It started out as a convoy of 7 vehicles (3 Landcruisers, 2 Jeeps, 1 Pajero and an Isuzu Trooper) on a medical mission but at the end of the first day, Murphy's Law had struck several times. We encountered vehicle failures and the weather and other delays looked like they would keep us from achieving our mission. Read on to find out more as our tattooed Mat Salleh Reporter gives us the Gecko view.
7.30pm: The rendezvous was supposed to be at McDonalds Bandar Utama at 7.30pm but the Mat Salleh Reporter and his 3 passengers are not there. It is a holiday weekend in KL and the traffic was worse than bad so we waited an extra hour for our assistant to arrive. We only get there at 8.30pm. But the photographer from WildAsia was even later. We finally start for Ipoh at 9pm. A late conversation with the doctors reveals more challenges; two of the doctors had pulled out, one with a family emergency while the other is on call for possible deployment to Cameron Highlands where there has been an outbreak of gastroenteritis.
We are almost at the Ipoh exit but we are still not sure of where we are sleeping (not a hotel). We have two destinations planned. One we know but it is too far from Ipoh for the 7am doctor pickup and the other a cryptic word with even more cryptic directions on how to get there. Eventually it is deciphered and we arrive at our campsite at 12.30am. We were the second convoy. The third convoy arrived shortly after. Everyone wants to chat. But realising that we have to be up in five hours, the campbeds are broken out and all 17 of us sleep under the 20-by-20 ft tarp near the noisy little stream.
| Jumping Sack | Mmmmm high hood! | Broken Axle | Magnificient view | Thunder Storm Coming | |
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A misty morning finds two Orang Asli sleeping in the playground beside us with a hessian sack that is moving. Closer inspection reveals frogs (presumably for sale at pet shops). We are some 40 minutes late as we wait for the Isuzu Trooper to be packed.
After weaving our way through Ipoh town, we finally arrive at the Ipoh General Hospital and find Dr Sheila with two new doctors and the medicines. We load up and head off for a quick breakfast and introductions as we had a long drive of some 280k away to Gua Musang in Kelantan, in northern Peninsular Malaysia. Refueling at an Ipoh service station was hilarious as the attendant could not reach the bonnet and has to use a stool to check the oil, fill the windscreen washers and wash the windows.
We try to make our way out of Ipoh but our Ipoh-born convoy leader gets lost exiting the service station and loses the convoy. We finally got the convoy together again and head for Cameron Highlands. Passing Cameron Highlands, we decided to make a pitstop at some hot springs. Disaster struck. Pika's Pajero gets stuck at the bottom of a slope. Close inspection reveals a broken axle. Out jumped Doctor Nisha from his vehicle into Albert's Isuzu Trooper. Pika and his Pajero are left. They caught up with us some 36 hours later after effecting repairs. We are now two hours behind schedule. No mobile communications are available so we will have to call for a tow truck from Gua Musang. At Gua Musang, we met with two more trucks, which were supposed to lead us to Pos Simpo. We still had at least 3 hours of offroad driving. Lunch is eaten on the run,
The convoy weaves its way through oil palm and rubber plantations before crossing a steel bridge over the very brown Sungai Nenggiri. This was the start of serious offroad driving for us. The GPS showed that it was 20km in a straight line to Pos Simpo; this means we have at least 40km to go. It is past 2pm. We are still some 3 hours behind. Climbing a long and steep 700m, we are stopped while our sweep (from the previous convoy) is recovered from the bottom as it refuses to start (another Pajero). He arrives but then we have a puncture to repair. More delays. Another climb and we encounter a magnificent view at some 700 m above sea level. We stop for a break but the dark clouds and rolling thunder makes us continue in earnest. The GPS now shows 16km. After what seems an eternity of steep climbs and descents we arrive at a small kampung on the top of a rise. Its now 4.30pm and the main body of the other convoy are waiting for us. We decide not to set up the planned clinic but push on to tonight's camp site/kampung and then return in the morning to run a 3 to 4 hour clinic. Only 6.5k to camp, according to the GPS. It's steep and the track deteriorates significantly. We are greeted with fallen logs and steep and narrow climbs. After crossing a precarious log bridge we have a narrow and nasty 1km climb. The last 2 vehicles of the first convoy make it without waiting for us. We are next. Gecko Red (our Toyota Landcruiser II) and the Mat Salleh make it with wheels clawing skywards and slamming into the downside bank side of a landslide at the most difficult bit. The next Landcruiser II makes it as well. But Albert's Isuzu snaps its rear drive shaft on the landslide, leaving it wedged against the bank with no drive. During this time the convoy sweeps Pajero has once again stopped with fuel problems. The recovery of the Isuzu is slow as no winching points are available (all washed away). Eventually, a dead tree in a ditch is used. Once up, we discover the Isuzu is going nowhere with no drive in front or rear. We winch it back down the slope 40m and park it. Unpacking the occupants and moving them to yet another vehicle (Doc Nisha was also in this vehicle). Once the "Isuzu parking" is effected, the broken convoy sweep's Pajero joins the now stuck convoy. It's 7pm and we have lost another 2 1/2 hours. Mist begins to rise up the valley, enveloping us. We are only 1.5k from camp but no one is walking there yet. Finally, we are all up that final climb and commence the last 3km stretch to camp, but not before another precarious and bumpy ride down a slippery track into camp. It took about 12 1/2 hours to travel 300km. Camp is set up in the kampung. We are sleeping in the local community centre at the grand altitude of 685m. It's cold for some, including the Malaysian acclimatised Mat Salleh. We prepare for the next morning's clinic at the previous kampung, to be from 10am to 1pm. Then, from 3pm to 5.30pm, the clinic opens at the kampung where we are camped at. After the clinic, we planned to take a drive down to the river about 3km below the village for some R&R. Meantime, a single Landcruiser will remove the broken driveshaft from the Isuzu and drive to Gua Musang, effect repairs and collect the first broken Pajero if it has been repaired. Meanwhile, the Pajero had been towed (via a phone call from Gua Musang) to Cameron Highlands and further phone calls to get spares from KL. A rescue vehicle from KL to Cameron Highlands arrived at 3am on Sunday morning with a new axle. Wrong one, though. Pika drives a Japanese import, not a locally assembled one and it is too short. Four washers are welded to the end to make it long enough and the repair is finished at 7.30am. It proceeds to Gua Musang, arriving on Sunday evening. Dinner and a quiet social nite is had finally fatigue hits the group and they all sleep in the crowded and cold community centre. It has no windows, just grills.
| Stuck with Broken Driveshaft. | Dawn at 700m with sea of cloud below. | 6 on a scooter. | Dr Nisha treating a family. | Dr Yan Wei treating a family. |
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The kampung roosters awaken everyone and breakfast is rustled up (after surveying the world that we can see above us as the rest below is covered by a white ocean of cloud), the two vehicles pack for the trip down to the first kampung. We have to borrow a few seats from the first convoy as we are short of vehicles. Thirty-five minutes later, we reach the village and set up the outdoor clinic. We are only 30 minutes late. Meanwhile, people have been walking in from surrounding kampungs and scooters of various conditions and sizes are bouncing down the bumpy tracks with anything up to 6 persons on board. Some scooters start a ferry services of sorts for children. The two doctors Nisha and Yan Wei are flat out, examining a family at a time (, usually between 4 to 7 people and ,dispensing medication and in the case of a few, writing referral letters to the Gua Musang hospital, some 90km away. Dr Nisha gets the screamers and Yan Wei gets the grabbers and kickers. All the 4x4 crew and even Sidah Salleh, a writer from WildAsia, pitch in and two people are assigned to assist each doctor with medicine preparation and orange handouts. The Mat Salleh and the Wildasia photographer, Luqman Lee, get to relax and take pictures and hand out lots of oranges. Finally at 1pm, we have seen at all the patients. The docs are sweating under the sweltering heat and we have all been bitten by bees, most of us more than once. We have given out two boxes of oranges. Time to pack up and head back to base camp. The rescue vehicle appears, heading down to Gua Musang with the broken driveshaft and components. It does not look good as the driveshaft has been welded up before. Packed, and 35 minutes later we arrive at camp and have an hour to relax and grab a snack before the next clinic at 3pm. Sleep seems to be the order of the afternoon for most of us. We say goodbye to the two Jeeps in our convoy, which head back to KL. At 3pm, we have the clinic set up and the area instantly becomes crowded with families. It's great to watch the doctors in action. The families have similar problems - head lice, skin problems. One infant is seriously sick and desperately needs to get to a hospital. The ailments here are more severe than the previous kampung and the immunisation cards for the children seem to be incomplete. After the doctors treat the women and children, it is the turn of the men. The clinic wraps up at 5.30pm but not before the oldest patients in the village have been attended to. Three of them were teenagers during World War II and are treated with great respect by the doctors. One of them is at least 84 years old. The grand total for the day is at least 140 children. We decide that it is time to clean up. After that it's bubu (malaysia fish traps) shopping time. The Mat Salleh also buys a really big one (bubu) which he has to give to someone else to transport back to KL. Where does one go in the jungle for entertainment, lets drive the 3k to the river below the kampung. Three km of serious jungle bashing, including two lost mirrors and much lost paint, then a 3-minute walk and after crossing a small creek, we are at a large clear, cold, fast-flowing river with the sounds of birds and mother nature at work.
The rumble of thunder makes us pack up at 7pm and we race back to camp but not before the creek has risen significantly and we give the other side of the 4x4s a bashing against the bamboo and ferns. Dinner is pasta with entree of cheese and snacks. The rescue vehicle has not returned so we drive down to check if they have arrived at the forlorn Isuzu. Alas no, so we leave a "ticket" on the window for illegal parking. We calculate the return time of the rescue vehicle to be about 11pm if they have not struck problems. We are surrounded by thunder and it is raining heavily in the distance (the exact direction the rescue vehicle has to pass through). Finally at 11pm, the radio comes alive they (they have also found the repaired Pajero) and are currently at the kampung from this morning's clinic. Half an hour later, the blaze of headlights pierce the night. Once again, we are all together. Tales abound of the tough drive back and the wheel bearings failing on the Landcruiser on the way out. However, the good news is the Isuzu has a repaired driveshaft and it can be fitted in the morning and driven.
| Infected Ear. | The happy kicking kid. | Kute girl | Bubu shopping time. | Dr Yan Wei treating a family. |
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It has rained during the night. Morning dawns, with a spectacular white cloud display below us. We elect to stay later and let the tracks dry out before ascending at around 11pm. We give out another box of oranges to the happy kids, leaving us with one for the kampung down the road. But 11am rolls around quickly and we are ready to roll. We have a picture session with the Orang Asli before leaving. We ascend and reach the Isuzu and put in the driveshaft. Yup, it fires up and moves with all 4 wheels supplying drive.
The trip out is slow and slippery. The driveshaft on the Isuzu starts rattling again and it cannot cope with the muddy descents and must go fast.But we finally reach Gua Musang in one piece and it gets a fix-up. From there, it was a slow drive back to Ipoh, where we bade goodbye to the good doctors.
Many thanks to www.wildasia.net and Oxford University PHD student Juliet Bedford, Lim and Amy, Pika, David, Jeremy Teh, Mathew and Jonathan Woo and the the two Doctors Nisha and Yan Wei for making it all happen.
Please have patience I may be slow in loading up the Thumbnail pics.
| Oranges Time | Oranges Time. | Orange Peeling Knife! | Oranges Time. | Departure Pic. |
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