Well I'm not getting any slimmer, but Paul is. The jungle trekking is now having a big effect on him. After a day of rest after our Bako adventure, it was time for another trekking escapade. This time it was Kubah national park. Kubah is another feature on Kuching's skyline, it comprises several mountains amidst rainforest. Unlike Bako, it is not well known for its wildlife spotting though,although it is said to be home to bearded pigs, reptiles and mouse deer (strange mice looking creatures with long deer-like legs). As there appeared to be no bus until 11 and it was now 8:30, we negotiated a fare with a minivan driver. It was a quick 35 minute drive there. As the weather was fine, the usual 25 degrees and rising, we decided to do two treks. The first was a 3 hour return trip to a waterfall and the second would be a climb to a viewing point at the top of the smaller mountain Selang. To reach the first trail we had a rather steep climb up the road, passing a frog pond and the pitcher plant conservation area. After having spotted a few pitcher plants on our Bako adventure we stopped off to take a look. Well not sure why it was called the conservation area, it had signs and information about pitcher plants....but not one plant! We carried on to our first trail, Paul was taking the lead as he wanted to do some nature spotting, we did the usual climbs through tree root paths and saw butterflies, a hard backed insect about 5 inches long - see photos, lots of fungus and toadstools. Paul went off the trek to take a look inside a fallen tree trunk and thinks he caught a glimpse of a mouse deer - no photos though, I'm afraid. The temperature was beginning to soar and already we were drenched through. The jungle was extremely noisy, lots of insect noises and strange bird calls, but we never really spotted any birds. Paul spyed an insect on a tree that was vibrating its body to make a screeching noise - a very common sound on our treks. We had almost gone through a litre and a half of water and supplies were running low, our thoughts turned to cannibalism, Paul was eyeing up my rump steak and I his belly pork.... it was now two hours since breakfast. The trek was again well signposted and set out with steps and ropes in the tricky places. We reached the waterfall without spotting another person, it was set up high so we had to climb a wooden staircase, which was quite steep, but we couldn't hold on to the rails as they were covered with ants. We stopped to trace the ant trail which was snaking for about 10 metres from the staircase into the forest. We then had to follow a stepping stone path and fumble the rest of the way through the stream without falling in. Sherpa Anderson wasn't loaded with items this time, having left the laptop in the hotel safe. I had left my brolly behind, so... even less to carry. We stopped for some time at the waterfall - a ten metre high cascade - taking lots of photos. We then made our way back and onto the next trail. We spotted our first trekkers, a local family and a group of local teenagers. They all called "Hello" to us. We warned them about the ants. The next trek to the mountain viewing point was only about 1km, but a serious climb. We had to keep stopping to catch our breath and use our depleted supply of water. We reached the top absolutely soaked. There was a vertical ladder up to a viewing platform. We climbed up to take in the far reaching views out to the sea, to the distant mountain Sinabung, islands and the mangroves. We watched as rain fell below us onto nearby villages. The break was welcome, but the rain was starting to head our way, so we headed back down to the park HQ, After about 10 minutes of steep climbing down with the use of ropes...the rain started. We were about to understand why a rainforest is so called. The rain was warm and we joked that it was evaporating as soon as it touched us, but then it got heavier. The downpour was like having a bucket of water thrown over your head. Within minutes we were the wettest we had ever been, wiping the rain constantly from our eyes and face. The path was now slippy as hell and we clutched for dear life onto the ropes. Once you are completely drenched, yet more rain makes no difference. We kind of got used to it. Thankfully the climb down was only about 30 minutes long and the park HQ staff laughed at our dripping figures. It was now 1 o'clock and we only knew of a 3:30 bus. The park staff were no clearer, they just directed us to the bus stop. The rain was still gushing down. At the bus stop - half a kilometre away - we were able to shelter, Paul took his shirt off and wrang it out - I was jealous as I was desperate to do the same. We sat for an hour waiting for the bus. Finally a public minivan stopped to pick us up. Only £1 each to take our soaking carcasses back to Kuching. The bus stopped to pick up several others on the way, including a local woman who appeared to be disgusted at the prospect of having to sit next to us. We arrived back in a sunny Kuching, we dripped our way through the backstreets to our hotel for a well needed shower...