I Heart Sabah ...

How time flies! It seemed like only yesterday I was back in Sabah after a long time away (having left in January 1993). Now, it's been 10 years since I went back to Kota Kinabalu in October, 2003, with the now-defunct Ford Lanun Darat programme. Much has changed. Back then, it was near-impossible to find camping gear in KK, now there are many shops offering first rate items.
Memories came rushing back on the Borneo Safari recently, when the first day's campsite at Kiulu seemed so familiar. Then ... of course, it was where we camped during Lanun Darat #17!
Sabah was where it all began for me ... 4X4, that is. First, the early years of the Borneo Safari in the early 1990s, then the unforgettable Camel Trophy of 1993.
Lanun Darat was a very successful and popular programme run by Ford to help customers of its Ranger and Everest 4X4s to learn the fundamentals of 4WD and how to get the most out of their vehicles while enjoying the great outdoors. It ended several years ago but there is talk, and some hope of it being revived. If you own a Ford 4X4 and want to see that happen, do let Sime Darby Auto Connexion know how you feel. Call them, write to them, text them, twit it ...  

My story from October 2003

IN Sabah, everyone drives a 4X4 vehicle. At least, that seems to be the perception among other Malaysians. A first-time visitor stepping out of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport may well think that this is one rough country, given the number and variety of tough-looking vehicles in the parking lot.
Toyota Landcruisers and Hiluxes, Nissan Patrols, Isuzu Invaders and Troopers and Land Rovers are everywhere. And, in the past few years, the Ford Ranger has won over many Sabahans as well.
Ford Malaysia, recognising the importance of this easternmost state’s importance as a market for its pick-ups, recently held the first-ever Lanun Darat 4X4 expedition for Sabahans who own the Ranger.

Since the programme began five years ago, the 16 previous expeditions in Peninsular Malaysia have proved very popular among owners of the tough Ford trucks, many of whom return again and again for more thrills. It is also an avenue for Ford to maintain close rapport with its customers.
Lanun Darat #17 proved to be different in several ways. Logistics was the first challenge since quite a lot of equipment had to be flown in or shipped over from the peninsula.
For example, Kuala Lumpur offers shoppers a bewildering choice of tents, sleeping bags and other camping gear. But the options are limited in Sabah. Therefore, these items had to be purchased in KL and shipped over, and then distributed, free of charge, to the hundred or so participants who had eagerly signed up for the event.
When all these difficulties had been overcome, Sabah showed that it had many advantages for the kind of back-to-nature adventure that the Lanun Darat programme aims to promote.
A typical Lanun Darat event in the west would require two to three hours of highway motoring before the dirty bit - the real fun - began. In Sabah, the adventure started less than 10km from the flag-off, held at the Ford Concessionaires facility in Inanam, a light industrial area just outside KK.
The terrain was spectacular. One minute, you were on a rather ordinary country road. One left turn later, the trail began climbing steeply, and kept getting steeper.

For those of us from West Malaysia who had gone along for the ride, the most amazing part about these tracks, which were so steep that low-ratio gears had to be engaged, was that the local residents traversed them daily, to and from their homes.
The GPS (Global Positioning System) showed that we were less than 30km, as the crow flies, from downtown KK. No wonder the high percentage of 4X4 vehicles in Sabah – there are so many places people need to go to which ordinary cars simply cannot reach.
Before long, the convoy of 35 Rangers moved into the really mountainous area of Kiulu, where swift streams churned up excitement and trepidation in equal measures.
First-timers probably felt queasy watching the truck before theirs plunge into the fast current, and seeing those big wheels disappear beneath the seething waters.
The knowledge that it was safe, that the guy in front made it across, should be reassuring. And, it was, but you just couldn’t help worrying a little. What if I got it wrong? There were so many things that could go wrong: going in too fast or too slow; steering too far right or left; easing off the accelerator too early or too late ...
And then it was over, and with success, a feeling of overwhelming exhilaration, of achievement! It was great. This was what life’s all about! Until the next, bigger, deeper and faster stream.
All along the way, we learnt from each other. There was always some useful tip someone else had which I had not thought or heard of, or something I considered basic but which the other fellow never knew.
There was also the spectacular scenery to savour while negotiating rocky tracks that clung precariously to the near-perpendicular sides of hills which soared straight up on one side and, on the other, dropped to lush green bamboo-clad valleys a long, long way below.
We camped next to a lovely boulder-strewn river which provided crystal-clear water for bathing, and a farmer’ s hut which had Astro, via which the Sabahan football fans watched their team lose to MPPJ.
Lanun Darat ended with a drive along the white sandy beach to the Rasa Ria Resort at Pantai Dalit. By then, the participants did not need any prompting when asked if another such event would be a good idea.

Deja view ... same place (as photo above), 10 years later.

The "road" to Mulu

Who said "it's not the destination, it’s the journey”? That sounds like a nice philosophy if you’re into zen and all that mystical stuff. Personally, I think it’s a cop-out, a sorry excuse made up to console oneself when the destination turned out to be one huge, disappointing mistake.
Give me a good journey AND a good destination any time. Give me a trip to Mulu, and give it to me the old-fashioned way, of course.
For the benefit of the uninitiated, that’s the renowned Gunung Mulu National Park in the north-eastern corner of Sarawak, famed for its superlative caves – world’s largest cave chamber, South-East Asia’s longest cave passage, longest cave system, etc.
Twenty years on, memories of my first visit, and what felt like an epic journey then, are still vivid.
From the seaside town of Kuala Baram, about 25km from Miri, I had to take a pre-dawn express boat journey to the small riverside town Marudi, three hours away.
Change over to an open top longboat for another three-hour ride to an even smaller riverside town, Long Lama, where another transfer is required, to an even smaller longboat for the last stretch up the calm Melinau river.

Waiting for the Long Lama ferry.

Today, Mulu has become one of Sarawak’s most popular tourist destinations, thanks to regular flights that deliver visitors almost to the doorsteps of the first-class Royal Mulu Resort and another dozen or so lodgings clustered on the banks of the pristine Melinau river.
When the opportunity to revisit Mulu came up in April 2006, it was the destination that got me excited first.
Then came the offer I couldn’t refuse – it was a Ford Lanun Darat expedition so the trip would not be made either in progressively diminishing boats or Twin Otter aircraft. Instead, we would drive there in a convoy of four-wheel-drive vehicles.
For most of the journey, the Ford Ranger pick-ups and Everest SUVs would travel on a well-used trail from Miri to Long Bedian, a remote settlement of the Kayan tribe.
Just how remote is it? Well, it’s about 125km from Miri, and the natives have e-Bedian (check out www.unimas.my/ebedian) and lots of satellite dishes.
And, when the convoy of 25 or so vehicles finally rolled up at the longhouse after a long, hard and dusty journey, the native women whipped out their snazzy camera phones to snap pictures of the visitors from afar!
The drive to get there had been a gruelling ordeal of dust, bone-jarring bumps and monstrous hills with steep climbs and descents like roller coasters.

The dust was so thick in places that visibility was down to a couple of metres.
For city slickers, there was one thing worse than driving virtually blind – knowing that we were sharing the trails with monster 80-tonne logging trucks that dwarf most of the semi-trailers on peninsular highways.
The long drive to Long Bedian and our overnight rest stop at the nearby Tenyok Rimba community resort had taken the best part of an entire day, and sapped all of our energy.
The locals put on a warm welcome, complete with dancing girls and traditional music but most of us were simply too tired to party for long.
But, as I was to discover the next day, that was the easy part. Next stop, Mulu!
A quick look at the topographic map and a consultation with my trusty GPS showed the objective was less than 50km away. But, that’s in a straight line, and nothing goes anywhere in a straight line in this part of the world.
It turned out to be four-and-a-bit hours of traversing some of the steepest slopes and, at one stretch of around seven kilometres, definitely the bumpiest bit of dirt and stone trail I’ve ever driven across.

There was the added pressure of a deadline. We absolutely had to reach that dot on the map by 1.30pm or else we wouldn’t have enough time to make the last stretch into the national park and still have enough time to return to our camp before nightfall.
Jury-rigged bridges made from a couple of logs, hastily cleared landslides, dizzying heights of hills and plunging depths of valleys were all par for the course, which ended abruptly at the river.
With barely minutes to spare, we had made the rendezvous. There, patiently waiting for us were the boatmen who would ferry us on the final leg of the journey into the national park.
Unfortunately, the tight schedule meant we could not explore the wonders of Mulu at a leisurely pace.

After a short boat ride through a sudden yet typical thunderstorm, we climbed 200 steps up to the gaping mouth of the magnificent Clearwater Cave, South-East Asia’s longest cave passage with over a hundred kilometres surveyed.
Descending deep into the chasm on wobbly legs, I realised that every step downward meant yet another upward step that must be taken on the return trip, and all these steps would lead to the 200 steps back down to the river. So much for “the journey, not the destination”.
Still, there was just enough time for a refreshing dip in the crystal clear lagoon fed by the underwater river flowing out of the cave before heading off for a quick lunch and then back to the vehicles for the long, bumpy drive back to Tenyok Rimba.
More bumps, more dust and mud, many more hours of arduous driving lay ahead before we returned to “civilisation” but when our tyres finally met bitumen, I felt I could say that Lanun Darat #28 had been a tough but enjoyable journey to and from a great destination.

Worms grow big in the highlands!

The point of it all

AS the sound of 18 diesel engines died away for the last time in Casablanca on Oct 7, a wave of relief swept over every member of the Petronas Trans Sahara 2004 expedition. There were also feelings of triumph, and a sense of personal achievement and team accomplishment.
“We made it!” “Well done, you did it!” Congratulations were in order, and everyone went around shaking each other’s hands and patting one another on the back. There were tears of joy, and eager anticipation of the journey home to much-missed loved ones so far away.
Now, safe and sound at home at last, with all the creature comforts and the great Malaysian food that we craved for while out there in the desert, there has been time to reflect on the meaning of life, the universe, and what the whole Sahara experience has been about.
It was one great adventure. For some lucky members of the Petronas Adventure Team (PAT), there will be other places to visit in time to come, but many of us will remember this trip as a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we were fortunate enough to have been a part of.
The Trans Sahara proved to be many things to many people. It was a journey of exploration, a long trek through nations and environments that couldn’t possibly be more different than the lush world that Malaysians know as home.
It was a test for each individual participant, who had to dig deep into his or her reserves to find the patience, the perseverance and the tolerance to put up with all the unexpected trials and tribulations that came along. Some of the challenges included seemingly endless waiting to cross borders, long hours of driving, extreme heat, gritty sand getting into everything, and having to go for days without a bath.

There were always some people you liked and some you did not, but everyone had to learn to get along, for the good of the entire group. When everyone was forced to spend so much time in such close proximity, the strain could blow the smallest misunderstanding out of proportion and spark off tiffs. But, in the end, the close bond forged by the shared experiences won through.
There were happy moments when things were great, when the scenery was dazzling or the mood enchanting, just as there were times when everything that could go wrong did. We all passed the test and, looking back now, the good times far outweighed the bad.
It was an opportunity for Malaysians, as individuals and as a group, to let other cultures know about us even as we were getting to know them. Initially, the curious locals of North Africa always mistook us for Japanese, Koreans or Chinese visitors. But when told that we were Malaysians, the reaction was always one of warm welcome.
Invariably, their faces broke into broad smiles, their thumbs went up and they shouted, “Malaysia very good, very nice people, welcome!” It felt really great to be regarded in such a pleasant light, even if we discovered along the way that such welcoming salutes were often ploys to lure unsuspecting tourists into souvenir shops.
As travel experiences go, a PAT expedition is not really the best way to visit interesting places. All too often, the need to keep to a schedule or having to pick up the pace to make up for lost time meant that we had to bypass many interesting places. While the 39 days allocated for the expedition might seem a long time, it still did not allow for much leisure because the convoy had to cover more than 10,000km, much of it over difficult terrain. There were stretches of the route which required eight hours of driving to cover just over 100km of ground.
While it was understandable that the needs of the whole caravan took precedence over the wishes of individuals, it did often lead to the frustrating feeling that one had travelled so far under such difficult conditions only to whiz past some place of great significance, such as historic battlegrounds like El Alamein and Mersa Matruh in Egypt, or the remnants of ancient Roman settlements in Libya.

The expedition did enable us to see plenty of interesting sights along the way. Even if the experience was often shallow, most of us agreed that it was ultimately better to have had these glimpses, however brief and fleeting, than not to have seen these wonderful places at all. That was another lesson: you can’t have everything your way all the time, so you should enjoy whatever you can get.
In the main, the expedition served to raise Petronas’ profile in the foreign countries where they have joint-venture operations, such as Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. Wherever possible, the PAT members took part in community relations projects at local institutions such as children’s hospitals and village vocational centres, which receive support and aid from the Malaysian oil company.
For other sponsors such as Ford Malaysia, which sent along their 4X4 Everest and Ranger vehicles, and Korean tyre-maker Kumho, the gruelling expedition was as an ideal trial by ordeal that proved their products’ toughness and reliability, beyond all doubt. After all, they survived the kind of conditions and abuse the average consumer’s car and tyres would never have to undergo, even in 20 years of normal usage.

Oil everywhere, not a drop to be found

The Blast From The Past series continues with an ironic problem. In an oil-rich country where electricity is so cheap that the people leave their light bulbs on all day, the Petronas Adventure Team runs out of fuel deep in the desert.

With the cars running on fumes and no Petronas station in sight, set up camp.

AN oil crisis is the last thing anyone expects in Libya , where petroleum supposedly oozes from the ground. Yet, that was exactly what the Petronas Adventure Team (PAT) had to cope with as the sun set on Sept 13, 2004, Day 15 of the Trans Sahara 2004.
The convoy comprised 18 four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles, rigged with extra fuel tanks and jerry cans that can carry about 200 litres of diesel each.
That evening, every driver had been mesmerised by the amber low-fuel warning light; it didn’t help that the nearest fuel station was at the oasis of Waw el Kabir, 178km away as the crow flies, but there are no crows deep in the Sahara , and no one here travels in a straight line for long.
The problem began when the convoy rolled into the oasis of Tazerbu, about 650km south of Benghazi , the scheduled refuelling stop, on the night of Sept 12. Unfortunately, the petrol station was out of diesel.

The scrounger score some diesel, but not enough.

The PAT’s scrounging skills worked, though, and the local fuel supplier sent four 200l drums to the camp at midnight. Each car got a ration of 65 litres, which was not a lot; nevertheless, the participants headed into the desert anyway, to explore an extinct volcano.
The difficult terrain resulted in higher fuel consumption than expected, and most vehicles were running on fumes by the time the convoy pitched camp as night fell, still 200km from the nearest source of diesel.
Expedition leader Halim Rahman then decided to collect every jerry can and fuel container available, pool every last drop of precious diesel to fill up a couple of cars and send them to Waw el Kabir to buy more diesel. It was a six-hour round trip.

While the quest for fuel continues, some
 people find time to practise their golf swing.

Meanwhile, the guys (and three women) took advantage of the rare leisure time to catch up on vehicle maintenance chores, such as cleaning the air filters. Expedition sergeant major Asst Supt Mohd Shahidan Mohd Mahmud, who had brought along 100 golf balls, finally got the chance to polish his chipping and sand trap skills, while the others played rugby and football.
The fuel eventually arrived and the convoy moved out just after 4pm, way after the usual 6.30 or 7.30am starts. The wait proved to be a good opportunity to experience the Sahara during the day. Temperatures there can soar to over 40°C, but, surprisingly, it was pleasant in the shade, especially when the wind blew, which seemed to be most of the time.
Several days earlier, the convoy had crossed from Egypt into Libya near the town of Salum and made smooth progress on sealed roads to the port city of Tobruk. This city was the scene of two major World War II battles – that between the German-Italian forces led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, a.k.a. the Desert Fox, and the British and Commonwealth troops who distinguished themselves as the Desert Rats. Unfortunately, there isn’t much left for history buffs to see today, except for a small French military cemetery.

All hands on deck to help with refuelling.

Along the way, the convoy rolled through El Alamein (now called Al Alamayn by the Libyans), site of the British victory that proved to be the turning point for the Allies.
My first impression of Libya was that of overwhelming filth: there was garbage strewn as far as the eye could see. Plastic bags, in particular, looked like crops growing on the ground; many hung from the numerous barbed wire fences.
Libya could just as easily be dubbed the “Land of Green Doors”, since nearly every squarish house is either sand coloured or unpainted concrete, and has green doors. Apparently, the colour is popular because the Libyan flag is a plain green rectangle, and it seems to be effective in scaring away flies!
En route to Tobruk, the long line of uniformly-coloured PAT cars drew admiring stares from everyone, including the unfortunate drivers of two cars which collided with a mighty bang when the man in front slowed down to gawk, and the driver behind him, who did the same, did not slow down. Assistance was rendered immediately by Khairuddin Mohd Ali, the expedition doctor,who examined the injured drivers.

No fuel, never mind, we have authentic
Italian pasta cooked by authentic
Italian chef Alessandro Arada

The Sahara reputedly springs surprises on the unwary: well, there was heavy rain and floods in parts of the deep desert that the expedition was supposed to visit, thus forcing a change of route. It hardly ever rains, but when it does, the water does not seep into the ground. Instead, it is channelled into narrow riverbeds that are normally dry.

Is that a Petronas station ... nah, just a mirage.

“After lunch, the local guides will lead us through the minefields,” expedition leader Halim Abdul Rahman announced over the radio during a refuelling break just before the convoy was due to enter the real Sahara desert.
That certainly got the adrenalin pumping, but as it turned out, we did not have to drive through any minefield. However, the convoy did go near many thick barbed wire entanglements that marked out areas where there might still be mines left over from WWII and the subsequent border conflict between Libya and Egypt.
The Sahara proper is a fascinating landscape, vast and varied in textures and hues. It is not all just sand dunes, although there are many of these. There are also large areas of hard-packed sandy and rocky ground, strewn with stones which vary in size from pebbles to huge boulders. Colours range from white to beige to dark brown and black.

The expedition vehicles travelled over soft sand dunes that resembled the huge waves of a storm at sea, as well as perfectly smooth flat sand that afforded We drove through powdery dust (like talcum powder) that severely taxed the engines and cooling systems.
The Sahara is beautiful in a stark, wild kind of way. It is enchanting and entrancing, yet totally unforgiving because a traveller can go hundreds of kilometres without seeing a blade of grass, or so much as a beetle. There’s no life there, except that which passes through on the backs of camels, or in 4WD vehicles, like us.

More photos here

An extinct volcano in the middle of the Libyan Sahara (at 24°55'9.67"N 17°44'45.88"E).

Gearing up for the trek

Another old tale in the Blast From The Past series, leading up to the longest and most demanding overland trip that I've ever had the privilege to be a part of - the Petronas Adventure Team's Trans Sahara 2004. This article was published in The Star in the run-up to the event proper.

THE average family car travels 15,000 to 20,000km in a year. The typical Petronas Adventure Team (PAT) expedition covers about the same distance in around six weeks. While the difference may not seem too dramatic to some, consider that your car rolls over smooth bitumen all the time whereas the PAT like to venture off the beaten path.
In addition to the difficult and often unpredictable terrain, the adventure-seekers can expect no outside help if anything goes wrong, or when equipment breaks down. There are no spare parts shops at hand where they go to play, no AAM to call for assistance, no petrol stations, no 7-Eleven stores, nothing. Out there, nothing is certain, other than Murphy’s Law, which pessimistically prophesises that “if anything can go wrong, it will”.
Reliability is the most important factor when choosing equipment for overland treks to places far, far away from civilisation, and the adventure begins with the choice of vehicle. It has to be reliable; it has to be rugged, and spacious enough to carry up to three occupants and their essential gear in reasonable comfort for many days at a stretch.
Four-wheel-drive (4WD) is a must, given that the trail will surely serve up challenging obstacles such as soft sand or gooey mud or steep inclines. The ability to spread the engine’s power among all four wheels instead of just two means that each wheel on a 4WD vehicle is less likely to lose traction and spin, and thus, is more capable of making it through difficult terrain than a conventional 2WD vehicle.
The most popular choice among PAT members is Toyota’s big Land Cruiser, favoured because of its legendary reputation for ruggedness and reliability and its capacious cabin, which can hold all the stuff – camping and cooking gear, clothing, spare parts and tools of all shapes and sizes, plenty of food and water – needed to survive several weeks in the wilderness. It also has a big, stout six-cylinder diesel engine displacing over four litres to lug all that weight around.
When there is a sufficient “critical mass” of Land Cruisers, it becomes logical for newcomers to choose the same make and model to simplify maintenance and repairs in the field. The mechanics on the expeditions become familiar with the Toyotas and have an inventory of spare parts for a single type of vehicle.

Such is the reputation of the PAT trips as an excellent test of vehicle reliability that Ford Malaysia promptly agreed when invited to be a sponsor. It will be sending two Everest SUVs and a Ranger 4X4 pick-up, along with adequate spare parts, as official vehicles for the Petronas Trans Sahara 2004 expedition.
“This is a tremendous challenge that will test man and machine to the limit, and we are absolutely thrilled to send our 4x4 vehicles along to help ensure the event is successful,” said Ford Malaysia managing director Mike Pease.
History buffs will be thrilled to learn that Ford 4X4 light trucks, such as the F30, have performed with distinction in the Sahara as far back as 1941. They were the mounts of the British 8th Army’s Long Range Desert Group, better known by their acronym LRDG, during their daring behind-enemy-lines raids that were such a thorn in the side for Germany’s Desert Fox, General Erwin Rommel.
Ford’s modern 2.5l turbodiesel 4WD vehicles have proven their worth in everyday use in Malaysia, but the Trans Sahara will be a different ball game altogether because no vehicle in standard form is capable of surviving what the PAT has in mind, not even the Land Cruiser.
“There are a number of modifications that are compulsory for all vehicles,” says PAT’s technical co-ordinator Stiven Sim, who has over a dozen years' experience in the 4X4 equipment business.
Taking on the vast expanse of the unforgiving Sahara is an endeavour not to be taken lightly (no pun intended). All the necessary equipment add up to nearly two tonnes, Sim says, so the vehicle’s suspension must be upgraded to cope with the extra weight as well as to give better ground clearance and wheel travel.
From past experience, he says, the constant pounding over hours on end would cause standard shock absorbers to overheat and fail within a couple of hours.
It's going to be very hot where they're going so the vehicle cooling system must be upgraded.
Every vehicle has to be fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank to boost capacity from the standard 70-80 litres up to around 150 litres of diesel because of the great distances between fuel stops. It also needs to have two extra jerry cans for another 40 litres of fuel; one jerry can for water; heavy duty bumpers front and rear as well as side steps; shovels, high-lift jacks, and a robust roof rack to hold the assorted gear.
Even 4WD vehicles can get bogged down. If they don’t get stuck at all, the adventurers will probably complain (at least during the early days, when everyone is fresh and energetic) that the track is too easy. So, each vehicle has to carry a comprehensive array of equipment and tools to get stuck vehicles mobile again.
A useful bit of kit on any off-road vehicle is the electrically powered winch, usually bolted solidly to the front bumper. Since a winch draws large amounts of current from the vehicle’s 12V battery, prudent off-roaders often install a second battery, just in case.
“To do up a vehicle up to the minimum specifications for an expedition can cost RM25,000 to RM30,000,” Sim reckons, “but there are people who have spent more than RM50,000 ... they have fridges, TV screens and DVD players built in.”
There are a couple of dedicated service vehicles crewed by experienced mechanics and stocked with tools and spare parts. But each vehicle also has to carry its own spares, including fuel, oil and air filters, inner tubes, hoses, shock absorbers, fan and timing belts, bulbs, clamps, fuses, prop shaft ... and the list goes on.
There are also items deemed essential for personal survival, as well as navigation and communication equipment. These include GPS (Global Positioning System) units, two-way radios, goggles and headscarf (for protection in the event of sandstorms), first aid kit, torch and whistle. For the Sahara trip, the expedition doctor has advised every participant to drink at least five litres of water a day to ward off dehydration. So each vehicle has to carry 60 to 100 litres of potable water, sufficient for three people for up to seven days.
If the average family car is akin to a jogger who runs two kilometres a day for three weeks, a PAT vehicle is the Olympic marathoner who covers the same distance – 42km – in just two-and-a-half hours. That’s the difference.

What doesn’t kill you…

Yet another blast from the past, this one from 2004, BEFORE I went off to the Sahara with the Petronas Adventure Team (which, sadly, no longer exists).
I dedicate this to the memory of the late Halim Abdul Rahman (pic above, with leg up), the inspirational leader of PAT who made it all happen. This was a story I wrote as part of the run-up to the PAT Trans Sahara 2004.

MANY of us dream of adventure. Of travelling to far-off lands and experiencing exotic cultures … and then we wake up to the harsh realities of bills and mortgages and deadlines and commitments.
Then there are the people who actually live those dreams. A nice holiday for these people, known collectively as the Petronas Adventure Team, might be a 20,000km drive over 60 days or so from Istanbul, along the historic Silk Route, and back to Kuala Lumpur. Or, how about a trip through China, Mongolia and Siberia over a month and a half?
Names of places that most Malaysians would know only from National Geographic are memories for them, and photographs of scenes we know only from the magazine’s pages are their holiday snapshots.
Each year since 1999, the intrepid Malaysians members of the Petronas Adventure Team have been setting out to explore remote places in their rugged four-wheel-drive vehicles, brightly painted in the colours of Petronas, their main sponsor.
The programme was the brainchild of Halim Abdul Rahman, who first made headlines as an adventurer when he made the cut for the first Malaysian team to take part in the Camel Trophy in Madagascar, back in 1987. After several years of organising local 4WD events as a business, the adventurer in Halim longed to venture further and wider.
“The world is such a big place, and I wanted to see more of it,” said Halim, adding that, “quite a number of people shared the dream.”
With backing from the national oil company, he and several partners put together an expedition to Tibet. The success of the trip, entailing 15,000km in 41 days over some of the toughest trails in Asia, prompted Petronas to sign on for the long haul and the Petronas Adventure Team was officially launched under the auspices of Petronas Motorsports in June 2000.
Since then, team members have driven through Indochina (2000), along the Silk Route (2001), and through Siberia (2002) and Southern Africa (2003).
Now, final preparations are being made for what could be the toughest challenge to date, the Trans-Sahara 2004 that will flag off from Khartoum, Sudan, on Aug 30, and trek through Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, ending in Casablanca on Oct 7 – if everything goes according to plan.
The team’s members go forth in search of experiences beyond the ordinary and, more often than not, find challenges in the most unexpected places.
Crossing from Myanmar to Tibet, for instance, the entire expedition of 1999 were placed under “house arrest” by suspicious Chinese local authorities, who had never had to deal with so many travellers in foreign-registered vehicles before. Each day, the team members would pack their gear and load up their Land Cruisers, climb aboard and wait for permission to leave. They repeated this routine for five days, and each time, they had to dismount despondently after hours spent sitting in the cramped confines of the heavily laden vehicles. The confusion was eventually sorted out and sets of local licence plates were flown in from Beijing, clearing the way for the adventure to continue.
It takes a special kind of person to be an adventurer, Petronas Adventure Team-style. Physical stamina, mental endurance and patience are essential traits, obviously, as well as a sense of humour (to maintain sanity) during gruelling journeys that often, by choice, take the road less travelled.

It also requires money, lots of it. Even with the generous sponsorship of Petronas and other big firms such as the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation, participants have to come up with over RM20,000 each “for the privilege of suffering,” as one team veteran put it.
That’s in cash (to cover airfares, insurance, hotels and other expenses, excluding pocket money), on top of the considerable expense of buying a suitably rugged 4WD vehicle. Count on spending between RM100,000 and RM140,000 for a Toyota Land Cruiser. The big rig, known affectionately as the “Ninja Turtle” because of its rounded lines, is the team’s vehicle of choice because it is famous for reliability and has the capacity to lug around the copious amount of food and water, clothing, camping gear, spare parts and other miscellaneous equipment needed to sustain the adventurers for up to two months.
This is not to say that other 4WD vehicles can’t cope, but it makes sense for everyone to use similar equipment in order to cut down on the quantity and type of spare parts that need to be brought along. For the coming Trans-Sahara, Ford Malaysia is sending along two Ford Everests and a Ranger.
Then, there’s another RM30,000 to RM50,000 needed to modify the vehicle with protective bumpers and roof racks, winches, extra tanks for fuel and water and assorted paraphernalia, and a heavy-duty suspension system to hold up all that extra weight.
Once a vehicle is suitably kitted out for the rigours of an expedition, it is no longer suitable for use as daily transport because the suspension would be too hard without a load, and it would probably be too tall to enter any basement car park.
But the reward can be enormous: journeys not only to foreign and distant places but also voyages of self-discovery in which they find out how well they hold up under stressful conditions that are so far removed from routine normalcy. Try to imagine, if you can, what it must be like sharing the confined space of a vehicle with two other people, up to 12 hours a day, for 45 to 60 days. And enduring all this while traversing alien landscapes that range from desert to snowy mountains to mud, and coping with vehicle breakdowns or getting stuck in mud or sand, and, basically, facing many more trials and tribulations than most Malaysians endure in a lifetime.
Those who return for more are living proof of the adage “that which does not kill you, makes you stronger”.
When Petronas Adventure Team members say their motto is “no obstacle too difficult, no challenge too arduous”, believe it because they are not mere daydreamers. They do have dreams as well, though. There is always the next long trip to look forward to.

Next up: What type of car can withstand the rigours of a Petronas Adventure Team trek?

Same Same, but BETTER

Just because this blog is called Borneo 4X4 Adventures, and I am from Borneo, and I believe with full bias that Borneo is the best 4X4 playground in the world, does not mean it is the only playground. Cambodia is a wonderful country that has survived a tragic past and risen to become a lovely place to visit, with fun-loving people whose warmth, hospitality and kindness are not surpassed in any of the many countries I have visited. This is an account of my second visit in 2009, as a guest of RM Asia, the Ford importers and distributors for Cambodia.

THE party was in full swing, and I could not remember the last time I had so much fun. What made the mirth and merriment even more memorable was that I was having such a good time without understanding a single word of the lyrics being belted out with gusto by the band.
But help is always at hand in this friendly land of ready smiles, and I soon found out that the song then playing was about how “it’s good to be alive”, sung heartily in the Cambodian language, or Khmer.
Sipping a cold beer and occasionally joining in the impromptu line dancing, it was readily apparent that my new friends, many of whom I had met for the first time that day, were truly enjoying the simple pleasures of life – good music, good company and dance. What more could anyone want?
This might sound naïve, even child-like, in many other places but I was atop a rocky hill near a town called Pailin, Cambodia.
Here, in the last bastion of the dreaded Khmer Rouge, memories are still vivid from the years of horrors known to the rest of the world as the Killing Fields. Many of my fellow revellers that night had lived through the terrible “three years, eight months, and 20 days” of Pol Pot’s murderous regime. To them, being alive is reason enough for celebration.
The younger ones – anyone aged 30 and below – would have been born after the country’s emancipation from terror by current premier Hun Sen and his Vietnamese allies in 1979 but every Cambodian child is well aware of the country’s recent history.
So, life is good, and it’s good to be alive, and that’s as good a reason as any to party!
With a live band, professional sound stage and speakers and fireworks, this elaborate production was certainly turning out to be unlike any camping trip I’ve ever been on.

The story of how I ended up dancing around a campfire near the Cambodian border with Thailand began back in 2002, when several unfamiliar faces showed up for one of the Ford Lanun Darat 4X4 adventures that were my favourite outdoor pursuit. They were officials from various Ford distributors from other countries.

Seng Voeung

One of them, Seng Voeung from R.M. Asia Ltd, the Cambodian Ford distributors, told us that he had come to Malaysia to learn from us how to organise 4X4 events, camping, and so on, with the aim of doing something similar for his customers.
Five years passed without any news from him, until mid-2007, when Voeung showed up again for another Lanun Darat trip, and again expressing a desire to learn from us how these things are done. This time, he brought along three of his colleagues, who did not say much but took plenty of notes.
So, when invited to join them for their very own Ford Adventure, there was no second thought.
Upon arrival in Phnom Penh for the first time, initial impressions were mixed. Traffic seemed chaotic as expected (from reading and TV), with many beat-up jalopies and motorcycle-towed rickshaws which they call “tuk-tuk” like in Thailand.
But, there were also a surprisingly number of large modern 4X4s like the latest Toyota Landcruisers, Prados and even quite a few bling-bling Hummers.
Fossil fuel-burning vehicles with four, three and two wheels competed noisily for space with pedal power, with everyone honking madly to announce their presence and intentions.
The biggest surprise was the staggering scale of the event that our Cambodian friends had put together, far exceeding anything we had in Malaysia, despite having done it much longer.
One example was that, on our 4X4 outings, we had always tried to help the less fortunate rural folk, such as the orang asli, living in the areas that we visited by giving them some used clothes and a bit of rice and other foodstuff.
The Cambodians took this idea of charity to a whole new level by bringing along about 10 tonnes of rice, as well as thousands of bottles of soy sauce, fish gravy and bags of salt, all to be distributed to the villagers living near where we were to camp.
And, while the Ranger is the most popular Ford model sold there as it is in Malaysia, they also have customers who showed up for the adventure with huge US-specs F-150s, and the even bigger F-250 pick-ups! These humongous trucks certainly came in handy for hauling all that rice and sauces.
Hitting the road, wide-eyed Malaysians will notice the wide variety of vehicles – maybe conveyances might be a more accurate term to describe them – that Cambodians press into service as transport.
Motorbikes (kapcais) rule everywhere, carrying entire families or towing trailers or lugging logs or pigs, Toyota Camrys converted into pick-ups and loaded up to 3m high, tractors, bullock carts … if it has wheels, there is a use for it.
Safety standards are somewhat different in a country that has had to struggle with the millions of landmines so people riding atop vans without handholds do not attract a second glance.

Once out of the hustle and bustle of cities like Phnom Penh and the must-visit Siem Reap of Angkor Wat fame, the countryside is a picturesque procession of padi fields as far as the eye can see, and various cottage industries.
Depending on which part of the country you’re in, roads can be good, like the old trunk road from KL to Ipoh, or bumpy and dusty. One unpaved stretch that I drove on was wide and straight but very dusty and had so many potholes that were so big that they ought to be called craters, which in turn have potholes in them.
Generous aid from donor nations like Japan, South Korea, China and the European Union means many civil works programmes, including road construction, are under way so these dusty adventures may not be around much longer.
One horror stretch I had heard much about – between touristy Siem Reap and the Thai border town of Poipet – is now a smooth sealed road on which traffic zooms along at up to 100km/h so the stories you hear from people who have visited as recently as three or four years ago may no longer paint an accurate picture.
Heading west from Siem Reap, our convoy of about 50 Ford trucks and SUVs quickly reached Banteay Meanchey, a big town about 45km from the Thai border, turned left and head south to Battambang, a charming town that still boasts French architecture left over from the colonial days.
After a sumptuous lunch of Cambodian delicacies – much like Thai cuisine but subtly different, and with red ants – we hit the dustiest 80km I’ve ever driven on, with visibility down to about a car length in parts.
Plants, shops and houses lining the road are all coated with a thick layer of orange dust whereas trees and padi fields just 100m on either side are a lush green. But here, too, the road is being progressively tarred over so progress is coming.
Arriving with relief at Pailin late in the afternoon, our Cambodians invite us to make thanksgiving offerings at a pretty Buddhist temple, where a welcoming committee put on a musical and dance reception worthy of VIPs.
Then, it was a short bumpy drive to the campsite, which I was to discover only later was a bare hill because it had been stripped off all vegetation by miners scouring the slopes for diamonds!  Wish I had picked up a pebble or two.
Pailin used to be famous for its gems, the mining of which brought fabulous wealth to the area and also financed the Khmer Rouge’s struggle against government forces until peace came several years ago.
Although our Cambodian friends are all very positive about the future, memories of the past are never far away, with grim reminders like the mine that blew up an overloaded truck and killed three Pailin locals last year, just 30km from our campsite.
Mine clearing teams have been active in the area and much of the land has been declared safe but, according to the locals, the fatal explosion occurred at a place that many cars had travelled over frequently.
It happened to be a massive anti-tank mine that was set to be detonated by a weight heavier than most civilian vehicles, and even though many Cambodian cars are routinely overloaded, but the unfortunate vehicle was overloaded just that bit too much.
Unlike Malaysian-style camping where we would find a scenic spot near a clean river or stream to set up our tents, the Cambodian way is to find a wide expanse of ground that affords everyone plenty of space – and a great view – while necessities like water and toilets, complete with plumbing, would be brought in or built for the camp. A local fire engine was even commandeered to supply the water tanks!
After dancing the night away, the expedition would set out the next day to visit nearby attractions like spectacular waterfalls, but only after handing over the tones of goodies to the grateful local folk.
A visit to Cambodia, especially a driving holiday like Ford Adventure, is a feast of interesting experiences for the various senses, with so many exotic places and sights to see, and “interesting” food to eat.
But the enduring memory that one takes away is the incredible warmth and friendliness of the people, those we now call our friends as well as their other countrymen whom we came into contact with for just brief moments.
As a country whose economy depends heavily on tourism, there are naturally parts that are touristy – especially around the must-see wonder that is Angkor – but what’s a holiday without some souvenirs?
My favourite memento was the T-shirt that says “Same Same”, a phrase often heard at markets where tourists haggle with traders. On the back, it reads: “But Different”. That sums up my Cambodian experience – in many ways, same same (like, say, Thailand), and yet, in a special way, very different.

More photos here ...

Veteran, pilot and a Ranger

This article was published by Chief Reporter Fred Leong in the New Sabah Times on Oct 27, the day Borneo Safari 2013 was flagged off.

The Borneo Safari is a 4X4 event so tough that all vehicles, as well as their occupants, that make it to the finish line are deemed worthy of respect. 

Anyone who has been on one will tell you that no stock vehicle can make it. In fact, the Sabah Four Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA) will not permit any vehicle to join the event unless it meets three minimum requirements (apart from being a fully functioning four-wheel-drive) - it must have a winch, a snorkel and be shod with XT (or Extreme Terrain) tyres. 

But just how much, or how little, modification do you really need in order to be Safari-ready?

Determined to find out, retired motoring journalist Paul Si is putting a brand new Ford Ranger XLT 3.2l Manual to the ultimate test during the Borneo Safari 2013, which flags off from Kota Kinabalu on October 27.

Asked what he had done to prepare the vehicle, Si said: "Just what the Borneo Safari organisers stipulated as compulsory - winch, snorkel and XT tyres, which are 33 inches in diameter, although most of the others are using a minimum of 35". Oh, and lots of stickers."

There are also some protective upgrades, in the form of heavy duty front and rear bumpers as well as side steps.

"But none of these add-ons are intended to improve on the car's performance in any way, just to minimise the damage that is almost a certainty on the trail," said Si, whose first participation in a Borneo Safari was back in 1992. 

"In fact, they probably reduce the performance slightly because of the added weight," said Si, who will be sharing the driving duties with co-driver Captain Andrew Lui, who normally drives a Boeing 777.

"I left the engine, transmission, chassis and suspension alone," the veteran off-roader from Sarawak added, "because I believe they are good enough."

"In a way, it's odd to talk about this Ford Ranger project because stories on vehicle preparation for an expedition are normally about the modifications done, such as adding differential locks, suspension lifts, body lifts, and so on, but this is more about NOT doing modifications," he added.

Si is no stranger to taking on challenges in vehicles almost straight from the showroom floor since he drove his newly-registered Land Rover Defender 110 HCPU from Kuching to Kota Kinabalu last year for Borneo Safari 2012.

"That, too, was minimally upgraded to comply with the organisers' requirements," he recalled, "and it performed flawlessly throughout the event."

"But some friends said it was to be expected, since a Land Rover Defender is designed for off-road use. So I wondered if one of the newer pick-ups might also be up to the task, and Ford was brave enough to take up the challenge."

Fresh from the Ford Kuching showroom floor, the Ranger was kitted out with locally-fabricated metal bumpers and side steps, a made-in-China winch and an Ironman 4X4 snorkel, plus Silverstone MT-117 Extremes, the same set of tyres that had served in the previous year's event.

While the Ranger's toughness remains to be proven on the trails of Gunung Trusmadi, it has already exceeded expectations in one surprising area - fuel economy.

Not many people would expect a 3,200cc, five-cylinder engine to be economical, especially when it produces a claimed 200PS of power and 470 Newton-metres of torque. 

"I did not expect it would be able to return a figure of 7.1 litres per 100km, but that's what we achieved in the drive from Kuching to Miri," said Si. 

"Of course, we were travelling slowly, around 70km/h or so, because we were escorting a group of much older vehicles from Indonesia and that was the speed they were capable of maintaining safely."

In the 1,200km already travelled just to get to the starting line, the new Ford Ranger XLT 3.2l had already impressed with its comfort and quietness, spaciousness, smooth power and amazing fuel efficiency, Si said. 

"Now, we are about to find out how well it holds up to the rough stuff," he said. 

* Footnote: The Lone Ranger held up to the rough stuff rather well, thank you very much.