Straddling the borders of Pahang and Johore, the Endau-Rompin State Park covers an area of 870 sq. kilometers, about 12 times the size of Singapore island. It is primarily inhabited by the Orang Jakun/Hulu who are mainly collectors of forest produce such as resins, rattans and camphor wood living in harmony with nature and are very dependent on her rivers.
June 10 saw the second batch of MNS Perak Branch members, led by Lim Swee Ching to this Park. Naturally, the initial response was enthusiastic but fluctuated like the share market. The number dwindled as the date for payment drew near. The final count was 19!

On the night of departure (June 10), we had only 16! One, my dear friend, Mabel, had reluctantly and tearfully gave up her seat due to an unfortunate incident at her workplace. The other 2 Yips, when contacted (thanks to the advent of modern technology) were shopping at Jaya Jusco. Why? Because they thought we were departing on June 11 night. Remember Murphy's Law? Anything that could go wrong, would go wrong.

The Yips made a quick dash home to pack at Olympian speed and gusto to join us an hour later. I only made sure Yip Yoke Min remembered his briefs, for fear he might have to wear fan palms. We all knew we were heading for the jungle but being dressed like Tarzan is another matter, the 12 ladies in the entourage protested.

We finally departed at 11.30 p.m. instead of 10.00 p.m. We stopped at Tanjong Malim and Yong Peng for food and toilet calls. These bus drivers could really eat. As they loaded we unloaded. Unexpectedly, we arrived at Kahang at 6.50 a.m. (Sun, June 11). The Yips were con-soling us that if not for their slip, we would have arrived even earlier i.e. 5.00 a.m. All of us looked quite pathetic as we were left at the shops’ pavement to wait for our NERC (Nature Education and Research Centre) facilitators, at the appointed time i.e. 9.00 a.m. But as usual, the members were always in high spirits. Instead of brooding, we whiled away the 3 hours by patronising Kahang's coffee shops and market. Some ladies, with their perennial hobby in shopping wandered away to the shops and wet market with Chandra. For Chandra, it was his maiden trip with the MNS and I should say he learnt pretty fast. He acquired the skill for MNS:- "Makan, Nature Society" or "Makan Non-Stop" where he generously treated us to a feast of kuih-muih.

The NERC facilitators met us as scheduled, packed us into 3 groups of 5, 6 and 7 pax into 2 4WDs and 1 van-4WD. It was a long, bumpy ride with 14 hours of laterite road where we were treated to free layers of pancake on our faces, courtesy of the terrain – red then auburn. As for the seat that I shared with Julie Yip, we had "extras" – for our seat was unsecured with 2 screws missing, which threw us from left to right, front to back. Both of us still felt the phantom movements long after we disembarked. Thank God, we did not go into a trance.

Upon registration at the Park Staging Point, a briefing on the park was given, after which we continued our journey for another 15 minutes to our final destination to the Base Camp. The base camp is ideally located facing the Peta Ridge. The view of the ridge is ever so majestic, magical and mystical yet unintimidating. The layout of the base camp consists of a 3-pronged structure linked with walkways. The male and female dorms is L-shaped, adjacent to each other. The other 2 prongs were made up of the Education/Library/Activity hall and the Dining Hall/Kitchen. At the back of our dorms were the bathrooms/toilets housed under one roof, divided by a wall for Males and Females with 4 baths, 4 toilets and 4 mirrored sinks. Clothes lines at the back meant ample space for drying. Definitely, no reason to complain with such first class facilities.

The structures of the camp were built on stilts, quite similar to Kampung houses, with the walls covered with designs weaved from the stalks of the Bertam palm (Rachis). The 2 dorms - each marked P – Perempuan and L – supposedly for Lelaki, but maybe with a twist of imagination or "L" has defied gravity; it was hunged as "7" – thereby enabling the ladies an opportunity to trespass their dorm as a walkway/short cut to the dining hall.

Water was supplied by one of the cleaner streams that flowed into Sg. Jasin and electricity was made available by solar panels, all funded by the Ministry of Science and Environment at the cost of RM400,000 with a storage battery capable of providing power for 3 days, costing RM50,000.

We soon settled into our respective dorms - each participant armed with a clean blanket, pillow and bed sheet. Luckily, we were the second batch to patronise the NERC. Each dorm consists of 20 beds (10 on each side) and 2 enclosures with 2 single beds each. Noticeably absent is the mosquito netting. The NERC facilitators - Francis, Chew and Hazman were assigned to assist us for the duration of our stay. These guys would soon find out the "adventures" with this group! Francis informed us that all calls for meals would be made through the sound of the gong – a traditional one hung downstairs in the activity hall. 
(to be continued in the next issue)