I went caving in Malaysia! I love having outdoor adventures,
which was what I majored in college – playground 101 is what my dad says.
Train tracks we walked down to get to the village (the village is to the right in this picture)
The boys (Grayson and Andrew) and I went on our day off. We
walked down the street for a good 20 minutes to an old train station. Once
there, we followed the tracks down a bit and took a random left turn down a
gravel path which led to homes in a village.
That’s going down…
There are no stray
dogs here. We think it’s because they eat them. There are tons of cats
everywhere. They walk around our feet when we eat out, I don’t like cats so I kick them. Sometimes
the cats just jump up on you when you least expect it; it scares me and I
accidentally scream because I’m so startled. Most of them have really short
tails; I think they are cut off. It makes me feel good when I see a cat with
its whole tail.
Once we wandered around a bit, getting lost in the village,
we ran into a family. We said, “Cave?� and two boys began walking the opposite
direction leading us towards the cave. We walked into the jungle towards the
mountains and the path was slick and muddy. Then we came across these jagged
rocks going straight up and they expected us to follow right behind them.
Fortunately, there was a rope I could hold onto to climb up; otherwise it would
have been nearly impossible.
This is the beginning of the cave. I was already drenched in sweat from the hike up.
We made it up the rocks and to the entrance of the cave, but
it was a skinny entrance, we had to squeeze through. Then the cave opened up
and there were so many places to crawl and explore. I had so much fun with the
guys, going in the dark with head lamps to light the way; we crawled through
small spaces and holes. There was another opening on the other side of the
cave, it was pretty incredible as well.
A hole we had to crawl through
God created something like this, just for me. Like Tallulah
Gorge, I am in love!
I got so dirty. Because of how much I sweat, dirt was
sticking to my legs. My shorts were so muddy on the butt too. It was all good fun!
I
have realized how much I sweat while I’ve been on the Race. So much
more than normal people. I’m not going to have an outdoor wedding.
On the way back, we had to climb down the steep rocks. I
made it most the way down with the rope without slipping. I was doing really
well taking one step at a time, but not stopping to let fear catch a hold of
me. Then, I slipped. I don’t know what happened really, I just know my head
ended up in the bushes beside me and the knot in my ankle slammed against a
rock. “I really just wanted to smell that tree there guys.�
Later Shelley, the
nurse, found all the poisonous splinters in my hands, ears, and scalp and has
tried removing all of them, some are still left.
When we made it through the village, Grayson and I heard the
sound of Ping-Pong and followed it. The boys ended up playing several rounds of
Ping-Pong with rando Malay men at the old train station. I think these men
spent most of their work day playing this game instead of working. I was the
official score keeper. The men would all turn to me for the score, good thing I
was on top of things while I was eating my lunch.
We had a great day together!
