[1205] Of breathing in Endau Rompin: Part III

People say early bird gets the worm. Others would say the second mouse gets the cheese. Sunday started slightly earlier than Saturday and way too early. With sleeping bag warping around me and my backpack as a pillow, the coldness tempted me to stay asleep. It was 06:00.

A few others however were busy preparing for a new day and that made me restless. It was not so much the noise that disturbed me but rather, it was the atmosphere. It was infectious and caused a civil war inside of me. In the end, I had to wake up and left slumberland for a whole new day. Just like how the spring revolutions across Europe brought liberalism across the continent, from the British Isles, to France, to Germany all the way to Russia, and eventually, the world, the early birds brought consciousness throughout the camp.

As a group, I always find it amazing how a small minority could affect the will of the majority. I am quite sure that the majority will were quite the opposite of the now awakened minority. It was cold and the majority wanted to continue sleeping, despite knowing we had to start hiking by 08:00. Just like me, during winter in Ann Arbor, told the alarm to give me five more minutes before surrendering to reality, the majority probably wanted another hour.

If the low noise failed to move the sleepy heads, TH’s scream of pain woke me. He slept to my left and it was impossible to ignore him. I later found out that some insect went into his ear and started biting from the inside. Urgh, ugly. The problem was solved after a drop of oil was inserted into his ear, suffocating the insect. And if TH’s screaming failed to wake the rest, the sun did the job.

The morning turned brighter as each second passed. In the jungle, well before 07:00, one did not need to bring along a flashlight to move around. Unfortunately, the availability of light did not introduce heat and it was still cold for bath. Many skipped morning bath and relied on yesterday’s dip in the river as an ersatz substitute.

As how combustion engine needs time to come up to speed on a cold winter, my engine needed time and I took my time, had breakfast slowly, half asleep. By 08:00 though, I was ready for a brand new adventure. But my socks and boots were still wet. The socks especially, where bloody, no thanks to leeches. I had a fresh pair of socks with me but no dry pair of boots, I just wore the wet socks and boots.

On me were a Nikon cap, a stylish goggle as a sunglass that was the envy of everybody (yeah, right), a backpack filled with water bottle, camera, cell phone, wallet and lunch, West Quad t-shirt and an expensive short which would look like a rag cloth by the end of the trip. And yeah, the wet socks and boots.

If I had a dry pair of socks along with boots, it would not have mattered. To get to the place we planned to go which were Upeh Guling and Tasik Air Biru, we had to cross several rivers and the first one was right at the doorstep of our camp, the Limpako. And I could hear Christian complaining again, uttering, probably, the same exact words he had uttered yesterday during the hike night.

From the camp, headed back to our vehicle. For today, we needed to drive to Kampung Peta, an Orang Asli settlement by the Endau River. If you remembered carefully, our car was stuck in the mud and was, in all particle sense, abandoned for the purpose of this expedition. We were advised to rather not drive our car but take a ride instead in one of participating 4WDs. Patricia, Katrin and Christian got onto Paul’s truck and I hitched on *** ****’s 4WD.

Me and gang. From left, Mervyn Liew Wing-On, Yeoh Suat Hui, me and Tan Lee Sah. *** ***** is behind the camera. Awas gerak langkahmu ooooo…

There were five people in the vehicle, including *** ***** and me. The other there were Mervyn Liew Wing-On, Yeoh Suat Hui and Tan Lee Sah. On *** *****’s vehicle were several stickers: three of them were MNS, the Sierra Club and the Appalachian Moutain Club. That probably proved that he is a real hiker, unlike me, which is just a poser.

There were slight problem at the start as even 4WDs had issues with the muddy road but with little patience, luck and cooperation, all 4WDs, seven of them, were on our way to Kampung Peta.

Typical road view. This part of the park is tarred. The poor road leading to the park probably discourages visitors size, which is good for conservation effort.

The way to Kampung Peta is scenic. Firstly, the road is pretty much like Cameron Highlands except on a smaller scale, with little gorges on one side and little hills covered with tropical floras on the other side. Our view was limited to what the trees would let us see, which was not much to start with. But as we were done climbing, we reached an opening where the trees were less dense and soon, the opening turned into an Orang Aslis’ orchard. To the right, on the horizon were spectacular mist-covered mountains.

Misty mountains. Not quite Lord of the Rings but quite impressive nonetheless.

All of us, all seven 4WDs stopped by the road side, armed with cameras, got out and started a photo-galore event. On the left, a little hut by the side of a hill. It took some time to satisfy the photographers in us but we had to move on. And so, into the vehicles we went to continue with the journey.

Humble hut by the side of a hill.

Not too far in front, sat a couple of puppies in the middle of the road, unmoved by the incoming 4WDs. We were amused at the audacity shown by the puppies and had to slow down to pass them without incident.

Half an hour probably passed before we reached Kampung Peta. Just 5 minutes of the village is the headquarters of the national park. The HQ however looked suspiciously quiet with no proof of life. Nevertheless, looking outside from the 4WD I was in, the structures looked well maintained, possibly, unlike in Putrajaya.

As a Malaysian, it is quite embarrassing to see defected federal buildings so early after completion. The physical states of the buildings could signal the rot of our country. Daylight corruption goes unpunished, uncouth lies said and spotted but not unsaid, probably representative of our government.

As the 50th anniversary of August 31, the first day of free Malaya, comes closer, I am quickly becoming disillusioned with the current state we are in. I could have picked that Green Card long ago but for some unknown reason, I refrained. I am beginning to feel I had made a mistake so huge. True, I said take heart but I cannot take heart every second of every day of every year, forever. Patience is a virtue but it has limits. Hope erodes each day and I quickly wanting to save only myself and abandon the rest.

The residents of Kampung Peta probably have not heard of 300 despite living in a spartan village. But they live in concrete instead of wooden houses as I had expected earlier. Their life is more modern than what I had in mind. Yet, still spartan with limited utilities. Nonetheless, Spartans dined in hell but we dined in heaven.

The village sits beside the Endau River, about 30 feet up from the water level, on a cliff. To be precise, it is located at the outer side of a huge meander. For this very reason, the village suffers erosion problem. In 10 or 20 years, I would not be surprise if the river would shallow part of the village. Slowly but surely, the Endau River keeps pounding against the cliff, threatening to erase the village out of the map. But maybe, this particular part of the river would turn into a horseshoe first and not threaten the village.

The Endau River from Kampung Peta. Notice the cliff. Also, notice the white trunk which is a coconut tree. Previously, a sort of line could be drawn from the tree to the other side outside of the picture and that was ground years ago. In effect, you would not be able to see the upper part of the cliff.

During the last great flood, believe it or not, despite sitting high above a cliff, the village was flooded about half a foot. The Orang Aslis had to temporarily away until the flood finally subsided. While all that occurred, our Prime Minister was on holidays in Venezuela, seemingly oblivious to the suffering of the people. Even I, whom have been accused of being too cold due to my free market principles, understand the scale of the disaster. In the face of possibly market failure, the government failed. The government does have a role in our society but the government failure during the market failure forced me to reassess what role the Malaysian government could play.

During a briefing conducted at the HQ of the Malaysian Nature Society at Jalan Kelantan, not too far away from the National Museum and the Parliament, Gary told us how the flood devastated the economy of Kampung Peta. They lost everything and are currently rebuilding whatever they had. Their economy primarily depends on tourism but Endau Rompin, due to its wilderness, does not look like a place many would venture too. Only the more adventurous individuals would come here, leaving the comfort of civilization behind.

From the village, we got on a boat ride upstream, farther into Endau Rompin…

p/s — thanks to *** *** ***** for the permission to use the first two pictures in the entry.