Wet, Wild, Rock (WWR)

A Proton Saga consists of three from JB, one Proton Persona from Gombak and a fully occupied Unser from Shah Alam. Today is not an ordinary day. It is excessively extraordinary; we wake up on 5 am on Sunday. Today, a group of so called outdoor enthusiast is going to challenge ourselves, again. Only this time, the challenge is different. We had tried hiking, cycling, kayaking and climbing. But this will be a totally different experience. It is called white water rafting (WWR).

So off we go to Kuala Kubu Bharu. There lies a stream of river named Sungai Selangor which promises us ferocious, wild, and fierce route of rafting. Different river has different level of rafting difficulty. And Sungai Selangor offers us G1 to G4 level of difficulty with G1 is the easiest and G4 is the hardest. Imagining the water engulfing us, sends shiver down to our spine. But with heart made of steel, we do not hesitate.

Here we are. 10 minutes drive from the KKB’s Post Office brings us to the put in point. Two Chinese, one Slovekian and a group of Japanese will convoy with us to get a taste of Sungai Selangor. Upstream of the river, is Selangor Dam which determines how ferocious the river will be. Open the gate and the water will flow through the river as a hungry tigress protecting her newborn.

Surin and Bai will be our guide. A 15 minutes briefing does not do much to soothe our anxiety – but it does a great job of escalating our fear. Seat in, over left, over right, forward, backward are some of the jargons we should used to. Bai or Surin, depending on which raft we will be boarded, will shout the instruction and we of course, have to follow his instruction, “Unless you would love to swim in those vicious water”, says Bai with his aborigines slang.

With two rafts and nine trembling bodies, we got into the river. The water is very calm and just after we think this will be an easy journey, we hear a roaring sound. Everybody is looking at the 1 foot drop of water when the tip of the red raft is on the edge of the drop. Panic, everybody grabs the perimeter rope, unluckily for Fares, he fails to find the rope. Nothing to hold to, he is thrown outside the raft.

All we could do is screaming our heart out as Fares drifted away from the raft. Much to our surprise, in front of him is another drop. Fainted, we can only see Fares faces the fierce water and rock alone. “Zuppp”, his body slides along the drop. Lucky for him, a group of guide is waiting downstream to rescue him. Pulled off from the water, he gives us a smile. "This will be a thrilling journey”, I voice out.

With Fares back into the raft, we continue rafting under Bai’s command. After the adrenaline pumping moment, the river shows off its brightside - breathtaking and awe-inspiring landscape. The river soothes its flow, widens its channel and presents us with lush and green trees with a splendid waterfall on its bank. A stone in the middle of the river, with a bird on it, reminds us how much we have lost in the name of development.

Tired screaming and paddling, we pull over at an R&R area for a mild snack. Biting a chunk of apple under the waterfall refreshes my mind, body and soul. Others are having an “Ombacalo” session. A phrase created by Namez to represent activity of swimming and jumping into the river water.

Stuffed with Twiggies, Cloud 9 and apple, we start our voyage back. Our ultimate fear is ahead of us, a G4 drop called Grand Canyon. 10 minutes paddling and it lies in front of our eyes. Much to our surprise, it has two drops!! Bai positions our raft so that we can have the safest way to clear the drop without compromising the thrill and excitement.

“Forward!!”, before Bai screams,”seat in!!”. The raft flies as it has wings, before plunges into the water and hit a big rock. Luckily no one is hurt. But before we could take our breath of relief, another drop is waiting for us. Bai maneuvers the raft to the right, facing the drop, and again, flies before it plunges into the water. Screaming is the most effective way to overcome our fear at this point. The drop is cleared with adrenalines scattered all over the raft.

After that fall, we have another half an hour journey and the flow is not wild enough to thrill us. Thus, we jump into the water and let the river drifts us. We lie on our back and relax while recapturing the moment we had just experienced. When we think it is over, Bai asks us to get back into the raft, and in front of us is another drop. Not so high, but it roars. As we had tackled Grand Canyon, this will be easy for us. But Bai has something to show. We follow his instructions without knowing he will capsize the raft. The raft turns over and I am under the raft. Dread, I find my way up to the surface. Thanks to the kayak lesson I learnt in UTM.

Our 4 hours expedition ends up with a hearty meal prepared by the local. Ayam goreng, keli goreng, telur masak merah and ulam are waiting to be eaten with rice. Overstuffed, we take a nap before we drive back, with a plan to tackle the more challenging route, Sungai Singor.