Friday, September 24, 2010

Kayaking Taman Negara - Sg Tembeling a revisit 20100724

Taman Negara weekend trip take the 4x4's to the wooden bridge some 65K into the jungle dump the kayaks into Sungai Tembeling and paddle down to Kuaka Tahan. Easy ha!

Totally exhausted is all I can say I am completely stuffed. So those who think Taman NEgara is a easy trip need to rethink right now it s mess and really rough and dusty on the vehicles suspension etc.

We left late friday nite 8.30pm due to the really bad traffic delaying everyone from getting to my house. Then the issue with YELLOW was finally resolved by the house visiting mekanik at 8.00pm then we could go shopping and leave - dinner to be in Jarantut some 165k away.


Paul is driving the GREEN Mardi Gra Wagon with 4 kayaks on the roof and I am driving YELLOW (Kantha has pulled out as a driver at the last minute) at long last its back on the road after 8 months off.


Arrived Jerantut 11.00pm then food and 1 hour for the next 70k of narrow winding, cow riddled road to Kuala Tahan.


Finally its the trailhead. After several ciagrette breaks to retie the kayaks as the road was well to say the least really bad we were averaging 15k an hour and I was spending most of my time in 2nd gear. We got to camp at the wooden bridge (4K past Kuala Sat) at 5.30am time to roll out the beds - Brenda asked what were we sleeping under? Our reply was a million stars look up it beats your 5 star Shangrala Hotel. What if it rains? We get wet and pull out the tarp. Sothe track took us 4.5 hours to drive 70k and yes it was really badly hacked up and a quiet beer as a final salute to a long day and I was asleep before I lay on the bed. Cannot wait to try the track in the monsoon rains in 2 months time hahahaha.


We woke up and 10.30am and cooked breakfast ommelettes and sausages - engery food I think not.


The dust is horrendous its in everything inside and out of the kayaks and the jalopy's.

No tarp just slept under the sky. We woke up and 10.30am and cooked breakfast.


The luxurious campsite.


Breakfast preparation by the Taman Negara famous chef.




The infamous wooden bridge.



Giving Paul navigation instructions to Kampung Pagi and how to use a GArmin GPS 76CSX.


Weather girl predicting the wind direction and rain prediction :)



Soon its time to setup the 3 kayaks and break camp. A change of plan is decided and Kg Pagi is now the goal on the kayaks and not Camp Nusa. However we have to get GREEN out of the camp first and Paul does it well with a lot of right foot leaving me with the potential to have to winch out later.


In the water finally at 12.30pm (5 and a 1/2 hours late hahaha) and paddle off on the kayaks and Paul left for Kamgung Pagi in GREEN soon after to meet him at 6.30pm leaving YELLOW at the wooden bridge some 42k down the river.

Peace at last from the dust on the water.


The river was nice apart from being slightly hot as we had missed the early morning cool air. The water level was also even lower than my last visit. We cruise along quietly as Brenda on the short kayak will have trouble keeping up otherwise. Meantime im getting used to paddling a narrow touring kayak and not tipping it over. The current comes and goes and we have to tack all over the river to stay in the current.

Almost no wildlife (sounds but no sightings) but the scenery is nice. I have no GPS so no idea where we are until we reach a joining river (what a nice place to camp out for a nite on the next trip) and I realise I am 5k+ out in my estimations :( oops it means we are borderline to arrive at 7.30pm even. Brenda is stuffed paddling the little Kayak has worn her out it also means these kayaks are out for any other long distance trips also.


Water taxi anyone?


The scenery.


Paddlers on the water.



Lunch at 3.00pm on a island.


Water Buffalo

Log Jam on top of the rocks

The first rapid coming up (bump)




Then we encounter the first rapid of the day or should I say bump in the water. Then its the "Z" turn and I know only 1 kilometer or less and its almost 7.00pm cool.


We docked at Kg Pagi jetti at 7:10pm tied the kayaks off and lifted the new Dag Tiwok tourer out of the water as it has no skirt. We had dinner (and very very nice kampung food it was I can recommend this remote village for food) and then went to collect YELLOW from the wooden bridge at 9.30pm. We arrived at the wooden bridge almost midnite - had to use lockers in Yellow to get it out of the "car park" hahaha we spotted a spotted leopard cat on the drive that was quite cool but not one Elephant even though we saw signs of fresh droppings. Arrived back at camp 1:59am and then compulsory 3 beers each on the jetti steps and bed at 3.30am once again sleeping out in the middle of the village under the stars.

Arriving Kg Pagi.


Our support Crew.


Our support crew still sleeping sunday morning 9.30am.


Awake 9.30am in the hot sun (except Paul he is still sleeping) and have breakfast at Kampung. Then its a shower and packup the kit and on the kayaks in water (Brenda pulled out and drove Green) at 10.30am (once again we are late 7.00am would have been really nice but sleep was more important).

Waiting for a taxi to pass before we start a rapid.

This was a pleasant kayak lots of little rapids and prolonged spots of flat slow moving water as the river fans out and narrows :( - except the CAMP NUSA one which is the longest one of the journey. I had to bail out the kayak after each rapid as the water piled in where the skirt should have been hahaha.



The nastiest rapid we stopped after it to take pictures and Tim is holding onto a massive log canoe when suddenly it starts moving as a passenger boat wash stirs the water up. He ties to paddle it back to shore - uh uh uh its way too heavy - I hurl him a throw bag and pull it (the rope straining with the weight) in meantime another passenger boat goes past and tips the open waterproof camera box into the water retrieve it and another boat does the same seconds later ggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Rescue Tim and the dugout then have to dry the camera box out. We try and beach the dugout more it must weigh 300+kg slowly I get it to beach more.

The water taxi on the chicken chute on the nasty rapid.

Tim on the chicken chute - note the wooden canoe which was about to cause chaos.

Tim trying to hang onto the wooden canoe and paddle hahaha no chance.


The rescued wooden canoe and my touring kayak side by side friends for life haha.


Me Running a rapid

And smiling

This is how you do the same rapid in a water taxi.

Passenger boats wave and cheer us on and we must be on many YouTube videos and facebook albums.

Tim running a long rapid.

At the bottom of the rapid is this guy fishing.


Soon we pass the Taman Negara canopy walk and I know it’s only a kilometer to Kuala Tahan and we cruise into Kuala Tahan 1:55pm. Then its 1 hour to load the kayaks up then a quick wash in the river to cool off and another hour leisurely recovering and having dinner. Tim decides to be funny and order 2 meals first and one at the end of the order thinking his meal will come out first - his 3 meals come out last hahahaha - We left Kuala Tahan at 5.00pm and arrived home 9:45pm (traffic sucked) and it was pouring with rain. Offloading kayaks in a pouring thunderstorm is no fun.

A total off roughly 65-70k on the water for the 2 1/2 days paddling a nice gentle paddle on one of the most scenic parts of Malaysia to paddle.

Paul at Kuala Tahan loading up the kayaks.

Kuala Tahan and Taman Negara Park HQ on the other bank.



Tough on vehicles (especially on suspesion and the jerry can holder on YELLOW broke welds) but in all a great weekend.


My new kayak is nice to paddle but very very wobbly if you move around hahahaha. And I need a skirt for it. It filled up with water at every rapid hahaha.


Yellow used 45 liters less than GREEN for the Jerantut to Jerantut loop - but GREEN drove Kg Pagi to Wooden bridge for an extra trip (2.5 hours to do this section ) still GREEN really eats fuel. YELLOW also uses 9 liters less for the 1675k from KL to Jerantuit section.

Yup its a wide load on the way home.

Paul likes GREEN he thinks its just wonderful (note better than DAFFY) and he likes the brutal low end grunt in YELLOW of the 3.3liter 4 cyl diesel.

Green survived the first lady driver test and worse she loved it. Damn I have made a real handbag wagon.

Yellows harness seatbelts and new seats worked a treat in the rough track never got tossed around or had to hang onto anything just drive.
The track was cruel. VHF radio bolts came undone and it dropped out of its holder :( screws vibrated out of the radio face itself :( screws vibrated out of my glasses sitting on the seat :( I have two toyota 10mm bolts on the floor no idea where they vibrated from in Yellow.

A big wild boar darts out in front of us on the road from Kuala Tahan that certainly woke us up from our quiet drive.

The YELLOW wagon purred like a kitten the whole way. The hum of the 13b-T diesel engine at cruising speeds is wonderful to listen to.

However I was totally exhausted with only 8 hours sleep in 3 days and it took me two days to recover completely.

The next trip here will be during monsoon to see how the river floods.

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