Located at the junction of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, Borneo is home to more than 60,000 species of flora and fauna and is known as the "Purgatory on Earth".
In addition to the terrifying snakes, moths and legendary cannibals, the island is also rich in a precious tonic - golden bird's nest.
It is said that 1 catty can be sold for about 10,000 yuan.
That's why the island has attracted explorers and gatherers since 1992, but to get in and out of here you have to find a local to lead the way.
The resourceful film crew invited the experienced Tuwitt, who has been trading bird's nests for a living and knows everything about it, and tuwitt, 66, lives at the foot of Mount Marang in Borneo.
It is home to 1,000 Dayaks, who live a self-sufficient life away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Tuvit is making grilled fish that looks delicious.
It was his wife and two grandchildren, and the family lived in this old house, living in poverty but happiness.
This time, Tuwitt and the men of the village will enter the Millennium Cave – collecting bird's nests, and most of Borneo's mountains have a number of colorful caves, and there are many paintings on the rock walls of the ancient caves, which are the footprints left by their ancestors.
In addition, a bird called the canary also chooses to nest here, and it usually takes about 40 days to build a nest, but unfortunately, this protein-rich thing has been targeted by humans.
Legend has it that in ancient times, bird's nests were used by emperors, so when the birds built their nests, someone would take them all away, and it is said that these bird's nests would be sold for 4,000 euros per kilogram, that is, 1 kilogram could be sold for almost 11,000 yuan.
Tempted by the great sum of money, the men hurried out after lunch, because of the distance, they prepared sufficient supplies, fuel and gathering equipment.
Then they carried all these things to small boats, tropical rainforest, wet and rainy, this wooden boat with a motor is the first choice of travel tools for villagers.
After about 4 days of traveling along the murky river to reach the depths of the forest, Tuvert's team consists of 4 people, nephew Hoon, a professional boatman and his friend Hamm.
The wild rainforest is a paradise for flora and fauna, and on the way, a large crocodile is calmly crawling from the shore into the river for a bath.
Also don't miss the big-nosed monkeys that crawl around the branches overhead, with their big noses and fat bellies that look like pinocchio from fairy tales, and are said to help them attract more admirers.
As they made their way through the corners, the gathering team encountered a lot of dead wood and rapids, and Tuwitt guided the boat like an orchestra conductor.
Then they found a cliff where the men put on their headlamps and went straight to the cave.
Sure enough, there were some black bird's nests here, and Tuvert wrapped the collection tool around the stick with a rope, and then scraped hard towards the target, and the bird's nest fell down, a total of 3 but they grew together with the plants, and the quality was not very good.
After an afternoon at work, everyone was tired and it was time to rest.
The men took their luggage and went ashore to set up a makeshift camp, they cut down the weeds around them, used local materials, used trees as scaffolds, and soon set up a simple shelter.
Then, they planned to catch a few fish to eat, make the bait, and a few people set off.
For bird's nest collectors, rowing and fishing are basic survival skills, and Tuwitt is skilled and quickly catches several fish.
On the way back to camp, Hamm said he knew there was a cave, not whether there was a bird's nest now, which was bigger than before, with many strange stalactites and puddles of all sizes inside.
It was the rainy season, the water dissolved the limestone formed, the two men walked around and found nothing, but found a lot of "cave permanent residents",
For example, three meters long snakes, fish crabs, spiders, and bats lurking in the rock layer,
For bird's nest collectors, these are old acquaintances, and in order to survive they must overcome their fears.
After eating grilled fish, the men hurried to sleep.
Early the next morning, they continued their way, the river was very narrow, more and more rotten wood collapsed in the water, rowing became more difficult, Hoon stood at the stern of the boat to explore the way, the boatman took the helm, when they encountered too many obstacles and vegetation, they would stop, move the dead wood away, and then work together to move the boat forward.
Three days later, they finally arrived at their destination, where the river disappeared, and the source was the entrance to the mountain, and the mountain in front of them was called Eggpi Mountain, which was the focus of the men's collection, and the cave inside was old, known as the thousand-year-old cave.
As usual, they first found a flat area in the forest to set up a tent, and then began to cook on the fire.
The next morning, they put on their gear and rushed to the cave.
It is a huge underground world with intricate terrain stretching to about 7 kilometers.
Once there were countless bird's nests here, and there were even eggs in the nests, and collectors often took them raw and ate them directly, and the harvest could reach 110 kilograms, and then easily sold for about 250,000 yuan.
However, all this was wiped out in the 1997 forest fire, which destroyed a quarter of Borneo's bird's nests, and the uncontrolled collection of bird's nests was also one of the incentives.
Therefore, the government has arranged for professionals at the foot of the mountain to guard the forest, who are Borneo rangers who can only go home once a year to reunite with their families.
The man said that living in the depths of the rainforest all year round, he will also feel afraid and homesick, but it is his duty that his wife and children need to eat.
Obviously, Tuwitt and his party have nothing to gain here, they can only go to other places to find,
Along the way, they encounter many unknown plants, most of which have medicinal properties, such as this slender green leaf that nourishes and strengthens hair, which was once used as a conditioner by local women, and the jungle people's understanding of plants does not need to be specially learned, because this is a skill passed down from generation to generation.
Over this hundred-meter slope, they came to the mouth of the cave, the rocks were all the handprints left by the ancients, Tuvit compared a little, obviously, the palms of the ancients were larger and stronger than modern people.
This cave is mostly white bird's nest, usually the highest quality bird's nest, more valuable than black bird's nest.
However, they walked about 800 meters along the cave before finding a half-cut bird's nest. Tuwitt said it should have been all white, and normally it should have been two or three fingers wide.
In the end, the men return disappointed, perhaps the harvest was not ideal, but it also sounded a wake-up call for them, and the locals gradually realized that it was time to protect their homeland.