yong belar-gayong-korbu trek day 1

| 11 october 2008 | woke up early, had breakfast and gathered at jame's place at 5.00 am | reached ipoh at about 6.15 am and ah meng and his son drove team to kampung raja where team had a good breakfast | after breakfast, team was driven to the pick up point by a truck | trek was started about 1.5 hours late due to late arrival of the truck which would deliver team to starting point at a vegetable farm | don't know name of the farm but it is located at the end of a dirt road which mets the simpang pulai to gua musang road just at the border between pahang and kelantan | dirt road was in a bad condition | during the trek ah long the guide kept saying that team would only reach the peak of gunung yong belar at 8.00 pm | ah long had absolutely no idea of the distances involved or the terrain between the farm and the peak where team was to camp for the night | to all questions as to how far the team was from the peak ah long's stock standard answers were "jauuuh" | anyway, the trail went up and down, mostly up until the last water point which team reached at about 4.15 pm | then it goes uphill all the way to the peak | the trail was muddy and all equipment and clothing were covered with black sticky mud | after a few hours, did not even attempt to maintain any semblence of cleanliness | lots of clambering on all fours especially at the final stretch | trail was well marked | during the trek, team only made short breaks to drink and for some to eat | trail was slippery and fell a number of times but luckily no injury suffered except to ego | strange that the guides and some team member especially sexy eyes did not seem to fall at all | it rained lightly in the late afternoon but stopped by the time of arrival at the peak | relieved to reach the peak at 5.30 pm when ah long's estimate was a depressing 8.00 pm | it did not felt very cold at the peak of gunung yong belar and a long sleeved t-shirt over another t-shirt and long pants would probably suffice to manage the cold | balaclavas and gloves were certainly far from being needed | decided to stop relying on ah long's estimates of distances and times | dinner comprised of boiled rice, kampung fish, tuna, long beans and dried shrimps sambal organized by ah chui | due to exhaustion bedtime was an early 8.30 pm | slept soundly | when unpacking, discovered the eiger backpack used was totally soaked even with the use of a raincover | some of the plastic bags used to keep items dry were too thin to protect adequately but fortunately most times were dry enough | a piece of advice use only thick plastic bags to keep items dry and a second bag is recommended | noticed that the guides ah long and ah lee totally emptied their bags after they set up their tent and just left their backpacks casually on any piece of ground totally exposed to the elements | the eiger backpack was also showing signs of stress with a bent aluminium frame and more worryingly a torn strap | fortunately the strap did not break | noticed also that the guides and more experienced team members pack everything into their backpacks with nothing outside | the reason is that outside items tend to snag at obstacles | the trek involved clambering on all fours through dog holes created by tree branches and rocks as well sharp short drops | the trek was not easy | ah meng even doubted team could complete the trek due to the presence of "fat and old" team members but the fat and old" team members, who were justifiably irked by ah meng's rather insensitive comment, were more than capable of completing the trek | team comprised of a sixty years old pantai ong and a sixty two years old clement and sexy eyes was on the heavy side | selama kong was 53 years old and james was 50 years old | the average age of the team would have probably been about 50 | the campsite at the peak of gunung yong belar comprised of a single open space | was able to set up 4 tents and a kitchen with space to spare | ah long and ah lee the guides shared a tent | james, clement and selama kong share the same tent | sexy eyes, ah loong and ah chui shared another | lee thiam huat, pantai ong and this blogger share the final tent | this arrangement was replicated for the next 2 nights |