Back to Ulu Papar – a time-lapsed site visit! Day One

I was on a site visit last week in Ulu Papar (finally going back after the visit which I wrote about here). I had lots of time through the week with no distractions because there’s no internet connection and very limited phone signal in the region (none at all on my network). With all that time that I normally waste with emails, I was able to keep a diary but unable to blog about what was happening at the time. Instead, I’ve decided to treat you to daily instalments of my unedited diary, exactly one week after the event!

Day 1 – Wednesday 23rd November 2016

It’s felt a bit of a rush to get ready for this visit and I’m still quite apprehensive about whether it will go to plan.  The visit will be a multi-purpose trip. I’m responsible for installing the prepaid meters in Kampung (Kg.)* Pongobonon and Kg. Kalanggaan, as well as scoping out Kg. Longkogunan and the other two villages for filtration systems to provide clean water. Luno is helping me while Joel and Goin are going to Kg. Longkogonan to finish the installation there.

Adidas Kampung in action - bargain shoes which
are great in the wet, slippery conditions, and for
wading through streams and rivers. 

We were due to leave from Kg. Nampasan at 12 this morning, getting a lift to the Kaiduan Dam Road Blockade where we would change cars (I hadn’t understood that this was what was going to happen though until it did!). As all of the company 4x4 s are either in the garage for repairs, or in use, we had chartered a lift up river with Luno’s uncle, Paul.

The morning gave us some time to do some last-minute shopping for provisions and double-check we have all the kit and equipment we need for the visit (this is important because there are no shops where we’re going - the only choice is to do without whatever it is you forget!). I needed to buy a pair of Adidas Kampung (picture on the left) for the trip because we’ll be doing a fair amount of walking between the three sites in Ulu Papar and they’re really the best shoes for that (even better at 7.90 RM <£1.50 for a pair!)

True to form, we left Kampung Nampasan at about 1pm (~12 Sabah time) to set off on the 5-hour journey. Not long into the ride we found another vehicle stuck in the deep mud so we all got out and they used our vehicle to pull the other one up (after several attempts by each and some good ‘roadworks’). We had a few other stops en-route but no other major obstacles.  We also stopped to drop off three ladies who were getting a lift to Kg. Buoyan, another Ulu Papar village on the way. This is pretty standard - it ’s very rare to have a car which does not have more people in it than the number of seats!

Luno and I got dropped off at Kg. Pongobonon which is just a short walk down the hill and across a river from the road. We went to the powerhouse to collect the computer and prepaid meters which had been left there on our last visit, and I got to work installing it. I didn’t get very far though - I got a nasty shock when I plugged in the PC so began a bit of an investigation to discover where the problem was. Turns out that the ground wire had been cut. As it was getting dark by this point we stopped work for the day and will fix it tomorrow.

The powerhouse at Pongobonon

 I went to have a wash in the open air shower – there’s a hose which takes water straight from the river and is propped up on a post for washing. As there’s no cover, I washed in my shorts and t-shirt and then tried to wring them out a little before dripping up the stairs to get changed. There is a more dignified way of doing this and a better technique for washing without falling over in the mud - I think I was a bit of light evening entertainment!

The bridge across to Pongobonon and the house where we stayed

Dinner was mountains of rice and a massive fresh fish from the river made into a kind of peppery soup (supplemented with some of our tinned fish from our provisions, and chillies), followed by a cup of 3-in-1 coffee (instant coffee, creamer and lots of sugar). Now (8pm) it’s very quiet and I’m typing this out in the dim light (there are just a few bulbs in the house). I’m going to grab my head torch so that I can go to the outhouse and then come back to read a little before an early night. There’s lots to do tomorrow!



*Kampung means village in Malaysia