Hansen was the first westerner ever to walk across the island of Borneo. Completely cut off from the outside world for seven months, he traveled nearly 1,500 miles with small bands of nomadic hunters.

This is the story of his travels in Borneo where he made lifelong friends with the Penan, jungle people who can catch fish with their feet, imitate the cry of the elusive barking deer, and survive in a fearsomely inhospitable environment. With their help Hansen learned to hunt pigs, danced in the tribal rituals, discovered the eyewatering nature of Penan sex aids and was given the ceremonial name "Rajah Kumis": King of the Moustache. He conveys how he came face to face with himself in the patch of map marked "unsurveyed", and records the experience of living in a proud and ancient tribal community based on mutual respect.

At once a modern classic of travel literature and a gripping adventure story, Stranger in the Forest provides a rare and intimate look at the vanishing way of life of one of the last surviving groups of rain forest dwellers. Hansen's absorbing, and often chilling, account of his exploits is tempered with the humor and humanity that prompted the Penan to take him into their world and to share their secrets.