Gunung Tahan: Day 7

Monday, May 23, 2005

Day 7

20 May Day 7
There was a bus break before the Malaysian Customs, we stopped for coffee and I bought some biscuits at Johor Bahru.
We stopped at the Malaysian Customs, stamped our passports. It was then that the officers there took our white card. And we were tired from last night’s journey.
At the Singapore Customs, we unloaded our bags and then we check-in into Singapore. Finally.
Then the bus made our way back to Nanyang Polytechnic..
Home sweet home.

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<14th May We met in school at 6pm to wait for the bus that will be arriving at 7.15 pm. In the meantime, we were assigned into 3 groups and then chatted all the way till the bus arrived. We also do some out processing â distributing sleeping bags, puritabs and giant zip-loc bags. Many people either bought their food before coming into the school or had already eaten at home. For me, I bought a pack of vegetable rice from the kopi-tiam two blocks away and ate at home. Each day there will be two leaders for the day.The bus arrived at 7.30pm, late. We boarded the bus and made our way to the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. Some of my Malay friends packed Muthubak (some form of Roti Prata like that). At 2040, we entered the gate and boarded the train, XSP14. We were then assigned to a train seat once again, my initial was bed 27, but later I changed it to bed 37 because there was one fellow that did not come on this trip. At the immigration in Singapore, we alighted the train and pass the custom. No stamp-chop stamped. We boarded the train again. Then further up ahead, we picked up more passengers at Johor Bahru. It was then that I realised that the bed I was then sitting on belongs to the Second Class Seat. Thereafter I think it is free time for everyone, own time own target, those who want to sleep can go ahead, others continue talking. I went to bed at around 2237.In the night, the train switched lane a few times. The guide (who was only accompanying us for the trip there and not going with us on the trek) told us that because of the present Prime Minister I think, set the rule of only one train at a time for every track, so changing of lanes is more frequent now in Malaysian railway trains. By the way, I was sleeping near the door that leads to another carriage of the train. The experience was superb, nice experience with people slamming the door in the middle of your sleep.>

<15th May At around 5am in the morning, everyone was asked to pack up their things to make sure nothing is being left behind before the 6am alighting of the train. The last night a few of us sleeping near the train door did not sleep well, we went to brushed our teeth at 5.30am like that because everyone had already brushed their teeth and getting ready to go, the door then did not seemed noisy, and thus we fell to sleep and then wake up again at 6am.The train, we scheduled to be there, actually there was no stop at the Merapoh Train Station. It was pre-arranged. After alighting, we hanged around waiting for the shop-houses to open for our breakfast taking. The food was not expensive, but the food seems to be a bit cold. The food costs about Rm 1.00 or 2.00 only. The beverage is on the whole okay, because the milk is too thick and sweet.At around 0739 like that, we finished our breakfast and took the trip up to Sungei Relau Ranger station with the help of some mini vans. At about 0853, we emptied our bags to let the rangers check the plastics and batteries we brought in. We also put our very clean clothes to be worn on the trip back to Singapore by bus. It was then that we met our 4 potters and 3 guides for the respective groups. I am in group 3.Thereafter via the mini 4 Wheel Drive, specially for the reserve only. There were three groups of us, averaging 12 like that & with our backpacks. The whole journey up took about 4 vehicles. And so we spent quite a bit of time going up. And then we took our lunch there. We were at Kuala Juram then. It was here that we first experienced seeing bees (sweat bees), flying around, a friend of mine got stung here, twice. Luckily for me none. He got stung not the first time, but I think the previous time experience before coming for the trip and now in comparison was worse, his face turned pale white and try looking calm.Then the organizer, NYP SAO (Nanyang Polytechnic Student Affairs Officers) decided to take lunch before the trek. And there we were, eating our lunch with the bees. Then we filled water at a nearby water pipe. The toilet was available there at Kuala Juram, but it was also infested with bees. The guide told us that this time round, the sweat bees are on the run.We went in at about noon, and then by 1301, we have already completed 4 river crossing. There was a break then because we were tired already, this was meant to be a rest. In my opinion, I think we were actually walking very slow already. âAfter about 15 minutes of rest, we moved on towards our camp, Kem Kor. During the walk a SAO officer, Mr Guru teased one of my group members, Miss Shu Zhen, âCome all the girls walk in frontâ, then he turned back to look at Shu Zhen. I murmured, âShu Zhen go in front lah!â, then Mr Guru turned and said, âNever mind she not a gal!â. Then Shu Zhen was fuming.At around 1614, we covered a total of 6 river crossing. After a variable distance not far away, we reached our destination of the day to have a rest, pitch tent, bathe, eat then sleep.We refreshed ourselves of leech bites and sweats to keep off the sweat bees. The water is so cold, or should I say cooling, one cannot put the whole body into the water for more than a minute. I soaked myself as I would be in a Jacuzzi and everything then feels so cooling and refreshes oneself although it seems cold. And that was for me. Even the girls were so desperate they went into the water with their sports bra. Only one guy by the name of Yu Cheng did not dare take off his clothes to bath. The water for consumption was a bit further upstream. Nevertheless, some people scooped the water up to put puritabs inside the water to feel safe. As for me, heck! Just drink lah!Shu Zhen, Michael, Yong Zhi, Ian and me; We had our dinner together at about 1915, we had a briefing for tomorrow at 1925. It was a short one and then again, own time own target do things liao. I went to Michael tent, another of my team members. Shu Zhen and I and one of Michaelâs friend Yong Zhi, Ian talked in the tent till about 2200 before our sleep that night. We talked about the trip that day, the encounters and our daily life. We talked a lot lah! But when it is getting late, we went back to our own tent and sleep.Back at the tent, my tent mate were already sleeping, Eddie, Justin & Merril were already sleeping like a log.And there was this gal who was quite weak in physical, she actually do not want to come for the trip. But she came anyway. Her name is called Miss Chun Ling Then at one moment of time, she felt so exhausted that she asked for an helicopter. And this gal in our group Shu Zhen told her, âIt is possible to have an Helicopter up there at the summit.âAnd during the dinnertime, she kept asking about the helicopter. Although I did not see her crying, but somehow I know she cannot take it any further.The order of the movement of groups is 1, 2 then 3.>

<16th May Today at around 0644 like that I woke up. I did not sleep well because of the tree roots at the side of the place I am sleeping at. I forgot to bring out my jacket out to keep myself warm, only the sleeping bag as a pillow only.At 7am, there was a wake-up call. I am awoken anyway. Then there was breakfast, I woke up and brushed my teeth. Then I sat there watching the potters cook for us. They used a large pot and then stirred the uncooked rice with water from the river nearby. The water is so cooling and refreshing that one can almost drink instantly.At 8am like that, we packed our tents and have our breakfast before getting ready to move on to the next destinations. Some of our things are put on the campsite itself. As the campsite is a distance away from public access. It is actually quite safe to put things there. 0830, we ate our breakfast & filled water and prepared to set off at 9am. Filling water is essential because the next campsite may not be supplying water source or not fit for consumption. At 0920 like that, we did some warm-up. Then we finally set off on the way to the next campsite, Kubang. We left Kem Kor for Kubang.i enjoyed the pottersâ making of the wonderful warming teas and Milo.We made our way up the river upstream where we filled our water initially. We had our light snack at 1330. we ate a bit on the way, snack bars and snickers. Now is 1km to the lunch camp for the day. We reached the camp we will be staying for the night at 1420, rest place then 1440 actual camp for the day.We slacked quite a bit when we reached the camp. We built tents again and bathe. The girls go first because the water supply very limited as for washing up. The water source for drinking also hard to get. Also very limited. The water then really needs puritabs, because it had a very bad smell.At around 1655, then I finished my bathe. Then there was dinner. Then debrief for the day then own time own target do your own things again. The gal, Miss Chun Ling, today during the trip seems not very confident of herself, I remembered she mentioned to me that she hurt herself yesterday. But her only motivation now was the helicopter waiting for her on the summit of Gunung Tahan.Like yesterday night, we talked again till about 2144, then went to sleep again. I went to pass motion straight after dinner. Today we had a new topic, everyone back was aching and it was more like a massage section than a Talk Cock Section (TCS). Then back in my tent today, my tent mate was talking about the gal that says about the helicopter. They were teasing her about the helicopter. And boy! We had a good laugh although I know fro myself that I shouldnât be doing this. What to do? Laugh! Haha! Hehe!Today I suffered an abrasion & some scratches.The order of the movement of groups is 2, 3 then 1.>

<17th May I woke up at 0640 or so, then brushed teeth. At the bush nearby, I still had some water collected from the campsite yesterday. I used that to brush teeth because the route to the water source for drinkable water is very steep and slippery. We set off from Kubang to Bonsai then Bukit Botak.At about 0730 like that, we ate our breakfast and started to pack our things by 0838. Nearing to 9am, we began to set off. It was a trek back to the trek we took yesterday and now it is armed with âmotion with toilet papersâ. And so we shooed some and continue the trek to the summit that day. We had to quicken our pace to reach the summit in time before sunset and dinner start. Thus we made our way into the jungle trek once again. The soil for the past two days was not so bad. We also did not encountered any raining during the process of the trek from one campsite to another. But today the soil was so muddy that one of my friend, he is a smoker by nature and so he likes walking at the back. He got his food in a mud patch so deep that when he lifted his leg to walk again, it was the size of an elephant foot.Then by late afternoon at 1410, we had our lunch at Bonsai. It was made up of bread and Kaya spreading, self-service. After that, some of us wanted to go at a faster pace, because we were behind time. And then we still had 3.5km to go. So 5 of us from group 3 decided to chiok (rushed) through to reach the last camp before the summit, Bukit Botak. One of the guide by the name of Ah Pet (I supposed spelled this way), took the lead, when we are supposed to go first, he chiok all the way me following third. The 5 of us are Ah Pet, Michael, Me, Rilwan & Raudha. We finished the whole trip from Bonsai to Bukit Botak in between 30 to 35 minutes. While the rest took a total of about an hour, which was already quite fast. They travelled faster, a distance of 3.5km in an hour, a breakthrough.At Bukit Botak, only the five of us reached there first, thereafter is the potters and then the rest of the students who went for the trip. I felt a sense of achievement then. I took several photographs along the way and at the summit. I rolled a film while coming up from Bonsai and then after descending from the Summit Gunung Tahan, it finished. What a nice timing!When everyone were already at Bukit Botak. We pitched our tents before going up the summit. After pitching the tent for a while, it rained. This is the first rain we encountered, on the third day of going up the summit.Mr Guru made fun of her Shu Zhen again, âWhy people say tiger and not tigress?â The inside meaning says that she is not a gal lah!On the way up, one can see little trickles of water passing by. Unusually seen pitcher plants of various colours were also found. It is amazing to see plant species of height less than a feet to be growing under your feet.At the Summit of Gunung Tahan, I took several photographs of the scenery and the plate âGunung Tahanâ. It was very cooling up there! And a Malay friend, Hairul, took off his clothes. At first I was thinking it was so mad, but later on, I too took it off. I crafted my name on the stone at the summit for remembrance. To say we boys are mad, how about the gals? They too took off their clothes to Sports Bra, haha. Striptease! Hehe!From Bukit Botak to Summit Gunung Tahan, it was an easier thing to go up, but when one is coming down from the summit, one will feel the pressure to go down especially the slope down is very steep and rocky. To add on, it rained again when we are coming down from the summit.After the coming down, almost everyone was drenched, except those who are already fast enough to reach the campsite. Anyway what a fun time! After dinner that day I went to pay a visit to the loo again. What! No loo? Everywhere is Loo. What a cooling sensation to be able to âAhemâ on the mountain top. And ya here there is a proper place for bathing, but the temperature at that attitude can feel the cold breeze already. 1904m above sea level.Then there was dinner at around 8.30pm. I then washed my mess tin and cup for drinking. There was a debrief for the day. And boy! Here the water is refreshing to the core. I guessed the rain that fell just now had dampened everyoneâs spirit to continue being active. Although we did carry on with our talk that night, we fell drowsy, maybe because of the wet weather. After those talking, we hanged around the campfire for some warmth, then I asked Yong Zhi to go for a leak. Then one of the guide by the name of Mr Ong (an experienced mountain guide) told us and a few Malay guys â Zaki, Kadir, Rilwan and a few others to go see the cities and towns across the mountain. So we gave our fertilisers on the way up and then enjoy the majestic view down. At first, we did not see it clearly, because of the thick passing clouds. Then we enjoyed it. That was also a good spot for star-gazing. Next I saw what I almost cannot see in urban life, the luminous plant shoots growing on the mountain top.After the viewing, we did not want to go back yet, so we talked a while more, and Kadir mentioned about the 3rd door of Charlie Platoon. After hearing that and because of the land breeze blowing cold air belts, we started to make our way back to the campsite for sleeping.I slept in Michaelâs tent which is Yong Zhiâs tent. I too lazy to go back to my own tent and their tent is nearer. So I took a sleep till next morning, but it was not a comfortable sleep at all because the weather is freezing cold and my jacket is outside my tent. Luckily for me, Yong Zhi lend me his jacket when he got his sleeping bag on. As I took someoneâs place in Michaelâs tent, Zaki had to stayed out. Blame it on my laziness. Some more it rained heavily last night. Sorry.The order of the movement of groups is 3, 1 then 2.>

<18th May Today I woke up at 6.30am. Then the air Is freezing cold. I slept without my sleeping bag. But I was lucky to have my track pants and army socks on. My only disadvantage is that I do not have something warm to cover myself with. I too took the initiative to brush my teeth, gathered my courage because the weather outside is very cold, but warming up gradually.We were told to pack our tents by 7.30am because we have to rushed a lot today because we had to rushed a two days work in one day. The guides involved said that it is possible to do that because we are going down the mountain. It will take a shorter time. And so we took our breakfast and we are all set from Bukit Botak for Kem Kor, the first campsite we camp on the first day up the summit.So at 9am, we moved out. And today we did not do any warm-up. We can only quicken our steps, and today it is my turn to be the leader. I took the back lead. But thereafter Mr Guru took over because he did not want Chun Ling to slow our pace down and not reaching the summit on time.On the way down, almost everyone slips and falls because of the rain last night. And the joke starting from Mr Guru is âJust testing the groundâ.Whatever we did today was very tiring, we rushed all the way and we only managed to have our lunch of Maggi Mee at late afternoon about 2-3pm at Berlumat. By then, Shu Zhen was low in glucose and her hands and legs are trembling over. Although my legs is also trembling, I am not so bad yet. And then the Maggi Mee supplement me with energy once again. There I saw the first bird in the trek so far. But unfortunately, I could not identify the species. And anyway I am already very tired. Then we rushed on.At 1815 we reached a place somewhat 2.5km from Kem Kor. The guide, Mr Ong challenged us to a time setting to how much tiem we would need to go back there when we came up on the first day of hike from Kem Kor. The trip up took 1hr 15minutes. On the way back, surprisingly, we took only 50 minutes. Trip from 1825-1914. And one of my friend won a snack bar from Mr Ong. Then group 3 was mixed with half a group of group 2 for the challenge. On this part of the trip, I heard the most calls of hornbills, many! And guessed what! Zaki, Shu Zhen and me heard a loud growl. Both of my friends claimed that it is some lion or tiger roars.Then we took a bath by the river and then scrubbed ourselves free form the mud we encountered this morning. It was pitched dark and my groupâs Chun Ling is till not back at 8pm. I am a bit worried, but they came back soon after. They came by another way out. She told me that the experience was that one can only see one step in front of oneself and nothing else. So it is actually quite dangerous and must be cautious. And I have already bathed myself in the dark and having my dinner by then.Anyway, after that at around 8pm, the weather started to go bad, lightning strikes were seen often. Luckily for us, we were already very low in attitude by now.After dinner and utensils washing, we talked for a while and by 9pm, And then it started to drizzle. We went back to our tents. It stopped for a while and then it started raining again. This time round, although without my jacket I got a sleeping bag to keep me warm. That was the earliest night in the whole trek. I slept through the night.The order of the movement of groups is 1, 2 then 3.>

<19th May The next morning I woke up at 8am like that, I guessed I was too tired. We brushed our teeth beside the river we filled our water with. At that moment I realised we only brushed our teeth once everyday. Supposed to be twice a day, but soon I know we are all dirty people.We filled water then set off from Kem Kor to Kuala Juram. We stopped by at Lata Luis. It was there where a guy called Yu Cheng complained of stomach pain and vomiting. From what I know he was a cautious guy. Shu Zhen gave him two tablets , and he threw those right in her face, she became angry and scolded him, âThis is the last tablet I am going to give you, you jolly well eat it, I do not have any spare one anymore.â And then he took it, scared.Chun Ling who asked me last night to assist her in the crossing of rivers along the way trekked in front of me, then she made it. At 1330, we successfully get out of Taman Negara Reserve.The order of the movement of groups is 2, 3 then 1.We Made It!!!We came back to the destination stop, Kuala Juram. We unloaded our bags and left it to the potters and the 4WD to carry them to the ranger station once again. By then I had already two leech bites. One was only a small wound while the other was so bad until blood flows non-stop. Even after being attended by 2 males and 2 females nurses out of 5 nurses in the whole of the trip containing 30 students, my wound is still not stopping. It is still infested with blood oozing out.Back at the ranger station, we bathed and ate lunch and relaxed. Free time again. Poor me having treatment over the leech bite. Luckily for me, Mr Guru, one of the SAO brought a can of wound healer, I supposed. It stopped the blood oozing out and then forms a plastic sheet layer on the wound to stop the bleeding.I paid Farhana Rm 5.00 for the potters in appreciation for their help in the trip.Then we boarded the bus at 6pm. on the way out, we met the potters. The bus stopped, the SAO went to collect our certificates and we students went to buy some titbits to eat on the way before dinner, which will be in two hours time. Anyway we did not get our certificate, we had to wait for them to mail it to us. The SAO, teacher-in-charge of this trip told us that the next approximate time to stop for dinner is at 8pm. But the dinner started at 10pm and ended at 11pm. Thereafter, we boarded the bus and continued our journey back to homeland. >

:: Jolin Â½Â²Â¨ÃÂªL J-game Â³Â¥ÃZÂ¹CÃÂ¸ ::

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Gunung Tahan

Monday, May 23, 2005

Day 7

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