Saturday

Midnight: Two of the jungle geckos - Dave and Joycelyn - are still packing and checking their 4x4s. They are very concerned about their little stock standard baby Nissan Frontier. Can he make it in the rough terrain. But nothing can be done; we need a truck to carry the doctors' medicines and Nero was it. Finally, at 2am, it is gecko sleep time. Little did we realise that he had left the sweet pototoes on the bench.

5.30am: Rendezvous time but all three of the Jungle Geckos - David, Dave and Joycelyn - have all woken up late. Dave and Joycelyn scramble to pack the cooler boxes and head off for the 180km trip from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh. Our other Gecko (Michael) is in Ipoh. We will meet him and the doctors at the Ipoh Hospital Emergency Carpark.

8.40am: We finally arrive in Ipoh Hospital and are greeted by three doctors (2 Pediatricians and 1 GP) whom we are introduced to as Dr Reuben (hey, he's a giant), Dr Sheila and Dr Cham and then told to drop the Doc prefix. The tiny Jungle Geckos Nissan Frontier is loaded up with medical supplies. We then head off to sleepy Sungai Siput for makan (food) and a quick introduction and team bonding before we are back into the steel monsters. For Drs Sheila and Cham its their first trip off-road or into the jungle. Dr Reuben hes been in 4x4s and helicopters so we considered him an old hand.

The vehicles are 2 Toyota Landcruiser II's (Gecko 1 and Gecko 2)fully equipped to take on almost anything and one stock standard Daihatsu Ferozza and one stock standard Nissan Frontier (Nero).

After the brunch in Sungair Siput, we are off to Lasah, the last little Sleepy Hollow before the tarmac ends and the 4x4 track commences. The road ends dramatically with large potholes.

11.00am: We are cruising up the 4x4 track, take the right at a "Y" intersection and cross a magnificent log bridge little do we know that we were heading in the wrong direction. By 2pm, we have crossed a rickety log bridge that we could not remember crossing the last time we were here. We became more suspicious when the track deteriorates further. The GPS (Global Positioning System) unit shows that Kampung Beswok (we only have one GPS point to Kg Beswok) to be 8k away constantly and not really changing no matter how far we drive. Finally it jumps to 14k and we stop at a kampung and ask the locals. They tell us the kampung is "over there" (pointing over the hill) but we have to go back to the big bridge and then take the left fork - AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEYYAAHHHHH! Two Aslis are offered fuel and some loot to escort us back to the bridge. However, within 1km, the scooter mysteriously gets a flat and we are on our own again. The return trip is done pretty quick and by 4pm we are back on track and start encountering terrain we know.

Doctor Reuben is amazed at the treatment/punishment the Red Cruiser receives and how it survives. Joycelyn drives the standard Nissan considerably slower, allowing us time to hack away at errant bamboo and trees to protect it from scratches and dents. He is, however, a little alarmed when he is informed each time the Red Cruiser lifts a wheel up as we ascend steep hills. It's a very dry and dusty track that would be considerably more difficult if wet (note very difficult).

Stethoscope time!	Deworming time!	Infant Treatment time

Finally the GPS starts making sense and we progressively creep closer to the kampung - 3.89k, 3.5k, 2.5k - and finally, 800m, 500m. It beeps, warning us that the destination is close. We cross one last muddy bridge, climb a little rise round the corner and there is Kampung Beswok on the right and a large freshly burnt bamboo grove on the left. It is almost 5.30pm and we are at an altitude of approximately 450 meters.

We are directed to drive up the steep hill to the kampung headman's (Mohamad Daud) house and are kindly offered an empty house to sleep in. But we decline politely and descend the slope carefully, trying to avoid the mad chickens running everywhere - the penalty for running over a kampung chicken is not nice. We set up the clinic on the large flat area below the kampung.

We have the doctors ready to start work in 15 minutes, with tarp erected and makeshift tables. Slowly the villagers start coming down, families, kids all waiting patiently for the doctors to attend to them. Dr Reuben does the adults and Drs Cham and Sheila check out the kids, hand out vitamin tablets and give the kids a deworming etc. The Geckos help by passing medicines to the doctors and mixing brew that they doctors syringe into the kids mouths (work stuff etc). Meanwhile the Geckos also have 2 of the boxes of oranges to pass out. For some reason, they pass this job to the Westerner as he is softer on the kids. One orange per kid. We enjoy it and so do the kids. Pretty soon the two boxes are empty, leaving us with one to dispense for the return trip. The kids are running around with 1 to 3 oranges each. The adults have the vitamin packs and the kampung headman, armfuls of medications and a set of instructions.

7.00pm: We decide to shut up shop and concentrate on preparing our food since we had not eaten since 10am. The Aslis provide us with firewood and JG Dave loses the firewood chopping competition against the Asli. Not content with being beaten he then purchases 3 quality blowpipes off the locals for his growing collection. Dave is nicknamed 2K by the doctors for his mention of the distance each time he is asked.

All are happy with the health of the Asli villagers and what we achieved. We have a few more villagers to see in the morning and Joycelyn is to interview the kampung head for the Sun Weekend newspaper. We have handed out some 168 oranges to kids so we believe the population is somewhere around 140 kids and 200 plus adults with several kids getting more than one orange.

8.00pm: A local turns up with a gift of two trussed up chickens for us to terminate and cook. We politely decline as we do not want to eat their precious chickens.

Dinner is Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes (rats! where are they?), Red Peppers, Carrots all wrapped in foil and tossed into the hot coals with Chicken Breasts marinated in olive oil, paprika and basil, cooked on a pan on the hot coals - sounds yummy - it was and not even the rain could put the fire out. Dr Reuben is determined to sing Dave happy birthday and finally a rendition of happy birthday is sung. An evening of merriment until about midnight, when we hear an engine. Motorbike? Nope. 4x4? Yup? What is it? It's a Nissan engine. Finally we realise its Rudee (a 4x4 friend) who has driven from Terrenganu some 6 to 7 hours away to come and be with us on his way back to Penang.

1.00am: It's bed time for the docs and the geckos. The doctors are getting their first sleep in the jungle. Dr Reuben was expecting to sleep on the ground - no such luck, we have a camp bed for him. We all roll into bed exhausted.

The Pharmacy	Orange Distribution	Orange booty

Sunday

The night is cold with a chilly breeze blowing under the 4x4s, blowing into your face if you face the wrong way. We are all woken up very early by a out of sync rooster. Slowly, we arise, have breakfast and prepare the clinic.

The fire is stoked again and the billy boiled for much needed tea and coffee. Joycelyn cooks breakfast and finally we start packing away the food to open the clinic, this time on the back of the Nissan Frontier as Joycelyn is interviewing the kampung head who is a very switched on young man. We all take a liking to him and will be back to visit him in a couple of months.

10.30am: We head off, stopping at small kampungs on the return journey, passing out the contents of our remaining box of oranges and the doctors passing out medical kits with instructions to either the Kampung head or the local midwife. There is no time for clinics, but most of the kids look pretty healthy. As we progress down, the kampungs are more and more well cared for by medical services and we drop the remaining medical supplies at a clinic near Lintang, a large village.

Lunch/afternoon tea is at Lasah and we get severely ripped off. Looks like the cook penalised us for having to leave the Mahjong table to cook for us. They were also out of everything we ordered including rice.

The little baby stock standard Nissan Frontier has survived with only a few scratches underneath - simply amazing considering the terrain. The awesome engine seems to be its saving grace, else it would be in a lot of bother. Nissan please take note. However, it will not make it through any tougher terrain.

To Drs Reuben, Sheila and Cham, a big Thank You from Jungle Geckos. To those who want to help, contact any of the geckos, Michael Oh, David Lee, Joycelyn Lee and Dave Stewart.

Planning for the next trip is already under way, with another kampung in the process of being identified. It is a village that had almost everything washed away during the rains late last year. More 4x4 drivers have volunteered their time and vehicles. If you want to volunteer your time and vehicle, contact us at Junglegeckos.