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Gunung Tahan Expedition |
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31 May - 2 June 2001 |
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Report by Justin Tiew
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“Whether you
succeed or not, it all depends on you. If you believe you can, you will
make it.” Those were the words that echoed in my mind throughout
the adventure. We were going to face the ultimate challenge, conquering
the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia.
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30 May 2001
5.00am - The 15 team members assembled in church. After a final check,
we left for Sungai Relau, Pahang.
12.00pm - On reaching Sungai Relau, we registered ourselves and had our
backpacks checked and itemised. This was to ensure we left nothing on the
trails.
2.30pm - After lunch, we started our journey by 4 wheel drive to Kuala Juram.
The ride took an hour.
3.30pm - From Kuala Juram we began our hike to Kem Kor, a distance of 13.5
km. Along the trail we passed two campsite, Kuala Luis and Lata Luis, and
crossed 12 rivers and streams.
7.30pm - When we arrived at Kem Kor it was already dark and beginning to
rain. We quickly setup our tents for the night and cooked our dinner.
Everyone was soaking wet and cold. After washing up and a change of clothes,
we got some sleep. Eventually, the rain stopped.
31 May 2001
9.00am - After breakfast, we packed up our equipment and got ready to
scale new heights. Today’s hike was going to take 10 hours. This was going
to be a long day.
10.00am - At Permatang, we collected water. The water here was really clean
and this was the last stop where we could get clean water. It was all uphill
from Permatang to Kubang. The 3.5 km hike took us 3 hours. It was pure
endurance.
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1.00pm - Lunch was instant rice or
noodles with Brahim’s curry and ikan bilis (our staples for the duration
of the trip).
2.00pm - We got our shoes back on the trail as soon as we finished
lunch. The trail from Kubang to Belumut and Bonsai was tiring, as we had
to struggle through the muddy terrain. You can’t imagine how we suffered
climbing up and down, sometimes stepping into pools of mud up to your
knees and getting cut by thorny plants.
After a short rest at Bonsai, we left for Bukit Botak. This time the
terrain was mostly rocky with short bonsai trees on each side of the
trail. That took us another 2 hours.
7.00pm - We decided to set camp here instead of the peak because it was
getting dark. We spend the evening cooking our dinners and went to bed
early in preparation for tomorrow’s quest to reach the summit.
1 June 2001
6.00am - We woke up ready to face the final assent. The night was
good, without any rain, but the guides had their radio on all night. It
was another 2.4 km to the peak and we managed to get there in 45 minutes
without our packs.
7.00am - The signboard read “GUNUNG TAHAN, 2187M”. We were on top of the
world!” Well, not exactly, but we were too overjoyed to care about
anything else. It was a clear morning and we could see the beautiful
scenery of mountains, sea of clouds and the break of dawn. It was really
breathtaking. The pride of reaching the highest peak in Peninsular
Malaysia will always be in my heart.
After
taking some photos, it was time to hike down to Bukit Botak to have
breakfast and break camp.
9.00am - We left for Kem Kor through Bonsai, Belumut, and Kubang where
we stopped for our lunch. At Permatang, we collected water, and finally
back to Kem Kor where we set-up camp once again.
6.00pm - By now most of us were feeling sick - vomiting, diarrhoea,
fever, etc. After dinner we went to bed early.
2 June 2001
7.00am - God was gracious and we all were feeling better. Everyone was
already thinking of home.
12.00pm - We took 3 hours to hike back to Kuala Juram through Lata Luis
and Kuala Luis. “Praise the Lord”, exclaimed Pastor Richard when the
hike was over at about noon. |
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We had hiked a total of
62 kilometers over various terrains. Before the start of every day and
at the end day we said a prayer. Thank God for His strength and
protection on the team. |
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YAL RANGERS KUALA
LUMPUR #1 Calvary Church, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia