Malazier - Day 7
Part of the trip -
Malazier
One man, a backpack and a lazy stroll through Malaysia
I woke after an uninterrupted night’s sleep for the first time in days and emerged from the cocoon that was my bed encased in a mosquito net. I am not sure that I will ever get used to sleeping under them as there is something morbid about waking up under a shroud. I counted no more insect bites so it had clearly done its job. The sounds of the birds and insects were an incredibly soothing way to wake up. So much so, I went back to sleep.
Eventually emerging, I joined my Italian friends for breakfast and we decided on an adventure to the nearest ATM so that they could pay their bills. This was located fifteen kilometres away in a village that consisted of three streets of shops. While Sandro was off dealing with the vagaries of the international banking system, I joined Simone on a shopping expedition. This turned out to be highly successful. He managed to get a pair of Oakleys for two pounds and a pair of Poma flip flops for three pounds. We were tempted but drew the line at the genuine Leva Strauss jeans and the authentic Cardiff City Football Club jersey.
Without a doubt the highlight of the trip was the visit to the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary and Lubak Bay. The Italians and I squeezed into a taxi that had had plenty of work done to it and set off to pick Francesca up for our adventure. Being a massive Arsenal fan, we thought she might have issues getting into a car plastered with Chelsea paraphernalia, but she handled it pretty well. The car itself would not have looked out of place in West Auckland or Dagenham but it got us there. That is the main thing.
Proboscis Monkeys are have a golden torso and grey arms and are the French of the monkey world. They have big noses, eat mostly bread and vegetables, do nothing for most of the day and spend a lot of time fighting amongst themselves. Compared to the Orang-utan experience, this was streets ahead. There were less people, you got a lot closer to the animals and I remembered my decent camera this time. Our visit here showed just how global the game of football is as many of the monkeys were named after famous players. It would seem this was a little unfair to the monkeys as they had much better haircuts, social skills and stayed on their feet longer. There were three troops at each feeding platform and it was fascinating to see how the hierarchy within each group worked.
Our return back the lodge coincided with the return of the most torrential rain I have seen since my last summer holiday in Scotland. It has been more consistent than anything I have seen since I have been here and we are definitely in a rain forest now. The good thing is that is has cooled things down and means I am going to go through three t-shirts today instead of four. At this rate I will have one semi-clean short for tomorrows flight back to Kuala Lumpur. I am sure whoever is sitting next to me will be pleased.
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