I just got back from staying three days and two nights in the jungles of Gopeng, Perak!
Before I go on about the details of the camp, let me just say... the camp was awesome. Although it may have been a teeny-weeny rough for my liking, but then again, what is a camp if we have zero-free risk of leeches climbing at your legs, getting a few cuts here and there, and (huh!) loosing my glasses (though i must say this happened more out of carelessness than anything else. In the end, my glasses were found by the resthouse manager.)
I will include the pictures once they are uploaded by other people.
Day 1:
Departed from Sunway University College in the morning. The camp is organised by a bunch of students, doing their Diplomas in Event Management as their assignement. By the time we arrived in Gopeng town, it was noon. Got off the bus and boarded a lorry!!! haha, it might seem a little disbelievable but it was very fun! With the wind blowing strongly at my hair, avoiding the tree branches that come our way... it was really a priceless experience we dont normally get everyday. We stayed in Adeline's Resthouse. I shared a room with my old classmate, Carmen in a rumah panjang.
That very day itself, we went caving at Gua Kandu. The guide told us that it is the eight biggest cave in Malaysia. I enjoyed my time climbing the inside of the cave, the air was cool and it was amazing to just grapple your way on your hands through an almost pitch black cave. I dont know the guy who lent his torch to Carmen and me, and i didnt get the chance to thank him, but yea... it was very kind of him. Couldnt have gone through the caving activity without it. Some parts of the rocks tht we climbed were at a 90degree slope, while other parts were plain rocky. There were bats in the cave and the noises they made sounded like they were giggling at us. Haha, the bats must have found it amusing to see us humans walking through the dark cave, half-tired, half-lost.
Rode the lorry back to Adeline's Resthouse.
Day 2:
The second day is supposed to be the highlight of the camp. We had white-water rafting in the morning, jungle trekking and river-crossing in the afternoon, and a superb dinner at the villa.
The white-water rafting experience at the Kampar River certainly met up with my expectation. Initially, i had qualms about my safety but when i realised that each boat would be allocated one guide, my uneasiness eased. I shared the boat with four other guys - Kelvin, Wai, Eddy, and Bravo. It was a thrilling experience to go through because at one part of the river or another, the current was so strong i almost felt like i was gonna be thrown out of the boat! There was a person that fell out of the boat.. but, it wasnt me! The guide managed to rescue him, while all of us were still drifting along with the currents. But actually, this is pretty common when you white-water raft. The dangerous part was when Bravo accidentally hit his shoulder against a boulder. His entire arm was numb after that and i could see he was trying to hide his pain as he lay in the middle of the boat. But despite these two casualties, i found that i enjoyed this activity and i think i will attempt this again in future!
I lost my glasses because i placed it at the starting point before white-water rafting. And when i came back for it, they were gone.
Because of my loss, i decided it was better that i didnt go jungle-trekking half blind. Besides, it was raining and there was thunder. Some people were stung by wasps and others, in fact most got bitten by leeches. Kind of relieved i decided to miss this part of the camp.
Dinner was at the villa. Lamb, sate, prawns, squid cuttlet, sausages, bbq chicken, you name it! I also got the chance to drink bamboo soup! The dinner was a simple fair but i liked the variety and uniqeness of the meals.
Had a campfire later that night. I was part of the process of building the fire!!!
Day 3:
This was the final day of the camp. We went to the waterfalls. The site was breathtakingly beautiful and very very cooling. Many of them went to play with the water by standing at the foot of the waterfall and letting the water hit them from the top. I didnt, coz i felt that the water was too cold for my liking. It was a risk i took and i guess some people might think i am not being adventurous, but it is up to me to weigh the risks for myself. I did dip my feet in the cold refreshing water though... :)
I am glad i went for this camp. It provided me with the opportunity for me to do things i dont normally do. Also got the chance to see a whole different lot of people i dont normally see in the campus of Universiti Malaya!
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