Planting Trees in Pesalat

When asked whether we'd prefer to go straight to the beach in Tanjung Keluang or plant a tree first in Pesalat, I gladly chose the latter. I did not regret it. In order to go to the planting area, we took a short hike throughout the ironwood walkway then the forest. Then we chose what kind of tree that we'd like to plant. To me, this is obviously a difficult task! My partner made a choice right from the start and other choices didn't sway him at all. He chose ulin/ironwood. I was torn between ironwood or gaharu (agarwood) or bawang-bawang (I have no idea what the English equivalent for this) or... there were so many trees! And most of them were rare! Finally I decided to plant gaharu. I posed with Uci and Elsa in the left picture, they chose bawang-bawang tree (the bark does smell like onions).

 
Perhaps it's just me. It was quite a hot day then, and the trek made us sweaty. But right in front of the wooden sign (Resort Pesalat) I felt quite a chill. It's as if I was being encased in ice. My partner felt the same way too, but others didn't seem to feel it. Maybe it was Pesalat's way of accepting us into its domain? I wouldn't know. The guides told me that Pesalat has experienced its share of "weird" things. Ah, let them tell you their stories later, should you decide to visit this spot one day!

On the right picture, you can see a chopped trunk of ironwood. Mr. Yusup (the guide, yes, I talked to him a lot) told me this ironwood is about 50 years old (after being chopped). It's still strong! Ironwood is still tough after many, many years. That is why it is highly coveted as building materials. Unfortunately it takes ages to grow. The tree that Isman planted here is about 1 year and 5 months old (approximately).

After planting the trees, we (naturally) took pictures in Pesalat area. Planting trees for future generations! Wishing that... who knows, perhaps one day our children would visit and see the trees that we planted. Behind us there's a small shop selling some souvenirs. I bought some bracelets and a necklace for my children. Until we meet again, Pesalat!