I missed the Rawa and Sibu Island Media Trip earlier and I
told them organizer that if Johor trip comes about, please oh please include me
in (waima gi JB sekali pun).
You see, I don’t have that many blog entries on Johor, and
despite I know there’s a lot out there for me to write (don’t even get me
started… the culture, food, historical places and all the national parks – both
sea and land). When I heard there’s gonna be another one, I told them to
include me in and I will fled even if my boss said no (cos she said requested I
cancel the earlier one, she kinda owe me one). So the drama begins when I got
to know the trip will be covering Johor National Parks. *gulp*. Me and park are
not actually the best of friends, am sure you readers out there know me by know
*eyes rolling*. But since I made a vow to myself (not that smart now huh), I am
gonna honour my own vow. Die die I will.
I saw the itinerary and my worst nightmare flooded my brain
cell…. P.A.C.A.T (for those that don’t know, tropical rain forest is famous for
leeches of which feared by many, aside from well… tigers, snakes, wild boars
and etc). Calm down I told myself, there’s a solution to everything kan. First
thing first, let’s make a list (i) insect repellent, (ii) minyak angin, (iii)
insect repellent, plaster, (iv) insect repellent, (v) Panadol and more (vi)
insect repellant. That should cover the 3d2n trip right *smirk*. (Just so you
know, I bought this leech stoking that looks really avant garde at the Endau
Rompin National Park office.)
There’s a few activities that enveloped our fam trip. And I personally think it was a cool idea having an event that rides on another event that rides on another event… One can reangle many a times. They organized a CSR activity in collaboration with Regency Hospital Johor for the Kampung Orang Asli Selai, which includes giving away sanitisers and educating them on the importance of hygiene especially during the pandemic. Nonperishable foods were part of item given, books and colour pencils were also given to the kids. In order to bring these foods from the city to Selai, Tourism Johor join forces with Johor Trucks, a 4x4 truck club that act as the main transporter. To top things up, they also teamed up Kelab Basikal Johor (Johor Bicycle Club) to do an off road/mountain-biking from town right up to Endau Rompin and Gunung Ledang National Park. This is to encourage off road biking as one of the activities and also promotes nature to the younger generation. And media is to cover and rediscover the beauty of both national parks that are often overlooked. A good 360 marketing tactics, great job guys!
Many might not know about this, Johor to boast to have the most National Parks in Peninsular Malaysia and that Endau-Rompin (Johor) National Park is the largest protected area in the southern half of Peninsular Malaysia. Established in 1993, this ancient rainforest is a protected tropical rainforest covering south of the state of Pahang and northeast of Johor. Thus making it the second-largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia after Taman Negara.
There are 3 official entry points to Endau-Rompin National Park, whereby 2 of them are in Johor.
1. Peta
- Via Kumpung Peta, Kahang (Johor)
- Entrance located along the eastern boundary in the district of Mersing
2. Selai
- Via Selai, Bekok (Johor)
- The Western boundary in the district of Segamat
Below are the activities that are being offered at Endau-Rompin (Selai) Johor National Park, I can proudly say we managed to do 3 out of the 6 below.
1. White water tube rafting
2. Orang Asli (Aborigines) Village (to learn on custom/culture/handicraft)
3. Trekking to waterfalls
4. Bird watching
5. Mountain climbing
6. Mountain biking
📸 : @picturesquephotostudio
We were briefed on safety on how to handle the tube prior to us wiggled waggled ourselves into the tube (it ain’t easy I tell you that). Life vest and helmet are a crucial gear in this (or most) extreme sport, we were also told how the course would be and what to expect. Instructor is with us managing each cluster and that JPAM will be at the disembarkation point. Yes, I do feel safe. By the way, JPAM was with us the whole trip on special request as it involves a few extreme sports.
If you have experienced Kuala Kubu Bharu white water rafting on water level 3 before then tubing in Endau Rompin is similar. Very technical as you need to ‘bump bump bump’ on your own *eyes rolling* and maneuver the tube a lot. It’s tough because the tube is round hence it kept twirling when we bump on the he rocks.
Towards the end I fell off… noticed by many (masa tuh lah nak jatuh pun, tempat dalam pulak tuh. Nasib baik ada life vest. Hilang glams).
Verdict : Challenging? Yes, Fun? Super yes, it was WORTH IT.
Will share on where to stay in my next blog post.
