Recently I hosted Gabriela, a couch-surfer from Poland, who is so much into Nature and things natural, that she wanted to get away from the concrete jungle in the city and specifically requested to stay at my place because it is close to the AhPek / Saga Hills, with its water-fall, flora and fauna.
She arrived at my place on the evening of 23rd February and we went to the jungle the very next day, using the Wangsa Cheras entrance . The party consisted of Gabriela, Lusina, Mira and her friend Allen who joined us at the very last minute. Due to some mix-up, we lost our way initially. We then back tracked and use another entrance at Hijauan which I normally used.
(Picture / map: Courtesy of Martin;https://steemit.com/@mididouze )
The climb was rather taxing for most of us, as we had spent or rather wasted a lot of our energy in the initial lost trails, this was particularly the case for Allen who volunteered to carry Gabriela’s heavy back-pack (with supplies to last for two days at the Tree-House situated at Station 6), as Gabriela intended to spend two nights at the Tree-House.
The real fun for Gabriela was the short rest at Station 3A (3aaa) which is a Green Gym (Natural Gym) with its full set of improvised equipment such as weight-lifting, horizontal bars, swings, holla-hoops etc.
As everyone was having fun at Station 3A, we forgot we had to reach Station 6 to arrange over-night stay at the Tree-House. When we finally decided to set out for Station 6, Allen was too tired to proceed. So he opted to stay put. The rest of us then proceeded to head to our final destination… Tree-House at Station 6.
Horror of Horrors, when we reached Station 6, we found the Tree-House was locked. The “owner” (hereinafter called Tuan or Lord synced with Hutan or Forest, not his real name, for privacy and security reason) had gone home…. It was the eve of the 9th day of Chinese Lunar New Year … traditionally the biggest day for Hokkien Chinese in Malaysia. Tuan observed traditional Chinese customs.
We realized we were stranded. Gabriela was particularly concerned and really wanted to spend the night at the Tree-House. Now the Tree-House option was off…..However, she was quite determined to spend the night in the jungle ALONE and WITHOUT the benefits of the Tree-House! However, I was equally concerned that this might not be a good idea…. A western girl spending the night in the tropical jungle ALONE and in the OPEN, sleeping on a hammock ALONE and in the OPEN!
So we had some real good conversations / discussions / persuasions. But Gabriela insisted that she had had many experience in this sort of environment and was comfortable with the hammock as a sleeping platform near the Tree-House…. NOT inside the Tree-House.
Finally, we decided to give her 10-minute quiet / meditation session to make her own decision. Her decision: Spending the night in the jungle ALONE and in the OPEN, sleeping on a hammock ALONE and in the OPEN.
That was her decision as an adult or grown-up. We respected her decision. However, we wanted her to have more drinking water available which was in stock at Station 5. So we headed back to Station 5 where Gabriela stocked up her water bottles (with additional empty bottles from us) and we bid good-bye and hugged. I personally felt the hug was kind of mixture of anxiety, sadness and respect.
We reached home after 1-hour trekking, without Gabriela in our team. I was anxious to text her as soon as possible. To my horror, she mentioned that she actually went to the water-fall after we bid good-bye at Station 5. The water-fall was another 25-minute walk (one way) from Station 5, meaning she only managed to get back to Station 6 after dark.
The rest of the night went well, because I made her to text me twice a day at least: when she goes to sleep and when she wakes up in the morning. This was the selfie she sent me the first morning after the “high-anxiety (for me)” night in the jungle (for Gabriela).
Gabriela went back to sleep again after sending me the selfie, as she did not get a sound sleep on the hammock the previous night.
With the dawn of the day (Saturday), Station 6 was getting more and more jungle trekkers whom Tuan depends on for the part-time / past-time business during weekends. It was a happy day for Gabriela…. She got to know Tuan and his gang very well. She also managed to persuade (with my help) Tuan to allow her to spend the night in the Tree-House.
Gabriela (now should be named “Jane” or Jungle Girl) was extremely happy and grateful for the arrangement…. She requested for additional supplies to last her planned longer stay at the Tree-House, such as power-bank for her mobile phone, fruits, eggs etc. This was done through the courtesy of Martin (an AirBnb tenant at my place, another jungle enthusiast and regular hiker… 4-time per week).
Nothing “dramatic” happened the second night…. Gabriela (aka Jane, the Jungle Girl) texted me twice: just before going to sleep at night / first thing in the morning next day, as originally agreed.
However, I received an unexpected call from Tuan, advising that Jane could no longer spend the night at the Tree-House ALONE, as he was advised by his friends about the possible complications of allowing Jane to stay ALONE at the Tree-House.
This was, of course, followed by a series of negotiations / discussions / persuasions again, as Jane was quite traumatized by the new development. The end result was: Jane must not be ALONE at the Tree-House at night. Luckily, my other couch-surfer… Mira….agreed to accompany Jane for the night. So I took Mira to Station 6. Mira was the savior for the day. And everyone was happy.
So the cycle repeated: I received text messages from Jane twice / day again… one before going to sleep / one in the morning.
So dawned another day…. The day before Jane’s scheduled flight to Bali. The Jungle Girl had to leave the Tree-House and the jungle in order to catch the flight….So Martin had again graciously agreed to “take / guide” the girls back to my place. You know what: The Jungle Girl was still thinking of having a morning jungle hike to Saga Hill which was the neighboring hill some 30-minute walk (one way) from Station 6! By the way, Jane walked bare-footed throughout and outside the jungle. That is her usual style of walking or dancing!
Anyway, the Jungle Girl and Mira were safely back to my place by the late afternoon. You know what, Gabriela (aka Jane, the Jungle Girl) was back to Nature the very next day at the Canopy Walk (Eco Forest Park, next to KL Tower) at the city center, just before her scheduled flight to Bali.
It was a wonderful and “frightening” experience to have Gabriela / Jane / Jungle Girl as a couch-surfer! She “hammock-surfed the jungle ALONE and in the OPEN! I really respected her for that…. I would not and could not do this myself
Bon voyage…. Gabriela / Jane / Jungle Girl…. See you again soon??!! Hopefully the coming round only at my place NOT the jungle!
LATEST......Gabriela sent me an update from Indonesia. Here is her latest “harvest” from Bali’s natural beauty …..what else but NATURE:
Hello… Bali, Indonesia.
she is one courageous girl, staying alone at some unfamiliar places
And very determined too....
That was a funny week!
It sure was
Awesome post Eric! She's a wild one, for sure.
Courageous one!