Travel

The Kampung Koloi road, at about 18 kilometers, and going from 1300 feet above see level to approximately 4600 feet is usually a challenge for even veteran drivers. It has deep ruts (75 profile tires on 16-inch rims won't save you here) and drastic drops and sharp turns with deep ravines at the sides. You'll also encounter steep inclines (and declines) up to 20-plus degrees. At some point, when the mud and ruts end, you'll have a bit of a rock-crawling adventure that if you're not careful, you might shred a tire. Landslides also are a threat at all times. Unfortunately, circumstances prevented me from having a professional media crew along for this trip so you'll end up seeing my iPhone photos and only when I could stop or slow down. Texting or talking on the phone can be done (illegally of course) while you're driving but NEVER do it when you're off-road!

And here are some tips when going off the beaten path...

1. Keep your thumbs in the air – right off the steering wheel. Otherwise, if one of your front wheels hits a snag – and it will do of course – your steering wheel will rote at a heck of a lick, and if your thumb is in the way of a rotating spoke or wheel strut, it hurts!

2. Use engine braking to slow your descent down a hill not the brakes. I usually "walk-down" a slope in 1st gear. If the back end starts to slide around then ACCELERATE slightly to re-gain control. If you brake when driving down a hill and a skid develops EASE OFF THE BRAKE. It goes against your instincts but you will gain traction again and therefore be able to steer. Wheels must be turning to be steerable.

3. Don't fight your steering. When driving through demanding terrain, avoid the tendency to hold the steering wheel in a death grip — let the wheel move around and gently guide the vehicle.

4. Be aware of your vehicles ground clearance and location of its lowest points. Allow wheels to follow their own route inside a deep rut and avoid over steering.

5. Check the water depth before fording a river!







* The generally acceptable maximum for a highway or road gradient is about 6-7 degrees.

• Comments (0)
• Trackbacks (0)

{edit: should have been published yesterday morning -- got stuck in draft mode}

Like I blogged earlier about 4x4 adventuring for a cause, there's still a lot of preparation behind the scenes. While as a group, we've gone in faith that the Good Lord will never fail us (never did), there are some basic things that will always prove handy when you're going into the bush. This trip is no different even though the road is one of the more challenging trails. I also carry my spare tire in the truck tray. It makes it easier to get out when you're stuck in deep ruts or knee deep mud. Not necessarily for use when you have a flat or shredded tire but it can fill up a deep hole or rut you've managed to slide into.

Things I always have in my truck when going off the tarmac are listed below. Some may sound silly but you never know if it comes in handy.
1. Hi-lift jack. While a winch helps, this jack will save your ass.
2. Tow-cables (steel). I normally carry two along with a nylon strap for use on trees.
3. Chain saw. Some obstacles require trees. Include extra pre-mixed fuel.
4. Extra fuel and lubricants. Running off-road is not your Sunday afternoon drive.
5. Extra floor mats. Not because you want to keep your car clean, they help on muddy ground.
6. Flashlights. It gets pretty dark in the jungles. I bring 3.
7. Long handle shovel, hand-shovel and fold-able spade. Getting stuck is no fun
8. 2x4 inch wood beams. You never know.
9. In-car phone charger. You may need to call for help!
10. Leather gloves.
11. Leatherman wave tool.
12. Water container. 5 Liters. Engines do overheat.
13. Canvas tarp.
14. GPS units with extra batteries.

• Comments (0)
• Trackbacks (0)

Back in 2001, I had the opportunity to travel to this fantastic country where breakfast would be cerveza (beer) and jamón (dry-cured Spanish ham) and where many restaurants don't even open for dinner till 8pm.

The story has been recycled and slightly tweaked from a long time write-up posted on my photo-sharing site (webaperture) which I'm closing end of this year. I figured it was a good time again to dig through my old scanned archives, process them a bit differently and in Photoshop CS4 -- I was using Photoshop 6.0 then! I shot about 6 rolls of film (gasp!) within the hour-long event. I would have shot more but light levels were dropping and I only had ISO100 left after exhausting all my ISO400 film! Shooting digital, I would have just jacked the ISO up! Film was Kodak Supra 100 and Supra 400 (I later switched to Kodak Portra series). Cameras & Lenses: EOS-30 with 70-200 f/2.8 with 2X teleconverter, resulting in a 140-400 f/5.6 lens and an EOS-50E with a 24-85 f/3.5-4.5 lens. This was before my big shift to transparency film (aka slides) such as Fuji's super-saturated Velvia 50 and Kodakchromes (along with ekta and elitechromes).



The Iberian Peninsula forms a link of sorts between Europe and Africa and that makes it not only an interestingly unique country among Europe but one of the most culturally rich as well. Strategically located, it was invaded and visited by many, the Celts, the Phoenicans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Visigoths, and the Moors. It is also the home of the fierce Iberian bull. This also makes Spain such a historically rich country that one can be really confused where to start. I mean look at the depth of this country's history and cultural roots. Many consider bullfighting as such an essential part to Spanish machismo. So one day, while we were stuffing ourselves with tapas and beer in Madrid, we decided that we'd watch a bullfight. Bullfighting would be quite an exciting start to our cultural tour of Spain since it is so much a part of Spain that almost everyone you meet will associate it with Spain although some Latin American countries also do it. Famous Spanish painters like Goya or Picasso have glorified it. If you drive around Spain, it's unlikely that you'd miss these huge billboards in the shape of a bull.



Now, don't get me wrong. Even if you're against this event, I still think you should go watch one. The problem is, how do you go about watching a bullfight. I mean most Spanish cities have these huge bullfighting stadiums called Bull Rings, all of which probably hearkens back to the decadent days of the Roman Empire where slaves and gladiators fought each other and animals in such arenas. When I approached the first bull ring I saw in Seville, I saw this long winding line of people. What they were queuing up for was never apparent to me despite walking around the entire ring and looking lost. The signs were all in Spanish and I gave up -- hey, these were the days before google, mobile internet! Now, you'd just pull up your iPhone and google translate it. Anyways, call me lucky or whatever but it just so happens that my Uncle was posted to Spain as an ambassador. I figure he'd we able to get me some tickets. What's the use of being an ambassador if you can't get tickets to a bullfight. Again, I was fortunate to be in Spain in April since the bullfighting seasons starts after Holy Week which ends with Easter Sunday in April and continues until August. Any other time, and it doesn't matter who you know because you probably won't get tickets. Anyhow, so I got my tickets.

A good friend of my Uncle's, who is a true-blooded Spaniard commented:
"The bullfight is the essence of Spanish-ness and it's good for you to see one."
His lovely wife, with a not-so-strong-but-you-can-recognize-it welsh accent replied:
"Ghastly. Cruel."
Obviously, she wasn't Spanish by birth. He continued:
"It defines Spanish culture and who we are!"
But she wasn't finished:
"Atrocious"

Oh well. I have a fight to catch. Click on the Entry to read more...

• Comments (0)
• Trackback (1)
• Continue reading "Olé - Spanish bullfight! (blast from the past)"

After 125,000km and about about 6% of that something else other than bitumen tarred roads (gravel, sand, kaolin, mud, river beds, rivers, etc), it was time to swap out the factory installed shocks. They've grown rather soft and in the case of the rear pair, one side was definitely much softer resulting in a slight tilt. Must be all those crazy teenagers from our Church Youth ministry riding shotgun in the tray, singing, jumping and doing everything they can to fall off while I'm trying to do the opposite. Eight teenagers can weigh quite a bit and you've got to throw in 400 kilos of rice and supplies to boot.

Trawled the forums for suggestions but most came down to Rancho's. Remember that unlike many 4x4 drivers I see in my daily commute, my truck gets dirty regularly. It's just so silly to see a 4x4 with solid rear axles, low-ratio 4x4 mode with 18-inch super polished rims and low-profiles. The forums also strongly recommended me to go to Off-road Equipment in Batu Caves. So off I went and a full set of Rancho RS9000XLs got installed in under fifty minutes. Great service, good people and well, I'll be back for more upgrades later this year!


The RS9000XLs are heavy duty adjustable shocks which seemed like something I would need as an unloaded tray tends to bounce on KL potholes so I figured I can adjust the rear stiffness based on loading. Right now, my front is set to the mid-point which is 5 (it goes from super-soft 1 setting to hard at 9). My unloaded rear is set to 2. I just had them for two days and what a difference it makes to the handling. Ride quality is improved along with reduced bumpiness when the tray's empty. Overall stickiness to the road's also better, especially taking corners although I can't quantify it. Well, the big test in coming in two weeks when we head off for some community service in conjunction with Sanofi-Aventis. The road's pretty tough but don't take my word for it -- members from the Land Rover owner's club in Malaysia who went with me once judged the trail at about 4 if following this scale here or about 7 to 8 (depending on wet weather) using this rating scale. Ok, let me go and look at some MT tires...

• Comments (0)
• Trackback (1)

A lot of my life seems to revolve around Cameron Highlands. No reason why but it's been the place for a lot of interesting and life-changing events in my life. One reason could be that I'm kind of a winter person. Anything above twenty-one degrees celcius is warm and I think the sweet spot is a lovely fifteen. Camerons, being at an altitude of 5,500 feet above sea level makes for a more pleasant temperature for me.

Anyways, this time round, we returned to my favorite place to stay, the OMF bungalow just outside Tanah Rata (flat-ground in Malay). OMF trumps every hotel I've stayed in Camerons mainly due to it's lovely caretaker and surrounds. The old bungalow still has charm and Mrs Chye, the current caretaker serves up good old plain home cooking and unbeatable scones. Don't waste your money on those pathetic scones at Ye Olde Smokehouse. This one's made with love and freshly baked. The only other scone worth spending money for in Camerons (my opinion anyways) is at T-Cafe in Tanah Rata. T-Cafe is going to be renamed to Lord's Cafe soon. All the best Terese!

Secondly, this is a great place to unwind from the hustle and bustle of any city. There's only 8 rooms and the nearest neighbor is about two miles down the road. Being on an isolated outcrop, it does get windy and cold but get yourself a mug of steaming hot chocolate, a good book and you can enjoy the great outdoors.

It was a good getaway and as usual, was filled with quite a lot of good food. Probably overdid it but don't you always overeat on holiday anyways? The Sungai Palas Tea plantation has now been upgraded and it looks fantastic. It looks awesome but I didn't take any photos of the exterior because the excitement has now been spoiled by stupid drivers who don't know how to drive on single lane roads. I mean if you see an approaching car and you're at a section which permits passing, stop the car and let the incoming car pass. Seems like all the good drivers are long gone and we have city folk who think that giving way is a weakness. Pure stupidity which results in a fifteen minute journey taking over half-an-hour. Not recommended if you're not a good driver! Looks like all that off-road driving on even narrower trails had some benefit after all!

That's it for now, more photos to come...










{edit}
Since this posting, I've received a dozen inquiries on the OMF Bungalow... I guess my blog's pretty heavily indexed by Google
Anyways, here's a low-down on the bungalow if you're keen...

OMF BUNGALOW, CAMERON HIGHLANDS

This Bungalow is a place of rest, refreshment, fellowship and spiritual renewal for Members of OMF (OMFers) as well as local pastors, leaders and other cross-cultural full-time workers/missionaries from other Christian organisations. It is not a guest-house nor is it a business enterprise. It is a self-financed ministry and pretty booked out well in advanced.

Meal times are fixed and guests are asked to vacate the dining room as soon as they finish their meals to allow the helpers to clean up. Meal times are: Breakfast: 8.00-9.00 am; Lunch: 12.30 pm; Dinner: 6.30 pm

• Comments (4)
• Trackbacks (0)