![\"camping](\"http:\/\/worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/7260662460_dcf8dee735_z.jpg\" "\\"camping")
<\/p>\nMost cycle tourists rank \u201cEasy Interaction with Locals\u201d as one of their top reasons for travelling by bicycle. Whether it\u2019s exuberant kids in Burundi cheering you up the mountainside, taciturn Mayans of the Guatemalan Highlands welcoming you into their humble adobe homes or an affable American offering you a cold coke on a hot summer\u2019s day, it really is the people that make the places.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fair to say that we\u2019ve meet thousands of individuals over the course of our world tour. Most we\u2019ll never see or hear from again. That\u2019s the nature of a nomadic life. Friendships are intense and fleeting.
\nBut even though we may never come into contact ever again, some people won\u2019t be forgotten. Joseph is one of them.<\/p>\n
Our connection with Joseph came about just as so many do: we needed help.
\nA few days into our circumnavigation of Borneo, we\u2019d realized this is an island with little terrain suitable for wild camping. Slopes are steep, vegetation is thick and rains are heavy. Not to mention the snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlies we\u2019d been coming across on an almost daily basis. Imagine pitching your tent in the heat and humidity of the Florida everglades and you\u2019ll get the picture.
\nOn this particular day, dark storm clouds were rolling in; the temperature had dropped 10 degrees in 10 minutes and I was well aware that the heavens were on the verge of unleashing a mighty tropical storm. Time to sprint for cover.
\nWe spotted a sign for a Seventh Day Adventist Church and followed it into a clearing of simple homes. As we rolled up, Joseph stepped out to greet us.
\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d he beckoned, \u201cyou can sleep here tonight.\u201d We rolled the bikes into the simple wooden church not a moment too soon.<\/p>\n
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After we\u2019d settled in, Joseph brought us mugs of sweet tea and he shared his story, the sound of rain pounding down on the church\u2019s metal roof drowning him out at times.
\n\u201cI am so ashamed that I cannot offer you more,\u201d he began, his sad eyes belying his soft smile.
\nJoseph was busy raising four young children alone, recently having lost his wife to dengue fever. Before her death things had been good. He\u2019d worked abroad in Singapore and Oman, sending money home and returning to Malaysia each year for a month\u2019s visit. Now his wife was gone, he\u2019d returned to his small village in Sarawak to care for his family and he no longer could depend on a steady paycheck. Most local men survived by selling timber from the surrounding rainforest. It was wrong, he knew that. Government officials had been out to warn them about the illegal nature of cutting trees in protected areas. A couple of guys had even been caught red-handed with chainsaws. They\u2019d been handcuffed and carted off to jail.
\nBut a man\u2019s got to feed his kids. Joseph\u2019s youngest, a timid boy of six, nestled on his lap as he shared the tale.<\/p>\n
We set off at first light the following day. Being so near to the equator, the tropical sun was scorching hot by 8 AM and we wanted to enjoy at least a couple hours of pleasant pedaling. Joseph was up, too, bustling about in the simple outdoor kitchen preparing a meal for his children.
\n\u201cThank you for your visit,\u201d he said as we shook hands goodbye, \u201cyou are welcome anytime.\u201d
\nWe cycled out into the hilly countryside and I concentrated on the climbs ahead. A few hours later, I still couldn\u2019t get Joseph off my mind and I\u2019m not quite sure why. Maybe it was the love he showed for his children that had impressed me. Perhaps it was the dignity with which he accepted his fate. Or maybe it was just the simple act of forming a connection with someone whose life, on the surface at least, seemed so different from mine.
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