I had planned my route across Malaysia using population density maps in attempt to find better wild camping and more peaceful roads. Google walking directions is a fairly good tool for route planning, though sometimes it takes you to tiny trails barely ridable. This time it took me to a place I wasn’t nearly able to get out.
‘THE ROAD IS NOT GOOD UP THERE’
I found a small back road to Camerun Highlands over a mountain range on the north side of the area. After Tarmac ended, 40km logging road continued climbing 700m though palm oil plantations and occasional sections of jungle.
I felt I was about to discover an epic jungle road over the mountains.
On the way up local workers stopped me to let me know that the road across the mountains is ‘not good’. They also told me that there are tigers and wild elephants in the area. This is what I hear basically all the time on my tour; it’s too difficult and dangerous. You cannot go there. And so on. Usually they are wrong.
After letting them know that I have food for a couple of days and I’m well prepared to attempt crossing they loaded my bike with soft drinks and wished me good luck. Once the logging road ended and a narrower partly destroyed trail on the old road base started, I was still in high hopes. There is no palm oil plantations in sight anymore! I felt I was about to discover an epic jungle road over the mountains.
I started a steep and challenging 700m climb toward a 1300m pass hoping to gain some altitude in the significantly cooler evening breeze before the sun set. During the first kilometers the trail was cut thrice by a landslide, but pushing the bike over was quite easy. At sunset I found a small lake at the mountain face and camped next to some empty bamboo huts be the lake at 900m.
HIGH HOPES
In the morning I was really confident making to the next village on the other side of the pass, straight distance being only 14km. After drying my tent and sleeping bag in the sun and failing to catch a local unknown fish with a fly, I got on the bike. 500m from the lake the trail got narrower and then dropped down to a small river. The old bridge, like all the other bridges on the way I learnt later, had been destroyed long time ago. Just one river crossing, I thought, and carried my bike and panniers separately down to the river and waded across and climbed back up to the old road base.
It’s just a difficult spot
Soon after the vegetation got so thick that I wasn’t able to ride or even push my bike forward anymore. It’s just a difficult spot, I thought, and started carrying my panniers and bike separately up the steep barely visible trail. During the following 9 hours I carried my bike and panniers across multiple landslides, over and around a 100 fallen trees and through dense jungle.
Slowly I started to doubt if continuing would be a mistake, even though the straight distance to the next village was only 10km according to my GPS. Though I didn’t want to carry my bike and gear back over all the obstacles I have come across. Turning back would also mean that I would need to back track 70km of dusty and bumby logging road in 35C. It has to get easier after the pass as it would be downhill, right?
A WALL
My hands and back were full of scratches from branches, wines and bushes. Making progress started to be physically really demanding. Still my GPS testified that I am getting there, to the pass and closer to the village. Nature around me was stunning with butterflies, flowers, spiders, birds and type of monkeys I haven’t seen before.
At sunset I reached a pass at 1320m and by a miracle found a cleared area in the jungle to pitch my tent, right next to a crystal clear jungle creek. I cleaned some more drinking water, prepared noodles with sardines for dinner and cleaned my scratches. I had a sweet 10 hour sleep.
In the morning I prepared one of my last three meals, noodles with oats, and optimistically put the panniers on my bike for a change. I pushed the bike 100m before started carrying the bike and panniers separately again. There was a landslide, 50m after a second one, and then soon a third one. Then the trail simply disappeared. I knew I hadn’t been following an animal track as someone had cut the way through the jungle rather recently. Still there were no trail, no cleared corridor in the green wall anymore. Without a machete, I couldn’t get any further.
I didn’t know if I could make it out of there.
After 2 hours and 1km of progress I slowly come into realization that I would have to turn back. Thinking of all the obstacles I’ve dragged my stuff through, how hard it had been and how much I got food left, I started to get scared. I didn’t know if I could make it out of there.
THE MISSION
It took some time to accept the change in my situation and commit to the new goal; getting back to civilization. I felt like crying, but the tiers didn’t come. I felt weirdly numb. Slowly I started to drag by gear and bike back the way I had come from. 5 hours after leaving the previous camp site, I was back there.
I ate an unrationed meal and drank my last coffee to raise my morale and to give me an extra boost of energy. I also put on an audiobook, to keep my mind busy. After an hour of eating, resting and purifying some more water, it was time to go.
I am excited, I am alive.
Bike and panniers felt heavier than ever, but my GPS evidenced that I was doing good progress. I didn’t feel hungry the rest of the day, I was driven by adrenaline. After the pass the trail head down again and the gravity started to be on my side. I was able to rage through the dense bushes with half a walking pace, which were nearly impenetrable on the way up. I laughed aloud the steepness of the mountain face wondering how the hell I had made it up there the day before. The trail down felt endless as felt the number of obstacles on it as well.
After 6 hours of carrying bike and panniers, I arrived to the ridable trail on the old road base 500m lower in elevation to the pass. I was more tired than I had been on this tript, but excited. I made it out, I am alive! I had walked every meter of that so called road six times during the previous days. Six times.
I cooked my last packs of noodles watching the sunset. I had pushed it a bit too far this time. My mind pushed this fact aside and only two days later the reality kicked in and I cried on the road side. Though simultaneously I was really proud of my self as well. I had been very rational after I realized the danger and made it out beautifully with all my gear, without accidents and without starving.
“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have.”
– Bob Marley
