It was a hazy afternoon at the Canyon viewpoint. The canyon was so deep, vast and expanse that my mind had difficulty registering its enormous scale. There was not a single man-made object in sight to provide a scale of reference so much so that my mind was deceived to perceive it to be much smaller than it actually was. This is the 2^nd largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in US. It has a steep decent of 500m to the bottom of the canyon. A pair of young and fit couple from Drifters, apparently to be seasoned hikers from their branded hiking outfits, took 2 strenuous hours to get down and up.

"It will take me 3 hours and I’ll get it all done before noon tomorrow," I thought as I looked at the river down the canyon. It seemed so close.

It took us slightly more than 1.5hr to get to the bottom. We were rewarded with a beautiful scenery - the blue sky, sheer red cliffs, green vegetation and soft sand along the greenish river, breaking the monotone of the brownish landscape. Even though Woon was not keen to trek down the 500m deep canyon, she was totally impressed by the view and felt justified for the effort.

The other group who had overtaken and supposed to be ahead of us, arrived soon after. They had lost their way before backtracking to the right route.

We rested for a while and took time to enjoy the view. After taking some pictures and posing for the camera, we packed up and headed back. Unless we wanted to trek the 5 days route, there was nothing much left to do in the Canyon. I wanted to rush to Luderitz by evening, a day ahead of my schedule, even though I had already paid for the campsite in Hobas.

After about 45 min climb, the path seemed to be inaccessible. It was getting too steep and the ground too soft and rocky. We didn’t seemed to have travelled by this path earlier. The top of the canyon looked different too. We decided to backtrack and take the other path on the right which we had hesitated 15 min ago. We climbed up the other path and no, it didn’t seem right either. There was almost no way up. We didn’t climb such steep slope when we went down. We turned back and returned to the original path on the left. Just head upwards. The top is there.

My thigh muscles was starting to cramp slightly from the climb. We pushed further up but the path was getting steeper and starting to disappear. Just as I was feeling lost and contemplating to backtrack once more, we heard some faint voices from a distant. Somebody was around talking!

"HELLO! Is anybody out there?" I raised my voice and shouted. And I repeated myself again waving my hands to attract attention.

"You are off track!" came the reply.

About 150m away to the left, across the ridge, I saw members of the other group. Thanks goodness, they were making their way up too. And most importantly, they were talking loud enough for us to hear!

I didn’t realise that we had diverted so much to the right. I had actually wanted to trek down and find my way to go up by the correct path. But the man across advised me to cross the ridges so as we could maintain visual contact. Upon appraisal of the terrain, we confirmed that it was feasible to cross the rugged ridges between us.

But the cross was no easy task. Some parts of the ridges were really steep and the ground was soft and sandy with broken rocks. I had to get on all five, including my buttock to maintain low centre of gravity and additional traction, grabbing on whichever firm rock my hand could reach. At one point, it was so steep and ground so soft that Woon could easily lose hold and slide down the ridge to some 50 feet below. And I was almost helpless, leaning against the soft gravel slope with 3 limbs and stretching out the last trying to pull her over. She almost broke down to cry and I felt so guilty and remorseful to have brought her to such dangerous situation.

The man across the ridges was also trying to help, guiding us which way to go as we were unable to see some of the terrain over the ridges. Finally we managed to cross without sliding down any slope.

"Look out for the stacked stones along the way. They are meant to guide you," The kind man offered his advice. Now I know the purpose of all those stacked stones and pebbles along the way.

"And use the top as the guide," he pointed to the top of the canyon where the starting point of the trek was.

We continued to ascent again. The other group was trying to walk together with us but we were too slow for them. But they still looked back occasionally to make sure we were all right and on the right track.

The cramp on my thighs was getting painful. My lungs were screaming for more air and my throat was dry. I stopped every few steps to catch a breather and waited for Woon who was trailing and struggling behind me. It was getting hot under the midday sun and we finished the last drop of water. The motivation for me at that moment was the thought of the refreshing bottled mineral water and fresh oranges inside my car parked at the top.

We met a couple on their way down when we almost reach the top. The group that helped us were already. They must be rushing for time as we had wasted much of theirs.

By the time we returned to our campsite to dismantled and pack our tent, it was already 1.15pm. I needed to get to Luderitz before dark and I had to rush. We had no time for proper lunch. Instead we had it while driving. I washed down slices of plain bread with a packet of fruit juice. Woon placed the packet near my mouth and I sipped while still driving.

Time was tight and I was worried that my fuel might run dry before the next petrol station. I had totally forgotten the incident of the car skid which happened the day before. I ramped on the accelerator on the gravel road rated as D, going as fast as 140km.

The same thing happened again. It was almost a replay of the previous incident, except I was less lucky this time. The car skidded and went out of control when I was trying to negotiate a bend. The car swung and hit a rock by the side of the bend. The impact helped to bring the car to a halt.

The sport rim of the front left wheel was slightly dented. The alignment of the steering wheel was also off. I could not drive fast anymore as the 2 front wheels were going against each other. The leak on the left tyre went unnoticed until much later at the petrol station when it went flat. I was considered to be very lucky that I could still continue to drive and not stuck in the middle of the desert.

At the petrol station, Woon changed the tyre with the help of the attendant while I stood watching. This was my first time involved in changing tyres. I was not required to know this to apply for my driving license. But Woon opted to learn and now the skills became essential. However, the attendant wasn’t able to help us correct the misalignment of the steering wheel.

We continued our journey to Luderitz on the unsteady vehicle. The car kept steering to the right and I had to apply a constant pressure on the steering wheel to keep it in proper direction. I was told that driving in Namibia after dark could be dangerous. I tried to go as fast as I could, about 120km, to make up for the lost time.

We headed west on the long straight road with the sun almost down to the horizon. The evening light was beautiful and every photographer would have loved it. But it was a totally different game when you were driving towards the setting sun with the steering wheel out of alignment and rushing for time. I squinted at the glaring ray to make up what lie ahead from the back-lighted shadows, maintaining speed so as not to loss precious time. All these while, I noticed that was another vehicle keeping a constant distance behind us.

It was almost dark and there was another forty odd kilometers to Luderitz when we heard the funny sound. We pulled up to the side and got down to check. Besides a funny burning smell, the tires seemed to be fine. We resumed thinking nothing was wrong.

But we were wrong. The right tire burst after a short drive. The constant steer of the vehicle to the left had caused the right tire to rub against the road, generating tremendous friction. The vehicle that had been behind us all those while also came to a stop and 2 gentleman came down to offer their assistance. We had already used up the spare tire and had none left. And even if there was one, the weather had became too windy and cold for me to stay in the open for the job. The two gentlemen suggested us to continue driving with the broken tire while they followed behind.

I drove for a short distant before the tire really gave way. We transferred most of our equipment and squeezed ourselves into the other car.

We checked into the most posh hotel in Luderitz with the 2 gentlemen. I was too tired, cold, hungry and shaken to look for a cheaper alternative.

What a day on 4^th Sep 1998! First, we almost got lost in Fish River Canyon. Our car then skidded and hit a rock. It could had been fatal. And our tires punctured not once but twice. Luckily we me these 2 kind souls or else we could have been left shivering and starving out in the cold and windy desert for the night.

After a nice meal, I retired on the warm cosy bed of the Nest Hotel. The day was finally over!