Wednesday, March 21, 2012

LOng weekend what to do 4-7 February 2012 - Adventure Thats what

Long weekend coming up 4 days - I need some me me time out in the jungle so I decide to do some exploring a quick SMS gets me a couple of GPS points from a fishing friend.

Friday nite finish the day job at 9.30pm so I elect to have a quick sleep before I head off to the resort to do the Rafting and Riverboarding activities. Damn if I wake up at 7.00am shit I'm late. Holiday traffic sucks and RED takes forever to drive to the resort and I arrive 11.30am RATS riverboards are already out out so my guide is already out with customers.

They come back with very happy customers then they scoot out on the ATV's leaving me to ponder why RED now has a FLAT tire and I do some welding in the equipment hut until I have to go saftey guiding for the rafts at 2.30pm




Fun trip until I get a smack in the eye from bamboo which leaves my eye bruised and red.

Sleep in the open equipment hut overnight wonderful and the squirrels and the birds are a welcome morning alarm. The wild boar which fought with the dogs across the road all night were not mmmm do I sense a hunting nite coming up - YES!!!!!!!!!.

Sunday morning Riverboarding customers




and then out on the ATV's then it's time to pack ah yes a KAYAK and paddle would be smart. I pack the 9foot mini-x as its LIGHT and easy to manouvre but a real drag to paddle as you have to paddle constantly to keep the momentum.

I take my guide out for dinner after we have to change 4 tires to put on the 35" XT's as the puncture cannot be repaired today so we remove the XT Sneakers from the now WRECKED GREEN (YEs GREEN is Wrecked) and by 10.00pm I head off to the GPS point about 140k away of which 80 is all alone in the jungle just me and RED and that purring 13B-T diesel.

Lasah passes then I know this area damn the road will be CRAP and it is BONE shattering blacktop riddled with potholes. I hammer RED through it into the night. Then at the GPS point on my tips it states road dies - it does wonderful now its 4x4 track and i do not notice but I'm climbing the track is easy except for the odd mudhole and long open clay climbs RED slides around corners in 3rd HIGH wonderful way to visit a new track - I do notice no winching points close even for the GOD winch one off here I'm in trouble. 5 river crossings and 2.30am I cruise through Pos Khmer village and I have arrived at the southern most tip of TASIK (lake) Temenggor and follow the track around and abruptly it STOPS at the end of the bridge the road is covered with water the water is up some 5 meters. Ok so camp here BED on bridge and I cook dinner on the bonnet in the middle of nowhere at 2.45am all alone apart from the owls and bats and it doesn't get better than this.

Morning wake 9.00am to being cooked in my bed by the hot sun, cook breakfast baked beans and chicken curry awesome, pack up my bed and drive back 100 meters and launch the kayak I'm in the water by 11.00am hunting SNAKEHEADS (Toman) - I find groups of fries (babies) but no takes. I keep paddling into the wind and then while chasing a lone TOMAN a fast group goes past I change lures and loose site of them damn my best chance of the day gone. Time for lunch and a packet of sultana biscuits in the shade of a bamboo grove. I'm still paddling out east and not reached the wide part of the lake. 4pm and I look up and the sky is darkening time to head back for the 4-5+k and yup the storm catches me I shelter under a BIG TREE until a BIG DEAD BRANCH falls into the water 10 meters behind me I move on quietly and you guess it the WIND turns around also and I'm paddling into the wind again. Soon as you stop paddling you go backwards.


2.45am in the morning my campsite




My bedroom with a million stars for the nite and the moon the bridge with the water 1 foot below.




The moon is also out




Next morning




The end of the road



Breakfast on the mobile kitchen.




Toman fries but no parents



Jungle everywhere



Orang Asli settlement.



Then it rained



But only on me the other side of the lake sunny



Mr cool came down and wanted his pic taken



My dinner at the lake while I decided to stay or go then I made up my mind when I saw this 400 meters of net being layed out. I GO where - of course last weekends lake some 150k back down the trail (Air Kuning near Teluk Intan).



The reason I left 400 meters of nets being layed out.



The southernmost tip of Tasik Temenggor




Muddy track ahead.



They call this logging I call it RAPE.



One of the 5 river crossings



More slick muddy tracks



The view west at 1,145 meters up at sunset









Then it's down down down the slippery track and onto the BUMPY road. 9.30pm I stop for hot chocolate and a meal then carry on. 20k down the road my body has had enough and I pull over for a sleep on the side of the road and fall asleep in the drivers seat.

7.00am next morning I waken up FOOD needed into GOPENG 30k away for a huge breakfast and then onto a small ex mining pond for some Toman hunting.

10.00am I'm in the water but its hot really hot so 11.30am I find a shady tree and sleep in the kayak for 90 minutes soon as I'm paddling again I spy 3 groups of Toman FRIES one has the Parents. I circle round and wait for them to come to me 3 casts and I have a huge hookup I estimate 2.5-3kg. I land it on a small island and weight it 4kg awesome I'm stoked and then release it back to its babies, However she ain't finished and surfaces 15 seconds later and STARES then dissappears.

undaunted and the wind comes up I decide to head out looking and fishing slowly back.

On the way home it's a stop to see the mother in law and dinner with her and dad in IPOH then back to Kuala Lumpur.

11.00pm I'm back in Kuala Lumpur 800+k gobbled up by the mighty RED truck, I could just turn it around and go again the same 4 days again totally enjoyable.

RED for its effort in got 10.0k a liter on the trip up and 6k a liter in the jungle and 10k a liter on the way home what more can you ask from a worked 13B-T.

The small part of Air Kuning and a white egret in the background.



The 4kG Toman









Toman being landed







And it weighs in at 4kg exactly wahoooooooooooo.




Since its an air breathing fish might as well get its length also.



The small part of Air Kuning



This young water buffaloe bull not happy to see me as I disturbed his mud bath