An Impressive Old Man.. (Part 2 of 2)

I have not been writing for so long..
Not that I have run of ideas to write. On the contrary, I am simply overwhelmed by what can be written. I need the discipline and time to pen it down. Ha.. When laziness sets in, we see nothing here lor.

Okay, today let me continue with what I had half-completed some weeks back (here). Although, it was not my personal experiences, I think I really learn from what he had experienced.

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The first night in the midst of the Da Han Shan went through not that eventful for T.

(1) At the break of dawn the next day, everyone seemed to be automatically (without any obvious coordination) started packing up and preparing breakfast. Not much conversation actually.

One-by-one, as long as they were ready to move, they set off. Yes, they set off almost non-coordinated and very much at their own pace, so to say. Maybe a little difference between T and the rest of the group would be, everyone seemed to know where would be their next rest point for the night, but not T. Hence, T got to really follow them very closely.

Oh, when I mentioned those people moved at their own pace, I really mean their own professional “pace”. Haha.. They were moving like mountain goats! No one (not even K, K being T’s unofficial guide if we don’t remember) will specially wait for T. Kaoz..

T really had a hard time following them, despite the fact that those mountain guides had other assigned tasks to do along their trails.


(2) When in such situations, will we feel cheated or feel like giving up?

In any case, T chose neither. He observed that those guides moved either individually or in small groups, and they moved at different intervals.

He worked out a plan. At every rest points, he took the initiative to ask about the nature of the trail to be taken for the next stretch and he tried to remember the special features to take note of. Besides, he decided to move out immediately when the first group (or the first person) set off. So, when he lost track of them (of him), he will either continue if the paths were obvious or wait at junctions for the next group (or individual) approaching. While waiting, he took breaks. Cool man.

That’s the spirit!


(3) At times, they got to clear shallow rivers. At times, they got to clear over-waist-height rivers. I shall talk about the former first.

When clearing shallow rivers, getting our shoe and socks soaking wet can be really uncomfortable. So, are we thinking of getting the best water-proof-and-most comfortable shoe for your next such trip? You know what the professionals were wearing? They wore those cheapo rubber boots we saw people wearing in wet markets or hawker centres, probably cost them less than RM10 per pair. You decide. Haha..

Another major problem was the silly blood-sucking leeches.

Undoubtedly, getting attacked by those blood-sucking leeches was so bloody common while crossing rivers (regardless of whether the rivers were knee-deep or waist-deep).

The question is of course “how to get rid of them”? Do remember that dear T had no prior training.. poor T…

Seeing the leeches got so attached to our legs can be really gross enough. How about witnessing it growing bigger and bigger, redder and redder?

By books, force-plucking the leeches out from our body directly seems not to be the option. The way the leeches hook to our body must be rather clever, I guess. When we somehow manage to dislodge it from the leg with our right-hand, that monster gets attach to our right-hand quickly ; naturally, we then use our left-hand to pluck it off from our right-hand. If we successful dislodge it from our right-hand with our left-hand, then that monster gets attached to our left-hand and so on. “Attached” means “bite” lah. More bites means more wounds. Argg… Gross!

But this is not the worst. When T tried plucking off one of the big-fat ones (must have attached itself for so damn long), that wounds continue to bleed non-stop for hours. Okay, the wound need not be big, but the veins must be affected, his blood just kept oozing out, albeit bit by bit, but non-stop!!

Ha.. Please don’t hope for any first-aid box around.

T tended to that worst wound with his t-shirt and spare t-shirts. No bandage what. In no time, most (if not all) of his t-shirts got rather blood-tainted. Yet, the wound just refuse to heal and blood kept oozing out. At the rate that it was going, T worked out that he may died of blood-lost and not exhaustion. So, he approached one of them for consultation.

The natural remedial for non-stop bleeding leech bit : Just get a small piece of tissue paper or toilet paper, tear to size, but a few layers thick and lightly cover the wound with it. Yes, yes, in just a while, the paper will get blood soaked, but just leave it that way, don’t touch it. Amazingly, the pressure works just right, and clogging sets in sooner than expected.

T was saved.

So, how to deal with leeches professionally?

Some suggested using heat. T got a lighter (as he is a smoker). No problem. The idea is to use the lighter, ignite it, bring the flame near the leech carefully (than means near your body also). By theory, the heat should cause harm to the leech and the leech will automatically dislodge itself. In practice, the body of these leech, albeit soft to the touch, seems pretty armoured-like. When T brought the flame near one, the flame was already causing much pain to his own leg, and yet the leech was only slowing dislodging itself. What a torture?!

When T observed how the professionals dealt with the problem, he was quite amazed. No one went by the book.
When attached, they just quickly pluck it off.
But how about the problem of it attaching to their hands.
The trick was that they plucked it off from their legs with their thumb and index finger quickly and forcefully. Just as quickly and forcefully, they rubbed the monster on the nearby rocks (or on any hard surfaces) reducing it to bloody-mince-meat.

Gross, but more effectively. T learnt and followed that.


(4) Crossing deeper river was tougher. It was even life-threatening at one stage.

But, I thought there were ropes facilitating the crossing? I am so wrong. Haha.. The rough rope is usually tied to a strong tree-trunk only at one end of the river side at first. They will let the other end of the rope to flow freely in the river. While during actual river-crossing-trip with green-horns, a guide will take the free end of the rope and walk towards the other end and tie it on another strong tree-trunk across the other side of the river. Only then, the green-horns will make use of the rope as life-line and cross the river. When all had crossed, one end of the rope will again be released and let it flow freely in the river.

But T was travelling with the professional mountain guides. No one used rope to cross. They just cross it by walking carefully directly on the river bed and exposing to the direct currents of the river. It might just be a piece of cake to the professionals, but to T (okay and even to me).. erm… dangerous lor.

T knew the danger, but he had no way of turning back. He chose to follow close to a strong-looking guide. He reminded himself to be extra careful and he took his every step with great care.

Imagine the river bed is full of rocks and sand. Of course, the rocks, being the protruding ones will be slightly more elevated. The sand will be at a much lower level, spreading between the rocks. So, for every step, T looked at the river bed and stepped on the strongest-looking rock so that he could be at slightly higher ground and feeling safer.

He noticed no matter how careful he was, his steps were very shaky. No, he wasn’t shivering. He just felt difficult to balance and he wondered why the others seemed to be moving just as gingerly but every of their steps were so stable. He must be weak, he felt.

At one point, the under current literally swept hard and he lost his footing. Just at that moment, a strong arm reached out for him and picked him up just like a big baby, he recalled. If not, he would be swept away by the current and the consequence would be unimaginable. The strong-looking guide saved him. He was grateful. The idea of crossing with a strong-looking guide nearby was a clever move.

There was a learning point, actually.
Once, T was picked up by the guide, the guide said, “Ah Pek, you step on the sand, not on the rock!”
You see, the rocks, albeit more protruding and make us stood at higher ground are definitely very slippery. The sand is obviously at a lower ground, but when stepped on, our footings are definitely more firm.
I also learnt. :o)

T had not much problem in river-crossing thereafter.


(5) It may be noted, for every night they stopped by pretty near rivers. The guides didn’t survive only on the food they brought. At evening, near their rest point, they went to clean themselves up (bathing by the river) and went fishing. They must be so skilled, they had some fresh fishes for almost every meals.


(6) What happen when the food and fresh-water resources went low? For the later part of the journey, T only had half-cup of milo as breakfast. Portion for dinner was also reduced drastically, sometimes only half a “bowl” of plain rice.

There were some guides who were lazy to cook (or maybe left with nothing to cook), and went pinching (asking for little shares of food) here and there. Ha.. So cooking meals and having small snacks became more and more discreetly done. T had some chocolate in his back-packs, he no longer dare to eat openly. He needed them for survival also (for he can’t cook and can’t fish in the wilderness).

Besides, learning to pick up the courage to drink from river is almost a must. T recalled that the river water wasn’t even clear and clean-looking. Since the rest just drank from it, he just got to do it alike. He was left with no choice actually as his drinking water he brought along cannot sustain him for 8 days. Gradually, he got used to it. He just prayed he will not get sick.

One other thing I must mention. What do you think T’s eating utensils were? Just the night before he set off, T bought an instant-cup-noodle, the type that even provides a plastic spoon. That night, he ate the instant noodle and kept the cup and spoon for his entire journey. The cup was used for his morning milo, evening porridge, or whatever that came by. Haha..


(7) As they gradually proceeded to higher altitude, weather turned cooler, especially at night. I thought luckily (the way I know T), T is hardly afraid of coldness. This part I was quite right. But… it was the monsoon season!

T recalled that on the second or third night, it literally poured. Water seeped into his tent. The water-proofing job wasn’t well done, and he got himself all soaking-wet. From they on, the only pair of trousers his was wearing (yes, he had no other pair to change) and the few t-shirts he was wearing and brought along were never completely dried.

In other words, in the day, he was moving in wetness or dampness. In the night, he was sleeping in wetness or dampness. Plus as the days went by, the night can be so cold. Can you take it? I don’t think I can.

Some nights, because of the dampness or wetness and coldness, T admitted it was so cold, he was shivering and stole only a bit of short-sleep here and there. Yet the next morning, they had to move on as usual.

T only prayed he wouldn’t get sick. He didn’t.
T also prayed that his gout problem will not surface during this trip. It didn’t also.
Somehow, his mental power is so strong. He remained sick-free and his leg pain-free throughout his journey. Mind over body! Heh..


(8) During one night, it poured so heavily that the river nearby, the river they were supposed to cross the next day swell really badly.

No worries, there wasn’t a flood.

The next day, the leader-of-sort, decided that the river was too dangerous to cross and they just had to stay put at their rest point. No kidding, stay put at their rest point the entire day, doing nothing. And so a day-and-night went by boringly.

The next day, the river wasn’t look much tamed. But the same leader-of-sort asked the whole team to make the crossing however. They couldn’t afford to waste more time, T guessed.

In any case, because of the 1-day delay. There was a price to pay also.


(9) On their last morning, it was announced, “today, we must cover about 23 km”.

Er.. I wonder the young army guys remember their 24 km route-march experience? After so many grilling days and nights in the mountain/forest, how was T going to cover 23 km in the forest/mountain?

T may not have a good idea of how long 23 km was, he only tried his best to follow. Apparently his best was not good enough.

At around 2pm, his guide who was actually far in front of him at first, made a detour back to trace for him. Upon seeing T, the guide said, “From now onwards, you must follow my pace, no matter what. If not we will be get caught in the dark. That wouldn’t be very nice.”

Those words came like a stern warning, but T understood the seriousness. T followed his guide obediently. But his guide (and any other guides) move like mountain goats. T got to run after him, literally. He even got to make small jumps here and there as they were many gaps and protruding tree roots and rocks along the way.

T said with a smile when he shared this experience, “For so many years, I didn’t know I could run, not to mention jump.”

With all the brisk-walk, jogging, running, jumping from 2pm....
they managed to reach the end point at around 8pm. No doubt, T was the last to reach. But I think he was/is still the overall winner.

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It may be noted, at the end point, they were all formally dismissed and each was making their own way back. At the railway station, T noticed he was again limping. The pain of the gout came back. He found a place to sit, he sat there waiting for his train in his blood-stained and damp t-shirt.

As he was waiting, he recalled...
“It all started as I cannot resist his offer of only RM400.”
“No regrets.”

Wow! For a retired old man to achieve that is indeed quite a feat!
There was a saying : 不爬大汉山非好汉！
看来，他真的是一条好汉！

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I am tired just by writing this long-entry.
How am I going to endure that kind of experience, experienced by T?
I admit, I am not that strong.