I got my first camping experience here in Malaysia! It was a holiday last Saturday, so I thought is a good time to get out of town for a change. To make it better, camping in the forest =) It wasn't my idea to begin with though, it was my cousin sister idea. I never knew she likes to go camping, it kind of shock me when she proposed it =p Any way, cut the story short, a few planning here and there and the day came.
Before we start heading into the forest, we stopped by to get some last minute shopping and bought ourselves some lunch. It took us a total of 5 hours to get to our camping site. There were a total of 6 checkpoints before we got to the campsite. That's good because it really give someone with low stamina, like me, a break in between the hike. The boys were gentleman to offer to take the heavier bags and let the girls to take the lighter one. Thank God for them! Throughout the walk, it reminds me a lot of the trek I did in Abel Tasman. The experience was essential as it helps prepare me mentally and all the equipment that was needed for this trip. The walk isn't easy though. It started off with lots of uphill, so by the time we hit the 6th checkpoint, we were all drained out. To make it worse, the path gets narrow and even more challenging between the 6th checkpoint and the campsite. Thankfully, we did made it and it sure feel good being surrounded by real trees instead of being in a concrete jungle. Since we got there pretty late, the good spots were taken. We ended up at the far end of the camp site.
Upon reaching the campsite, we started to unpack and set up the tent first and then follow by making dinner. There were this used BN banner at the campsite, since we forget to bring a picnic blanket so we took it to use as one. Dinner was macaroni with cheese mushroom sauce (from mushroom sauce powder, we just made it thicker). Our source of water is from the river, but we didn't bought any thing to purifies the water. However we didn't have any choice, so we took the risk. I need to make note for that next time. Any way, dinner was very fulfilling. When I was doing the cooking, I accidentally spilled the pot and caused the stove to caught on fire! Me and my carelessness! Luckily, some one was quick enough to put it out. Haha, this is one of the highlight of the night.
It rained the night before, so we couldn't set up a camp fire near the tent. Luckily, we bought extra lamp along that last us through the night. We took turns, in pairs, to stay up through the night, just to keep a lookout for every one. We started at 12am and finish the century at 6am. I would say the night actually goes pass very fast. We talked, had Maggi for supper and played cards. We also need to keep boiling the water from the river for the next day. Before we knew it, our shift is over. There weren't any weird thing happened that night, thankfully. But I did prayed really hard for it. Haha, yes, I'm quite worried on that. I spread too much sulfur around the campsite too. So much so that, campers nearby actually complained bout us =p Any way, it wasn't that cold in the tent, just nice and warm. Since I forgot to bring a jacket, it sure feel chilly when we stay up outside to keep watch. I actually bring the whole sleeping bad out while I was staying up with every one. Need to make note of that for the next time round.
Morning came, and I was the first one to wake up. I am so used to waking up early that is difficult to sleep in. I went around with my camera and a walk down to the river. The sound of the water that flows down the river, the birds chirping and the clitter of insects, it was so peaceful and relaxing that makes me feel like staying there forever. I took a few pictures then and walked around for bout 15 min, before I said a little prayer to thank God for His protection and went back to make breakfast. Breakfast was scramble egg, left over mushroom soup with bread. YUM! We also had some uncooked Maggi left. I believe that is so much easier to take the food in our stomach than carrying them in my bag (not too much of course) =p
After breakfast is time to pack up. The boys went ahead to dig a hole to bury the rubbish while me and my cousin sister stayed to unpack the tent. Going back down was so much easier, but it hurt my knees a lot more. Maybe I should get some ointment ready next time? Any thoughts on this? We all manage to get home by 5pm that day. My body was literally screaming for rest by the time I reach home.A quick shower and proper dinner later, I head off for bed. It didn't take me long to doze off as soon as my head hits the pillow. So in general, this trip had been challenging but fun to me. I am looking forward to the next one now =)
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