Have you ever thought about visiting something so badly that you insisted upon seeing it no matter what time it was? It wasn't a cave, it wasn't an underground cavern, it was a treetop canopy walk. And by the time I went, it was already closed, but no matter, the walk was exercise enough for me.
1800H: Daylight was good. It took almost 30 minutes to reach one of the many crossroads. Decision time, which direction should I take? The choice was so easy, there were only 2 and somehow, I took the wrong direction, it seemed genetically inherent that I took the wrong direction the first time. However, after awhile the signs and directions along this path pointed in the wrong direction and I managed to correct it, but I already walked a good 28 minutes into this trail and wasted time in the wrong direction. Oh well, not to worry, there was still daylight enough for me to complete my mission.
1830H: Strangely enough, I brought a phone in case of any problems. Who knows, I might have sprained an ankle and needed a heli-cassavac! My friend called me, she was fascinated that I was on the trail and wondered why I was alone. The answer I gave her was, because it was faster. We laughed about it because she knew exactly what I was talking about. Bringing anymore the 2 people along for the walk would have been chaos for me. I'm extremely focused and goal-oriented, I go for what I want, I don't linger around for nothing other than to catch my breath. If 1 or 2 more friends came along for this trek, they would have been excess baggage, they would have slowed me down. Then again, I would never know, I might have slowed them down!
1845H: Another 20 minutes in the right direction got me to the ranger's station where I managed to stop for some water at the water fountain. Everything was already closed at the ranger's station, fancy that, a ranger's station that's closed in a nature reserve. I lingered around, to listen to the sounds of the forest and watch the monkeys look for scraps of food and to watch me in turn, the idiot walking through the nature reserve all alone, without a guide, probably get lost.
1900H: From what I figured out, the signs don't give very accurate directions, or at least from walking the ground they don't. The sign said 0.1km to canopy walk, i think walking uphill a little threw me off track with the distance, but I think it was definitely more than 0.1km. Anyway, when I reached there, it was closed. I wasn't expecting too much, I went late, no biggie. However, I later found out that we were only allowed to go in 1 direction, 1 way, like the sign said, no turning back. In order to complete the entire route with the canopy walk, that would have taken a few hours. That was unfavourable seeing that sunlight was completely reduced to penumbra brightness.
1920H: The walk back was easier, as I knew exactly which way to go, by the time I reached the crossroads, it was almost completely dark. Walking along the path in darkness reminded me of my military training days on another island. You learn to trust your other senses, your sight is taken from you, you cannot see anything. Almost blind, but only able to make out the faint outlines of the path and the surroundings. The buzzing of the insects and droning of the crickets make you more in touch with your surroundings than ever - one with nature, well almost.
By the time I made it back to civilisation (ie the car park), it was almost 1940H, darkness had already set in. It was refreshing to take this trek. It allowed me to relax, to be one with nature, it also allowed me to get some much needed exercise and it also allowed me to see that we do have some lovely nature reserves here I should take more advantage of. People take their family for a stroll, strange Chinese Nationals were either lost or simply trekking around with the long pants, joggers jogging, I'm guessing, the entire length of one of the trails which can be as long as 4km.
Another thing I learnt through this trek was that, if I had collapsed or suffered some fatal heart attack or stroke, there would be nobody to hear me yell for help (I refrain from screaming, that's so ungentlemanly!), much less come to my rescue. Another dark thought I had was that should I be a serial killer, or some sicko nut murderer, I could ambush and murder anyone along the path of this innocently beautiful nature reserve, dump the body into the dense foliage and get away with it. Nobody will find the body till the smell gives it away. Yes, in this heat, humidity and weather, flesh rots really fast. If the monkey's don't find it first, the maggots and someone else jogging along the path might notice the smell. What a delicious thought indeed!
All in all, a good 2 hours spent chasing a little dream, to scratch an itch of a question on how long it would have taken me to walk to the canopy treetop walk. Well, I'll have to find out another day now wouldn't I? Perhaps at an earlier time, so it won't be completely in darkness.
1800H: Daylight was good. It took almost 30 minutes to reach one of the many crossroads. Decision time, which direction should I take? The choice was so easy, there were only 2 and somehow, I took the wrong direction, it seemed genetically inherent that I took the wrong direction the first time. However, after awhile the signs and directions along this path pointed in the wrong direction and I managed to correct it, but I already walked a good 28 minutes into this trail and wasted time in the wrong direction. Oh well, not to worry, there was still daylight enough for me to complete my mission.
1830H: Strangely enough, I brought a phone in case of any problems. Who knows, I might have sprained an ankle and needed a heli-cassavac! My friend called me, she was fascinated that I was on the trail and wondered why I was alone. The answer I gave her was, because it was faster. We laughed about it because she knew exactly what I was talking about. Bringing anymore the 2 people along for the walk would have been chaos for me. I'm extremely focused and goal-oriented, I go for what I want, I don't linger around for nothing other than to catch my breath. If 1 or 2 more friends came along for this trek, they would have been excess baggage, they would have slowed me down. Then again, I would never know, I might have slowed them down!
1845H: Another 20 minutes in the right direction got me to the ranger's station where I managed to stop for some water at the water fountain. Everything was already closed at the ranger's station, fancy that, a ranger's station that's closed in a nature reserve. I lingered around, to listen to the sounds of the forest and watch the monkeys look for scraps of food and to watch me in turn, the idiot walking through the nature reserve all alone, without a guide, probably get lost.
1900H: From what I figured out, the signs don't give very accurate directions, or at least from walking the ground they don't. The sign said 0.1km to canopy walk, i think walking uphill a little threw me off track with the distance, but I think it was definitely more than 0.1km. Anyway, when I reached there, it was closed. I wasn't expecting too much, I went late, no biggie. However, I later found out that we were only allowed to go in 1 direction, 1 way, like the sign said, no turning back. In order to complete the entire route with the canopy walk, that would have taken a few hours. That was unfavourable seeing that sunlight was completely reduced to penumbra brightness.
1920H: The walk back was easier, as I knew exactly which way to go, by the time I reached the crossroads, it was almost completely dark. Walking along the path in darkness reminded me of my military training days on another island. You learn to trust your other senses, your sight is taken from you, you cannot see anything. Almost blind, but only able to make out the faint outlines of the path and the surroundings. The buzzing of the insects and droning of the crickets make you more in touch with your surroundings than ever - one with nature, well almost.
By the time I made it back to civilisation (ie the car park), it was almost 1940H, darkness had already set in. It was refreshing to take this trek. It allowed me to relax, to be one with nature, it also allowed me to get some much needed exercise and it also allowed me to see that we do have some lovely nature reserves here I should take more advantage of. People take their family for a stroll, strange Chinese Nationals were either lost or simply trekking around with the long pants, joggers jogging, I'm guessing, the entire length of one of the trails which can be as long as 4km.
Another thing I learnt through this trek was that, if I had collapsed or suffered some fatal heart attack or stroke, there would be nobody to hear me yell for help (I refrain from screaming, that's so ungentlemanly!), much less come to my rescue. Another dark thought I had was that should I be a serial killer, or some sicko nut murderer, I could ambush and murder anyone along the path of this innocently beautiful nature reserve, dump the body into the dense foliage and get away with it. Nobody will find the body till the smell gives it away. Yes, in this heat, humidity and weather, flesh rots really fast. If the monkey's don't find it first, the maggots and someone else jogging along the path might notice the smell. What a delicious thought indeed!
All in all, a good 2 hours spent chasing a little dream, to scratch an itch of a question on how long it would have taken me to walk to the canopy treetop walk. Well, I'll have to find out another day now wouldn't I? Perhaps at an earlier time, so it won't be completely in darkness.
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