Konni & Matt - Perpetual Travellers: 20 Jul

Southeast Asia

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia

Malaysian Borneo

Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills

Gunung Gading National Park +6085432561

Forest Hostel

Comfortable and clean twin room with fan for MYR 40.- or US$ 11.30 per night.

Click below for an interactive road map of the Forest Hostel in the Gunung Gading National Park, which we would recommend, and for directions:

N 01° 41.45' E 109° 50.77'

Hiking the numerous snaky, leechy trails in the mixed dipterocarp forest of the Gunung Gading National Park, gazetted in 1983 CE, feeling dwarfed amongst the many large insects (e.g. giant green grasshoppers with 15 cm wingspan, long red millipedes with a length of 25 cm and big ants which measured up to 30 mm) under the 30 - 40 m high rain-forest trees (with quite a few trees, so-called emergents, reaching up to a height of around 50 m) and climbing the 965-m high summit of Mt. Gunung Gading to stay on top of things.

Sharing (i) delicious home-cooked vegetarian food, (ii) an undisclosed quantity of the infamous local ginseng schnapps (Cap Apek, c. 50 % alc./vol.) and (iii) many libertarian values with friends and fellow travellers Georgina & Tao from Down Under.

Exploring the pleasant fishing village of Sematan (25 km northwest of Lundu), facing the South China Sea, with its colourful stilt houses, its coconut-tree lined, clean beaches and its Chinese kopitiam serving excellent and cheap seafood.