Different...yet same

One red one green...two leaves from the same plant. Definately not bud grafted like the many bougainvillas we see in the gardens near our homes but a wild fern in the wilds. Just like the many peoples of the world...different color and creed but we are ONE...Beings of Mother Earth.

Heaven...a place on Earth

A Row of Mothers

Three mothers in a row. My stepmom, my sis Sue and cousin Nic. This is Sue's gift to mom for mother's day...a pretty manicure at the Nails Shop. Three mother's attended to by 3 gorgeous girls who will someday be mothers in their own time. I was checking them out too...potentials mind you.

I celebrated Mother's day with a call to my mom in Taiping, she was having a "mothers" gathering in Taiping's Legend Inn and later that evening steve, jo and i had dinner with stepmom "mom" in Kepong eating at some small chinese restaurant and as usual we had a great time. Mom wanted it minimal. She also taking care of our purse strings.

To my two beloved moms...Happy Mothers Day with lotsa Love.

The Guides

Amir and Ismail our guides have been guiding trekkers like myself for close to 10 years. Sometimes they double up as porters too. On this trip Ismail (Chelsea...who just lost the league championship to Man Utd...supporter) was the porter for one of our team while Amir was our official guide.

Amir was recently in a Tahan Eco Challenge about 2 weeks ago where he and his team mate started from Merapoh and finished in Kuala Tahan in only 26 hours. 26 hours! Crazy buggers. Here we are...city slickers doing it in 7 days and half dead. Most times Meow and I would be last to leave camp and also last to arrive. Amir and Ismail would be the sweepers and they would normally give us a 1 hour headstart and before you know it...they suddenly creep up on us ever so silently. That's why at every lunch hour check point they can afford to pull out their gas stove and cook rice or Maggi.

Meow and I are grateful to them for waiting for us and making sure we did not get lost. It's never easy to be a sweeper cos just as you are warmed up and raring to go, the last man might need a rest or just slow like me and the sweeper would loose steam. We know only too well as we play that role when we bring friends trekking on our more familiar paths.

I salute them for their patience and their strength in keeping up with us. Terima kasih...

Toilet Maker

Whirlwind here you are...my Coleman collapsible.

This has been the most environmentally friendly equipment i ever brought along not to mention useful too. It has been our toilet maker from Kem Kubang to Kem Tengah. Kem Kor had a makeshift toilet with ground sheet for walls. The rest only shrubs to cover our asses and on Kem Botak...very low shrubs.

When nature calls Meow and I would go together...so we can watch each other's back. No! We are not perverts. Just for safety. We normally get our calls half an hour after breakfast. Then we seek out a suitable spot away from the waterways and suitably covered from view and we'll dig a 6 x 6 inch hole to do our business. No flushing system here. We just bury the days droppings for hygiene purposes. Wet wipes come in useful here. We don't do leaves. Get the wrong leaf and itch like hell...no way.

My toilet maker is useful too when it rains. It then transforms into a drain maker. The whole of Ahmad's Twelve needed it's service on Kem Kubang, Kem Botak, Kem Gedung and even Teku. Tengah too. This no-bigger than my palm travelling equipment is a must have for all outdoor travels. You never know when nature might call...

Floating at Kuala Tahan

Once the backpack were checked and the rubbish accounted for we headed across river via the river boat to where our little motel was. We all couldn't wait for some restaurant cooked dish. Dinner was at one of the floating restaurants along Sg. Tembeling. Nasi goreng, mee goreng, sup sayur and for me telur mata and teh halia...mmm mm. Small town which has nothing much to do after dinner.

Legs still bleeding from the suckers. It did not stop till after i bathed and plastered the drainage hole or else i would have low blood pressure.

Cleaned and plastered but the bruises remain as a memory of all the roots and branches we braced with our legs to stop our falls.

The floating restaurants along Sg.Tembeling.

The long river boat out of Kuala Tahan heading to Kuala Tembeling our next port.

Another adventure in the pocket. I don't think any of us are thinking of any mountains to climb at the moment. Perhaps a trip to the beach or maybe a drive up the highlands but no trekking for the moment. I'm sure of it. A week later perhaps.

Day 7 - Journey's End

On the 7th day God took a rest but we couldn't, we still had a long way out to Kuala Tahan.

Oddly enough I have no pictures of Kem Tengah at all. It was the camp i liked the least. It gave me the shivers. Taking water was a long way off the camp and the place had an eerie feel to it. Once we had settled into out tents after dinner we never came out. Not even for a pee. I was unfortunate to have that natures calling at anout 2230hrs. I just pulled my mug in from outside the tent and pissed in there and pour it outside the tent. Why? The place was just scary after dark. There were all kinds of sounds and my imagination was alive. Slept i did only to wake up at 0700hrs.

Made my cup of Nescafe in the same cup that i pissed in and had Maggi before clearing out of camp by 0845hrs. I think all of us wanted to get to Kuala Tahan as fast as possible. My mind was on coconut water and some good hot food. There were request for ice kacang and so on. It was not so hilly but it was hot and balmy and still downhill so the toes keep on hurting and i can feel them getting numb. I was numb too. Nothing matter anymore. My mind was on the coconut water and Kuala Tahan.

It took me 7 hours from Kem Tengah to reach Kuala Tahan and to be greeted by a wildboar foraging at the edge of Taman Negara HQ campsite.

We were totally exhausted when this picture was taken of me next to a big mother of a tree but the guy holding the camera was just as breathless hence the shaky picture. 7 days and at least 110km (ranger says it is at least 3 times that distance on the ground) on, we finally were at the end of our journey.

Finally my dream to trek the Merapoh-Kuala Tahan trail has been realised. Meow and I have made it happen. Took us 2 years from the day we said we wanted to do it with Ahmad. Last year he had high blood pressure and by God's grace he is healthy and able this year. 2 years in the plan and 7 days on foot.

Woohoo! We did it!

One Happy Moment

The banks here had lotsa butterflies and in different shapes and colors. When i first saw them before the last crossing on the other bank i thot it would be cool to take a picture for Jessie but they were flying non stop and i just couldn't land a good shot. Once i took my clothes and hat off the just landed on them. Salt lick to them i suppose. Quickly pulled my camera and waited for a nice shot.

Had a good break and a bite and we were off. More downhill trails and this time i had to be more observant as the rest moved rather quickly. Meow and I were left to do some tracking as there were some ambiguous trails along this path. It started to rain again and the jungle became darker by about 1600hrs. It was all eyes and ears now. I was leading this time with Meow following. He was quite dehydrated but this bugger refuses to sip and wants to hold out. I was like a man possessed. All i could think off was a place to lie down and night was drawing near. We moved faster than usual ignoring the pain on my toes and Meow the pain on his foot where he got a blister right across his right foot due to his Teva straps.

Along the way i saw a peacock getting out of out path and trying to stay invisible and i was the only one to see it. We then saw a centipede which was about 7in long. This Meow saw. He likes wriggly things. Then as we approached a path between two trees i saw the prettiest snake i had seen with blue, green and yellow on it like the ropes i use on the ropes course. I was wondering what was a rope doing up there till i realised it was a snake. I immediately halted the people behind me which was Meow, the guide and the porter. The porter had a look and took a right turn keeping a wide berth off the tree and said, "Tumpang lalu" aloud as we quikly passed it and headed downhill at high speed again. What he had done was ask permission to cross the snakes path. We always ask for permission or to be excused even when we crap. A sign of respect to the forest dwellers.

By1730hrs we arrived at Kem Tengah safely. Tired, toes hurting and hungry.

Bleeding 6th Day

Thankfully the Teku had receded to a gentle flow, even then it's currents were still very strong. Strong enough to wash someone over and carry them to the estuary of Kuala Tahan. Dead or alive would depend on one's luck.

We left Kem Teku after breakfast and a crap by the wayside. Dug in of course. Time of departure 0945hrs. Today we will cross the river Teku at 8 sections. I was excited and raring to go. Hell...we were gonna get wet and cold from the waist down. What's so bad about that right? Wrong! I was so wrong. Waist high and cooling for the day it promised but i did not bargain for the current being so strong and the river wide as a 4 lane highway.

At the first crossing it was still cool as it was a branching into the river from a less furious river. The 2nd crossing was a taste of what was to come after that. Waist high and furious it flowed. We had to cross hand in hand or risk being washed down stream or worse. To make matters worse after extracting ourselves from the river we had to climb up the banks and into the forest as we traverse and disect our way to the next camp...Kem Tengah.

By the 8th crossing i was pretty damn exhausted and being last i had to cross the river by myself. Meow had decided to go on his own ahead of me and this pissed me off as i was not able to cross the last section. Current was just as strong not any stronger but the exhaustion had kicked in and i couldn't lift my leg to move another step. I was basically standing still in the drift and unable to move ahead. My buddy had left me in a lurge and gone across. Any movement by me threatened to knock me over. I just stood still waiting for Amir the guide who came and gave me a hand and so did Meow.

My limbs were tired and my legs were bleeding. So was Meow's. We both had been sucked all the way by the locals...leeches. Bleeding non stop we had our lunch at 1500hrs by the banks of Sg. Teku as did the leeches.

Teku's Rage

After my short rest i decided to go wash up in Sg. Teku. The cold water is so invigorating and finally a chance to wash my shorts, tee-shirt, sox and boots which are all very dirty by now.

A descent of 1800m from Gedung to Teku has taken it's toll on my clothes and me. All of me is feeling hot and dirty. Teku just looked deliciously cool for a nice cold wash up and a dip. I spend quite a bit of time there not bother with the tent for the moment. Meow is still busying himself with the set up. I noticed leaves floating by and that is my que to get up and out of the river. It is a sign of impending high waters.

I went about hanging my washings and set up my tent when all of a sudden the lady in our team starts running from the river back to camp. I looked back and the calm flowing Teku had transformed into a raging Teku and what a din it created. Ahmad's Twelve stood by the banks and experienced the force of nature first hand. Notice the tree in the middle of the raging waters? Floated away like a piece of paper. I feared it would rise right up to our campsite as it was threatening to do as it edged higher and higher. Meow and i had our tent closest to the bank. We kept vigil as we set up out tent. Always turning back to take a peek. It is definately scary. Imagine being washed away.

This fresh water crab had the same fears as it clambered to the river bank only to have it's life threatened by the hungry hordes of Ahmad's Twelve. He was probably saved by his size, no bigger than a 50 cent coin. Phew!

I couldn't really sit still till the water level went down. It did not recede totally but it did not swell up anymore. I settled down and when our water was boiled we had a tough time deciding what to eat...rice and rendang or rice and rendang. Tough choice. We settled for rice and rendang. Today we boiled more rice. We were hungry. I already had a Maggi after the tent was set. Meow was the real farn thung though so the additional rice was for him.

Woke up the next morning to a raiding party of bees. They were all over the place. Some of them took a liking to my Timberland boots which has held itself admirably i must say and another swarm attacked my backpack. They didn't attack us but it would be a problem if they got stuck between me and the backpack they would then definately sting.

Day 6 began with a chasing of the bees and fording the Teku at 8 sections. I thought the descent of Day 5 was bad, only because i have yet to experience Day 6.

Kem Teku

Kem Pangkin was our last long pit stop after that it was all short pits for a breather and some water which we had in abundance on the way down by way of the rain. As we descended lower and lower towards the lowlands it thigs began to heat up and it was very energy sapping so when rain came i welcomed it with open arms.

I was parched and i had finished 2 bottles of my 500ml water from earlier streams. I wanted to conserve my last one and camp was still a damn long ways to go. I grabbed a leave and folded it into a cup like how my sumandak had showed me and collected water by just holding it out to collect the rain and drinking along the way. The trail became very very steep now. It had a gradient of about 45 degrees and was wet and slippery. Many a times we landed on our behinds as we slalomed amongst the trees. It was and remains the toughest of days.

At times i found myself mumbling to myself like some psychotic killer on the loose. I kept sane with "happy Birds & happy Butterflies". That mentally held me together and made me move quicker and i was sharp of eye too as the forest became darker and darker. We both pushed and pushed and everytime we hear a running river it gave me hope that the camp site is close by only to be fooled by it. Until finally about 1730hrs i heard a louder sound of the flowing river and to top it off the sound of humans. Civilisation. The sound of Ahmad's Twelve was so so sweet.

We had arrived at Kem Teku. I dropped my backpack and fell to the wet ground and lay there starring up into the heavens. Rain had slowed to a trickle by then. I just breathed in & out, in & out and listened to the droplets of water from the trees hitting the earth and the flowing river. Meow was looking for a spot to set up tent. I just wanted to rest.

Day 5 had been 8 hours of hell.

Spankin Pangkin

Lunch time at Gunung Pangkin 1463m. Meow and i have not had rice or Maggi for any of our lunches. It was just too much of a hassle to bring out our gas stove and cook using whatever precious little water we had.

Lunch for us was mainly Pita and peanut butter but today we were both sick of Pita already. We have been having it for breakfast and lunch most days. I was sick to death of it. Thankfully i had Snicker bars, Cadbury's and dried fruits. What a treat and energizing too. Wonderful thing about trekking is you get to eat all the chocolates you want and no worries of it staying in your belly. It's an excellent energy bar and yummy too. No boring power bars for me.

Beautiful pinkies...suspiciously like the Cherry Blossom of Japan no? The peachy one's are from Kem Pangkin.

Another tine wild orchid in bloom. Half and hour later we were at Kem Pangkin and met up with the rest of the gang. They move fast and today we did pretty well considering we manage to catch them at one of the many pit stops. They were having a good time obviously resting more than 5min. Meow and i only did 5min stop overs so that we can catch up. If you look far to the back of Black tareking his Alicafe you would be able to see the guide and porter cooking Maggi. Bugger...that smells like a gourmet here and now.

We were generous. We stopped for 20mins at this pit stop. Schumacher would have been furious...shitezen! We were at 1243m and we are suppose to reach something like 300m plus by days end. Did i mention it was going to be a long day?

Distractions

Distractions are good. Makes one stop and look and sometimes even listen to ones heartbeat. Trekking for 5 days straight and focusing on Kuala Tahan which is many more kilometres and 2 more days away can be rather exhausting and sometimes even painful. Physical pain is one thing...mentally it can be very challenging.

Life is pretty much the same. Notice how in our chase for our goals we go thru a similar cycle. First there is the nervousness as we declare our intended goals. To lend a phrase from Yul Brynner in the Ten Commandments, "So it is said, so shall it be done!" As we set out there is all that excitement of finally having it take off and as we climb and climb the challenges in life gets bigger and bigger. Many will be the obstacles that stand in the way and along the path. Through the strength of faith and a solid belief that it should be done...something within screams out and pushes and sometimes pulls us along the path to our dream and goals. As much as we want to get there as fast as we can we too need to stop and take a breather. Perhaps just to check in or maybe take a rest...not too long just a wee bit to catch our breath and off we go again.

And this tiny pitcher plant nestling in a hole right in the middle of a tree trunk distracted me from my course and allowed me this moment...and i manage to catch a breather too.

Tangga Lima Belas

That's 15 ladders for you. We actually had to climb up the mountain via 15 aluminium ladders secured to the mountainside.

Coming down ladders is one thing but climbing up ladders when you are dead tired and any mistake can drop you a long long way down is quite a challenge. No nets here. This mountain is by far the most technically challenging one as it has many highs and lows. We were constantly climbing up and down and up again and when we were up we had to carefully thread atop the narrow rocky ridge. No tripping or it's a shortcut to the valley below. Wise to keep the eyes wide open and the focus sharp.

As the going gets tough and exhausting a little bird flies down and hops amongst the bushes chirping away happily reminding me of Jesse and his "Happy Bird" and a smile came on my face as i see my little nephew's smile in my minds eye and this kept me going. As i walk i kept repeating to myself, "Happy Bird" with a smile on my face and peace in my heart. I just can't wait to see him. I began to miss the little tyke.

Finally at 1137hrs i arrived on the peak of Gunung Tangga Lima Belas exhausted & hungry but my spirit...high and so too was Saad's.

Mount Rest a Bit

After an hour of clambering downhill which we initially thought was easy...well theoretically going down is easier than climbing up right? Theoretically. Due to popular believes too.

Well...it was no easy task, with roots sticking up out of the ground and slippery slopy trails we had to pay great attention less we loose our balance and plunge into the valley below. Might damage the environment. It was more mental exhaustion for me as we arrived at Gunung Reskit which is 1279m due to the intense concentration. Meow and i thought it was all downhill but no...we had to go uphill as well. That's why i look like shit as we took a rest at Reskit...and that does not take into account my attire which has remained the same and unwashed till now and that's 5 days old. No smell though. Must be the weather. Only discomfort is putting them on in the morning everyday gritting my teeth as the cold damp tights and tee clings to my skin and shivers me timber.

If you think i look like shit look at him. He looks worn and about to drop anytime.

Even the flowers are sweating. The mist is rather thick here and dew is still on these flowers waiting for it's turn to drop to the ground and finally flow into the ocean.

We moved on after a 5min break as we were warned that today we will be travelling a very long distance. From here on we take 5min breaks at any pit stop and there will be less pictures as i refrain from pulling my camera into action as it will be time consuming. My loss but more miles gained. A 'heavy on my heart' price to pay.

Next stop...Gunung Tangga Lima Belas...now that sounds scary.

Day 5 - The Descent

I was up early and the cold made me craved for a hot cuppa kofi. Meow was doing rhythmic
snoring at the time. The campsite was quiet. Most of the Twelve were still sleeping. I love the chilly air as i sipped my kofi.

Today we will descent some 1800m to the next camp site at Teku. It's suppose to be a long trek downhill and we made sure we had a good breakfast of Maggi & serunding before packing up our backpacks and started downhill by 0935hrs.

It's all gonna be downhill from here...or so we thought.

Look at the beauty of the rock face behind and the length of the ladder. It is pretty darn high and vertical. This is not one for the weak of heart. It's a long drop. Who would have thought going downhill was going to be so scary.

Day 5 is going to be the "I wanna go home!" day. This trail is going to be long and painful.

Night Falls in Kem Gedung

Dusk sets in and the clouds and mist blow in thick and fast. It masks the sunset which i was waiting for. The air is chilly now which i love but Meow shivers as the impending cold sweeps across our tents.

Dinner is once again white rice and todays draw is...beef rendang for me and chicken curry for Meow which we share of course. Variety is the spice of life you know. We continue sharing about my relationship and what i think of his relationship with himself. We chat over coffee for me and Milo for him till we got tired and decided to call it a day. Just as we retired into our tents the pitty patter of raindrops falling on our tents could be heard. We felt we had done a good job with the tents and this time we were not sleeping on the water way. We felt that we had outsmarted the rain.

We couldn't be more wrong! It was not heavy but was constant. Rain water began seaping into the tent through the zippers and worse of all...the whole tent wall. Once again we were screwed. I prayed to the heavens for the rain to stop and i was specific about it too. At exactly 2030hrs the rain stopped and i thanked God for this. It stopped for 5 mins and started raining again till about 0300hrs. The Gods must be angry or maybe they were testing us. It was going to be a long night with rain water dripping on my face and all over. After a while i couldn't care less anymore. I made sure i was well wrapped up and warm and went to sleep.

No more negotiations. God has decided that it's rain we must have then it's rain we shall have. He the man! Me...i slept like a baby accepting God's will. Meow...he must be all curled up and shivering away.

Beauty of Gedung

I can't express the beauty of Gedung one has to experience it first hand. The camp site is like a flat stone table. Nothing surrounding us but excellent views and distant mountains. If a gust of strong wind decides to blow us of the mountain...we would be like bread crumbs being swept of a table. Makes it kinda scary no? Just pray that we aren't suddenly visited by strong winds.

Black frying a piece of salted fish which smelled so damn good that it made me hungry and i'm not that into salted fish. Everything smells and tastes good in the mountains i suppose. Mat Kamera posing for the camera at our very flat campsite.

Some of the guys going up to higher ground to see if there are phone signals. We set lour tents at the very edge of the mountain. We made sure our tents are well secured in case a strong gust of wind visits us. We were happy that we managed to get a good spot to set up our tent with ample space in front to cook.

Little did we know that tonite the heavens had a surprise in store for us.

Gedung's Beauties

There are so many species of orchids here and these are only the ones that are blooming. Imagine if all those that i have seen the past 44kms were to bloom all at once i would have taken much much longer to reach Gedung.

Not an orchid but just as beautiful. Some tall moss like grass with an orchid nestled in between.

These red flowers are not orchids but flowers of a pitcher plant (monkey cup) and the yellow orchids are really tiny orchids.

A close up view of the lichen that grows on rocks and trees that make them look bearded and ancient. One of Ahmad's Twelve said that the mountain is so old that it's plants and even rocks are growing beards...well 130 million years old only.