Monday, July 16, 2007

Bah Gading


The price to join this trip : RM130
The price to see you and your friends smile when you arrive at the top : seposen.. hahaha..

I had a very good weekend and thankfully my legs did not fail me today to go to work. ( eventhough I was late > half an hour !!) I must say that my 2 weeks intensive training in Kiara Hill paid off handsomely as I managed to maintain my speed and stamina for the long trek. Compared to my two previous trip , the pain on the day after is reduced and I am able to walk , go down the stairs , pray without limping ! I just love outdoors !! The trek was a combination of log trek / river trek / "canak" trek and in two type of extreme weather conditions ; very-very hot laa.. and very-very wet laa.. !!! A definite ROJAK kind of experience which was tough but SATISFYING !!!!

13 July 2007
We assembled in Teratai Restaurant at about 9 pm and by 1030 - we were off by a charter bus to Bidor. I knew half of the participants from my previous trip - there are the "kewl" gang of OGKL and enjoyment with stress free environment guranteed !! There were 39 of us - and of course majority were the "OTAI"s from various climbing groups in KL... gulp...

14 July 2007
2 am Arrived in Bidor - and we were told that only 1 4WD Hilux was available instead of 2. Therefore - the rush to maximize the 4WD and lesser trip ! Man !! he reality of being a sardine yourself !! We parked ourselves at the corridors of Bidor masque and took turns to sleep waiting for our turn !!

4.30 am Arrived in an orang asli settlement after an hour of 4WD through a palm oil and papaya plantation in the dark. Mind you , standing behind while looking to the front was only fun for the first 10 minutes , after that wahh.. macam nak muntah beb !! Hahahaha.. Most of us arrived when it was still dark and we parked ourselves at the nearby SK Sentua. Kewl eih , in the

ANd somehow the next morning , after some big group discussion , we discovered that we were kilometers away from Pos Gedong - the other orang asli settlement which was suppose to be our starting point !!

830 am An OGKL history as we started trekking very early !! It was hot when we started as we walked through the log trek - it was a C grade trek but of course ; walking uphill and downhill continuously in hot weather with the heavy backpack was no fun !!!

1100 Arrived with the first group in Pos Gedong orang asli settlement and we parked ourselves under a big ( maybe > 100 years old ) Durian tree in the middle of the kampung !! We waited for our sweepers to arrive while relaxing and enjoying the breeze in a very peaceful valley.

1230pm We were introduced to our guides ; Bogei and Pak Atan. After a short discussion , they suggested that we use the river trek rather than the log trek as it was very-very hot. I only understood why the route we took were better on the way back !!

We trekked along the river and it was not an easy one ! Of course you get wet as you cross the river , again..and again.. Tip toing on the edge of the river on the slippery rocks were quite dangerous considering our heavy bags but thankfully nothing bad happened.


3pm The river trek ended here and we converged to the point between this trek and the log trek - next was to the last water point before we shoot up to the base camp. Mind you !! A grade B+ track and only for the strong willed.It was not easy to walk...and climb... and look up ..haiiyyoo.. still up..up..and away !! This was where my legs nearly failed but somehow I managed to push myself and maintain the pain.. I know if i stopped , it will just go crampy..and damnn... how laa..

7pm We arrived at a site which was still a long way from the base camp , and half of the group is like an hour's walk away from us.( thank you walkie talkie !! ) It was getting very dark ; and the trek was no way easy to trek during day walk - more if at night. The problem was the log trek which was there before seemed to have been eroded and split into two - a big gap like a "big drain" in the middle. We had to trek on the sides and imagine if any of us like ..woopss... jauh wwoo jatuh !! Therefore , we decided to camp there for the night. Of course , Bogei was adamant by saying..

"tak jauh .. dekat jer..."

but relatively , their dekat is not our dekat !!
Last group arrived at 10pm in the dark but we were relieved to know that everybody was alright and no catastrophies.


15 JULY 2007
830am What was supposed to be a 7am trek was delayed because of everybody being so tired from yesterday's trek. We started off on a jovial mode ; trying to swallow the fact that it'll be a long day trek - at least 9 hours !! The only advantage of today's trek was leaving our bags on the campsite ; shoulders spared for now ! No more log trek but hardcore jungle trek. And the "dekat ajer" base camp was like 2 hours walk.. and mind you it was a Grade A climb !!

And of course , it had to rain.. heavily pulak tu. We saw the skies were a bit gloomy early morning but tryin to deny the rain fact. Unfortunately , it poured heavily and the wet trek did not help the ease of climb. It became so slippery that when you walk along the edges , you hold on so strongly to maintain your grip.. scary woo..

11am The A Grade climb in the woods turned to A+ climb which was punishing you more and more as you ascend. I suppose this was where one's mental strength comes in ; to continue and finish your aim ... The wet rain became colder and colder as tou climb. It was freezing that you just wanna continue walking and not stop..

Alhamdulillah.. Subhanallah... touching the beirut at 5318 feet ! I did it ! but of course we were unfortunate to arrive in such a weather as you can almost see nothing with the fog and cloud folding the top of the mountain. The breeze was chilling but it was satisfying ! SEJUK TAPI BEST !!! Hahaaha.. It was quite unfortunate that the pictures I took was blurrish because of the wet condition.

5318 ft.. Puncaknya sudah kutawan..


Pak Atan n me on top of BAh GAding..

1230pm
After spending an hour on top of the hill with camwhoring etc.. We were too cold ! We were hoping that the wind and rain will stop so that the view will be clear and of course ; nice pictures !! but it was not meant to be and my fingers were all numbed..

We descended back to the base camp - and the last water checkpoint.

430pm After a late lunch ; we were on our way back !! But mind you the log trek was not as easy as one thought it might be !! We had to go really..really up.. and when coming down.. really really slippery sandy trail which really worked our knees out !! And again , it was about one's mental strength to just go and not thinking about when it will end so much !! Looking back at the log trek , you can't stop wondering what would have happened to the moral of the participants if we had to endure the track the day before.
My god , if it was" ..bila nak naik pulak ..ni asyik turun jerr..." today ,

I cannot imagine asking .. bila nak turun pulak ni ??

730pm We arrived at the 4WD pick up point near Pos Gedong and Tok Batin was there waiting for us !! And with him was a durian seller who brought almost 18 - 20 durians with him !! haks.. imagine the satisfaction.. hmmm...hmmmm.. durian... haks..

Arrived in KL at about 3 am ! We had few problems with the 4WD initially who refused to make more than 2 trips but the organizers managed to settle the problem and all 39 of us on the bus back to KL by 1am .

Wow.. a satisfying trip. Certainly a lot of memories and experience gathered to be shared with my young ones when they grow up.. :)

Pictures on the net

6 comments:

sina said...

reading your post this time, makes me feel extremely tired. i raise my glass high - salut to you!

mafeitz said...

I'm a bit fatigued still , was thinking about going for my usual badminton today..but.. naahh.. terasa letih...but still satisfied !!

Azad said...

Sounds like a great trip, Telal. Too bad I couldn't join. :(

Juice said...

Cayalah DrM.. Syabas dan Tahniah..

TriStupe said...

bro - whatever you do, don't consider changing sex ok...the gambar of you in scarf ala mini telekung is really really...sexy.
:P

well done..wish i could start trekking/hiking/camping again!

mafeitz said...

azad : memang best !! haks.. they were asking for your whereabouts zad .. only one half of geng kain pelikat left..

rixal : jus ke tu !! haks.. otai commentni..

stupe : hahahaha !! It was the only practical way to withstand the heat!! i would do it again anyway!! good luck in your triathlon stupe !!