Sunday, April 26, 2009

SUNGAI SELANGOR WHITE WATER RAFTING

Grade 1 – 4 (about 7km stretch).
Location : Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor (about 1 hour journey from KL).
Payment : Promo rate for April Sunday only (however due to good response it has been extended until June). Normal - RM180.
Included :
1) All rafting equipment - self-bailing raft, helmet, personal flotation device (pfd) & paddle
2) Use of basecamp with shower and toilets
3) Meals: on-river snacks and lunch
4) Experienced Orang Asli river guides
5) White-water rafting e-guide to read
~ Bro Izni from MyAdventourHost.com and thepaddlerz.com ~

Dun forget to bring :
- suitable clothes for rafting (t-shirt n shorts/pants..say no to denim or jeans)
- suitable river sandal, shoes or booties (no slipper or barefeet)
- change of clothes
- towel
- soap/shampoo etc
- plastic bag
- camera (waterproof or underwater type)
- drink or food

Alhamdulillah setelah hampir sebulan organize, akhirnya tiba masa yg dinanti-nanti kan...
Org lain suma dh pencen tp kitorg baru nk try, tp x kesah la lambat or cepat coz yg penting..mencuba n dpt merasa pengalaman rafting nie. Awal-awal target dlm 5 org, last-last 4 org. Mmg cuak n kecut perut sbb masing2 1st timer and non-swimmer. Mmg bertuah sbb cuaca pun baik and masing2 keadaan pun baik (sihat walafiat).

7am aku dh gerak kuar dr umah, isi minyak tgh jalan and trus shoot ke umah D’jey coz dh janji gather kat sana around 730am.
Sampai sana dkat2 720am and lepak kat bawah tunggu yg lelain sampai..D’jey, Syrap and Iqrar.
Bila masing2 dh sampai, sebok la mengemas apa yg patut..final check up before bertolak ke destinasi.

745 am
Gathering kat umah D’je and gerak dr Kampung Baru ke Selayang.

830 am
Meet brader Izni and other rafters at Caltex Selayang coz nak convoy sama-sama.
Akhirnya jumpa jugak ngn bro Izni setelah nearly a month dok berhubung ngn sms and email je..really nice guy with a good PR.

930 am
Sampai kat Kuala Kubu Baru Post Office (follow closely sampai x brapa prasan jalan). Breakfast and borak-borak sementara menanti group lain tiba and bro Izni last checkup with his team.

945 am
Depart to the ‘PUT IN’ point about 5 Km along the Kuala Kubu Bharu / Fraser Hill Road. Bro Izni bawa kitorg singgah sebentar menghayati view Sungai Selangor dr atas Jambatan. Mcm x caya je bila dia xplain yg tu la Sungai Selangor yg akan dimudik nanti. Dlm kepala dok piker..cemna nk lepas batu-batu besar tuh..muat ker? Tp serius cantik betui sungai tu, bersih and tenang je tengok.

After that, we all continue the journey to ‘PUT IN’. All passenger kna turun kat sini and jadi masing2 kena tinggal barang2 yg x nak bawa naik ke raft dlm keta coz apa yg akan di bawa ke dlm raft mmg akan gerenti basah (terutama kalau raft terbalik, hehe). Lepas isi registration form..drivers drive their car to the ‘TAKE OUT’ point (BaseCamp) and then transferred back to ‘PUT IN’. Kenapa mcm tuh? Sebab nanti last rafting point shall be there which is also near to their BaseCamp.

Aku kena drive g ‘TAKE OUT’ point yg hampir 10km and sepanjang jalan dok brangan mcm citer Fast n Furius 4 time derg dr Mexico illegally drive back to US. Maklumla..masing2 convoy and jalan bengkang-bengkok skit..mmg layan la. BaseCamp tu letak nye kat sebelah tempat Khidmat Negara KKB. Lepas parking cantik-cantik and serah kunci kat akak tu, masing2 naik 4WD tu blk ke ‘PUT IN’.

1030 am
‘PUT IN’ nie la di mana xtvt rafting akan bermula and sampai kat sana je masing dh bersedia dgn rafting equipmets -> helmet, PFD and paddler followed by detail briefing about 15 – 20 minutes and flip exercise. Briefing by Bai, org Asli guide yg quite fluent in English as the briefing conducted in English (ada foreigner maa). He’s quite funny and assisted by Am for the demo. Safety briefing kena dengar betui-betui and jgn main-main coz salah langkah – boleh melibatkan kecederaan or kehilangan nyawa. Also juz bear in ur mind that slipper and barefoot not allowed coz batu dlm sungai kan licin dan juga barang2 yg nk bawa naik ke raft kena ikat betui-betui takut hanyut or tenggelam dlm sungai.
Lepas tu participants suma divided into grouping of maximum 6 persons per raft. Kali nie suma skali ada 5 rafts and each raft ada 2 guide (depan and belakang). Disebabkan kitorg hanya ber-4, jadi bro Izni join our raft. Jadi altogether 7 ppl in our raft (4 guys and 3 girls). Dun worry bro Izni, x rugi naik raft ngn kitorg coz kitorg nie ‘happening and pening’..haha.

Start rafting and 5 minutes later, a practical exercise at the ‘FLIP CORNER’ about 10 minutes. Kat sini dia ajar certain command mcm FORWARD, PULL BACK, SIT IN, MOVE FORWARD & MOVE BACKWARDS, OVERLEFT & OVERRIGHT. Then boleh try cara to rescue org yg terjatuh dari raft. Aku ngn Iqrar saja amek peluang try cara menarik org naik dlm raft and jadi org yg terkuar dr raft. Quite fun! Tiba2 suasana jd kecoh sbb ada sorg tourist nie video camp terjatuh dlm sungai. Suma kelam-kabut tolong cari tp hampir 10-15 minit x jumpa jugak, redha je la wpun aku rasa harga bende alah tu quite riban-riban.
Then we all continue our rafting, and the rafting has taken more than 3-4 hours. It varies depending on the water level and the group size.

430 pm
Arrive at the ‘Take Out’ point where all to have shower and lunch. Dun worry, facilites mcm toilet and shower disediakan. Lunch mmg sedap, perut lapo lagik la selera nk makan – ayam masak merah, telur dadar, sayur, buah, roti..mcm2 ada. Lepas mandi, makan and wat apa yg patut…masing2 departure to destination of origin.

1] You will be entering a pristine jungle setting - no maddening crowds
Betui…memang tenang je kat sini. Sini x de org camping, jadi pencemaran kurang la..or mmg x de.

2] Scenic waterfalls
Ada 2 waterfall. Yg 1st leh pegang2 coz lalu tepi tp the last one boleh singgah and have a snack (rest).

3] "Lazy river" towards the end where you can float along
Mmg best float along, tp penat jugak coz takut terfloat ke kiri or kanan or terlanggar apa-apa. Sian kat Syrap coz bila floating dia syik ke kiri ke kanan, bukan ke depan. Last2 dia give up..lepak dlm raft. Aku ngn yg lelain aku peluang floating..bila lagik.

4] Body surfing on some safe parts of the rapids
Aku x berani try..x reti berenang beb.

“1st Canyon”
Mmg menguji tahap pemahaman dan kerjasama antara ahli. Bila berjaya, baru ada confident nak mencuba yg lain.

"Chicken Drop" (This rapid will sometimes want to fold your raft)
Nie mmg kira hardcore la.. suma rafts berenti dulu coz our guides kena kaji cara terbaik nk lepas nie nye challenge. Kitorg tgk pun berdiri bulu roma…suspen beb. Then masa tgh tunggu giliran, tgk la other raft mengharungnya, makin la takut coz dr 3 rafts..satu je lepas and lain tu suma terbalik. Waa…takut. Alhamdullilah, our raft selamat walaupun ada satu part tu air melimpah-limpah masuk dlm raft and masing-masing dh kecut perut tp kat sini yg penting..jgn panic..dgr arahan n kerjasama. Kalau salah tu yg leh contribute to terbalik.. Among 5 rafts, sesimpulannya - 2 lepas, 2 terbalik and 1 sangkut.

“Hydraulics”
(will toss your raft as though you are in the spin cycle of a washing machine)
Yezza. Mmg best! Tp time nie air x laju sgt jd mcm dlm washing machine separa auto, hehe.

"2nd Canyon" (
Wham!, Bam! and look out another rapid up ahead!)
Nie takut gak coz dia mcm tinggi and lepas je satu rapid depan tu rapid lagik. Kt sini la tangan aku sakit terkena paddler, lupa nk angkat atas..bio terjulur.

Sepanjang rafting nie mcm2 citer kelakar, tambah-tambah inside raft. Terpijak, tertendang, terhimpit, terkena paddler, terstunt n mcm-mcm la. Rasanya helmet tu pakai bukan sbb takut kepala kena batu tp takut kepala kena paddler. Aku lebam skit kat lutut and badan mmg sakit-sakit. Maklumla, kali ni aku wat lawak lagik..tergelincir kat batu masa otw blk dr sebok tgk "2nd Canyon". Malu giler..seb baik Syrap sempat menarik tangan. D'jey and Iqrar gelak giler, tp D'jey nmpk sandal aku slide je..rugi2 coz dia x dpt melihat ngn mata kasar cemna gadis ayu jatuh..haha. Syrap rahang kena paddler and buntut kena batu masa floating, hehe..sian. Pastinya masing2 sakit-sakit badan..tp x seteruk naik gunung la.. Yg penting..njoy!

Worth to try ~ new experience and new adventour ~
four of us with others group

p/s: some photos and words - cilok from bro Izni website..hehe. pinjam nye bro.. ;p