30 May 2009
Lubuk Kawah in one afternoon
What can I say... it's a trip that I almost didn't make. Organised by Rizal of Jalan Kebun 4X4 (whom I would say he (plus Dani) are by now a bona-fide Gugujah member... at least an associate member if not full fledge!), this trip coincided with the team-building that he organised at Teratak Riverview.
A nice place that can cater for families, team-building and the likes... The owner had three units of Volvo (C302 I think) parked and ready to ferry guests into the wild (at least that's what he said!).
By 2:00pm, Wady (Delta Echo), Dani (Lima Charlie) and I arrived. Rizal was already waiting at the resort, chit-chatting with Abg Hakim, the owner. But the event prior to this trip that morning was not smooth at all... First off, Wady's brake went south (no brake at all when we fetched it from Awang's workshop). He almost gave up and wanted to back out... but, luckily I was there to make sure that the brake were rectified. By 11.30am, we left Shah Alam.. two cars.. 3 people.. Wady, May & me...
Along the way, I received a call from Dani whom were even later than us in leaving Shah Alam... And there we were thinking that he'd already left with Rizal at 10.00am. Seperately, we stopped for lunch in Tanjung Malim (near UPSI) and meet up just at the junction going into Teratak Riverview..
And at around 2:30pm, we headed out seeking some afternoon adventure... led by Jalan Kebun's Cherokee belonging to Man Tomyam... So there we were, five cars on this daytrip...
Crossing the river at teratak Riverview, we found ourselves driving through rubber plantation... then through freshly cut farming area.. Couldn't recall the route as it was during nite-time when we first ventured to this place in November last year.
In no time, we crossed the first river - a popular campsite amongs many 4X4 enthusiast on this trail....
It was a rather easy crossing - prolly because its daytime. The last time we were here, a number of cars really had some issues with crossing this river... especially while trying to climb the riverbank...
Do not recall all these 'jungle' from our first visit here... anyway.. its the trail alright!
Few SS... enuff to keep our adrenalin rushing and our attention high.. :-)
The first real obstacle would be this stream crossing and the uphill climb just right after....
Despite the rocks and boulders hitting our underbody.... every car passed with flying colours!
And Dani even had a chance to brag on the radio about it! hehehehe...
However, the uphill climb proved a bit too steep for Wady's Rocky... he blamed the need to winch his way out of this one on the ineffective LSD... Well.. small matter... as it took him less than five minutes to steer clear of this obstacle...
Everyone else got through on for wheels alone.. no need winching.... hurrahhh!! :-)
We arrived at the campsite (from our previous trip) around 5:00pm. Another group (forgot to ask where they were from) has already set up their camp there. No a problem as we were not spending the nite! A quick hello and some small talks, we proceeded through the all new exended track on this Lubuk Kawah trail.
This is the river crossing at the campsite..
But before that, I discovered my elsie yet again had issues with the shock-absorber... The rear right side shocks... err.. picture paints a thousand word.... :-( Thus, I decided to leave the elsie behind and hopped on Wady's Rocky for the remaining route on this trip.
The descend was a bit scary for everyone... however, with Lepar's steeper ravines, all were more or less quite comfortable with this manouvre....
The rock-climbing however was to be a new experience... wish I could do this on my elsie... anyway... hmmm....
Then, its all new territories for us... mostly thick jungle on one side with steep slopes on the other. But there were ample room on either side for our ride. The muddy and bumpy trails were quite exciting... and quite entertaining... :-)
On the way back, Rizal missed a hole by the roadside.. so, up one rear wheel the Rocky goes! Nothing that a little pull from behind could not mend ...
After arriving back at the campsite, Wady took off the broken absorber from my elsie....
Souvenir anyone?
After all was in order, we left that campsite... It's an easier ride back.. with mostly downhill trail. No frets, no sweats.. :-0
However, something that shouldn't happen happened. Dani's car got stuck (I think his axle hit rocks) and winching was needed... Of course, Rizal laughed instantly. Its a case of taking the wrong line I think.... Anyway, a good practice for Dani's new co-pilot.
.. it was not a thing to sweat about.... the important thing is that, Dani's new co-pilot had a quick training on winching.. :-)
And just around 6:30pm, we were safely back at Teratak Riverview... I thot we could quickly drive back to our homes.. but Rizal insisted all waited for dinner...
And it was worth the wait...
After the most enjoyable makan-makan as sponsored by Rizal... three cars (me, Wady + Dani) excused ourselves and headed home... This was indeed a short and sweet trip - a daytrip to be exact. And most important, everyone really enjoyed the ride!
Where to next? 
bravo-lima 1 June 2009
Pics: mostly by May
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