Gopeng-Tanah Rata Expedition Dec 2008 (DAY ONE)

The journey started on the 6th Morning where we hike to our Orang Asli's house known as Talib which is approximately 2 hour hike where he and his son in law shall be guiding us. We were set for the 8 hour hike for the day with high spirits and energy

Despite with the backpack and rations on our back, the initial 2 hour journey is pleasant through the plantations with the cooling morning. We started at approximately 8am after a sumptuous breakfast at Gopeng Rainforest Resort owned by a couple known as Foon and Janice

We has a glimpse of the fox and squirrels which has been taken as pet from the orang asli at our 1st pit stop. Our journey from here shall led us to the Dam built by the British then for the purpose of tin mining in Gopeng which wll take an approximately another 2 hour. With the average load of 20kg in our backpack, some of us are starting to feel some strain on our energy level.

As the weather was the guide's major concern, the guide persuaded us to push on failing which we might not be able to cross the river should there be a heavy rain. With that, we pushed ourselves harder until approximately 1pm where exhaustions started to kick in into some of us. With the wet weather recently and the drizzling rain, leeches are storming in on us and the rain has added on a little more weight on our shoulder. We took our lunch break of power bar and wholemeal bread with sliced BBQ chicken meat. We rested for approx 45 minutes.

The trail we took has narrowed from the initial 5 feet wide to approximately 2 feet and as the trail has been unused for quite some time, even the guide has to work on clearing the path by chopping off the fallen bamboos. We have to manoeuvre between the fallen branches where we cannot cross and this we feel is the greatest challenge as we have to do it with our haversack which surely tested our leg muscles to its limit.

The sight within the rain forest is indeed spectacular despite the challenge we have. The bamboo here is tall and mighty and we managed to see some fallen tree of which some we think is from the primary forest as the diameter of the tree could easily stretches beyond 7 feet.

We decided to push on given the gloomy weather ahead of us. By noon, most of us have ignored the leeches bit as with the rain and river crossing, most of us are drench with sweat and water from top to toe and thus the leeches are no longer a major risk. We wanted to reach our estination soonest possible.

Our spirit is always revived by the river, which remained our best friend throughout our journey as it offers extremely cooling and refreshing water source. We also reloaded our water supplies when we needed and the river water remained a fantastic source of cooling water. The current of the water at certain part are treacherous while gentle at the same time.

By 3pm, we have reached to the toughest bit which is the river crossing. Thecurrent is something not to be taken lightly and it took a couple of us supporting each other using a human chain as we cross. Upon crossing, I especially could really feel the drain. We decided to break camp at Camp 1 instead of taking the risk of doing another 2 hour to Tanah Rata given the
weather and the energy level of the team. The team reached the camp at approximately 3:45pm which is approximately 6 hour plus of hiking

It took us another 30 min to reach Camp 1 where the hike is extremely steep and slippery. A couple of us have the experience to crawl through the magnificent fallen tree of which it is a splendid experience where no pictures or words could describe despite the challenge. Upon arriving at Camp 1, the team quickly clear the area and speedily assemble our camps. The
guide started a fire and then went straight into fishing for us after they have setup their camp. Some of us took turns to clear the leeches who had their feast on us while the camp is being raised and we quickly cooked dinner before the nightfall settled in.

The dinner was fantastic and it is great experience to relived the IKAN JELAWAT experience that some of us had years ago during our younger outing days as Boys Brigade and/or Boy Scout as shared by some of the scoutmaster.

We had some of the fish orang asli style in bamboo as "fish soup" while the balance are deep fried. It went well with the fish. We shared many stories and experiences which enhances our fellowship.

The night came in fast and by 10pm we decided to call it the day to retire into our camp. It rained throughout the night. It is cooling and there are droplets of the rain that crept into the dome camp but we remained mostly dry. Though we felt a little sardine cramped in the tent, we rested from the good hike we had.