Day 2, ChillBone, Telugong Area

Day 2, 0700HR Motong Area
So we woke up feeling grouchy and irritated with all the animals biting us.. and we set targets to like get to S. Amo by 11.00 then reach the base of Telugong by 1.00 and then reach CP by 2.00.. hehe.. think u can guess what happens..

We tried following the ridgeline again but yet again it ended up in the river.. so we ended up detouring up and down the river banks trying to find a path until like yesterday.. we just took the river route and waddled our way on... one part the water got so deep we had to take our life jackets out and swim across... pooh.. really turning out such that no day can we keep our legs dry (did i mention it was incredibly blessed that it didn't rain at all on the first day? thank god..)

0900HR, Motong, Lil' Island of Blank Space
we decided following the river was gonna get too risky as it led direct to Amo A river... so we change course and hit a so called "blank space of an island" which was pretty big (we of course optimistically hoped it was a flat terrain.. but i think by now, that kind of thought would be extremely naive)... we climbed and climbed then went down ravines that weren't supposed to be there, most of us got bitten by some wierd creature (with two teeth, as Yikiat describes).. and we desparately headed uphill to find solace.. by then time was running out again and we were still trapped on the lil' island, inching closer and closer to Amo area.. sigh..so we just bash NW and finally hit S. Amo.. yippee!

1100HR, S. Temburong
Another water adventure, only this time more dangerous cos (1)we weren;t supposed to be using the river.. and the Lakiun people threatened they would use speed boats to patrol the area.. (imagine our panic when we heard speed boats -- we immediately dashed up the beach for cover) (2) the river was really pretty dangerous.. there were rapids, slippery rocks, and river openings that we had to cross...so most of the times we were on life jackets..and well.. it was really easy to slip.. Qiyang had to cramp halfway and well.. just pretty bad lah.. but at least we made quite good progress.. and knew where we were.. at least there were no hidden knolls or whatever.. and we saw Telugong.. so on track eh?

0130hr, Kg. Parit, Piano Bridge Area
We headed off from the river and reached an open expanse of area where it was darn pleasant to walk and we swiftly reached the base of Telugong.. problem is, we couldn't find any obvious path or track that led straight up.. and Hichael said we had to keep away from obvious roads and tracks.. so we just anyhow went up Telugong... and well.. here we go again

0430HR CP 317, top of Telugong
We spent a freakin' 3 hours climbing up this irritating mountain where parts of it was a literally rock climbing challenge or as Chiyu calls it, the vertical island hopper from hell...we had to climb from boulder to boulder, sometimes nearly vertcally upwards till we reached the top.. and my gawd... 797 feet never seemt to toweringly high... we climbed AND climbed and climbed.. getting more and more frustrated as time ticked away.. when we finally reached the ridgeline, J Bay said we were still 300m from the CP.. so suck thumb and walk.. when finally reached we were so darn relieved.. yet worried cos it was getting dark and the rest of the teams had already found their CP1 earlier.. but after a discussion, decided that rest was more important and harboured at a nice big clearing at the top of Telugong..

0500HR, top of Telugong, Harbour Area
first came a bitterly cold rain which wet everything around us and made me start my shivering spells again.. i just huddled there with my boots on and wished for the rain to stop... couldn't sleep cos the rain had trickled in and the groundsheet was flooding up.. =(.. thankfully.. rain soon abated and i busied myself with set up a humongous fire to warm myself up.. funnily.. the smoke keep blowing towards jeremy and qi yang but never at me..so i cheerfully fanned the flames to warm myself... Staff there gave us some peanut biscuits and instant noodles which we regarded as heavenly treasures man.. quickly lunged at it and polished them off in quick succession.. YUMMY! each of us made a vow to go back Singapore and buy peanut biscuits.. (but up till now still haven)..

Zzzz... for the night.. though it was still DARN COLD atop the hill.. brrr..

FrAnk