So the plan was to spend 2 nights in this house (or shack), smacked in the middle of Batang Ai. Now, talk about being away from civilisation. There was no electricity, no toilet, (if you had to go, you had to go in the bushes and use leaves to wipe!), no pipe water and the closest human contact we have is located some 2 hours away... by long boat!

This house, or rumah kebun as we locals call it, was built on stilts and is about 12ft high from the ground. You had to climb these really steep stairs to get into the house. I'm not too sure if it qualifies as a house, come to think of it as there was only 1 common room in the entire house. There was a fire place at one corner of the house. And this house, I gotta tell you, is pretty run down. You can actually see the ground through the cracks between the floor. Next to this house was this really tall tree, perhaps as tall as the house.

As the house was surrounded by the thick rainforest jungle, the only way to get to the house was by the river. And from where we were, we could see anyone approaching the house.

I was pretty darn excited about this whole trip. I love roughing it out in nature. I just took everything in - the peaceful surroundings, the hornbills flying around. Somehow it reminded me of my dad's village in Limbang, except here in Batang Ai you don't have crocodiles in the water.

So, we spent the whole day fishing and by the end of the day, we caught more than enough for dinner. Anyways, as the sun came down, I started to feel sick, like, really really sick. Within 2 hours, I had high fever. I was in and out of it. I don't know whether it was from the Panadol or the fever. It was the strangest fever I've ever had because it happened so suddenly and fast.

What Happens Next is a Recollection of All Our Stories:
I fell asleep watching Apai and Sylvia preparing the fish for dinner. I was awaken by X, I noticed that there was a bonfire at one corner of the rut. Oh, the fish smelt damn good and tasted even better. Fresh fish, cooked in leaves... oh that was just heaven. So we sat around, told stories, shared some jokes. And then I fell asleep again.


And then it happened.

At first, we could hear it really clearly. The hysterical laughter, I mean. And then it just got softer and softer 'til it was barely audible. To those of you who don't know this, if you here hysterical laughter in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of the night, that could only mean one thing. The pontianak has come to visit you.

The pontianak (depending on which version you believe) is an evil spirit of a woman died or was murdered while giving birth. So she died with a lot of vengeful feeling and a deep hatred towards men. Some say she would often appear as a very pretty woman, seducing men to follow her into the forest. And when they do, she'd eat their balls or something.

Hahahaha, ok ok, I'm not too sure on the last sentence, but you can pretty much guess what a pontianak is.

Or you could always watch the movie Pontianak Sundal Harum Malam starring our very own Maya Karin.


Anyways, back to my story.

Then it was quiet. As silent as you'd expect it to be when you're in the jungle.

Then all of a sudden, we heard a loud thump on the tree next to the house. It sounded like as if something had landed on it. Yes, she was now on that tree, taunting us in the ancient Iban language. Apai translated what she was saying to us,"Come out, come out. Come play with me. Don't you want to play with me?"

And she continued to taunt us from there for quiet some time. She must've gotten bored, so she came down from the tree. Again, we heard the loud thump on the ground, like as if something had fallen to the ground.

You could hear her footsteps as she paced around the house, from underneath us. The sound of leaves being dragged, and again she taunted us,"Come out, come. Come play with me". X and Nadai Sapa Nyapa tried a little experiment. After they smoked their cigarette, they threw the cigarette butt through the cracks between the floor. And you could hear this snorting that resembled a wild boar and what sounded like as if she was rushing to get to the cigarette butt. And when she realized it wasn't human, she continued her normal pace around the house.

What happened next was something that I will never forget.

I was lying down next to the wooden wall and I could hear this distinct sound like as if someone was scratching or dragging their nails on the wall. Logically, that's impossible. Considering that the house was 12ft high off the ground, the person has to be at least 10ft tall to scratch their nails along the walls! I was glad I was too sick to even react to that.

*shivers* I still get goosebumps every time I recall that part.

So anyway, she continued taunting us throughout the night and was gone just like that when the sun came up. The moment the sun came up, all of us immediately packed our bags and left as Apai said we shouldn't stay here another night as the pontianak might bring some "friends" along. As we rode through the river, getting further and further away from that place, I could feel myself feeling better. And by the time we reached the jetty, it was as if I never had fever to begin with.

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