Temburong Canopy

My aim in Life is to experience heart-stopping excitement without actually having to get off the couch. I call it ‘energy management’; a virtue, really, in this era of conservation awareness. What this modus vivendi lacks in nobility, it more than makes up for by allowing me to retreat into my cerebral sanctuary (unfurnished) to ponder, you know, ‘stuff’. A date with discomfort is never part of the plan.

While I was in Brunei, Ian Miller, an old friend and nature enthusiast, called me early one morning. The conversation went as follows:

"Hey Erik, great news. I'm headed for a day out at the Temburong Canopy Walk up in the national park. It is simply GORGEOUS up there! Wanna come?"
"Does it involve sweating?"
"It's a great little climb!"
"A climb?" I murmured suspiciously. "You just said a walk. Now it's a climb..."
"We can get there and back in just 5 hours!" Ian panted hopefully.
"No… you must have me confused with someone who actually ‘does things’. Besides, I don’t think it would be fair for me to unleash my pent-up athletic prowess on you."

"(Pause)…Um, no thanks, I’ve already got a girlfriend." (Pause for Ian to try another tack) "He-e-ey, I know you: When you say ‘no’ you actually mean ‘yes’ and vice-versa, right?"
"Yes."
"So you're coming?"
"No."

I went anyway. I had heard so much about the allure of Brunei's jungle, it was time to look at the natural arena that plays host to all this fun. I was headed waaaayyy upriver (but actually just an hour away). Destination: the Canopy Walk - the true highlight of a day or two of floating lazily on the clear rivers below the thick jungle canopy.

I was told that it was a steep hike but the views at the top would be well worth it. Hiking boots. Check. Water-bottle. Check. Spandex so I don't spend the rest of the holidays walking like a gunslinger with chafed thighs. Definitely check.

After a delightful one-hour ride up the Temburong River in a motorised longboat, Ian and I reached the Park HQ where we signed in, topped up our water and promptly went vertical.

We started across a huge swinging bridge and along a well-groomed duckboard trail which hairpinned fairly steeply through stands of huge creeper-clad trees. Above hung an enormous sky burned white by the tropical sun. It was hot. And H-U-M-I-D. The humidity fell over me like a hot wet towel.