I have always liked outdoors. Before I got married, I often went to camping trips with kelana scouts friends and even joined a couple of endurance camps. I was in my 2nd year at UKM when I went to this Projek Anak Angkat at Felda Sg Koyan, Pahang and a week after to an endurance camp at Pos Betau, an orang asli settlement.
On the 3rd day at Pos Betau, we went jungle trekking, about 20 kms upstream of Sg Jelai, passing through another orang asli settlement right in the heart of the jungle. The activity was for the teams to build their own raft using bamboo and go back down stream using the rafts. So, there was my team yang tak pernah tebang pokok buluh trying our best to pick the best bamboo trees and then tying the bamboos together to assemble a raft, or what looked like a raft.
Since it was the first experience for almost everybody, the task took hours to complete. By the time the teams were done, it was almost dusk. Then off we went to the river and proudly launched our rafts. Each team consisted of about 6 people. My team's raft did float for a few minutes and then became partially submerged. When the 6 of us came on board, we were practically sitting in the water. But with spirits so high, or was it fear because it was getting dark, we went ahead. The 2 guys of our team navigated using long bamboo poles with the girls sitting in the middle. We went about 15 minutes down the river when it was clear that we won't be able to make it.
So, the scouts, whose rafts were built courtesy of the orang asli (tak aci betul! siap with "accessories" ie raised bamboo seat in the middle of the raft), decided to split my team. Our poor raft was manned by experienced orang asli and scouts. I joined another raft manned by 2 other scouts with another girl. I was asked to sit at the head of the raft with a torchlight to show the way.
It was really dark by then not to mention cold as we were all soaking wet. The guy who manned the bamboo pole behind me was one of the senior scouts, called Abg Man. I have a feeling he purposely asked me to join his raft because he liked me. Hehehe... Anyway, I ni adventurous sikit even though I don't look like one. I was really bored holding the torchlight while the men manned the rafts. I ni memang feminist sikit - apa perempuan tak boleh buat ke, that sort of thing. So I asked Abg Man whether I can try to navigate the raft and he said OK. Dengan excitednya I pun handed over the torchlight to him and grabbed the bamboo pole. Bangga lah because none of the female campers had their hands navigating the rafts.
So, I held the 12-foot pole in my hands tightly, dipped it into the river until it touched the river bed and pushed backward to launch the raft forward. I was shocked. One, the long pole got dipped really deep that I was holding only the top portion of the pole. That section of the river was obviously quite deep. Two, pushing the pole and navigating the raft at the same time took so much strength I didn't have. I tried about 3-4 pushes but couldn't catch up. At the last push, I lost balance and fall into the river. I fell but my feet didn't touch the river bed. And I'm considered quite tall about 5f 5in. So, the depth of the river must be more than 6 feet. And I can't swim. And it was pitch dark. And the current was quite rough. And we were the last raft. When I re-surfaced, Abg Man pulled me back onto the raft. He didn't say anything, just handed me back the torchlight and continued navigating. He must have caught the pole when I fell.
I shivered from the cold but learned my lesson well and kept to my task. We reached Pos Betau at about 11pm, the last raft to arrive. I found some of the girls upset with the activity. They found it too dangerous and rigorous for them. A close friend was crying. I told her, yes, now you are upset, but trust me, when we go back to KL, you will find this an exciting experience.
Thinking back, it surely was an experience.
On the 3rd day at Pos Betau, we went jungle trekking, about 20 kms upstream of Sg Jelai, passing through another orang asli settlement right in the heart of the jungle. The activity was for the teams to build their own raft using bamboo and go back down stream using the rafts. So, there was my team yang tak pernah tebang pokok buluh trying our best to pick the best bamboo trees and then tying the bamboos together to assemble a raft, or what looked like a raft.
Since it was the first experience for almost everybody, the task took hours to complete. By the time the teams were done, it was almost dusk. Then off we went to the river and proudly launched our rafts. Each team consisted of about 6 people. My team's raft did float for a few minutes and then became partially submerged. When the 6 of us came on board, we were practically sitting in the water. But with spirits so high, or was it fear because it was getting dark, we went ahead. The 2 guys of our team navigated using long bamboo poles with the girls sitting in the middle. We went about 15 minutes down the river when it was clear that we won't be able to make it.
So, the scouts, whose rafts were built courtesy of the orang asli (tak aci betul! siap with "accessories" ie raised bamboo seat in the middle of the raft), decided to split my team. Our poor raft was manned by experienced orang asli and scouts. I joined another raft manned by 2 other scouts with another girl. I was asked to sit at the head of the raft with a torchlight to show the way.
It was really dark by then not to mention cold as we were all soaking wet. The guy who manned the bamboo pole behind me was one of the senior scouts, called Abg Man. I have a feeling he purposely asked me to join his raft because he liked me. Hehehe... Anyway, I ni adventurous sikit even though I don't look like one. I was really bored holding the torchlight while the men manned the rafts. I ni memang feminist sikit - apa perempuan tak boleh buat ke, that sort of thing. So I asked Abg Man whether I can try to navigate the raft and he said OK. Dengan excitednya I pun handed over the torchlight to him and grabbed the bamboo pole. Bangga lah because none of the female campers had their hands navigating the rafts.
So, I held the 12-foot pole in my hands tightly, dipped it into the river until it touched the river bed and pushed backward to launch the raft forward. I was shocked. One, the long pole got dipped really deep that I was holding only the top portion of the pole. That section of the river was obviously quite deep. Two, pushing the pole and navigating the raft at the same time took so much strength I didn't have. I tried about 3-4 pushes but couldn't catch up. At the last push, I lost balance and fall into the river. I fell but my feet didn't touch the river bed. And I'm considered quite tall about 5f 5in. So, the depth of the river must be more than 6 feet. And I can't swim. And it was pitch dark. And the current was quite rough. And we were the last raft. When I re-surfaced, Abg Man pulled me back onto the raft. He didn't say anything, just handed me back the torchlight and continued navigating. He must have caught the pole when I fell.
I shivered from the cold but learned my lesson well and kept to my task. We reached Pos Betau at about 11pm, the last raft to arrive. I found some of the girls upset with the activity. They found it too dangerous and rigorous for them. A close friend was crying. I told her, yes, now you are upset, but trust me, when we go back to KL, you will find this an exciting experience.
Thinking back, it surely was an experience.
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