Winter in summer-land

Steamboat meal that my friends had post the trek

The downpour

Then all of a sudden there was a not-a-small drop of water on my head. This quickly turned to a torrential downpour. Should I remind you, dear reader, that this is a rain forest? Suddenly, I was scampering to make the jacket cover my head, which left large portions of  my back exposed to rain. And so we walked. The rain ebbed and flowed, never really stopping – enticing little lulls were always followed by more heavy rain.

View of Penang island atop Kek Lok Si Pagoda

At one point, we encountered a dead tree looming across our path. It was pretty big, imagine the kind of tree that grows unmolested in a rain forest with plenty of fertile soil, then multiply it by a factor of three. This tree loomed that massive in front of us. We couldn’t skirt it since there was sheer drop on one side and a sheer wall on the other. Only one of in our gang really had a full rain coat an looked like he was out on a proper hike.

Georgetown is a UNESCO heritage site & the capital of Penang

This was the french member of our crew who was an experienced jungle hiker. He somehow scaled the slimy, slippery tree and got on to the other side. He then helped others along one by one, the lighter people – he outright lifted to the other side. In my hubris, I started to cross the tree by myself without really accounting for how slippery it was. I began my inevitable slide down to the 30 foot drop when the french held my arm and saved me from the fall.

Gaint buddha at Kek Lok Si pagoda in Penang

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