Bamboo Rafting

Rivers are excellent highways. Ask anyone from yesteryears, the time when villages, towns and trade centers grew by the river. Else, ask the aborigines or natives who still exploit that mode of transportations.
There are many advantages in using rivers as highways, getting from A to B, especially when B is downstream of A. Despite meandering, river probably still gives the 'shortest' distance between two points in terms of relative easiness in moving heavy loads around. Even without heavy loads river is attractive since it is also a:
1- source of food, fish that can be caught and barbecued as meals;
2- source of water, both for drinking and bathing. Those who are not hardened to rough life should not drink river water without boiling it first;
3- kind of protection against wild animals. In fact it is said that if one is chased by wild animal run to the water, river for instance. Water wash away the smell and any mark on the ground that is used by the animals to track you.
Of course if the jungle or forest was booby-trapped, or suspected to have abandoned or unexploded mines, the best way to avoid getting into one, is by using rivers. Certain skills need to be had in traveling by river in the jungle. One is to stay afloat. Together with a group of friends, I have had the opportunity of doing so with the aborigines at Belum Forest. It was amazing to see their resourcefulness in using whatever it was around them to survive. Making bamboo raft is easy. Rafting in bamboo raft in the rapids seem easy, and fun too.
Bamboo rafts are made using 8 to 10 bamboo sticks pierced together by a stick at both ends, so that they stay aligned and together. The bunch is then secured using rattan or roots that are strong enough to hold the pieces together. Only freshly harvested bamboo sticks can be used as raft as old ones become brittle and give way on slightest loads.
So, there we go. Load it. All aboard. Bon voyage. Mind the rapids.