for the uninitiated, WWR = whitewater rafting, defined as
"challenging recreational activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers." KKB = kuala kubu bharu, the closest spot to sg selangor, where WWR took part.
aku, adik aku rafiq, cousin k aida, and another friend anis berkongsi kereta ke kkb fr usj (anis' place). supposedly tiba sana around 9, tapi atas sbb2 tidak dpt dielakkan, sampai sana kul 10. kitorg gi under pierose, owned by a guy called pie (ada pronounced it as pi'ee, ada pi, ada 'pai', mana satu betul tah) and his wife rose. selalu WWR ni buat in groups, and on that weekend ada group of 40 or 60, so kitorg menumpang sekaki, dpt rate pun group rate punya.
rafiq, me , k aida. tgh tunggu river guides, yg lain sume tgh test air hehe
ckYOO and partner-in-crime (one of the river guides). safety talk. really funny guy. daym itu mmg kaki org tu ke? apsal aku x ingat kakinya se-'tanned' itu?
most of the guides are natives of that place. aku lupa asal-usul WWR@kkb, tapi has got sth to do with empangan sg selangor nearby. ke no relation? tah. tapi wwr ni mmg byk benda kena tau. i mean, the basics of what to do when sth happens tu mmg kena tau la. ye la, challenging recreational activity kan. agak ngeri dgr ada org patah tangan sbb sangkut batu la, boat kena sedut by pusaran air la, org tercampak terhantuk batu, etc.
with anis. tgh tunggu pembahagian rafts
luckily kitorg dpt satu raft all to ourselves. well, not all, since all rafts must be accompanied by at least 1 river guide. in our case, we got 2. budak2 je diorg ni, sorg nama pusing (19 yrs old), lagi sorg lupa nama, umur pun lebih kurang tu kot. map sg tu x jumpa yg ok la, so korg tgk kat
sini je lah ye.
earlier during the journey (acece), we went through under the bridge to fraser's hill fr kkb. nice i tell you, tapi sbb xde kamera kan, aku hanya boleh tunjuk gambaran seumpama yg kitorg nampak. and the bridge was way up, ni kira rendah lagi ni. rasa mcm dlm one of those treasure hunting / crocodile hunting movies, hehe. jambatannya pun xde la mcm ni, jambatan konkrit mcm tu je. tapi sgt cool.
based on the map, and according to our guides, ada 2 tpt yg dikira agak berbahaya: chicken drop and sth else (i think it's before the 2nd canyon, tapi x sure nama apa). since raft kitorg selalu yg awal sampai satu2 tpt tu, our guides were in charge of taking pictures of other rafters. so kitorg nampak aa mana raft yg tergolek, mana yg org terkeluar kan. dah la ada org siap bg statistik, 10 out of 15 rafts akan tergolek. hehe x tau nak ckp takut ke excited kat situ.
gigih mendayung hehe
chicken drop! wowwee
miraculously, kitorg x tergolek! haha bangga gak aa, walaupun aku rasa it depends on how many ppl are in the raft, etc. kitorg 4 org je, sah2 sume boleh sit in (term used to signal everyone has to sit inside the raft, as opposed duduk kat kat tepi masa paddling). tapi kelam kabut jugak, sbb somehow paddle aku tercucuk kat pinggang anis (yg duduk kat depanku). err tapi seriously aku rasa aku pegang terpacak je mcm tu.
2nd dangerous spot, lagi byk raft tergolek. ni mmg agak ngeri la, sbb the raft would dive headfirst / frontfirst into the water. pdhal bukan tinggi mcm air terjun pun. mmg kitorg nampak ada yg tercampak keluar tu. masa ni sume org kena... alamak, lupa term, tapi kena sume duduk within the back part of the raft. mmg gila kelam kabut la time tu, sbb mana muat sume nak berebut2 duk kat belakang kan, sampai just before the dive in, anis dah nak give up nak gi depan balik dah, sbb xleh nak duduk. tapi si pusing tu tarik dia ke belakang sbb kalau ke depan confirm raft tu akan terbalik. even then, mmg terpacak siot raft tu (sorry ah, xde gambar, sure susah nak bayangkan hehe peace). woo mmg best gila rasa. and xde sapa2 terpelanting pun.. alright.
tapi mmg sg tu penuh batu. mmg you have to have guides to steer the raft, otherwise byk habis masa nak lepaskan raft dr sangkut kat batu je. rafters pun kena amik bhg gak, bila nak 'over right', sume serong ke kanan so the raft will be tilted, over left, etc. ada sekali tu kitorg sume tilted to the left, and memandangkan aku mmg duduk belah kiri, aku la yg paling bwh, kena himpit dgn cousin aku. boleh lak tiba2 depan tu ada satu batu besar, baikk punya raft kitorg headed to the side of the rock. kalau head on, mmg hancur aa kepala aku berlanggar dgn batu tu. ya Allah mmg takut gila aa time tu. siap terfikir, "am i gonna die this way?" dah jerit2 dah time tu, tapi xleh nak bangun sendiri. elok2 nak bertemu dgn batu tu, guide tarik jaket aku ke tengah balik. legaaaa. nasib baik punya guides yg expert.
2nd part of the journey mmg agak gila2 aa. aku rasa byk kali kena over right, over left. ada sekali tu at this one spot (i think around the sandwich rock area) ada 1-2 rafters tercampak keluar dr raft. tapi mostly selamat. so memandangkan kitorg before that yg part bahaya2 pun sume ok je, mmg ingat ni pun kacang goreng. ala2 berlagak pun ada hehe. guide pun awal2 dah bg instruction, "ok kat depan nnt saya suruh back paddle, pastu sume over right ok?" elok je raft tu tilted to the right, tiba2 rasa mcm makin menyerong lak. last2 bamm! capsized terus. haha aku x ingat sgt apa berlaku, tapi mcm tiba2 dunia senyap, just bunyi air je. nak bukak mata pun xleh. paddle entah ke mana, org lain pun tah ke mana. yg aku ingat k aida tergolek dekat2 kat aku jugak, anis termasuk bawah raft, adik aku nun jauh kat depan. pastu guide kitorg yg bersusah-payah selamatkan paddles. lawak siot. tu la, berlagak lagi.
body floating to the end. last2 tu dah x berkocak sgt air, but still deras. best siotttt
dah habis tu, kitorg mandi kat tpt yg disediakan (tepi sungai tu ada mcm btn punya tpt, siap tpt mandi, surau, bilik sume). pastu makan nasi lemak. rasa mcm sedappp sgt nasi lemak tu hehe. sementara makan tu, tunggu cd gambar2 yg diorg amik, and sadly, dlm cd tu ada 7 keping je gambar kitorg. nasib baik beli 1 je. agak frust la jugak, tapi since best, abaikan je la.
perasaan? besttt, esp bila jatuh dlm air tu la. well, masa jatuh tu mmg takut nak mati, tapi the feeling when reminiscing it is priceless. aku pernah gak gi wwr kat tpt lain dulu, tapi sbb x jatuh kan, so x sebest yg ini hehe. mmg the pics didn't do the place justice, sbb lawa gak tptnya. well, lawa for a panas n lembab country like malaysia la kan. you won't find any pine trees, exotic animals, etc hehe. tapi xde masa pun, sbb you will be busy manuevring the raft all the way. deifinitely a must. xyah tau berenang pun xpe hehe.
ok chiow.
