gravity phase 1

So onto the main event and preparation for the venturers arrival was under way with the official raleigh olympic committee (myself, nat, komal & alex) creating a challenge of tug of war, welly wanging & an obstacle course, obviously we had to try it out first on ourselves & spent a fun afternoon testing the events.

Dress rehearsal, olympics planning

We then went onto the airport to meet 50+ venturers, split them up into delta training groups and welcomed them to Borneo with an immediate swim test & some quite frankly awful cheese & cucumber sandwiches.

Olympic competition, with added water

We spent a couple off days passing on our newly acquired skills and trekking into the jungle for a night before the allocations for phase 1 and heading off to the project site for the expedition to begin for real.

Delta 2 heading to the jungle
ruth, noah, ruben, serene, kenly, laura, john, becky, simon, nat, lara, emma, kitty, tom

Delta 2 enjoying life in the jungle

We were incredibly lucky to begin the phase with an invitation to the wedding of the head man's daughter.  Despite the slightly awkward feeling of turning up to a wedding when you've not met either the bride or groom, we had a great time and presented the newly weds with raleigh t-shirts - surely the highlight of their day.

Wedding shot with the happy couple
nat, meghan, laura, simon, kenly, barnaby, steffi, jon, john
jake, kate, bou, thijs, eddy, anna

We then got down to some real work with the creation of a concrete base for the water tanks, fencing off the water source and laying pipes along the main route which is due to feed most of the village.

Starting the water tank foundations

The walk to work

Carrying pipes

unravelling pipes

Our housing was an enviable, half built, construction at the top of the village, where we slept upstairs and created a kitchen and communal area downstairs.

Kitchen

Wildlife was not exactly abundant but there were a few odd visitors to the house and around the village

A visitor in the food store

Dragonfly at the water source

The most dramatic thing was sunrise, from around 5.30 nearly every morning we were treated to spectacular views , always worth getting up for & since we were without any electricity following the light became the norm, starting working at 7 to avoid the heat of the day and often in bed by 8 or 9 after a couple of hours of darkness.

Sunrise in Nungguh

We finished the phase with the water tanks in position, fencing completed and most of the pipes laid, not bad for 18 days.

Alpha 2
barnaby, thijs, jake, simon
kate, bou, steffi
nat, laura, jon, kenly, meghan

Get out there

The last few days of training have been completed, brushing up on first aid, visiting the air ambulance people to check on our proposed helicopter landing site & getting a full tour of the choppers.

There was also time for a bit of organised fun, including fancy dress olympics, quiz night & karaoke.   

toys & games theme

Mario & luigi

Tango 3 celebrating a gold medal olympic performance

We even managed to get a day off, visiting the nearby islands of Manukan & Mamutik, tow of the islands in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, just a short speedboat ride from KK.  

speedboat to the islands

Manukan

looking back to KK

Manukan

But now it's time for the real work to start, 60 odd venturers (the volunteers) are turning up over today & tomorrow so we'll be off to Base Camp to train them up ready for starting the project work next week.  This will also be the last time I see internet until the end of the expedition so you can keep up with the official  raleigh blog: http://raleighborneo.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Project Planning



me, John & Nat & our new home in the background



The next couple of months are going to be split into 3 main phases.  Phase 1 & 2 will be building a gravity water feed in a village (kampong) Nuguh. With my fellow phase 1 project managers we went out to visit the site, meet the locals and our project partner and prepare for the 12th when we finally head back with another 10 volunteers in tow and the responsibility to provide 20 homes with water.



meeting the head man & family


After a few hours of taxis, minibuses and 4x4 we arrived at the village, about halfway between Kota Marudu & Pitas for anyone who wants to look on a map. 
First stop was meeting the head man with our project partner Eddie.  Without Eddie we would have been lost, not only is he able to expand on our Malay (hello, thankyou, rice & noodles only get you so far) but he's also built some of these things before and knows what to do with a strap wrench

 

view from my bed


We spent a couple of nights in the village in the place we will soon be calling home.  The head man's son is building a new house, it may only be half finished but most importantly it has a roof, a first floor, which once the floorboards are all nailed down will be a sleeping area with a view - no walls for extra ventilation & uninterupted sunrise & sunsets.


my new quarters





current water supply


The second day was spent surveying the village by GPS.  We visited the 20 houses & church to confirm the gravity aspect of the system really will work.  There are around 100 people currently living in the village & this gave us a chance to meet a number of them.

We also got to check out the local school in the neighbouring village, 300 kids aged 7-12 come in from 6 villages.  It's the other side of what will be our swimming & washing facilities the river at the bottom of the hill.


a local house




washing facilities




Tobacco drying



Borneo beginnings

End of one journey, start of another

Training - Fieldbase, Kota Kinabalu

Arriving in Kota Kinabalu, the home of Raleigh fieldbase - the hub of operations and my home for the next couple of weeks.  This marks the official end of my journey from a damp March day in Waterloo to the heat & downpours of Sabbah, Borneo; 187 days, 19 countries and 47 different modes of transport








The first few days were spent in a whirl of training, information, swim tests and getting to know my fellow project team with whom I'll be working for the next 3 months, in just 2 weeks 60 venturers (volunteers) are arriving and we'll be delivering much of the training back to them

choosing dinner - KK, Borneo

There was time to venture out in the evening to a local market for dinner, the main items on the menu: seafood & chicken bum













Fish market - KK, Borneo

















It wasn't long though before it was time to really get out and get a taste of how we'll be living for the next few months with some training at Base Camp, the return point between 3 week stints on projects.  It's relative luxury with (cold) showers on site and a permanent roof structure to keep most of the rain off our hammocks.

 

putting up mossie nets, Base Camp














Local wildlife, Base Camp

The next night was a little wetter, but a good lesson in how important putting a tarp up properly to protect your hammock is. The day was spent a few hours trekking through the jungle, only covering a few kilometres in 4 hours, but it was enough to appreciate just how difficult the extended trek I'll be going on later will be.

Enter the jungle

We also found out our project allocations, I'll be spending 2 'community' phases (6 weeks) constructing a gravity water feed - much more detail to follow as we are about to go on a 4 day trip to plan it.  My final phase is the 'adventure' phase, 2 weeks jungle trekking followed by a week diving, the chance to gain a PADI qualification and try something I've never done before.   

Get out of the cities

My last week in China was spent in province, the main attraction being the incredible cast scenery which includes the setting of the 20Yuan note.

First up was a visit to the Langshou rice terraces where the immaculately tended crops stretch into the distance.



Langshou rice terraces

Langshou rice terraces

To get from Guilin to Yangshuo the plan was to take a bamboo boat most of the way along the river.

plastic bamboo boats, Yangdi

Once on the bus however we were soon informed that the boat was actually a plastic raft (45) but we'd have the chance of purchasing a separate trip on a bamboo boat (46) later that afternoon. Both trips were excellent despite the usual tourist trappings of tat sellers the scenery was great & the skies blue.







Li river, Xilong

Cormorant fishing, Jinlong

Water buffalo, Jinlong

bamboo boat, Jinbao river

The next couple of days were filled with cycling & walking. The hostel rooftop bar providing views of the river and Yangshuo town brimming with souvenirs, bars & restaurants it's no longer the hidden backpacker treasure of the old editions of lonely planet. Nearby the up to twice nightly Impression Liu Sanjie show plays to packed audiences of thousands, with a cast of 600+. It was directed by the guy who did the Beijing Olympic ceremony and wows mainly due to marvelling at the co-ordination of setting this on a lake (the Russian dancing horse still wins for entertainment).

En route to the fishing village

One day hike to me to the village of Xing Ping, where I finally found some of the hidden backwaters. Although in the nearby fishing village (it has no name) a local showed off photos of Bill Clinton sitting in their house.

Xing ping

Staying overnight in Xing Ping also gave the chance of a climbing a hill for sunrise. Setting off at 5.30 we waited for the sun to come up, but as is one of my overbidding memories of china, the mist win out & it just got lighter.















I can also claim to have cooked the best food I ate in China. Under careful instruction of a cooking class we prepared 5 dishes including a local speciality: beer fish. Before the cooking commenced we were taken around the local marker to get some final ingredients, fortunately that didn't include the dog that I watched being dismembered.

5 courses of culinary brilliance

beer fish being cooked

Onto one final overnight bus ride (47). This one counts for the crazy layout of full (for a chinaman) length bunk beds throughout the coach, I was do surprised at arriving in Shenzhen on time I forgot to get a photo, so instead here is Shenzhen's oddest attraction window to the world contains scale models of most famous monuments you can think of.

Window to the world, Shenzhen

Panda-monium

So the prospect of 28 hours on a hard seat was enough to board a plane, sometimes life's too short.

After a couple of extra hours in the airport it was onwards to Chengdu, a city of ~9 million.

Mao statue - Tianfu square, Chengdu

The main draw is the world leading giant panda breeding centre. Successfully breeding pandas since the 80s there's over 100 pandas in the huge park & less than 2,000 in the wild. The baby's we saw were a month old and still tiny, often new mothers will accidentally kill their cubs as they are so fragile at birth so at the centre they tend to grab them quick & reunite them when the cubs are bigger.

juvenille pandas

red panda

baby panda <1mth

adult panda hanging out

A visit to the Chinese opera is more of a talent show with a series of performers taking the stage. The finale the highlight with a face changing act including a mannequin breathing fire.

face changing at the opera

Back to the train station for one last overnight sleeper. After a 4 hour delay (spot a common theme emerging?) we were on our way. There's something magical about going to sleep in the dark, leaving a city behind, and waking in the morning to a view of terraced farming and fields of colour. The hours fly by looking out the window & reading, War & Peace seemed suitably epic to take on a long journey but it's easier to read at night without the distraction of the scenery. A couple of changes on this train, I'm now the only foreigner in the carriage, the attendants are even more smiley & casual than before & there's no more western toilets.

Who doesn't love a toilet picture

view from the train - Chengdu to Guilin