Vespa goes Endau Rompin.

An upcoming trip to Endau Rompin + An insatiable craving for adventure after a hiatus – KTM 200 = Riding to Endau Rompin on my scooter. Adventure has no boundary for the type of motorcycles. The convoy was a blend of different blokes and lasses on different two-wheelers – Josh on Suzuki Vstrom, Cherie on Kawasaki Versy, Richard on Yamaha SuperTenere, Me on Vespa, the organiser Wei Jie on Honda wave.

7.30am arrivals, where are the rest?

Waterbag – Checked 8-men tent – Checked Sleeping bag – Checked Food ration – Checked Outdoor cooking ware – Checked Least appropriate bike for the ride but armed with a sense of adventure – Checked

We passed by Yong Peng to have our lunch and also pick up more rations for camping. Most important of all, water! The front basket of the Honda Wave was loaded with around two gallons of water. Wei Jie claimed that it helped to stabilise the front of the bike. Unless you have a water filtration system, feel free to use the water at Endau Rompin.

While riding on a gravelled upslope, I could feel the weight of the Vespa’s heavy rear plus all the camping gears rendering the scooter difficult to control. I low-sided with the scooter. Thankfully, my belonging did not strew all over the road. With a little assistance to recompose the scooter, I kickstarted Ebony and continued with the journey to the camping ground. Ebony suffered a little beating to her aesthetic but in her little 179cc heart, she was still rattling strong.

Sense of adventure means putting up with aesthetic abuse. Crash bar for her?

Happy family of chickens until one of them ends up in the cooking pot.

We were assigned a guide when we arrived at the camping ground. His name is Jeffery. It seems that we were the only ones camping. We planned out the activities for that day and the day after. As it was a bit late for trekking to the waterfalls, we went tyre tube rafting nearby.

The camping ground comprised of a few sheds and a public toilet.

Boys fighting for the hammock.

We started a fire. Let’s do a fire pose.

Wei Jie and Richard on CWO, missing the brightly coloured vest.

Tyre tube rafting for only RM5!

Cherie demonstrating how to wear a helmet.

Weeeee…..!

Alemak, got stuck!

First wipe out, others behind still got stuck.

Jeffery, our guide for the two days.

Outdoor cooking!

Our dinner, pasta and noodles with Indian Spinach Gravy, Tuna, and whatever O Chi Pa lang we have.

Chef Richard whipping up some omelettes from the eggs that survived the journey.

At night, there were quite a number of flying roaches at the big shed. I think the amount of screaming by the boys and girls were enough to wake the animals there. At one time, I was almost deafened by Cherie’s scream directly into my ear as a cockroach fluttered by.

Our little guest at the washing sink.

Wakey Wakey…. I spotted a family of wild boars at the stream that morning.

A hearty breakfast before the trek.

The following morning, we trekked to the waterfalls. The night before was a screaming battle at flying roaches,  the trek was a screaming battle at leeches.

The arduous trek which was the hunting ground of leeches. More screaming.

This photo do not justify how steep it was.

After 1hour 20min of trekking and screaming, we saw the waterfall. I think this is Takan Pandan.

The adjacent waterfall. Bellissimo.

Leaving Endau Rompin behind…

Hello again, chicks.

Ebony survived! I am so proud of her.

Special thanks to Jeffery for yanking out the leeches on my leg.

Directions to Endau Rompin Selai entrance from Singapore

http://www.johorparks.johordt.gov.my/selai.html

Be sure to register at the headquarter office in Kampung Bedok before entering the Park. 8, Jalan Satria 1, Taman Berjaya, 86500 Bekok, Johor.

Do give them a call at +60 07-922 2875 to check if the weather permits. There are occasional floodings.