BORNEO DIARY 
17/02/2002
The lights yesterday morning turned out to be the natives returning, they lit a fire in the clearing and partied hard into the night. None of them fell into the pit I had covered. I watched them for a while and then came back up here.
Slept in my shelter most of today, I woke up with an snake wrapped round my head like a turban but managed to cut it off with my fishing knife, I think the blood left on my scalp after my haircut attracted it. I am going down to confront the natives this evening after I eat the snake, try to establish some communication with them, make them understand I am a peaceful traveller. If they throw me in the pit again then I will be very, very angry with them.
I received a lot of E-Mails casting doubt on my backpacking credibility, so have decided to answer a couple before I once again risk my life with the locals-
This one is from the Rev.Luke Gremling---
Mr. Bickford,
I would like to say first and foremost, I have found your site to be most entertaining. I would love to live such an adventure. However, as much as I would love to believe your epic adventure, I must call to light a small amount of doubt. The picture you posted tells me much in the way of details. The picture I am speaking of is where you are climbing out of the pit naked. Number one, You seem to be quite clean for having been in muddy pit for a couple of days. Number two, you seem to be quite clean shaven for having been unconscious and in a pit for such a period of time as you say. Number three (no offense) You do not appear to have been lacking in food for the time period you had previously mentioned.
Your site is great fun otherwise...
God Bless,
Rev. Luke Gremling
Thanks for the kind words Reverand, let me respond to your comments on the picture I posted-
Number 1- I look so clean because It is raining almost constantly here and being naked is actually quite a sensible way to live, as skin washes clean quite quickly in the rain.
Number 2- I look quite clean shaven because I had just shaved! I have a cutthroat razor in my pack and took the opportunity to shave as my beard was matted with urine and mud. Hair does not wash clean in the rain so well as skin, that's why I cut my hair recently, it stank.
Number 3- I do look a bit chunky in the photo, it must be because I resized the image and got the ratio wrong, thanks for noiticing though.
And Penny from Tvgohome.com was kindly got in touch with these words-
ok, so Marlowe, how come you look so much like Raybid Russ?
and how come your equipment page is date stamped 14/2/02 (you can view this in browsers you know, despite when you mark on them and say when you updated them)
ahh and this'll be the pic of your grandad then- although it doesn't really indicate he's your grandad or that he was an explorer.
I reckon you've been rumbled!
and what happened to your old diary pages then? as they don't exist at all
Seen this google thread? http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&threadm=711f8f95.0202141807.1e0b9773@posting.google.com&rnum=26&prev=/groups?q=bidforth&hl=en&start=20&sa%\ interesting...
keep writing though, it cheers my monday morning
:)
Pen
Firstly, RaybidRuss is related to me , and he does look a bit like me, it's a genetic thing. My equipment page is date stamped 14/02/02 because that is when I pasted into the geocities site, it used to be hosted elsewhere. The picture IS of my grandad, surely that only substantiates my story? You can visit my old diary pages by clicking here or at the link on the bottom of each page. The google groups link doesn't seem to work, please get back in touch and I'll have a look.
I hope these answers put a stop to all this nonsense and a big thankyou to all the Bidforth true believers out there. It's not easy being out here on a limb, staring death in the face every day, but I have my backpack, a bellyfull of fresh snake, a score to settle with some urinating natives and the will to survive.
Keep reading and I'll keep going.
16/02/2002
Its early morning now, saw some lights down under the tree canopy below, going to turn everything off and lay low, see if I can make out who it is.
15/02/2002
From up here I can see for miles, hardly any rain today. A good day, I managed to fashion a makeshift shelter from large leaves and branches, gather food to last me a few days and I cut my hair with the fishing knife, when the blood drys I think it will look quite good. The only worry is my solar cell can be seen for miles if its a clear day like today.
I am going to wait and see if the natives return to the clearing.
Thanks to Fran and Roger for the E-Mail suggesting writing a song about me, I would love to hear the song when its finished and will post a link on here.
14/02/2002
It is Valentine's day here in the Jungle and I am reunited with my lost love, my backpack.
I threw my gear out of the pit and spent a few hours trying to climb out. When I did emerge from the ground like a triumphant, naked, zombie, there was no sign of the locals. Most of my clothes (my hat was missing, damn) and the solar cell were in one of the huts, I really don't understand why they threw me in that pit, but I will find them and they will face the retribution of Bidforth the backpacker.
I've climbed up to a safe point where I can see the clearing and I'm going to recharge. Before I left I covered the pit with foliage, then packed mud over that, so I am watching to see if any of my assailants are stupid enough to fall into their own trap.
As always, thankyou for all the E-Mail support (Crazy Jane, eknoo, Lynda, y kafka, Ahmed). Its been a difficult few weeks and it really helps knowing I am not really alone.
I do miss my hat though.
I've also had a lot of cynical E-Mail saying it is impossible to use a phone in the jungle (from Greg), and people who obviously have not read my site saying things like "howcome your battery never runs out?" (Yes, you Graham Trent) and the particularly verbose comment from Candy "Your site is Sh#t", so here's a link to my old Equipment Page for all you cynics.
Alright, so what if I just got thrown into a pit and urinated on? I am living my dream, I face death every day and sneer in his face, I live by my wits and I answer to no man - how about you Candy? Below is a picture of me (taken with the timer for all you non-believers) just after I left the pit, notice I still have a smile on my face.
Danger? Pah! Life Threatening Situations? Pah! Disease? Poison? Climate? Adversity? Pah!Pah!Pah!Pah! Take care. Marlowe xxx
13/02/2002
Trying to conserve battery, not long left. Manged to pull myself out of the pit by crawling up the collapsed side wall, but fell back in again trying to retreive my laptop and backpack. I know I can get out now so after I write this I am throwing my stuff out of the pit and making a break for it. The natives seem to have gone so I need to find the solar panel or my laptop, camera and phone will become useless. I want to hunt down the people who did this to me and make them pay with their blood, or at least get a decent apology from them.
12/02/2002
Another cold and difficult night, no sign of anyone, no sounds. The rain eased, but the sunlight doesn't reach the bottom of the pit so didn't dry out much. I need to eat something. Tried to climb out again. Fell down again.
(Penny from Tvgohome.com - I do exist, though I might not much longer. Thanks for the vote of confidence.)
11/02/2002
Still down the pit, still naked. The night was awful, cold and wet, thought I might not make it. It's so surreal thinking, sat down here, terrified , naked, covered in someone else's urine thinking you might die, but still being able to play solataire on your laptop.
I tried to dig a ladder in the pit wall, but it is so wet it just collapsed and I buried myself for a while. If I can do this a few times, I might get a enough of a slope to get out of the pit. I have no idea what the natives plan for me, this might be some sort of tribal initiation. Thanks again for all the E-Mail support, but please stop sending sarcastic and rude messages.
This is not a game.
This is my life.
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