General: Malaysia

Borneo is a state of Malaysia and so I have put it under the Malaysia section. Although English is not the first language it is commonly spoken out there and we never had any problems speaking in English to anyone.

This review is slightly different to normal, rather than a review of the country its my experience of my time in that country, what I did and how I felt which is why it comes under Malaysia experience. WARNING: This experience ...
...

Back in October 2005 World Challenge came to our school and told us that we had a chance to go to Malaysia for a month where we would do charity work, trekking and much more. Reluctant I did not sign up to go, however soon after realising all my friends would be going and feeling rather jealous I decided to go. I was placed into team one which had two of my very close friends in. There were five teams altogether going to Malaysia, ... more

Borneo is a state of Malaysia and so I have put it under the Malaysia section. Although English is not the first language it is commonly spoken out there and we never had any problems speaking in English to anyone.

This review is slightly different to normal, rather than a review of the country its my experience of my time in that country, what I did and how I felt which is why it comes under Malaysia experience. WARNING: This experience was a month and so this article is LONG.

Back in October 2005 World Challenge came to our school and told us that we had a chance to go to Malaysia for a month where we would do charity work, trekking and much more. Reluctant I did not sign up to go, however soon after realising all my friends would be going and feeling rather jealous I decided to go. I was placed into team one which had two of my very close friends in. There were five teams altogether going to Malaysia, however a couple of months later we were told that we could not go to Malaysia and would be going to Borneo instead. For about 18 months I raised money not only to pay for my trip but also for the team fund which would be spent out there helping the community. This is why I set up my ciao account. This review describes my month out there.

*THE TEAM*

In my team there were thirteen girls and three adults. Out of the thirteen girls ten were my age and three were the year below. Before the adventure started I knew three girls well, two of them were very good friends. One of the adults was a teacher, one was from world challenge and the other, the assistant leader, I had never met before, only the teacher knew her. (Initials are used to maintain the privacy of the team members)

AiH
AD
AB
AlH
BA (very good friend)
BB
BH (year below)
CG (me)
RD (year below)
EL (assistant leader)
IB (year below)
KB
KC (World Challenge leader)
SL (Mrs L - teacher)
LS
ND (very good friend)

Whilst out there we arranged everything, transport, food, accommodation without help. This took surprisingly long and any gaps in days were taken up by organising various essential things. We undertook things such as helping the local community in a school, jungle trek, adapting to their customs and of course enjoying ourselves.

*15th July*
Build up day. Today was the day before we set out on our month long journey. We all arrived with out huge rucksacks which we unpacked and KC made sure we had everything. Our parents arrived later and we ate dinner with them, said a tearful goodbye before settling down for the night. All five teams were in the school sports hall, and settle was the last thing we did. 60 girls in one place meant there were a lot of emotions, mainly excitement, however a little apprehensive and scared. It was very hard to settle and many girls did not sleep however most were settled by 2am.

*16th July*
3am we were awoken, destined to leave at 4am there was a mad rush to get everything together which was apparently packed the day before. 4.15am eventually we were all ready and on the coach and here we made our first mistake, having been so busy getting ready we had not checked everyone was on the coach and had in fact left our leaders in the sports hall. So that was not a good start to the journey but tired we got onto the coach and the majority of people slept throughout. We arrived at Heathrow at 6.17am. Security was very high and the coach could not approach the terminal so we all took our huge rucksacks and put them on our backs and placed our little rucksacks on our front. Then we realised we had a four team bags per team to carry, so eight of us in pairs carried this bag. We got to check in and had to tape all our straps down to prevent them getting stuck. Before checking in I said bye to one of my best friends in one of the Malaysia teams. Our plane was leaving at 12pm but the Malaysia teams were leaving at 11am which is why we were so early. Realising we had six hours to kill, we wandered the airport. On the plane I was exhausted I fell asleep very quickly and slept through most of the 12 hour flight.

*17th July*
Landed in Kuala Lumpur at 7.30am due to the long plane journey and time difference. We had to get a transfer flight to Borneo, shattered we didn't know where to go and with the leaders deciding it was our responsibility we were confused and getting rather irritated. Eventually we worked out where we had to go and thought it would be a good idea to exchange some money. When the girls returned we realised that they had half the money they were meant to, with the receipt saying the correct amount but them having exactly half in their hand meant we were confused and worried. However when they went back the guy said he realised he had made a mistake but we had already left, lesson one, count your money there and then. We went through to check in after being a little delayed by the money issues and realised we were going to be late. However when we got to check in they told us we needed immigration cards, hurriedly we filled these in however since we had not filled in the address of the place we were staying they wouldn't let us pass. This proved a problem as we did not know, panicking we decided to make up a place and address before running through. Typically the metal detector went off for each one of us, delaying us further. Lesson two: allow plenty of time otherwise everything will go wrong. Eventually we were on the plane, I slept through this plane journey as well. We landed in Kuching happy we were there, KC made us put on sun cream before we left the airport, we were all in t-shirts and trousers. It was lovely weather, and so we went to leave. As soon as the doors open the heat hit us. Full in the face, overwhelmed we were stunned and felt uncomfortable in the crushing heat. We got a bus to Kuching and when we got off it was decided LS, ND and I would go and look for accommodation whilst the others waited with our bags. Straight to the tourist office we went who took us straight to a place where we could stay. The next task was getting sixteen of us and 36 bags there, trying desperately to remember where he had taken us. I was to sleep in a room with three bunk beds and two mattresses on the floor, there were two fans and it was so cramped that the mattresses only just fit on the floor. The window had no glass, and so was always open, but without a breeze this had no affect. We went for dinner down the road where I ate the food very quickly, since I do not like aeroplane food, however the majority of the girls decided they hated the food and did not eat. We went to bed at 8pm exhausted.

*18th July*
At 7am we were awoken by the chimes of bells of which happened twice a day. This would be our wake up call as they were very long and loud. BH, IB and I went shopping for lunch and water to drink. BH carried all the food back in her rucksack and shopping bags in our arms. IB and I carried back the 33 litres of water between us. This was very heavy and our hands were numb by the time we had walked the 15mins back to the hostel. We emailed home, look around the place and then went for dinner. After dinner we were told by a local friend we had made to go to a place called "Grappa", which turned out to be a bar. It was ladies night which meant ladies got free drinks, great for us, not so good for KC. After dancing and generally having fun we headed back home, we met lots of people there and made loads of friends. Many were astonished to see so many English people in one place.

*19th July*
Up at 7am after having 5 hours sleep. After breakfast five of us went shopping in order to carry more water back. Because it was so hot by the time you arrived at the supermarket you were dripping with sweat. However we returned with lots of water and food for lunch. We decided after lunch we would go to a crocodile farm. We took the bus out there and got off at the stop where to croc farm was. However when we got off there was a sign saying it was in fact 1km down the road. This may not seem far to walk but in the sweltering heat it's very difficult, especially since there was no shade. We paid just over £1 each to get in and saw the sign "We are not liable for any damage to property or loss of limbs" After trying to laugh this scary sign off we headed inside to see many creatures to include iguanas, snakes, bears, peacocks, otters before we got to the crocodiles. We saw the crocodiles being fed, not being a big fan of crocodiles I stayed well back and was glad when we could walk on. We passed some dears, wild hogs and leopards which looked ill. We left to go back to the bus stop and we ran across a very bus main road because we couldn't see any lights. We waited at the bus stop for ages before panicking that we had missed the last bus. Lesson three: always check the time of the last bus. However it was just very late so we were ok. We went for dinner and went to bed soon after exhausted again.

*20th July*
Today we headed for Bako National Park where we would be doing the first of our treks. We arrived by boat to this beautiful island. We went to reception and ND and I sat down with a tub of sweet corn between us. A sneaky monkey crept up behind us and grabbed the tub before realising it had the empty one. However ND and I quickly grabbed the other one. KC decided it was time to teach us lesson four: the monkeys are scared of humans you just have to stand up to them. Off we went to our accommodation on the way there a monkey ran towards BA who was carrying a black bag. It tugged the black bag however BA tugged it back. At this point the monkey tore the plastic bag and the bananas in it fell down the monkey ran away with them and held them in his teeth, he had managed to get 16 bananas. Someone behind me cried "get them!" but soon realised that they were in the monkeys mouth and no-one would want to eat them after that. There dorm had four beds which I shared with ND, BA and RD. We decided to go swimming in the sea, and it was beautiful. The water was warm, the sun was hot and the island looked like a tropical island with all the jungle. I can't describe how beautiful it was. However after about an hour a storm suddenly occurred and we had to run inside to avoid it. That evening we went on a night trek, for only 20mins however it was steps. The air was so humid it was disgusting. When we got to the top we were exhausted. Lesson five: When they say you need to be fit, they're not joking. We got into bed and were just falling asleep when we heard scratching and squeaking from the corner. There was a rat in the walls behind RD bed, unfortunately she is scared of rats so this resulted in a little unhappiness.

*21st July*
Today was the day of our main trek. The walk was 8km so we should have been back for lunch. However this did not happen. The terrain was difficult with vertical climbs or slides down it was difficult to not keep stopping. To make it worse tree roots were sticking out everywhere resulting in continuous tripping over. AB and AlH were really struggling and so we put them at the front so they were not left behind. However this slowed the group down and some people weren't happy with this. Lesson six: Patience is a virtue, one we don't all seem to have. We got to a stream which we crossed before it turned into a pool. On the other side we took our shoes off and dipped our feet in it. It was lovely and cool. After we kept going until we reached the end which was a beach, we had a brief break before starting the cruel ascent up the hill which was tough and resulted in some breaking down into tears and refusing to continue. However eventually we got back after 8.5 hours. Tired hungry and hot we tried to cook our lunch of pasta in plastic boxes with boiled water which didn't boil in the boxes. So half cooked pasta it was. I went to my room just to dump my stuff and lay down on my bed when I heard a crash. I jumped off my bed and looked around and a monkey had managed to crash through the mosquito net which was the window there, I shouted really loudly "Guys there's a monkey in my room!" I heard a bang from next door as they tried to come in. I tried to scare the monkey by stamping my foot. The monkey grabbed my chocolate wrapper from the bed, realised it was empty and ran towards me, I was so scared. It took the monkeys in the cabinet at the end of the bed and ran off. Somehow it must have smelt them. It then sat outside just further than arms reach and ate the peanuts whilst three of us watched it and shouted abuse at it. However it was not bothered by our presence.

*22nd July*
Today we went on a 0.8km walk to ensure we were back on time to clear our rooms. However before we even started we had problems. AB did not want to go, and SL had to persuade her to come. It was decided AB would walk ahead with AlH and other person, ND offered. And we would give them time to start first. We only walked 0.6km before we had to turn back again. However on the way back we got to see some long nosed monkeys in their natural habit which you could only see there. We got back, just in time, cleared our rooms and sat on the beach with our rucksacks. We were not allowed in the sea because there had been a sting ray attack the previous day. RD and I decided to draw lots of things in the sand to amuse ourselves. RD and I shared a boat back with a few others and spent the boat journey generally being silly and taking silly photos of ourselves. We got on a bus back to Kuching and stayed at the same accommodation but in different rooms. This time no-one had to sleep on the floor and there was space for our rucksacks although we had to crawl to get to them. We went to a nice restaurant to eat and were going to try sheesha after however BA became ill and so I offered to go back to the hostel with her. This hostel had the most amazing shower on the roof which was open to the sun, it was beautiful although a little exposed. I had a shower before going to bed.

*23rd July*
Today we were taking the plane to Miri and it was EL's birthday. We had bought a cake for her and a couple of presents being chocolate, the one thing everyone missed. We went to the bus stop and waited for the bus for ages, we were getting panicky as we thought we might miss our flight. A taxi man offered to take us for 80RM however ND and I managed to bargain with him to get the price down to 50RM. This was perhaps the most squashed journey ever, my arm and face we outside the taxi in order for us all to fit in. We all went to convert some of our own spending money, about £20 each. We decided to convert over £1000 world challenge money (for food, accommodation and travel) into ringets however you were only allowed to convert £200 at a time, so we lined up the members of team who were not busy to convert money. IB and I gave them £200 each to convert however after the first two people they said we could only convert £100 at a time. So we made people rejoin the queue again and gave them another £100. However we came to an abrupt halt when the man said he had run out of money, smart plan whilst it worked. Plane to bus to walking, eventually we got to the pre-booked hostel. The hostel was up three flights of stairs and the all sixteen of us shared a room, however it did have air conditioning! The adults headed for the bar to celebrate ELs birthday whilst we headed for a restaurant. Today RD and I were feeling particularly down and it was us who broke down and spent the evening in tears. Later 4 of the team left to go back to the hostel, it was monsoon rain but still hot. About an hour later they returned, absolutely dripping, they had got lost and were soaked and had been followed in a car by a man. So we all headed back, I was the only one who had my raincoat and was mocked a lot for taking it however now I was the only one who was dry. We ran back as they avoided getting wet and failed, they soaked within a minute. When we got back the adults asked if we would like to go out with them and their Borneon friend Sampson who had just asked EL to marry him and most of us did. This time people took raincoats. Sampson took us in his truck, too drunk to drive but drove anyway. The adults sat in the front whilst we all piled in the back which was open. The rain hadn't slowed however it was fun. The truck was very slippery with all the rain and with Sampson speeding around the corners ND nearly fell off. We sang a lot and eventually decided it was time to come home. We went to bed whilst the adults headed for the bar. At 2am the adults were knocking on the door, I went to let them in since they had locked themselves out.

*24th July*
Today I was nominated to be leader, everyone was packing a small amount of stuff into their small rucksacks for our one night in the Niah caves. Just before we left the woman wanted the key back, this proved a problem because the adults between them couldn't remember who had it and when they last had it. It was a two hour drive there, however when we got there we were informed the caves were flooded and there was no way we could go into them, we decided to go back to Miri. We had to stay in a different hostel which was not pleasant as it was very dirty. Since we had a whole day we could do all the jobs we needed to do. Some were sent out to buy pots for cooking, food for the trek in the jungle and exchanging money. IB and I were exchanging money and we were joined by SL and EL. We went to a bank to exchange money and got SL to do it. Whilst we were waiting an elderly man walked past with a gun and placed the gun on the chairs next to us and walked away. We were shocked. When everyone got back from their jobs we decided that the next day we would go to a temple, set in acres of land ad the largest in south asia. ND and I went to ring to find out how to get there and information on it. It was my turn to sleep on the floor in the not so nice hostel.

*25th July*
I was still leader and decided today we could have a lie in till 9. We were meant to be going to the temple today. However after waking everyone up both BB and LS were ill. We changed hostels to the original one in Miri and SL took both of them to the medical centre. We did some chores whilst we waited for them to return. Eventually LS and SL came back and we were informed that LS had a virus which should go away and they weren't sure what BB had, maybe appendicitis, in which case she would have to have an operation and then go home. The adults had a lot of paperwork to fill in and wanted us all out the way, however somewhat downbeat no-one wanted to go to the temple. So we hung around the city doing nothing useful except exchanging yet more money. No-one was really in the mood to do anything. However I had lost my plane ticket back and had to go to the nearest Malaysian airway travel agent to try and sort it out, I was told it would cost my parents a fortune and they would be charged directly. Realising my parents would be least impressed by this I returned home and emptied my rucksack, only to find my ticket hidden in a book, after that it remained in my money belt at all times. That evening we had to repack for the plane to Bario as there were weight restrictions. All the heavy stuff had to go in our small rucksacks to make it heavy.

*26th July*
We arrived at the airport, without BB and SL who had stayed with her in hospital. When at the airport the guy looked at our passports for ages before confirming that we were missing two of the team. Yet still he seemed confused until he said "Is there a Mr Cham here?" That was me. Instead of Miss it had become Mr and my name had changed for Charn to Cham. This provided a lot of amusement for the rest of the team not to mention another nickname. Then we were all weighed to determine where we sat on the plane. The plane had about 20seats and stupidly we sat where we liked. The plane journey was bumpy and noisy. We eventually landed and our bags were taken out the plane and handed directly to us. There was no check in and the airport was a tiny building with about four rooms. We were told we could sit around and see the other borneo team or leave straight away. We sat around and waited. It was strange seeing them and they told us all about the leech bites they got and showed us their horrible scars, we were very frightened after this. We waved the other team bye as they took of on their plane, it was nice to see some friendly faces. We then loaded our bags onto the back of a truck and BA, ND and I sat in the back seats of this truck whilst the others travelled by true Borneo style, squashed on the back of a truck. We approached a wooden house which looked by far the nicest house in the village. It was painted blue and held up off the ground by wooden poles. There was a corrugated iron roof and a platform around the house. There were wooden circular stepping stones leading up to the house which were surrounded by deep thick mud. There was another team already staying at Nancys, we took our boots of outside and realised it would be great fun to find your own boots in the morning. Nancy showed KC his room, a box which had a mattress on the floor and just enough room for his bag. She informed the adults that they could use the staff toilet which was hidden down some steps near the adult rooms. However there was no adult room for EL and so she would have to sleep with us. We were given two rooms between twelve girls and one adult. On room had an ensuite, well a toilet attached to it. LS got the only single bed in the corner because she had been ill. There was a double bed and two singles all next to each other which was to be shared by EL, AlH, AiH and AB. The other room, which had to be accessed by walking out of the front door, along the platform and around to the other side of the house, consisted of two double bunk beds with no space in between. There was not enough space for us 8 to stand in together. However somehow we managed to fit our 8 rucksacks, 8 day sacks and 3 team bags in there, mainly die to them piled on top of each other. I was in the top bunk nearest the door sleeping with AD. The ceiling had cobwebs and the mattresses were stained with different substances only one which could be identified, blood. The bunk beds were wooden and very very uncomfortable. We decided we would use our roll mats to make them more comfortable, it did not work. You had to be very careful when climbing onto a bed because if you pressed to hard in one area the mattress would sink between the boards and would end up going though the bed. However pillows were provided, a dirty brown colour which I would never put my head on. These pillows were swiftly removed from the beds. We discovered there was a toilet next to our room however Nancy informed us we could not use this toilet and we would have to go outside. We were provided with lunch, plain rice, cabbage and goat curry, however Nancy had been informed I did not eat red meat and taking this as vegetarian I received no meat just rice and cabbage. RD and I returned to our room after, I was reading Harry Potter 7 which had just come out and RD Harry Potter 1. The rest of the team decided to explore the village. I had not even read half a page when I had flaked out. A couple of hours later an English man at our window told us he had come to take us to our team who were waiting for us. He led us along the road and then through this narrow strip of land which was just mud. Our near perfect boots suddenly became dirty and horrible within minutes. We walked to the school and were showed around and met the staff. After we were taken to the house of the priest (I think). We discussed what work we would do with the school and church and were asked to come back the next day to clean the windows of the church. That evening we were all having a lovely discussion before suddenly the lights went out. Lesson seven: Keep your head torch on you for when the generator goes off. We stumbled blindly back to our rooms and eventually someone found a head torch and so we could get ready for bed.

*27th July*
We were awoken at 7.30 after a uncomfortable night and AD sleep talking. BH, who was leader, asked for someone to wake the other room up. I offered and climbed out of bed. We realised the night before that we could leave our room and the first left there was a window to the other room. I went over to this window and told them it was time to get up. I was sworn at by AB, and taken aback I went away. At breakfast KC informed us that EL was not feeling well and he would make sure she is alright before joining us. We also found out that BB had dengue fever and that she would be rejoining us when she had come out of hospital which would be several days to ensure she made a full recovery. It had been decided that I would join 5 others to clean the windows on the church. We were given a spray and some newspaper with which to clean the windows. 3 of the team arrived late after we had done quite a few of he windows. After a while an argument broke out about how much work everyone was doing. We were invited inside for some tea and biscuits. Suddenly AB lashed out at me, I can not remember what about but I became very upset and decided to leave before I got too angry. I returned to Nancys and LS ran after me. She said that I could not walk back to Nancys alone. I was actually fairly grateful for the company as the walk back was about 20minutes. At Nancys LS said she was going to go back to the church. I climbed into my bunk and fell asleep. I was woken up by ND for lunch, of which I ate very little, I then went back to bed and fell asleep. I was awoken for dinner and again did not eat much. In the evening I awoken again and told EL wanted to speak to me. I took forever to get out of bed just because I was delaying it. I went to where EL was sitting with AB and she informed us that she wanted us to sort this out as we had to spend the rest of the holiday together. AB walked off and thus the conversation came to an end. I went back to bed and once again fell asleep even though I had been sleeping nearly all day.

*28th July*
Today I ate some breakfast as I felt hungry for once. I had a chat with KC n asked if it was ok for me to switch groups rather than spend the day with the same group again. He said there was no problem with this. Today I was playing with the children as it was a Saturday they did not have lessons. We taught them some of our games and they taught us theirs. We split into groups having about eight children each and played lots of games with them. It was soon time for lunch and it was still pouring down with rain, luckily my trusty raincoat came with me. A little boy held my hand and took me to the gate before waving goodbye and I set off back for lunch. After lunch it was decided that the groups would swap and we would build the bench which they wanted building. However after about an hour we stopped and packed it in for the day. Everyone returned to Nancys except IB, BH and I who stayed to play with the children. It started raining again and so we had to take shelter near their dorms. I let them play with my camera and they showed me where they slept. It was cramped with rows of bunk beds all next to each other. They had one toy each, a teddy bear which we had given to them the previous day, not all of them had teddys only the younger ones were given them. I sat in the children in their dorm for a long time, they taught me numbers and how to say "My name is…" I tried to learn their names as well. After a while I was invited to the staff room with the other two for Milo (hot chocolate) and pop corn. We ate and made conversation. We soon realised it was late and we were going to be late for dinner at Nancys. We thanked the staff and quickly made our way back. After dinner I decided I was sick of the conflict and asked AB if I could speak to her outside. I apologised and she did the same, everything was sorted, for it was only a petty argument to begin with. Everyone else had washed their clothes yesterday and RD and I decided we should wash our clothes today and so we did. That evening we tried to think of songs we could sing in church the next day. We decided on Jerusalem, Give me oil in my lamp and Hosanna.

*29th July*
My clothes were still wet and had not dried over night and so I left them out in the hope they would dry during the day. We walked to the church and deciding we were bound to be late walked fast. We arrived just in time and took our seats about half way in the church. However we were not late at all, we sat around for half hour before the church service began. And throughout the children walked in and out, an informal service I thought. We decided to scrap Hosanna just before we went up and KC decided he would not be singing. We went up to the stage and were handed microphones. I was sharing a microphone with BA and EL. We decided it was best to turn ours off, something we thought was sneaky but actually everyone did except for LS who somehow managed to have a microphone to herself. Unfortunately the singing of certain members of the team got the better of us 3. And we spent most the time trying not to laugh. The rest of the service was rather boring and long, we did not understand it and so just sat around. People were constantly walking in and out. KC suddenly ran out of the church, we were all unsure why, later we discovered he had not been careful enough with iodine in his water and had suffered the consequences. Suddenly everyone got up and started walking forwards, deciding this was our cue to leave, we got up and rushed out the back. We had decided that 2 hours in a church service was long enough and went back to Nancys. KC told us we should prepare our things for the jungle trek. Unfortunately the team had lost the string and the hop only sold the sort of ribbon which you tie around gifts however this would have to do. ND and I worked together to put strings on our bashers and mozzy nets. We had lunch after we had done this. Once again after lunch the heavens decided to open and monsoon rain poured down. Luckily it was a Sunday afternoon and we had nothing to do. ND and I decided to play spit (a card game) whilst the rest of the team either read books or slept in the living area which was more comfortable than our beds. Conversation could not occur as he rain was so loud that even when shouting it drowned out the noise we made. It was hard to see much outside because the rain was so much. I told ND I really needed a shower and she told me to wash my hair in the rain. And so I went outside and leant over the balcony to wash my hair with my biodegradable soap. After dinner KC wanted to speak to me about why I was not speaking and the fact that I was not feeling hungry was not good enough. I went to bed unable to think of a better reason than the truth.

*30th July*
This morning we were not needed at the school and we helped sweep the house but mainly after breakfast most of us went back to bed. It was a lazy morning and spend mainly sleeping, reading and writing. My clothes had eventually dried but they stank of dirty water, only mine and RD's clothes smelt. We were suspicious of the water we had washed them in. And so we decided to rewash our clothes in ridiculous amounts of biodegradable soap. We hung them up to dry, embarrassing under wear and all because we needed them to dry before the trek. After lunch we went down to the school and held a drawing competition. Towards the end of the drawing competition the sky began to darken and we realised it was going to pour down with rain again, RD and I decided to go back and take down our clothes and anybody else's clothes which still were out. On the way back we saw a truck which had BB and SL inside. We got back just in time to take down the clothes which were now dry. We said we would go back to the school but realised by the time we got back there would not be much time to do anything. We also wanted to talk to BB and SL. When the others got back and had greeted them SL said she had a surprise for us. She came in carrying two plastic bags. She opened them and revealed lots of food such as biscuits and sweets. After dinner we split into groups, some would judge the pictures from the drawing competition and others would split the food for the trek. I helped split the food for the trek. We tried to split it into piles of similar size and weight. We each took a food pile. We had to repack our rucksacks for things we would need for the trek only so nearly all the clothes came out.

*31st July*
Today we went up to the school and painted the bench which we had constructed with a lot of help over the days. We painted the picnic table blue. We got the blue paint all over our hands and also in our hair whilst we tried to paint the top. We soon realised the paint could not be removed by water and ND and KB went to buy some kerosene. When we returned to Nancys we tried to remove the paint however the kerosene was getting watered down every time someone used it and by the end it was almost useless. Nancy told us we should use sunflower oil on our hair to get rid of it, this did not work and left our hair oily. We remained blue for a long time (even after we came home months, and I really mean months even in 2008, we still had blue bits in our hair). After lunch we went to a long house which was certainly an experience. It was very interesting to see how so many people live together and how the houses were built in sectors such as places to sleep, a place to cook etc. That evening KC said we all had to use the adult shower to try and get the blue off us so that there were not any side effects on our skin. However the shower did not really work and the blue certainly did not come off. That evening we all together decided the winners of the drawing competition and what the prizes would be. We had brought presents with us such as footballs and pencil crayons to give as prizes. We also decided that we would sing "Don't Stop me Now" and "Do a Dear" as two English songs to perform to the school. We were taken to the school traditional style with 13 of us on the back of a truck in the rain and had to cling onto each other to stop us falling off. Five girls dressed up as flowers did a dance for us followed by two boys who did a hunting dance for us. We then performed our songs with actions for them. We were then served food however AB suddenly began retching heavily. I took her away from the wooden hut where we were sitting. I got some pineapple for her as this was one of the few things she could eat. I drank AB Milo as she was unable to drink it. We were to travel back by a smaller truck. BB got into the back and BA, AB, AlH and I squashed into the back. After most of the team were going to the karaoke bar but AB did not feel very well and so I offered to stay with her. She spoke to KC about her retching and her concerns about going into the jungle. After AB wanted to go to bed but the generator was already down. I went with her to her room and waited for her to get ready for bed with my head torch providing light. When she was ready I went and got ready for bed. The others returned late making a lot of noise, waking me up. I could not sleep after wards because I had bad chest pains. However I eventually fell asleep.

*1st August*
Today we woke up at 7am, it was the morning of the jungle trek. Breakfast was amazing, for the first time in days I ate. It was a honey sandwich and although it hurt a lot to eat, probably due to the fact I had not eaten for days, I ate it all. AB was also not eating at Nancys and I made a deal with her if I ate mine she had to eat half of hers. SL was very pleased with our encouragement. I ate the rest of AB's once she had eaten her share. However I was unable to drink the Milo however much I liked it as it gave me serious pains in my chest. We had to put on our gaiters for the first time which took about 10minutes to get on. I was ready before most other people and so helped them get theirs on. However when we were eventually ready to set off KC decided our rucksacks were too heavy and we should share all toiletries between several people. And so after a little more unpacking we were ready to go. BB was not allowed to come due to her illness so we had to leave her at Nancys. We had to jungle guides to help us through the jungle, Chris and Petros. We mainly walked on dusty roads and through fields before lunch and stopped in a field full off cow poo for lunch. After lunch the fields started getting grassier and eventually we were into jungle terrain. We saw a sign pointing to Indonesia which was exciting for us. Suddenly we had to slow down the terrain was no longer easy to walk on but very boggy and we had to walk along the edges but still we sunk and the nasty bog came above our boots and our gaiters prevented us from getting wet. Soon the bog became too deep and we had to walk along logs which were placed over the bogs and were exceptionally difficult to balance on. We had to share walking poles between us and BA offered me one of hers which helped me from falling off. Eventually we stopped hazardly balancing on these logs, we were informed we had to cross a bridge. As we got nearer we placed our walking poles in a pile which the guides would take across as we would need both hands. As I got nearer the bridge I realised it was no a stable bridge but a very high bridge over a river with planks of woods with gaps in between so you could see the water underneath. The sides consisted of ropes to hold onto. I have always had a phobia of bridges which you can see through and don't have proper support. Unfortunately I had to cross. I only managed to get a third of the way across, I was already shaking and crying. I shut my eyes and suddenly I heard BA encouraging me, she knew I was scared. I managed to get across but I was so scared. When I got off the bridge my left hand had red ants on it and one was stuck into it. I pulled it out. I knew there were ants on one side but I was too scared to let go with one hand, I much preferred being bitten. The walk got harder as we went along, we had to clamber over logs and duck under tree trunks getting stuck with our rucksacks. At one point we had to walk with a steep drop into a bog to our left. EL slipped down the bank and managed to just avoid the bog, however she had slid all the way down the bank and could not get back up. The guides eventually managed to pull her up again. BA made up a whole story about a girl called Chawan (one of my borneon nicknames which actually means cup over there). This story kept us entertained throughout the trek. Throughout the day we were paranoid about leeches and kept looking for them. We also saw a bug which looked like a leaf. We arrived at the campsite not too late. It already had a table made of tree logs and a place for a fire. We had to clear an area for us to sleep. You had to make sure the area under your hammock was clear. We sat down and took off our gaiters to look for leech bites. Fortunately I had none but many of the team did have some and their legs had blood on. KC showed me how to do a quick release know, I was not too keen on quick release knots if I had to sleep in the hammocks why would I want it to release quickly? I put up my basher first which prevents you from getting wet. The KC helped me put my hammock up between two very skinny trees. The mozzy net goes on last over the top of the hammock. I helped KB put her sup next to mine. Our trees were very thin and we were unconvinced they would hold our weight. I was too scared to get into mine and so I left it. The guides also realised our trees were a little too skinny and they tied our trees together using vine, this did not fill us with confidence. I went with LS to collect water for cooking and drinking from a muddy river which we then had to filter before boiling for cooking. We ate rice with some disgusting powdered curry which was foul. That evening I helped RD with her mozzy net, for some reason everyone thought I knew what I was doing and used the excuse I was in the cadets even though I had never done anything like this before. BA needed to use my powder to powder her feet and then I helped her get into her hammock. We had to put our boots onto stick upside down before we went to bed so I did this for her. Eventually it was only KB and me left not in our hammocks. We checked each other for leech bits. I helped her into her hammock and put her boots on her sticks before tucking in her mozzy net. I then realised I would not be able to get in by myself. The guide came over to help me and I took my boots off and he put them on the sticks for me before tucking in my mozzy net. I 

...less