I made it back to Australia all in one piece. Our Malaysian Airline flight did not crash, I did not contract any deadly viruses, neither was I attacked by any stray animals, and my passport and money was not stolen. Who knows what could have happened while overseas?
Although, I did end up with some lovely sunburns (thank you Malaria tablets), and chemical burns on my eyelids – NOTE: never put 80% DEET on your forehead or eyes. Not my smartest moment!
Following up from my mid-experience post. My time in Borneo was quick and sweet but, it was filled with many experiences, friendship, life lessons, and blew my expectations out the window. I focused on embracing every single day while I was over there and saying yes to everything that was thrown my way.
When I came back everyone started asking me, ‘How was Borneo?’. What a good question but, how do you describe such a unique experience within a few words or sentences? My time in Borneo was not as life changing or as radical as I thought it might be in comparison to the reports of prior leaders who traveled to Laos.
In saying that, this experience taught me many life lessons. Words like exceptional, amazing, beautiful, incredible, and practically any related adjective just doesn’t do my experience justice. So, while I try and condense the 80+ page journal I wrote, here is what made up my 12 days in Borneo.
Arriving in the country there were two things that hit me. First was the heat! Borneo is very close to the equator and subsequently it was stinking hot and very humid – especially when you come from dry 15 degree Brisbane weather.
At least at the end of the trip my skin had undergone a 12 day detox – hello smooth skin! The second thing was the landscape and the gorgeous mountains in the background. From the aerial view when were descending into Kuching, we noticed the dense rainforest everywhere.
Jessie and I had our heads propped into the small airplane window and pointing out sights while letting out a few ooohs and ahhs! It was just breath taking to see such a city that still preserved the rich green colour of the trees. In the days following it became clear as to why the area looked like it did.
They honour the land around them and feed off of the natural resources rather than creating man-made factories to house resources.
Now, the best part – FOOD! In the days prior I was told by another Griffith Business Staff member and my local ANZ staff member who both were from Kuching that the food is absolutely and undeniably one of the best things about Borneo.
To be honest, they were not wrong. From day 1 until the very last day, the food did not falter in it’s reputation. Everything that was placed in front of us was fresh, and you could taste the difference! Never have I ever tasted such fresh and juicey watermelon, papaya, and orange.
While the portion sizes were non-existent, the food never felt unhealthy, it just fueled our body for the day ahead.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Oh Borneo, you were indescribable
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