Sarawak, Borneo. Fourth largest island in the world after Australia, Greenland and New Guinea. Pretty big by any standard. You’d expect lots of roads to link up all major cities and towns, and the little ones in between. But really, there really is just one major road from Kuching through to Sri Aman, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri. We call it the trans-Borneo highway. It’s a two-lane road, pretty well-paved and very pleasant to drive on.
The burning season has just ended. I pass many a field with golden brown remnants of trees and bushes. Extremely scenic, but then I remind myself that 100 of these burning at the same time can be suffocating and frightening all at once. Burning was never a big problem in decades past. That it should be such a problem today reflects the increasing pressure of ever-increasing populations of today and their livelihood needs.
In spite of that, I find myself dreaming about getting away from everything for a time. Perhaps I should just walk into one of these fields and just work for room and board. I would disappear for a few months and lead a rustic lifestyle. Detoxify myself from the poisons of my reality. But then I take a look at the 60-degree slope that hill paddy is planted on and I think, I’d just keel over and roll back downhill again once I puff my way up, if I even manage that. Still, it’s still a romantic thought and I’d like to think that I could try.
For now, I have to be content with being on the road, going upriver to adventures of a more strenuous type.
