Paradise lost

I have just completed uploading photos from my trek to a dam and some waterfalls at the end of 2009. It's where I went to when I posted the previous two "trekking on muddy trails" posts (click on the label "Trekking near Bengoh dam" above to see the other posts). I went with a big group of trekkers and we visited the site of the Bengoh dam, a village named Kampung Bojong and some very beautiful waterfalls. We walked a total of 18 km that day and it was well worth it.

I have over 100 photos taken during this trek, please visit my Flickr photoset (click here) to view the photos. I will let the pictures do the talking...

Here are a handful of photos, for many more do visit my Flickr photoset.


The infamous Bengoh dam in Kuching Division, Sarawak, Malaysia.


Suspended bamboo bridge or tiboyan in the Bidayuh language.


The last of a generation... An elderly Bidayuh matriarch still wearing copper bangles on the arms as well as her shins. Only in such remote villagers can we still see this. She was extremely friendly and posed for pictures too. She is carrying some thatch material made of palm leaves. The Bidayuh villagers we met were very friendly and they were very generous with smiles too.


A beautiful waterfall... how do you say goodbye to a beautiful place like this?


Another one of many waterfalls here. There's so much eco tourism potential here that unfortunately may never be tapped. Not only the natural beauty of the surroundings here but the countless lives that will be disrupted, entire peoples displaced and resettled, cultures and traditions, everything will never be the same again.



This is truly paradise. One that sadly will be lost forever.

Trekking on muddy trails (part 2)

Updated, text filled in! To read more about this place, be sure to check part one too (click here).
Will fill in the text later. Too lazy after a big New Year’s family dinner. Feel so bloated, urrrghhh!


I fell! Didn’t get hurt or injured, thank God! But my poor beat-up dslr almost turned into a mud encased camera. Don’t think I can ebay it now, it’s too beat-up from my treks. Will keep it as a backup cam if I do get  the new Pentax KX.


Many parts of the trail were very muddy. So why not walk on the sides you say? Because this is a cut path through the hills, both sides are hard to walk on either because it is a steep fall down one side of the hill, or a steep bank up the other side. Very slippery in my hopeless Crocs anyway. I didn’t know the trail was this bad!


So in the end I had to take off my shoes and walk barefooted if I was to have any chance at all along this mud trail! I will have to take Zentel tabs some time, just in case!


Crocs won’t do! This is a job for the kampung adidas! Repeating this photo from part one.


Finally walked through some of the worst parts of the trail. And what’s this? A bamboo trough to channel water off a natural spring? Good, time to clean my muddy feet, legs, hands, elbows, knees and shoes.


The trail leads through vast farm land planted with various fruit trees, rubber trees and hill paddy.


Bees visiting the flowers of grass.


A young couple, each carrying a small child. The wife is carrying their baby while the father, also walking barefooted along the muddy track, is carrying a bigger boy. Barefoot is probably best on this kind of trail, he can’t risk a fall while carrying his child.


Two village women in kampung adidas nimbly negotiating the muddy track while carrying two basketfuls of durian on their backs. One of them also has a walking/hiking stick to aid her. I too picked up one, it was too hard without!

End of part 2.

Trekking on muddy trails (part 1)

I took a fall during this long 18km hike (total distance on foot) in an area that will be lost underwater in the future. There is a big dam being constructed here, the Bengoh Dam. The purpose, on-paper anyway, of this dam is to provide water to the city of Kuching. But the area that is destroyed is huge! I cannot even begin to estimate how large is the area that will be flooded, but the valleys we saw were wide and long and we walked for 9 kilometers from the dam and that was only to some waterfalls along the river. There are so many beautiful waterfalls here too, it's hard to imagine all that beauty will be lost when the dam is completed.

Most parts of the trails we walked on were extremely muddy! When I fell, I nearly dunked my whole slr into the mud. It was just impossible to walk in my Crocs so I opted to take off my shoes and walk barefooted, using my toes to prevent slipping in the mud. Many in the party fell too, except those wearing kampung adidas! In fact, after about a 7km hike, we reached a small village shop and there were some kampung adidas for sale so a few switched shoes. See this photo for a description of kampung adidas.

I enjoyed the exercise I got, 18km is by far the farthest I have ever walked in one day (I think! As I didn't have any way to know the distance covered before the past year). But some in the party were not really nature lovers who littered and gave the candid response of "Seriously, I don't care." Selfish people like this do not deserve to enjoy the beauty of nature! Just stay home!

View part two here (click this).