Hi peoples
Today was another one of those boring travel days but with
some highs and lows. We left Kirtash this morning after the 4 days we were
there. It was upsetting to leave as we had all bonded with the occupants and
got to know them very well. There were a few tears on both sides. Justin, a 14
year old boy cried when we left. People were expecting that as he cried 3 hours
after our arrival because he knew that we were leaving soon. This just proves
how lonely these people are and what a difference people can make in their
lives. For me it was really hard to say goodbye to Ali, a 6 year old that was
crying when we first arrived. Since then he was attached to me, literally. He always
wanted to be carried and up in the air and when I tried to put him down he
would wrap his arms around my neck so tight and refused to let go.
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| Mr Mani and his lovely family and staff of course |
After, we got the train from Rawang station to KL Sentral. We
hadn’t eaten breakfast but planned to eat there. However, we found out we needed to go to a station
called Titiwangsa to catch our bus. As the name itself was funny we decided to
eat there so we could say we ate at Titiwangsa. Haha. Then at 11:30 we caught a
bus to Kuala Lipis that took 3 hours. We arrived at Kuala Lipis and walked to
our hotel, Hotel Jalei. We arrived at the hotel tired, hassled, hungry, de-motivated
and dripping with sweat, only to find out it was the wrong Hotel Jalei. The directions given by the hotelier to find
our correct hotel were vague to say the least! The route took us over the train
lines and a short cut through what seemed like an illegal poker den for the
elderly, Finally, now swimming in sweat we arrived at our correct hotel.
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| Hot and sweaty...Not a happy chap - s! |
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| Even the staff were struggling today! |
Appu (our trekking guide) then came to meet us to talk about the trek that we
would be undertaking. (BTW there will not be a blog posted until the night of 20th
as we will have no internet access in the middle of the jungle, so chill and don’t
stress as we are fine....honest J)
He explained what we need/don’t need so we can pack lightly and make the trek a
little less difficult. Camping in the jungle for 5 days in a tent with 2 other
guys is not my idea of fun, but hey, it wouldn’t be called ‘World Challenge’
otherwise.
After the meeting with Appu we came back to have our own
meeting led by Clifford and Casey. After discussing our 13 rules we discovered
that Connor had lost the shovel...yet again! At the pre-departure meeting we
handed out group equipment. Connor received the shovel. However he forgot to
bring it with him. so after eventually getting one yesterday, he left it at the
train station somehow. It wasn’t like it could be easily lost. About a meter
pole with the shovel base. Anyway so during this meeting Haydn in his infinite
wisdom asks, ‘Connor, how did you manage to lose a hoe?’ (Thats with an ‘e’
folks)
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| The rain heading in for its 1800 hrs downpour |
Following this we headed out for dinner and got some food
before coming back to pack the necessary requirements for the trek. All in all good
day, and as Ginny would say, ‘Happy Days?’.
Quote of the day: See above
Sun Chart: 4 (with the obligatory thunder and lightning
around 18.00hrs)
Over and out folks
Nick Almond
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| This car caught my eye on the way around from the shops |
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| GB Number plate??? |
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