Wet, Wild & Muck

Vivek sharma has the time of his life as he finds that the Malayasian Rainforest Challenge rally is probably the last word in adventure

The Brit was crooning, a little offkey, “Raindrops keep falling on my head, But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red, Cryin’s not for me, Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining, Because I’m free, Nothing’s worrying me…” In between, a little in disharmony, there were the punctuations of the Italian, “Take that you lil’ b**@*@*, hope you roast in hell,” as he stabbed a lighted cigarette on his leg to get rid of leeches. And as we lay listening to this duologue, cramped under a single tarpaulin sheet spread between cars (our campsite, would you believe!), caked with muck and wet to our very bones, fending off a few leeches of our own, we thought, “Another day of the Malaysian Rainforest Challenge comes to an end.”

It had been relentlessly pouring ‘cats and dogs’ for three days since we set off on the seventh edition of the rally, labelled as the most internationally represented 4x4 off road event in the world. What is not labelled but is understood by all participants is that only ‘lunatic off roaders’ take part. The reason being that the terrain is as dogged as it comes, impassable at stretches, and, just to make things more difficult, this time round the event was organised bang in the middle of monsoon making it a true muck fest amidst a surfeit of flood waters.

And it is precisely these challenges that attracted off roaders from 36 countries bound by the unadulterated love for adventure to plough through some 800 kms of jungle roads around Joharbaru, a gruelling test of man and machine over 10 days. When they come here, everybody knows what to expect - mud as viscous as glue, swift-flowing slit-laden rivers, landslides, deep ravines and blood sucking insects make up much of the itinerary. As Luis J A Wee, the event director put it, “Human emotions are dramatically played out in the Rainforest Challenge. As they battle the odds, the participants get to find out who they are, and what they are capable of. Everyone coming into the event will have that triumphant feeling at the end of the event. The lessons learnt here last a lifetime.” It is no wonder the entry fee of USD 2000 is inconsequential.

Our transport stage (see box for event outline) passed through dense forest, plantations of palm oil trees, rivers which often did not have any bridges. We had to construct makeshift log bridges or repair a bridge before moving ahead. It was a perfect mix of teamwork and state of the art engineering. The trees were cut with chain saw or machete, the logs were then laid on the gully and tied up with the straps or bike chain and the vehicles were then precariously transported over those logs. Unsurprisingly, amidst such challenges the camaraderie became as thick as the tropical humidity.

Relentless rain hit us from day one. It was midnight when we reached our campsite. Buckets were pouring down and to set camp under these conditions was a challenge in itself. Camp/tent was a tarpaulin, tied from one vehicle to another and open from all sides. Though initially the stretcher beds and sleeping bags were dry, the rain left nothing waterless.

For three days it rained non-stop. The river we were supposed to cross was flooded on top of which the log bridges built by the recce team had been swept away by the current. Nobody had anticipated the water level to rise to such heights. The alternative: backtrack, detour, recuperate, gather one’s strength to “fight for another day”. Camping in the mud and slush was like a war zone where walking around the campsite was more akin to continuously sliding. Muddy hands and utensils were washed in the water collected on the tarpaulin which was also source for water for cooking. A meal of noodles and rice was a feat we somehow managed but it was impossible to get a single piece of dry cloth. Before sleeping we took off the wet shoes and put on the same wet shoes the next morning.

At one stage in the rally we came to a river which had to be crossed. In absence of a bridge we thought of building rafts and ferrying the vehicles across. However, very soon we gave up the idea as the undercurrent was too strong to execute it. Faced with no other alternative to go across, we had to backtrack, make a 100 kms detour to reach the other side.

If days were torrid and wet, the nights were just as exciting. We shared experiences, cooked the food and ate together, and later, gave our daily quota of blood to the leeches. The leeches were so abundant that one tended to become blind to them altogether. I once found three of them feasting on my leg and did not even feel the itching. Often, they became so full of blood that a touch could burst them. The only way to get rid of them was by applying salt or torching them with the flame of the cigarette lighter. Lighting mosquito coils for sand flies and anti leech spray around the bed and shoes before going to sleep was more of an exercise in hope and helped precious little.

I was there as an observer and consequently was not part of the lot that ventured into the Twilight Zone. This is the toughest part of the event before a final descent to the beach. Only three cars and two marshal cars with 16 people from Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia, France and Malaysia did the stretch. It took them 36 non-stop off-roading hours to cross seven kilometres in the jungle. When they came out of the Twilight Zone with the stories of their experience, the rest of the event seemed like a joy ride. There were huge black scorpions, enormous leeches (the kind which could be stars in a Hollywood horror movie), getting attacked by the monkeys…all that is another story, however.