Camping Trip.

I realized I haven't posted about anything except for trips and places that I have been to. And I'm super guilty of not updating my blog for the whole month. But oh well, what can I do?

I went to a camping trip organized by my university lecturer and I was super excited because it was the first time camping for me. The trip was held at one of Malaysia's national parks, and it lasted for three days and two nights.

Lalala-long past ahead.

DAY ONE

The whole bus ride lasted for probably six hours since we're travelling to Pahang. By the time we reached the national park, we lost all signals and of course, no Wi-Fi. Yeap, we all survived without any signals or internet.

I thought we were going to camp inside the forest but it was actually just outside it. Our campsite is near a river that was wide enough for all of us to set up our camp. There was also buildings beside our campsite so we did not totally left civilization.

After we set up our tents, we had free time until the briefing during the evening. My whole class decided to take a look at the river nearby.

I was wearing my sport shoes so I didn't want to get into the water at first, but I couldn't resist it when I saw how clear the water is. It was cool and relaxing but it was painful to walk on the rocks, even though they're all round.

Lookhowclearitisssss.

We took our first class photo there. Can you believe it!? Actually, it wasn't really complete class photo because not everyone came to this trip. But yeah, our class was never really close to the point that we have to take class photos everyday and post them on Facebook. I'm just saying.

I think this is more interesting than the formal one.

We got back to the site and gathered for a briefing by the guides in the national park about cooking dinner by ourselves. He taught us how to use the portable stoves and gave us the utensils available. We were given quite a lot of ingredients and each group have to prepare a meal with rice. It wasn't a competition, though.

I was lucky to have a great cook in my group and she handled almost everything. I only remember standing helplessly as I watch her cook. I'm a female but I have zero knowledge in cooking, sigh. I rather wash the dishes than to spend an hour preparing to cook.

We were cooking at our campsite so we had to place everything on the ground. There are always bugs flying around and seeds falling from the trees above us. It was tough but we managed anyway. More like, my group managed it, LOL. *draws cones*

Our 'kitchen'.

We prepared rice, sardines, cabbage, omelettes, anchovies and watermelon for dessert. Everything was edible and our rice was the best among all the other groups. Simple, but nice dinner.

Our last activity for that day was night forest trekking. Now, I have never trekked into forests before and my first time trekking is already at night. I was a little scared, because the guide joked about how we might have another extra member when we do the head count after the trekking. Other than that, I'm still excited.

We entered the forest in a line and the if the guide spotted anything, he will explain. Mostly are insects, and there are big ants, spiders, a big cricket and other unknown beetles. Without our flashlights, we will be surrounded by complete darkness.

We walked for quite some distance before the guide told us to stop and sit down. He also told us to switch off all lights and stay silent for five minutes. He wanted us to listen to nature and if it's possible, spot the bioluminescence plants that were around us.

There were the sounds of birds and insects, and there was a feeling of peace as I sat and listen. I could really spend the whole night listening to it. I tried hard to spot for the glowing plants but I couldn't really spot for anything until my friend beside me grabbed my head and made it look at the direction. It was faint, but it's there.

We sat for another five minutes after someone requested and once again we were in the dark. I saw something flashing and moving and I wasn't sure if it was the bioluminescence plants. When the light came back, I asked my friends around and it turned out the light was from a watch. The watch glows in the dark. I'm so glad I got to see the glowing plant at least once.

We trekked out to the forest and back to the road and there was a distance before we reach our campsite. Above us were so many stars that you can't see in the city and it was beautiful (not as beautiful than the ones I saw at Krabi, though). The guide told us to turn off our flashlights again and walk back to camp.

Many people told me that it will be freezing at night but it was still okay to me. But I forgot to bring my sleeping bag so I was sleeping with a thin layer of blanket between me and the ground. It was really uncomfortable.

Oh, we saw a wild boar near our campsite.

DAY TWO

I think when they meant freezing, they meant when you wake up in the morning. Because I woke up with a sore leg and I was feeling cold as snow (Ha). I also woke up to the sound of hornbills and their wings flapping loudly.

You don't get to see them flying in zoos.

Anyway, that day we went to trek in the forest to the Elephant cave. The distance to the cave is 2KM so it was near lunch time by the time we reached it.

We trekked in a line, students at the front and adults at the back, and two guides at each end. The problem was not everyone can keep up the pace of the guides and we had to stop quite often so that everyone is together again.

Halfway trekking to the cave, I heard someone behind me shouting 'Run'.

I glanced behind before I took off running and saw one of the adults chasing away something away from his neck and I kinda knew that we were probably running away from bees.

So the students ran without really knowing what is behind us, without knowing where are we going into the deep unknown forest. I have to admit, I felt excited running away from the danger. I know I should be fearing for the bees but I can't help it.

Eventually, we caught up with the guide in front and he told us to stay where we are while he went to look for the adults at the back. A few bees managed to catch up to us but no one got stung. One of the adults that were with us begin to tell us how it really happened and yeah, it was bees. A lady accidentally hit a bee hive and chaos unfolded.

We waited for quite a while before the adults finally caught up. It was funny to see my lecturer covering one of his eyes. I know I'm a bad person but really, you don't get to see that everyday. Most of the adults got stung but those were only tiny bees so it can get worse.

We continued trekking and because of the incident, it took three hours instead of two. We had our lunch outside the cave with many kinds of insects flying around us. There were friggin butterflies too. I was creeped out at first but I just don't care anymore.

We entered the cave and it was really spacious. The guide said that the elephants enter the cave when they seek shelter, that's why the name Elephant cave. There were bats flying at the ceiling of the cave and we encountered a really jumpy toad and another snake glued to the ceiling. The ground was also soft and I think it's because of squished poop. Elephants or bats, no idea.

HAI SERUUUUU.

We spent an hour at the cave exploring and sketching our assignment. I wanted to explore more of the cave but everyone was freaked out by the darkness and the bats. I wasn't afraid at all and thought it was fun! My friends said I was crazy.

So we trekked back to our campsite after the cave exploration but ah, then it didn't go really smooth either.

One of our classmate suffered a blister at her foot and had to move slowly out of the forest. The adults were going at her pace so the other students plus a guide was trekking too fast. We were then separated from them and had to stop and wait.

After a while, the guide with us told us to wait for them to catch up while he had to perform his prayers (he's a Muslim). He left us, a bunch of kids in the forest and we were quite hopeless, I think. Most of started to get nervous because none of them came back after a while and some of us wondered if we should continue trekking our way out ourselves.

And it was then one of the lecturers caught up with us and told us to go ahead without them. We just had to follow the yellow markers and eventually we will get out. If he never mentioned about the yellow markers I wouldn't even have noticed them. *slaps forehead*

So, the kids trekked their way out and we caught up with the guide that was praying. We continued our journey and finally, we reached the road that was outside the forest. We were exhausted but super relieved because it felt like forever, getting out of the forest.

I got two leech bites.

We returned to camp after the adults got out too and everyone was probably exhausted by then. But the students still wanted hang out at the river, so why not.

While we are playing, one of our classmate's crocs got swept away by the current. Fortunately, it got stuck at one of the corners(?) of the river. It looked pretty deep so no one dared to swim towards it. The guys were poking it with sticks and throwing stones at it but it doesn't budge.

I was standing at the other side of the river, fearing if it really got freed and will continue down the river if they weren't fast enough to catch it. Gah, I'm so glad that I stood there waiting because it really happened. My classmate would have to say goodbye to one of his crocs if it wasn't for me. Heh. Too bad no one brought their camera and we couldn't record all the action and drama.

We went back to camp and a BBQ dinner was waiting for us. Because of our hard work preparing dinner the night before, the adults promised to settle dinner that day. The food was great and it was really relaxing. Except for the giant cicadas and giant bugs flying around.

Sadly, our lecturer cancelled the campfire session because he THOUGHT that everyone was exhausted. I think he was just lazy. I was looking forward to it and now we have no campfire, hmph. But there was a group of students who were chatting so I joined them.

There, we talked about life, our class, (gossiped about) people and asked really random questions here and there. I didn't really had sessions like this before with a bunch of people so it was quite interesting. We chatted until 3:30AM and I only got to sleep at 4:30AM.

Back to sleeping on the ground.

LAST DAY

The only activity we had that was white water tubing. Basically, it's sitting on doughnut shaped tubes and float your way down the river. We had to trek 15 minutes in the forest, carrying nothing but our tubes.

It was a dry season so the river is pretty dried up, yeap. There is no current so we have to the manual paddling with our hands. At some parts we had to get up, carry our tubes and walk to deeper waters to just continue paddling our way down.

Really relaxing. Sometimes I'll just stop paddling and lay on the tube and all you can see are the tall trees surrounding you. I don't know how long it took but we paddled until we reached near our campsite.

Then, we had our final meal and it was so delicious. Packed our bags and got on the bus. Another six hour journey before we reached our campus.

I loved this trip. It's an awesome new experience for me and I do not mind getting close to nature again.

Most of the photos above are taken by my lecturer, Mr. Charles.

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Ahh, I apologize for neglecting my blog. I think it's mainly because nothing interesting has happened in my life. But I will try to post at least one a week, even if it's total bullshit.