salons and so on. As
many of them may well come into contact with foreign customers, most of the courses
also have English lessons. That’s where I come in – I have helped them over the
last few years, first mentoring their teachers and then helping to develop each
English curriculum.
The training course was the second 3-day training
that I had run. The first had been a few months before and had focused on the
teachers’ teaching skills. This one was partly about helping the teachers to reflect
on their own teaching practice but most of the time was spent on curriculum
design. They had a new course in mind: Body
care and make-up. The students on
this course would be looking to get jobs in beauty salons and spas, possibly in
some of the best hotels in Hanoi. I looked at this course title: Body care and make-up?!!! How can I help with that – what I know about
this can be written on the back of a postage stamp. I tried to write a list of
useful vocabulary … lipstick … mascara … err … eyeliner … OK, that had exhausted
everything I wear on a Saturday night (joke). I was running out of ideas.
I know, I know, me and a group of women. It’s a
tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
When the course was over I had a couple of days
spare to have a look around Hue and the surrounding area …
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| lunch |
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| the teenagers have a lot of fun here |
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*****
I continue to have experiences in Vietnam that
I’ve never had before. The other day it happened again. I was waiting to catch
the lift at work – our offices are on the 12th floor (the top) of a
hotel but the classrooms are on the ground floor. Three of us waited a while
for a lift – there was obviously a big group in the hotel that day. When it did
arrive it was full – full of Vietnamese folk who I guessed were from the
provinces. They had probably never been in a lift before and were either
enjoying the ride or quite simply didn’t know when to get out. We couldn’t get
in so we let them go down again. The other lift didn’t arrive so we waited for
the same one to come back. It finally did – full of the same people. I don’t
know who was most surprised – us or them. We all just looked at each other. I
decided that maybe I could guide them to their destination so I jumped in. The
‘Overload’ light immediately lit up so I had to jump out again and left them to
their fate. The other lift arrived and we jumped in.
*****
It's finally happened - I need glasses. I went to Specsavers of course (the advert persuaded me) and got a prescription for reading glasses but decided to wait until I got back to Hanoi to buy them. The opticians here look like any you might find in the UK and they have a huge range of frames. I found a pair I liked: 'They look like a nice Japan design' I thought. I was right - it says so on the frame!
I had a nervous moment when I thought the lady might be reading the prescription incorrectly - it said 2½ but I was sure she was saying just 2. The half must count for something, surely? Anyway, with the glasses they gave me I can read much better so I suppose all is well ...
*****
Every year we have the staff Tet/Christmas party. At previous events the teachers sang Christmas Carols so this year I hit on the idea of us doing a panto. I suspected that it would be one of the first pantomimes ever to have been performed in Hanoi, or maybe even Vietnam. I wrote a script for Jack & The Beanstalk and then went looking for some
If you really have nothing better to do you could
have a bit of a laugh for 15 mins by watching it here:
*****
Bike photos
of the month
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| lending a helping foot |
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| excuse the finger - this one had to be taken on the move - didn't want to miss it! |
*****
Although I’m going to continue writing it, I’m
going to make this the last blog that I email out. I hope you’d like to
continue reading it. If you do, please either become a ‘follower’ or paste the
link gratravel.blogspot.com into your browser from time to time. And don’t
forget to write back – I love hearing from friends and family!
