4WD Testing

On Sunday, me and a few friends went off on a short 4WD trip. The main reason was to test our vehicles before the real trip next weekend. Well...not really a 'real' 4WD trip, but we are attending a Rope Rescue Technician course as part of the technical crew. The course is conducted in the jungle, with steep cliff or waterfall as our training ground. Of course, we also need to find a reason to thrash out our 4WD, and since there is no 4WD track to the training ground, we plan to open up a new one next week. Will keep you posted on that...

The journey

Anyway, on with the story....

Sham aka Botak called me up on Saturday midnight. "Bang jom esok test jalopi. Kerengga (another friend) dah ada sana". So Sunday morning, we met up at Petronas Batu Caves. There was another car, my friend Awal EMT & family. I had Aizat, my trainee co-pilot driving my jalopy. We were the only 2 'non family bearing' people in the group. Too bad I had sent my kids back earlier or else they would have enjoyed it.

The BBQ

The campsite was on 'private' property, so when we got there there were just the 3 jalopies. It was lucky that Botak & Awal brought their wives, which simply means.....MORE FOOD. There were Nasi Lemak, Bi Hoon Goreng, sandwiches, cold/hot water...and of course...BBQ with chicken, squid, prawns.

The next best thing was...mandi jeram. This was the highlight of the trip. Cool refreshing water...I found 'my' perfect spot. The water was so clear, I can open my eyes and the sensation was better than 'Eye Mo'. I can also feel fish nibbling at my feet...of course i looked underwater to make sure it IS fish and not something else...haha. In the evening, another 6 jalopies came.

The Ibu Mithali

I was amazed at my friend Botak & his wife. They have a baby with them on the trip. Lucky for us off roaders, our jalopy is like our second home. We have inverters in our vehicles, that can convert the batteries to amperes, thus allowing us to use any electrical device. As in Botak's case, his baby's electrical 'buaian' and stand fan. Aaahhh the comfort of home right in the jungle. Ibu Mithali award maybe?

The Jalopies

On the way back, 2 things happened to me.

One, I was so busy chatting with Awal that I went through the 'deep' end of the mud trail. My jalopy was stuck in about 3 feet of mud. Awal volunteered to go to the back and get my strap while waiting for Kerengga to position his jalopy to pull us out. He was using the side step to avoid going into the mud. Suddenly, no more Awal. The poor guy slipped and feel smack into the mud.

Two, after that I was also busy chatting. Coming down a mud slope, I didn't notice a fallen tree branch. My left tyre was stuck behind it and followed the curve of the branch. Coming down a steep slope sideways is not a good thing. My jalopy was already tilted so much that the back left tire was barely touching the ground. I thought to myself, "habis la lepas ni kena repair bumbung lak". In the end, everything was ok.

The Orang Asli Village

Throughout both incidents, the camera was with me, so unfortunately no pictures. The moral of the story is....

"Concentrate on your driving even though you have gone through that route a few times. Never underestimate the ever evolving jungle, coz the path you took this morning is different from the one you are taking in the evening."

The second moral of the story....

"Make sure you are not the only one with a camera LOL"

What this trip made me realised how much I love the outdoors and how much I had missed it. I came back refreshed...as if half of my worries went flowing down that river. One thing is for sure....like what Arnold said..."I'll be back".