It was on this day around 15 years ago that a few friends and I decided to scale to the peak of Gunung Datuk Rembau in Negeri Sembilan to ‘siong yuet’. We decided that we will sleep in the open, with only the sky and the moon above us and nothing else in between except our sleeping bags. :-) We knew the view from the top will be fantastic on a moonlit night as we have been up there numerous times before and had stayed up late but never to camp overnight.
The climb up Gunung Datuk Rembau is moderately tough but the view at the top was well worth the climb. The top of the mountain is a small plateau with bare boulders and only enough space for a dozen or so people to stand around to appreciate the view. From the peak we can get a clear, unobstructed view of the beautiful valley below us, far into the distance which is just beautiful.So on that fateful 15th day of the 8th moon, we started off at around 6pm, packing our dinner and enough food for breakfast and lunch the next day. We eventually reached the peak around 8.30pm in time for dinner. It took us slightly longer than it would have at daylight as we were hampered by the dark and only guided by our torches. At the peak, there was only enough space for 6-7 people to sleep. The night went by wonderfully, the beautiful, bright round moon was up, we chatted happily and snacked, the 7 of us. Soon one by one we dozed off, out in the open, with just our sleeping bags.
All of a sudden, we were woken by pelting rain on our face! The sky has decided to open up and the wind was coming on strong! We hastily packed our stuff and rushed down to the campsite. Because of the strong wind and pelting rain onto our faces, it was a difficult descent for us and we were all eventually drenched.
Down near the campsite, there is a little ‘cave’ made out from big boulders, with enough room for 20 people or so to squeeze in and we quickly rushed for it. When we reached the campsite, we found there was another group of campers, who had arrived after us. They were also rushing into this ‘cave’. Soon there were around 20 of us huddled in there, waiting and hiding from the fury of the thunderstorm. It was cold and all of us were wet. Out of a sudden, we smelt and saw smoke coming out from the very interior of the cave – it seems some smart a** from the other group decided to start a small fire to keep himself and his friends warm! But what happened
was that the twigs and leaves they used were all wet, so there was more smoke than fire! Oh my goodness, eventually the whole cave was covered with smoke, tearing our eyes and choking our breaths! All of us had to quickly run out of the cave out into the open rain! We dare not seek shelter under any trees as there was lightning and thunder and we didn’t want to risk being struck down!Because the smoke wasn't clearing due to the enclosed area and the heavy rain outside, we eventually went searching for big boulders to shield us, albeit very slightly, from the wind. (Remember we didn’t have any tents with us!) That night, we spent it huddled under our ponchos, pressed close to any big boulders we could find, with our ponchos flapping noisily around our ears due to the strong wind but we still managed to sleep right through it because we were so tired. The rain didn’t stop until the early morn and the next day was another story. :-)
Thinking back, we were very lucky while we were up at the peak trying to make our way down to the campsite, that there was no lightning because if there was, we would be first to be struck as we were at the highest point in the whole of Negeri Sembilan!
This was indeed my most memorable moon festival celebration for a long, long time - although not for the right reason! - but not one I would want to go through again!
Picture on the left: View from the top (pic taken during another trip)
1st picture on right: Our 'campsite'
2nd picture on right: We had to make our way down these steps in the dark the night before, with pelting rain and strong wind
3rd picture on right: Happy again the next morning - back at the peak, cooking our breakfast
No comments:
Post a Comment