.:Sleepless Night in Jerangkang:.

I just got back from Jerangkang yesterday evening. Yes! What a weekend! We departed from home on Friday, around 11 ish after satay dinner, a round of foot massage by the machine, watching One in a Million and chasing after Jojo and Milo who craves freedom outside their lairs...ehehhee

The same night, Boe and Nam had a 50-50 heart of going to Jerangkang by 12 am. Yeah you know, guys...! they love footie especially when it was the opening of the World Cup in Germany. Luckily when we reached BP on Karak highway to wait for Said's truck, the guys managed to catch a glimpse on the first goal made by Germany. Har har..!

DAY ONE
We reached Maran toll around 4 am and made a brief stop to chat with friends and struggling not to sleep. Boe, Nam and Said lepak at the truck's pickup smoking toxic and fume = ciggies(bleurgh!). By 5 ish, we reached the stall near Bekelah, had a nap nearby and freshen up at the mosque and prayed. It was a first time experience for Adik, a 14 year old gal to ride on a 4wd and experience an off road trip.

The track was not as exciting as in Selai, but heck! Boe tried to excite the boredom by trying a track just nearby our camp site. oh yeah! that baby got stuck 45 - 50 degrees in the thick and slimy mud. It was exciting and I had the experience of capturing that moment on Boe's reliable Nikon D70s. Boe, Nam and Said worked as a team like most of Lanun Darat's peeps to pull off the stuck truck. They succeeded in pulling it off half an hour later when Said pull it back to back. So, we can't drive up the 4 wheeler...and decided to have rice, beef rendang, omelette and salted fish for brunch back at the camp site instead.

Around 11 ish, we hiked up Jerangkang waterfall and another incident happened. Boe who lead us up had a gash on his head due to a haphazard cut branches. We stop for another half an hour before Boe decided to proceed regardless of his condition. In 15 mins, there it was...one of the 30 storeys Jerangkang waterfall...we swam and shoot some photos. Adik experienced her first leech bite and that made her an official member of the adventure team. har har...it was funny to see her face that time, as if she cannot decide whether to sit or to lie down or to run...

We went back to the camp site by 2 pm and Said cooked fried rice for lunch. Vit, Adik and I dozed off that afternoon in the shimmering heat but hey! This is camping anyway and we were too tired of a sleepless night. (tried to but orang kata tido-tido ayam je)

That night, we cooked sardine, fried some salted fish again, ate baked beans and telur mata. Soni was forced to be the alam flora that night, eating the remaining food while crying...har har! I played my first daun terup "race" game with the guys and won at least 3 games before losing it all hehehe. Lucky it was not a strip game. huhuhu. The guys even had the "who's fart was the noisiest and stinkiest of them all". Said won it stinkingly. It was gross but well...as long as I didn't smell it, it's ok (phew)

Sleeping was not easy..
it rained during dusk and brought so much insects. I'm not sure what it was called but in malay we called it Agas, which was immuned to our insect repellant. I was bitten all over my face and hands. We slept while having to wrap our body with hooded jacket and sleeping bag. Bah! I hate agas! Nam's bonfire was put off by rain and that dampened our spirit to chase away the bloodsuckers.

Boe who injured, slept like a baby that night and had the sweetest dream of eating caviar in a clinic (after a jab at his arse). What a dream! My face was swollen like a pig and suddenly I thought I gained another 20 kilos due to that monstrous attack by agas. Yuck!

DAY TWO
"woke up" around 7 ish and freshen up. The water was icy cold but love its feeling on my swollen aching body of last nite terror. I cooked a "special" fried rice and Vit made us tuna sandwich. Nam fried some crackers to go with the fried rice. Had another swim at the camp site's river and we were off to Lanchang to visit one elephant's sanctuary and a small lil safari.

Boe trusted me to drive his truck off road and boy! I fell in love with off trip driving immediately. It was not as muddied, but hmm for a novice...it was quite challenging for me. In Lanchang, we made friends with baby elephants, sun bear, lil phyton (which I can still feel its cold slick body on me neck!), deers and the rangers there.

We had a blast, truly enjoyed my first off road driving and now dreaming of owning one wrangler!

What a weekend...Will post some pics here later.