Borneo Equator Expedition - Jungle , Swamps and Heatstroke

Yes, i check in every day also

More Moto girls just for you mate

This could be the best ride report EVER! Keep on!

Day 4

Gunung Saran to Nangah Pinoh




I wake up just as it starts to gets light. It was a pretty uncomfortable night as I was sleeping right on top of the gravel of the trail, but I managed to get a few hours in. I definitely had it better than some of the crews who had to sleep in their vehicles in the middle of the swamp.

Its stopped raining and there is no engine noise.The camp is quiet and I lie on the ground listening to monkeys hooting and calling to each across the hills above us. The atmosphere and early morning view I have is incredible.



I go for an early morning stroll........



Looking back across the footbridge we used yesterday towards the camp where I slept. I pass the 4x4's and it looks like all the Fords and the Mitsubishi Titon made it out and up during the night. The crews are still all asleep inside their vehicles.






I walk up the hill a bit enjoying the solitude and the noises of the jungle as it wakes up. Already the temperature is rising quickly and the undergrowths steaming. Below I hear Samysir's loud speaker crackle to life and then "Bangun Bangun" echoes around the hills.



Didi looking for breakfast in his box. Each rider was allowed to bring one box like this. Inside is food, medicine, spare parts, oil, tools, octane booster/ gas cleaner, batteries and other miscellaneous crap. We also have a duffel bag / dry bag for clothes and a tent.

Before I know it we're breaking camp and then have the briefing for the days trail.
All the vehicles have radios and Samysir tells us that there are 4 or down below in the swamp. There are 6 or 7 waiting to go down. All of the others spent the night in or beside the rivers we crossed yesterday.
Due to the customs bond we have to try to stay on schedule so those already across will push on. The others will have to try to catch us . Hopefully we will regroup tonight in Nangah Pinoh.



As we leave this Defender goes over the edge. Good luck mate !

Lucky I spot this fellow. My safety jacket obviously reminds him of home.








We leave the 4x4's and ride on. Somewhere in front of us are Sovan and the KLX guy. They had ridden on yesterday not realising the problems the 4x4's would have. We have no idea where they spent the night.











We ride for several hours enjoying the pristine trail. Its magnificent single track winding up and down the hills through the forest.

The trail decends and we are confronted with this view.



It looks like something off an Indiana Jones movie set. WTF ???

Shit

Amazing, thanks for posting, looking forward to the rest.

Love the FORD logo at the front "Make every day exciting"

WOW!!! More please!!!

I have never seen anything like this before, and the most amazing thing is that there are pictures of men up to their eyeballs in Shiite with giant smiles on their faces. Damnit. keep this going - bloody awesome.



YK

Great report, you guys are completely nuts.

I hope you got pics of the 4x's crossing this.

Well I guess we've found Sovan !

I see his bike on the far bank and I wonder if this is some kind of joke. Is there another easier way across that he's not telling us about ?



I walk out and take a look. I don't like what I see. At all......

Unfortunately I also don't see another way across.

There is a series of planks layed across a foundation of huge timber. Either side of the planks there are some massive holes much like crevasses', with raging water 10 or so metres below. I realise that if I fall into one of these on the way across I'm most likely toast.

This is absolutely bloody terrifying .

Sovan whose bike is on the opposite bank thinks everythings hilarious. At the time I think he's behaving like a dickhead.

Rudy volunteers to go first.



He starts riding and nearly loses the back wheel over the edge. He is completly freaked out.



Didi and Eca grab hold of the front & back of Rudy's bike to stabalise it when theres no where to put his feet down on either side. At times on the right and left there's just an abyss.







Rudy makes it across after about 15 minutes. Now its my turn.



Slowly I roll forward onto the dam. There are a couple of times when I lose my balance and I start to topple towards a crevasse. When this happens I think I nearly puke or scream or both. Luckily one of the guys grabs the bike and keep it upright. I feel I'm on a knife edge - this is unbelievebly intense.



This photo says it all.



The Rekluse and the rear brake on the bars are indispensible on the crossing.







That was probably one of the scariest and probably most stupid things I have ever done in my life.



I discover I have a souvenir of the crossing.



Yes - Totally Insane.

Looking forward to hearing how this plays out :). The trucks cross that? If the last 11 days compare to the first 4 this is going to be a classic, heck it already is.
Keep it coming !
Thanks for sharing.

I'm absolutly exhausted. A combination of the adrenelin come down and the opressive heat make me collapse shaking on the far bank. I carry a flask of Mcallen single malt and this seems to do the trick in revitalizing me.

Next up is Didi.




Didi isn't handling it too well either.



Rudy takes over for him.



Approaching the far bank, Rudy tries to ride Didi's bike out. The planks we are riding on are sliding all over the place and this time the plank pushes out from under the bike and he crashes out.



Finally its Eca's turn.





It turns out yesterday evening Sovan had found a small village and spent the night there. This guy had accompanied him out to the dam and helped him across earlier. He was a mute, but was such a happy guy.

Our friend on the KLX 125 , in his crazy enthusiasm for his new bike, had been out in front of everybody. He had somehow man handled his bike halfway across the dam by himself. Unbelievable. :eek1

Completely exhausted and physically unable to go any further, he had spent the night sleeping out on the logs ! When Sovan turned up in the morning he was still curled up, comatose on a plank.

This is unbeliveable! I would probably have turned tail at the first gorge! Very impressive!

I'm looking forward on how the rest of the group cross this log jam especially the crazy 4X4 driver's . :eek1

-- "group cross this log jam especially the crazy 4X4 driver's ."

Got that right...

I was too. In fact I started reading Glenn's post and was thinking "Wow, another guy who's.....oh it's him."
This kind of riding doesn't sound like my cup of tea. However, it's fun to read about it. Another similar adventure book is "Obsession Die Hard" about Mr. Culbertson crossing the Darien Gap"
Thanks for taking us along.

I cannot wait to see more. This is absolutely amazing.

Sorry to dissapoint guys - we didn't stick around to watch them. At the time we guessed there was no way the 4x4's would attempt to cross the log jam when they could ford the river somewhere down stream .



If you take a look downstream in this photo, the river was much too deep and fast flowing for the bikes and would have been fairly difficult for the jeeps but I guess doable. They would have had to winch down and up either side again I guess.

I don't feel too great and suspect that I'm close to suffering from heat stroke. I get out of the sun and take some energy gel and drink more water.
We regroup and take a look at our roadbook. Theres a settlement about 30km further down the trail. We're very hot, tired and hungry and decide to ride on.



C'mon thats nothing dude !

Its flowing single track again with a few easy obstacles thrown in for good measure.



I'm riding along at a fair pace and narrowly avoid riding straight into this hole in the bridge. I slam on the brakes and manage to warn Didi and Eca of the danger just in time.




Slowly the trail opens up the futher we go and we begin to see the first signs of human activity.