{"id":944,"date":"2010-12-14T10:30:43","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T02:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tvsmith.my\/?p=944"},"modified":"2012-10-29T13:30:51","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T05:30:51","slug":"rainforest-challenge-rfc-2010-the-twilight-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/rainforest-challenge-rfc-2010-the-twilight-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainforest Challenge \u2013 RFC 2010: The Twilight Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

After the Prologue Stage<\/a>, I re-joined the RFC trail from Kluang in Johor. The road to the South China Sea took me through elephant country via Kahang. From Jemaluang, it was another long drive through the vast FELDA Tenggaroh settlements, before reaching the final stage of the RFC, in the area nicknamed the Twilight Zone. The participants camped at a very beautiful and remote beach north of Cape Leman… (see 22 pics over 4 pages<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\"Beautiful<\/a>

Beautiful Malaysia<\/p><\/div>\n

Having missed the convoy, I was at first unsure if this lonesome path leads to the Twilight Zone. It turned out to be the most amazing journey, ever! Ended up driving on the longest deserted beach for twelve long kilometres, sandwiched by the fast rising tide of the South China Sea and impenetrable mangrove swamps.<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/a>

Small Town Girl<\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier, at the first stop after Kluang, little Kahang town is as small as it gets. As with every such town, there is a kopitiam tucked at a corner. Except now, it is called a cafe and the daughter is armed with pen and pad.<\/p>\n

\"Apocalypse<\/a>

Apocalypse Not<\/p><\/div>\n

It is replanting time, and the landscape at the FELDA oil palm plantations appear surreal and eerie.<\/p>\n

\"Lovers'<\/a>

Lovers’ Corner<\/p><\/div>\n

I stumbled upon this shady corner where whispering couples shared fleeting, romantic moments. Maybe what the world needs is more love and less plantations…<\/p>\n

\"Operasi<\/a>

Operasi Lalang<\/p><\/div>\n

After a long drive down a muddy road, I knew we were getting close to the sea when casuarina trees outnumbered the lalang grass.<\/p>\n

\"Cool<\/a>

Cool Ocean<\/p><\/div>\n

When we arrived at Base Camp 4, it was almost dark and already time to set up tents. The eastern horizon fades with a calming blueish green tint…<\/p>\n

Tip:<\/strong> You can view larger versions of the images here, gallery-style. When the page finishes loading, click on any picture. Navigate via the arrows on each side of the frame.<\/em><\/p>\n

All pictures captured with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 camera by TV Smith
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

The beautiful seafront gives no hint whatsoever of the brutal tropical jungles that lie just a few meters inside. Meanwhile, for the participants it was a fantastic getaway and a temporary respite before the final gruelling stage begins…<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

Lovely & treacherous day ahead<\/p><\/div>\n

\"National<\/a>

National Pride<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Lomo\"<\/a>

My Lomo tribute to the Russians<\/p><\/div>\n

\"R<\/a>

R & R<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Eye<\/a>

Eye In The Sky. A police helicopter checking us out<\/p><\/div>\n

Tip:<\/strong> You can view larger versions of the images here, gallery-style. When the page finishes loading, click on any picture. Navigate via the arrows on each side of the frame.<\/em>
\n
\nAll pictures captured with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 camera by TV Smith
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

RFC founder and organiser, Luis Wee, described the Twilight Zone as ‘No Man\u2019s Land’, where no other 4x4s have been before. There is a reason. It is a soggy, swampy forest with giant mud pools and watery ditches acting as graveyards for vehicles. True to form, it swallowed almost every brave vehicle that attempted. The recovery of the stranded machines was just as difficult and back-breaking…<\/p>\n

\"Officer<\/a>

Officer Zawali<\/p><\/div>\n

Officer Zawali from Terengganu ferried us into the deep jungles. He drives barefoot and crashes into every ‘elephant pit’ willingly but winches himself out single-handedly! I was nervous about the 240v AC power outlets under his dashboard since we were submerged in water most of the time.<\/p>\n

\"Muddy<\/a>

What was the colour of this vehicle?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Another<\/a>

Another trap in the Twilight Zone<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Ouch!\"<\/a>

Ouch!<\/p><\/div>\n

This gentleman just grabbed the wrong tree trunk. The porcupine-like tree is armed with sharp thorns as long as four inches (see the spikes shown in inset pic<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Roving Mechanics<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of the teams from Johor had mechanics providing support on specially modified motorcycles. They are actually ‘cub-cai<\/em>‘ turned into scramblers. Being lightweight, they are very agile and can reach places where others can’t. Still, the swamps swallowed them up and many have to be towed out as well. I like the fuel tank on this bike.<\/p>\n

Tip:<\/strong> You can view larger versions of the images here, gallery-style. When the page finishes loading, click on any picture. Navigate via the arrows on each side of the frame.<\/em><\/p>\n

All pictures captured with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 camera by TV Smith
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n

For some, the rest of the day was spent sleeping after the ordeal, while for others it was back to fun on the remote beach…<\/p>\n

\"Towing\"<\/a>

Towing One Another<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Machines<\/a>

Machines need rest, too<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Don't<\/a>

Don’t do this in P.D.<\/p><\/div>\n

Don’t do this at any beach, for that matter. The rust will eat up your vehicle halfway through your installments \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"Seaside<\/a>

Seaside Shoot<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Big<\/a>

Big Splash<\/p><\/div>\n

Tireless Zawali is off again on another task in his own Opel Frontera.<\/p>\n

\"Lala<\/a>

Lala Land<\/p><\/div>\n

On the way out, I saw a man trawling lala (clams) for the first time. What a beautiful environment to work in.<\/p>\n

Tip:<\/strong> You can view larger versions of the images here, gallery-style. When the page finishes loading, click on any picture. Navigate via the arrows on each side of the frame.<\/em><\/p>\n

All pictures captured with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 camera by TV Smith
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Page 1: All-Terrain | Page 2: South China Sea | Page 3: Twilight Zone | Page 4: Healing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The road to South China Sea took me through elephant country. From there, it was a long drive on a deserted beach, sandwiched by rising tide and swamps… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378,10,379,25,9],"tags":[271,274,275,285,278,272,270,254,268,267,269,282,286,283,284],"class_list":["post-944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-geography","category-motoring-2","category-news-commentary","category-photography","tag-4wd","tag-4x4","tag-competition","tag-felda","tag-jb","tag-johor","tag-off-road","tag-panasonic-lx-5","tag-rainforest-challenge","tag-rfc","tag-rfc-2010","tag-rfc-special-stage","tag-seaside","tag-south-china-sea","tag-twilight-zone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":981,"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions\/981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tvsmith.net.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}