Bengoh has the nicest put-in I’d known; with a small clear trees-lined rockface stream on both sides that meanders gently onto Sg Sarawak Kiri. Joe, KS and Dayang concurred with wide smiles on their face as we got on the way. Their smiles turned into frowns however as we got on to Sg Sarawak Kiri where we had to paddle upstream to reach Sg Embahn, the ‘black river’ I wanted to show them first before we venture down to Danu.

With a bit of greased elbow and a rest stop or two, we reached the confluence of the two rivers and gratefully paddled onto the still waters of Sg Embahn. This river is of interests to me as they are building a dam upstream and I wanted to show the group how it is now before the inevitable changes that would come with the building of the dam. Damn the dams but progress is progress. Upon reaching the first rapid we took a short break by the river bank and just then we heard voices and KS spotted a bamboo bridge high up on the banks with school children crossing them.

We got back into our kayaks and it was an easy paddle down Sg Embahn to Sg Sarawak Kiri and the as we gazed up to the distant highlands we could see the misting dissipating in the rising sun. But it was still cool down in the valley and the occasional breeze was most welcoming.

The sounds of insects, birds and the rustling of the water against the hulls of our kayaks negate any need for conversation and we looked at each other beaming with delight in the serenity of the morning on the river. KS broke the silence with the observation that most people would be too lazy to get off their butts to be doing this. Perhaps I remarked it could be that they are simply not aware of such carnal pleasures!

The sceneries along the river were simply stunning with overhanging huge rainforest trees and as we rounded a bend we came upon the wave-like limestone walls carved by the wind and the river. KS kept saying that he should have brought his SLR and Dayang must be wishing that he would just shut up! Their first rapid shut them up alright as Dayang misread the currents and KS had his first encounter of a submerged river hazard in the form of a jutting tree branch. He kicked it out of his way in time but nearly capsizing the boat in the process. I watched as the kayak turned facing the wrong way down the river. This is classic! But as a mild rapid, they were not in harm’s way; so I was not unduly worried. KS can survive a bruised ego.

Time flies when you are having fun and we reached Danu all too soon. I noticed from the corners of Joe's and KS's mouth the disappointment when we got out of the water. Was the trip too short or were they hoping against hope that there would be 200 college girls splashing in the water waiting for us!

The next time we planned to go further down to Kg Semadang about another 2 hours float away. Kayaking anyone?

Stumble It!