When a friend of ours invited us to join in on a picnic trip during the long Labor Day weekend, there was really no reason why we should say no. It was said to be a slightly bumpy but comfortable ride into a campsite off the Grik highway, and we will be camping in the woods for two nights. Waking up to the freshest air possible you can get in Malaysia, playing by the river, experiencing nature at its most naked form, and most importantly, having that relaxing picnic that was highly spoken of; I picture nothing but fun. *all smiles*
And so, we departed on April 29, 2011 at approximately 12 midnight, with our backpacks packed, ready to have our little picnic. Stopped by the Grik town for some late supper and petrol before we head on to the entrance to get into our campsite. One of the guys told us it would only be a 4 hour ride. We started our off-road journey at approximately 3am, so I thought, we should be able to get to the campsite by 7am.
5 mins after we started our off-road journey, we hit our first obstacle. It was a ride down a slope, then a ride along the river, and then up another slope again, just so we can get across to the other side of the river bank. I was genuinely worried at first. So was my friend. We were hanging on to dear life. The guys looked really calm though.
After the first obstacle, I thought we would be experiencing that slightly bumpy but comfortable ride into our campsite. Well, I thought wrong. Really wrong. After that 1st obstacle, we bumped into the 2nd one, and the 3rd one, and the 4th one and then I lost track. I think when we hit the 5th obstacle (or was it the 6th) it was 7am in the morning and there were definitely more obstacles to come. We even nearly toppled over to one side while sitting in the car.
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE CAMPSITE BY 7AM! Campsite nowhere to be seen. All we saw were a pile of elephants’ poop and a bunch of trees. Make that TONS and TONS of elephants’ poop. I wonder how many elephants live in this jungle.
There were lots of analyzing and brainstorming activities during this trip; which part of the wood to chain saw, which rock to move, how to drive past a pile of woods and pot holes and elephants’ poop. It was exhausting and stressful just by watching the activities that were going on during our ride to the campsite.
By noon, the sun was blazing its heat at us and we were still nowhere near the campsite. Most of us were starving and there were still a lot of things to do. It was at this particular obstacle when I got my first leech bite. It didn’t manage to suck any blood coz I spotted it almost instantly and slapped it away. It didn’t appear to be gross to me. Must have been the exhaustion from the heat that made me had no fear for that stupid leech.
After another 3 hours of struggle, we arrived at the campsite in one piece (thank God). It took us 13 hours to get to the campsite. 13 freaking hours!! All I wanted to do as soon as we arrived was to setup the tent, take a bath in the river and go to bed. The shower was the first best thing that has happened since we got off-road. Best water bath ever. I should have brought my bath salt with me.
I slept at 6pm that day. Best sleep ever.
The subsequent days were all about experiencing nature at its most naked form. Nature was our shower place, our cooking place, our sleeping place, our pooping and peeing place. Yea… pooping in the wild was quite an experience. Disposing the poop was yet another experience. And no, you don’t want to know. To be honest, it was really nice once we were at the campsite. There weren’t a lot of leeches so it wasn’t all that bad. Besides, the Mosi-Guard mosquito repellent I brought was amazing. Bought a bottle the very instant I saw the note “proven to repel against leeches”. It definitely worked for us.
We packed up and left the campsite at approximately 3.30pm on May 2, 2011. The ride out (using the same route) wasn’t as bad as when we first arrived. It was because the guys have cleared all the fallen trees and rocks on our way here. Took us 3 1/2 hours to get back on the normal tar road.
It was quite an experience. It was nothing like the camping-at-kem-coronation back in the schooling days. Nowhere near to be exact. This was the real deal. Will I do it again? Maybe not anytime soon. Nonetheless, maybe after I’ve recovered from clearing all those insect bite marks, and have gone to a couple more of those beach holidays, I may just opt to try another round of this crazy 4WD, camping in the jungle experience again.
Thank you so much Miss B and Mr S for letting us tag along. It was definitely one of those things in life that would be difficult to forget. 
p/s: I don’t think the photos could have illustrated the experience from this picnic. One has to go on one of this trips to truly grasp what this sort of camping is all about. 
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