Pos Keding Adventure 2010
Told thru the experience of a first timer…..1st time as in camping, pasang lampu carbide and also offroading. RV point kita kat RnR Rawang, started tayar golek around 2100hrs after the heavy downpour. Was told that Rambo and his fleet will make time and catch up later.
They were delayed because of pressing matters on one of the rig. We made way with Azmani leading the pack in the Pergau D90, then followed by Farid in BDB, Amir Adnan (SW) and myself (HT). Exit at Behrang toll and regroup with Azhar Yazid(SW).
It was still drizzling when we reach the last tarmac. Azmani instructed all vehicles to engage low diff and we pressed on. The trail was loose by the rain and things started to get serious when we reach the tanah merah section. I have second thought when we reach the 1st obstacle. My mind was on securing the family and “dangerous goods” inside the car. Had 3 attempt to go uphill before Azmani took over. Man that was terrifying. Remind me to get MT for the next trip.
Spent some time figuring out which way to go as we missed the metal bridge. It was pitch black and none of us have a spot light. Traveled at slow pace, mostly low 2nd gear to get traction and finally found the bridge. Not far frm the bridge, a steep section awaits, with thick topsoil. I managed to pass, but not before long Azmani came back to tell us his findings. Ravine area, and with my full capacity load he decided to make camp for safety reasons. Doing u-turn was one thing, it was nothing compared to my ride started to go sideways downhill. In my mind, the intended offroad clinic started as soon we hit the loose soil. So we made camp just before the bridge around 0030hrs.
Rambo punya pack of 3 sampai around 0130hrs. We had hot mushroom soup + kopi o to ease the wet night away. Setting up a tent is a bit challenging when wet+dark. I was struggling with my cute cree light. After a short meal, Rambo decided to try to get to our base camp, just to tell the news that we are spending the night at lower ground. Communications were cut off that night, so he went on with 2 teams, 1 Abg Mat punya Disco, and another Amir Adnan with the winch….just in case.
Not before long, almost an hour later…a grunt through the black night was heard. It was Abg Mat punya Disco….suffered a puncture and had to retreat on safety reasons. Rambo switch to Miss Yew Ann a.k.a Bosnia to rejoin the other car. Unlucky for him, his GPS suffers a glitch. So playing the guessing game in the dark night is not a good idea. He then decided to call it a day. He helped to change the punctured tyre, and they decided to get it fixed at first light at the nearest town.
Late that morning, while waiting for Abg Mat’s team, one Prado came along. It was Abg Ali. Dropping by to see his old friend (Capt Soffian). But was sidelined when another group of vehicles was busy struggling to went one steep ascending section. He decided to turn back and gave us wedding invitations.
We move out around midday just as the trail was drying up. Cool…and by 1400hrs we reach base camp. We had lunch, celebrated the January babies with the cake and had a free n easy day that afternoon. It was raining, everybody was under the mess camp. A mild chit chat turned into a hot discussion. More of a Q&A session. Theory classes for the intended offroad clinic were held sometime 2100hrs.. It was easy to understand as we had the hands on experience the night before. Topics covered were on ethics, driving technics, parts maintainance and few others. We hit the sack sometime 2300hrs.
Later that morning we went for a practical of navigating thru a slalom with a guide. Had a crash course on hand signals and we hit the makeshift track. It was a good feel to put your trust on your guide. Mine was Abg Farid, and boy…he was good. Clear & firm instructions. I couldn’t remember was it before or after our practical, but some of our team went out to recover a Hilux that have both right side wheels hanging off a cliff. They manage to winch it to safety whilst having Abg Mat’s Disco strapped behind as anchor.
The team move out from the campsite sometime around 1600hrs and it was raining. KassimBaba had a starter problem and the team applied the snatch technique after it failed to jump start using straps. We stopped by the OA area to give out some food and goodies, after that we make our way. The route was slippery, we were all over the place but the challenging stretch i must say was the sharp U bend and the 25-30 degree slippery descend. Talk about terrifying. It was okay on 1st quarter of the downhill exercise but i was tumbling the rest of the way even on first gear. Thanx to the clinic, the knowledge is practiced to contain the dangerous situation.
By the time we reach the tarmac area, Pumba started to have electrical fault. Something was wrong and fumes came out. It was the AC blower. The fuse was detached to solve the problem. Tok Mat also suffered a problem when it cant engage to Hi gear. We regroup for a photoshoot nearby the lake before we head to Yik Mun pau. The group heads to masing2 punya destination from there on. I hate to leave early tapi have to make 2 drop offs. Hoping Tok Mat manage to get the gear fixed for his way home.
So itulah dia, my boooring experience. Oh ya, before i forget. I would like to congratulate and thank each and everyone for making my 1st trip a memorable one. The food was exceptional. No major casualties/fatalities recorded. Everyone were safe & sound.
Maybe we can do some improvement for our future trips and have some MLM Standard operating Procedures (SOP). Like travel speed, time management and assigned radio channel.
Everyone, everywhere, home safe!
