Phase 1 Changeover

Well I survived a trek over the Crocker Range National Park, and a trop up Mount Kinabalu. Both were superb. We had more time free on the trek than I thought - we were finished by lunchtime or early afternoon which was great. We managed to go swimming in rivers, wash there, try to buy pigs from the community (we ended up with fish), cooked tapioka inside bamboo on an open fire, a couple of folk burst the water pipe supplying a community which we managed to arrange to fix, we burned loads of rubbish left by other visitors, we stayed in the jungle and community halls, there were loads of leeches, and a whole lot more!
On Mt Kinabalu we stayed at 11000 feet overnight, then left for the summit at 0245. We got up Mt Kinabalu in just enough time to see the sunrise, and managed to stay up there for an hour or so which was superb. On the way up I coaxed up one of the host country participants which was superb as he thanked me a lot for getting him up there. There were several folk that hadn't been on anything like that before, or seen the views which was really rewarding. When I saw one of the other partcipants summit and come down again I was almost in tears as she found thre previous trek, and this, so difficult, but was so proud to have achieved it. For the first time I was really buzzing after we got to the overnight camp. I had my fleece on, I was on a real mountain, and I was going to start walking in the dark. It was an amazing feeling, and was quite obvious to the others I was loving it. Despite all this, the inital path on Mt K sucks - I hate paths like that. Full of people, rocky, and large steps. All worth it though. I decided to shave off my 'trekkers beard' today.

Just now, we have a 36 hour changeover period at the Borneo Paradise Resort which is a nice enough hotel, just out of town. All the groups get mixed up, and allocated to different projects. Just now is a tiny wee moment I have to myself.
Tomorrow (Sunday 30th) at 6am I roll away from the hotel and head to Linapasan in the Ranau region of Borneo to start working on a gravity water feed site for a community. This involves laying pipes to the kampong, and constructing a dam, and taking loads of photos of the work. In a week's time I'll get picked up by the resupply loop vehicle, and get dropped off in Danum Valley to help the team build a suspension bridge. Both projects are a lot of hard graft. In Danum I'll have to drop any worries about insects and animals as they've got everything from frogs to scorpions to snakes and wild board...and a whole lot more! And a whole lot more you wouldn't even recognise.
That's all until 16th August! Have fun!

Subscribe to A Wandering Scotsman

There's a wee box on the right hand side of this blog now so you can subscribe. Just enter your email address and away you go. I promise I won't share your email addresses with anyone, but the list is managed by bloglet.com, but they won't either. There are hardly going to be any updates for a few weeks now, so this will make sure you get an email when update it on my return around 16th August. I can however still get bl00dy letters delivered though ;->

The Salt Trails of the Crocker Range

Early tomorrow I'm boarding the Nui Luck Express (sounds scarily close to Nae Luck Express!) for two hours to Tambunan to meet the trekking group I was on Mamutik Island with. From there we move on to start a week long trek along the Salt Trail of the Crocker Range. (the link provides a couple of sample pictures).
This trail was used in the past to carry supplied from remote villages to Tambunan and between villages. In 7 days I'll be gearing up to head up Mount Kinabalu over a 2 day period, hopefully getting to the top to witness a beautiful sunrise...hopefully! From there it's back to changeover between phases, where the participants will be swapped around and some of the project managers will move projects, participants swap gossip, and enjoy the joys of a swimming pool and beach, and everyone has a bloody good shower.
After that I'll be heading to Linapasan to join a project starting a new gravity water feed system for a community. When the loop vehicle passes the project mid phase I'll join the Land Rover for some mad offroading between sites, and hopefully get to visit Imbak Canyon before I get dropped in Danum Valley. We may have some Ministers joining part of the loop as they should be visiting the project in Danum. After a few days I'll head back from Lahad Datu to Kota Kinabalu on the wonderfully cheap FlyAsianXpress, all for less than six pounds.
Once back from there it's going to be mad as it'll be the start of the last expedition phase with CDs, tshirts and exhibitions to organise.
I'm knackered just thinking about it. Catch you in a few weeks!

Living it up at field base, & where's my post!

Yes it's not quite the hardship posting I expected while I'm at field base. Malaysia is definitely the most luxurious Raleigh destination...surely! The couple of pics uploaded today are from my few hours out at Sutera Marine and Country Club as mentioned in a previous post. This is the view to the islands of Mamutik, Gaya and Sapi (I think) from the poolside, and the reception area. The other pics are of the tough eating regime we have to go through - fresh grouper fish with rice and chicken wings. Bummer.
Last night we did our first 'Radio Raleigh' broadcast to all the project groups over the HF radio. Most groups tuned in to updates on news, sport, entertainment and a fictional story, with the odd musical interlude of classics such as 'Macho Men' decicated to the trekkers.
It was a relatively easy day today writing the next issue of the 'Sabah Sun', our internal newsletter for participants which is distributed at handover, and radio duty. The radio was busy today as we have some small storms are coming over project sites, so plans for the resupply vehicle were being watched as the radio, telephone and satellite phone reports were coming in thick and fast. Absolutely run of the mill stuff there though so no great shakes to be made.

Only a couple of days left then I'm out of field base until around 14th or 16th of August. Luckily the budget airlines such as Fly Asian Express are here as well so I can get a flight back early from close to a project site for 35 Ringgits (around 6 pounds including tax for a 55 minute flight. I hope to make it to Imbak Canyon in a few weeks which will be great. The BBC just finished a documentary here, and hardly anyone gets into the area at the moment (only around 200 so far) - apparently there is a huge waiting list and can cost up to 1000 Ringgits to get in. We have some Ministers going to visit the site next week but I'll be trekking then. High rivers can prevent access like it probably will tomorrow, so fingers crossed for the next few weeks.

Also, where's my post! I've only got 1 letter, 2 cards, and 2 small parcels which were great to get. I often see the mail coming through for everyone else, so come on, retrieve that old email from me, and send me some post. If I'm out and about I should get it delivered on the loop vehicle. If you don't send it within the next few weeks I won't be here anymore (how time flies!).

Panaitan Community Sing-a-long

Yesterday I went out on the initial visit of the loop (resupply) vehicle to a community project in Kampong Panaitan near Kota Marudu in northern Borneo, just over 2 hours north of Kota Kinabalu. The project site is right next to the local school, and the team lives on the school grounds. Within minutes of sitting down and supping a cup of tea, a few of the local community came over and asked if they could sit with us. A couple of minutes later, a few more girls, armed with a guitar joined us and an impromptu music session ocurred, including the guitar being played by one of the project team. Fifteen minutes later, there were around thirty kids, and a couple of their parents, sitting around a circle outside the school singing their hearts out, while the guys mainly played volleyball with some Raleigh staff and participants.
It was fantastic, and exactly what I wanted from a community site visit. We were really lucky to get this reception as there is normal no-one around the school on a Saturday. I think the reception we got was partially due to most of the team going to the church ceremony in the morning, where some of the kids had been singing. After about two hours, the team decided they had done their bit and departed to do other tasks...
As usual, the kids were super camera friendly, and they all had big smiles on, escpecially the young girls. This lasted for around 90 minutes, and for all that time I had my MP3 player sneakily recording the musical madness in the middle of the group while I became very snap happy. Back to field base now though for a few days in the office unfortunately. The pictures uploaded are from today - in order : The Raleigh Land Rover stopping for lunch at a stall, participant Lisa with a local, a few of the locals singing, a few of me, and the evening entertainment, just before a game of The Weakest Link.

Raleigh Malaysia Update

Here's a link to the first update for the current 06E Raleigh International Malaysia expedition I'm on at the moment, with details of the project and field base teams.

A diving shot, and my new house

Here's a wee picture of me from my dive yesterday, and my home from home, Raleigh field base in Kota Kinabalu.

Some time off!

I had a hard day today...well not exactly. I took advantage of a rare few hours off, and went down to the Sutera Harbour Marina Golf & Country Club where we've blagged a bit of a deal for day's off. I spent a good few hours just chilling out with my book, my (so far empty) travel journal, and my iaudio listening to some tunes. I managed to cram around 3 weeks into 5 pages in my journal, but apart from the odd swim, not much to report...except I felt I had been ripped off - my coke cost almost 1.50 UKP, and my drink and a burger lunch, the best part of a tenner! Yes, I felt ripped off at that. In a way that's a good feeling...most things are so cheap over here compared to back home, although, we'd also be considered minted if we worked here on UK salaries, so not really a fair comparison.

Most folk popped out to the cinema tonight and I stayed in to watch my first full DVD which is amazing as there's one on most nights. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of the best quality ahem legitimate DVDs I've ever watched and it crashed half way through. Ahhh, dontcha just love Asia.

Anyway, I guess I could actually tell you a bit about where I am just now. Getting a cab back from the resort to field base (paying the country club rates of course...5 Ringgits more than usual!) I was disappointed to notice what stood behind one of the huge billboards for a new shopping complex. There's around 8 shopping complexes being built in KK at the moment - apparently bandwagons are quite commonplace here - someone builds something, so many more people decide it must be a good idea. How they can all make money, god only knows. Anyway, I've been driven past this site several times, but usually with a group in a Land Rover, stashed full of kit. Today I noticed what lay behind the metal corrugated iron around the site - the stilt houses of some of the locals. Looks like they're about to get knocked down and filled over which is a shame. No doubt the locals will class them as stupid immigrants or something, but always a shame to see.

Another bizarre thing is a fun run that is happening this weekend. It starts at 5.17pm. Yes, 5.17pm, which is bloody hilarious when you consider around here, everything runs by 'Sabah Time'...which means, no hurry. I'm sure there's a reason for the timing but I'd like it explained. I also went to a hardware store on the way to the island the other day...had all sorts of DIY stuff hanging off the shelves...but no bloody batteries! Well, they did, but only one type, and the type you can hardly use in anything.

I'll write more about Sabah later. Tomorrow I'm off for an overnight visit to a community project site in a Kampong called Panaitan near Kota Marudu in northern Borneo. I'm really looking forward to this as they are building a kindergarten and there should be loads of local kids kicking around the place. I'm sure there will be a few pics up next week.

Mamutik Island, and first publication!

I had my first picture published in a newspaper on Wednesday! After the press attending the opening ceremony for the 06E Malaysia, there were a couple of articles in the press about Raleigh's work. My picture of a local staff member was published in the and my picture of one of the local staff was published in the New Sabah Times, a local newspaper for the district. Hey, it's a start!
I've spent the last couple of days on Mamutik Island off the coast of Kota Kinabalu with one of the groups. I was trying to take pictures for a local tourism magazine, but came back a bit disappointed after the first time out with my underwater kit. Still, I got five dives in two days, only one of which was a boat dive. Most of them were quite uneventful watching others doing their PADI Open Water skills, but still great to get underwater. The guys at Borneo Divers were very helpful as Raleigh do all their diving through them. I had a sneaky chat about potentially doing the Divemaster qualification after the expedition, but that's a thought for the moment.

The island was very relaxing despite being busy. I set up a hammock away from the group tarp, so I was inches from the sand, and looked out over the sea towards the lights of KK, with Mount Kinabalu in the background. When sitting on the beach at night there were loads of tiny crabs went scooting all over the place until you moved to scare them away. I wasn't lucky enough to see a monitor lizard or anything though. At high tide the water was only a few feet from my hammock. I left the group this afternoon, but will rejoin them to trek the Crocker Range and Mount Kinabalu next week.

he images in this post are the beach that was my front garden as I stepped out my hammock..which was nice. The second one is the view across the 20 minute boat trip to Kota Kinabalu, with Mt Kinabalu in the background...again the view from my hammock, with the sundown view next. My hammock is then pictured. This will be my bed for 7 days when I head out trekking, moving it each night, and in most of the other sites I head to. There's a few scuba pictures, and to finish it off, the local kid who lives on Mamutik who has a habit of trying to whip you with leaves like you were getting the belt in school.

A Day In The Office

Just a quick post tonight as its been a day in the office sorting out some images. I have scuba gear confirmed for tomorrow so it's off to take some underwater pictures of one of the teams doing their PADI on Mamutik Island. I'm going to spend the night there on a hammock which will be brilliant (if I can avoid the mossies!)...apparently you can hear things crawling from the sea on to the shore during the night. I'm just hoping the weather holds out. After than I'm up to spend a day and night at a community site where they are building a kindergarten which should be superb. After a couple of days back at field base I'm off to trek across the Crocker Range for several days, then a trek up Mount Kinabalu.
I've uploaded some pictures from jungle training - one participant who as appropriately asking for help cooker her Quaker Oats (a quick thanks to one of ourt sponsors!), my office (note the Land Rovers in the back!), the schedule at training camp, a host country participant enjoying her guitar, me walking out the jungle at 6am so I can rush back to field base, and me in the jungle the day before. I won't apologise for the formatting as I'm doing it in a rush (as usual!).

Zzzzzzz

I'm completely knackered after having way too many 15-19 hour + days. But still, it beats 'real' work. The blog updates haven't been happening recently as all the participants arrive from last Monday. I accompanied the host country participants on the bus to the jungle training camp, then came back to the airport to meet the mainly UK participants arriving. It's been a manic (but magic) several days at training camp, with us doing the training of setting up hammocks and tarps, etc. I was mainly rushing around taking pictures of everyone in different circumstances, and my biggest picture to date of around 120 participants and staff in scorching heat....

After that I walked out the jungle at 6am to rush back to Kota Kinabalu to help the logistics guys. In a mad weekend we got equipment ready for 7 groups with 10-15 folk each, for three weeks. My tasks ranged from chatting to participants, handing out the expedition tshirts, taking pics, attending the opening ceremony with a minister and all the other volunteers, selling stuff at the temporary shop, drinking about 20 cans of 100Plus, and probably loosing around 70 litres in sweat lugging stuff around....
It was a bit bizarre getting up at 5am this morning and watching all my new mates depart on buses full of participants, food, and equipment ranging from circular saws to wheelbarrows, taking them around Sabah to their project sites.

I had a few achievements this week though....
I spoke on a microphone on a bus while driving from the airport :-)
I had my newsletter distributed to the 80+ perticipants.
I took a shedload of pictures.
I had my first real venture into youth development, and had a very strenuous day in jungle camp...but this isn't the place to discuss that!!
Some of my pictures were sent to local press today, but not sure if they'll be used.

More soon...

Day 'off'

We pretty much have a day off tomorrow, but in reality, there's never a day off here. We're all off for some team building on Mamutik Island in the morning, and I can't wait. It's a beautiful small island with a stunning beach with pretty dense jungle, and where the team stay on their own (except 4 residents) during the diving part of the adventure phase. Apparently you hear the crabs, lizards etc when you crash out in your hammock. I'll then pop into KK to buy some tobacco.... no mum, it's for my boots. Apparently it's good in your boots to keep the leeches away, but when the guys returned from Imbak and Danum they reckoned it was a load of bollocks.
There's a bit more anticipation as the participants arrive the day after then all hell will break loose with 90+ young folk fresh off a plan and taken straight to jungle camp. With a bit of jet lag it'll probably be carnage as they get taken through a lot by us, most of which will be a new experience for them - e.g. staying in the jungle, cooking outdoors, rigid hygiene methods that must be applied, and lots more.
I went out for the Sabah Tourism photo shoot last night which was really good fun. I couldn't complain as I was being asked to top up my free glass of beer so it looked good in the photo. There were loads of laughs and smiles as it was all a bit surreal for us so there should be some cracking shots for them I hope.
Anyway, it's late. I hope you like the pics I've just uploaded for previous posts.