Blood, sweat, and....well, just blood and sweat

Eww. That's all I have to say. I know I'm going to be a doctor and must get over this grossed out sensation that I have when I see bugs and blood, especially when they're together, but apparently I haven't quite yet reached this maturity plateau. Maybe that's why I need this year off, to get over these aversions. ..

The story, from the top: After two weeks of traveling in Malaysia Philip and I stumbled upon a truly remarkable place, Taman Negara, the oldest rainforest in the world located right here in central peninsular Malaysia. Within the jungle are six hides, small hut raised off the ground containing simple bunk beds and a window overlooking a salt lick. The idea is to hike into the jungle and spend the night in the hides to catch a glimpse of large mammals such as tigers, elephants, tapirs, and deer that inhabit the area. So the big questions is, which hide should we choose. The obvious answer - the farthest one (pictured here for your viewing pleasure). So Philip and I set out on a journey yesterday morning with packs full of food, tons of water (8 liters, quite heavy) and otherwise modest provisions. The twelve kilometer hike is nothing to be sneezed at; just over five hours of trekking finally led us to our hide.

Quite unfortunately, when we arrived at the hide, so did the rain, greatly lessening our chances of actually seeing any animals. After an exhausting day of hiking with high hopes of a tiger or elephant spotting, the only animals we saw during the night were the rats who raided our food bag hanging from the rafters. At 6:45 our alarm roused us from our "sleep," otherwise known as fifteen minute turning intervals, packed our bags, rubbed our sores necks, back, and legs, and headed out for our trek home.

Though we had thanked the rain the night before for cooling our hide, we soon came to curse it and the situation it had caused. Apparently, disgusting black leeches just love to come out and play after a good rain, especially around rivers - I apparently missed this lesson in girl scout class. Sporting chacos and shorts to make wading through the main river easier might not have been my best choice of the day. Word spread like wildfire through the leech community and within twenty minutes it was an all out war. I noticed one on my foot, took off my sandals to discover three more. While Philip was trying to pick them off I watched three more crawl onto the big toe of my other foot. In the meantime they began crawl up Philip's pants to the point that he had to remove them and beat them against a tree. Though the leeches' bites don't actually hurt, the thought of these bugs sucking out my blood just kind of made me sick and spurred me to quickly find my long pants and sneakers in my bag. I know it doesn't sound dramatic, but it was, and even after this change of attire I still had three leeches to crawl underneath my pants and give me pretty decent bites from which I bled all over my pant legs and socks. Like I said, eww.

Those details aside, it was a great trip - one for my record books. As for now, I'm going to watch where I walk and get some sleep in a bed that's not made of wood.