Late evening view of the mountains from G. Tangga 15

Thursday 3rd June

We started descending at 9 a.m. and headed to Mt Gedong for lunch. Throughout the journey, we got to enjoy the scenery of the mountains. Near Gedong, there were remains of a British airplane, which have crashed during the 50s. We went through Mt Tangga 15, the place where one of our members fell and were extra careful this time. We reached Pankin Camp before dark, and got our rest to prepare for the next day. One thing interesting about the place is that the local rodent here will make the rats in Bangsar looks like kitten. They are quite harmless though, as long as you don’t do anything stupid to them, like holding them in the air by their tails….  

Resting at Padang Camp

Friday 4^th June

We left Pankin early for Kuala Teku Camp. After crossing 8 rivers, we finally reached the camp and were looking forward for lunch when we realized that our food that we left at the camp was stolen. Our plan got backfired. Initially we have hid some of our food on the way up so that we would not have to carry all our things to the peak. Luckily there were quite a number of us in the team, so we went on sharing our food. Lunch was fast as we need to reach Kuala Putih Camp before dark. Like the first time we were there, we were greeted by swarms of bee-like insect, which seems to be more interested for our sweat than our presence.

A sight to remember, part of Tahan River

Members of the forest... 

Saturday 5^th June

The mother of all tracking. It was our last day of the expedition, and we had to reach Kuala Tahan, which is about 27km away! We started our journey at 8.30 a.m. after a simple breakfast. Our first task for today was to get clear of Mt Rajah and all we could do was complaint as we climbed. Our motto for that morning was “It is better to sit in front of the TV drinking iced-tea that being in this god forsaken forest…” until, more than an hour later, when we finally reached the peak. Then there was Bukit Malang (The Unfortunate Hill). We were pretty tense by then. But we had our ways of releasing our tension. Some of us sang, some of us enjoyed the forest sceneries. Me? Well, I thought that throwing my instant noodle was quite therapeutic. At times myself, and a few of my friends, had to resort to packets of sugar for our source of energy. We made a quick stop at Melantai for our lunch. From there onwards, we weren’t talking much. Most of us just kept our thoughts to ourselves, planning what to have when we reached Kuala Tahan. The thought of a glass of ice tea waiting for me at Kuala Tahan kept me going. A few kilometres before reaching Kuala Tahan were hell for me. The blisters on both of my feet had gone from bad to worse. I’d suppose it was due to the days of walking in a pair of sweat-soaked socks. Each step I took has it’s own curse marked to it. It felt like we have been walking forever when finally we saw the Kuala Tahan signboard. It was 7 p.m. when we arrived at the park office for our inspection (this is when the park ranger checked that all items, such as plastic bag, can, clothing, etc., that you bring in is taken out).  

Only God knows how happy we were that night. Words can’t really describe what was our feeling when we reached the peak of Tahan and when we ended our journey. I’d suppose that only those who have been through it would know. We made funny remarks that we would seek other hobbies to replace our interest in mountain climbing. But deep down, we know that this will not be the last time we will climb such mountain. We were also very thankful that nobody got hurt during the 7 days or our expedition.  

On a final note, the best plan to climb Mt Tahan would be 5 days going up and 4 days going down. We had to cram ours to 4+3 days as we were short of time. If you are planning to climb Mt Tahan, then I wish you luck, and you can be assured that you’ll be having a climb of a lifetime.

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