So we divided into groups - one adult per 3 students, and were given the name of a restaurant to go to. The driver of our taxi wasnt too sure of the restaurant name but asked if it was near the Sunday Market, which it was, so off we went. He dropped us off at the market but we couldnt see the group from the first taxi, so asked a policeman where the restaurant was. He gave us instructions, which we followed, but still couldnt see the restaurant, so one of the girls in my group asked a shop owner, she gave us further instruction, and we ended up in the middle of the market. This was obviously not right, and when one of the others remembered that out of politeness, some Malaysians will give instructions to somewhere, even if they dont know, and being laughed at by the next person we asked, we began to think maybe the restaurant didnt exist at all.
So back we went to where the taxi dropped us off. By this point we expected to see at least one more group, but couldnt. Luckily we were able to get in touch (by mobile) with Sue from the first taxi, who had been driving around this whole time to try and find the restaurant. In the meantime, the rest of the group seemed to appear from nowhere, and we got back to Sue who had found the restaurant, but it was closed! So we decided to eat at the market - a bit of a no-no, but there was huge turn over, and corn & satay's cooked over hot coals couldnt be that bad so we put some tables together and off we went. It was a great evening as it turned out!
The next morning, we headed out on the bus reasonably early after a lovely big buffet breakfast at the hotel. The bus took us out to the Bako National Park ferry terminal, where we caught speed boats down the river to the Bako National Park itself. It was a great trip, our boat didnt see any crocodiles, but one of the others did - very exciting for all those on that boat!We quickly put our luggage in the store room, and it was off to the beach. Not a simple as it sounds, it was a 1km (I think) walk up and down some interesting terrain, although not that difficult it was very hot which made the walk quite tiring. The beach was beautiful. There was a small group on the beach when we arrived, but left quite quickly, so we had the place to ourselves.
After about half an hour, we headed back across the mangrove swamp, and saw quite a few hermit crabs - including some really big ones! Then it was back to the park office for a packed lunch (sandwiches, a piece of chicken, cake and drink - very filling) and to check into our rooms.
After a quick shower (in the cold water - very refreshing) we lazed around till it was time for our afternoon walk through a different part of the rainforest. The accomodation was much better than we thought - proper beds, each cabin had a shower and toilet, even if there was no toilet paper (we had brought some with us) and only cold water in the shower!
We were to repeat the afternoon walk in the dark, so it was good to have a bit of an idea of the trail. It was a bit disappointing not to see any wildlife on this walk - we had seen a few monkeys in the morning - but hoped to see a bit more in the evening.
After a rest and dinner, we headed back for our evening walk. We saw some glow in the dark fungi, listened to the sound of the rainforest, then it started to spit. Very quickly it was pouring with rain - a great tropical storm! We sheltered in a cave for a while - when I say sheltered, I use that term loosely - the adults sheltered, the students 'showered' in the rain, such a novelty to have such hard rain in such warm conditions!
We ended up walking back in the rain, and having to cancel the next part of the walk to see the fireflies, which was disappointing, but no-one wanted to be out in the rain that much! Luckily, Johnny, one of the students, had bought a really big pineapple from the market the day before, and had brought it with him, so our guide cut it up for us and we munched on really yummy, fresh pineapple before heading to bed.
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