Now that the dust has settled and the Malaysian trip is over, I can tell that it was “interesting” and yes it was challenging to say the least. OK where to start, flights from Manchester to Dubai was on a A380-800 (very big airplane that is), which was nearly empty, then an old 777 to Kuala Lumpur, which was full, so 36 hours later we arrive at the hotel. Hotel is not bad and its only 100 metres or so from the PETRONAS Twin Towers (which did you know these are clad in Stainless Steel), by the way it’s not raining yet!
First night was a trip to a traditional Malaysian restaurant, with traditional Malaysian dances and blow piping (more about that later on in the week). apparently this was the base for Japanese high command in the area during the war (yes I know it’s boring but at least I did listen to the guide) (you lot paid for this trip so at least I can do my bit).
Oh I should mention the 3 professional footballers on the trip were, wait for it, wait for it…. Peter Nicolson (Ex Bolton Wanderers), Dave Oldfield (Ex Manchester City) and Bob Boulder (Ex Liverpool), so these were the 3 teams, I was in Bolton Wanderers team, I suppose that’s apt as Arena started in Bolton.
Anyway the first challenge was climbing the KL tower, this is a concrete structure, no windows, no air conditioning and 2058 steps, 22 started off and 22 made it, I was 5th to the top, which I was proud of until I realised that a GIRL (young Alix) was 1st….. It was hot, humid and a lot of sweating. The time for me was about 20 minutes. Also at this stage Bolton Wanderers were the top team. After that was a meal and a bus ride to the Strawberry Park hotel in the Cameron Highlands. www.strawberryparkresorts.com
The night time was a meal then the drinking starts….. OK when 2AM arrives surely most will go to bed now, but no, down to the empty disco downstairs! but there is a bar and music, at, 1 incident of note was when “Disco Dave” (62 year old accountant), decided to climb down a pole dancers pole! Only to lose his grip 2 metres up and plummet to the bottom! From this he ended up 2 days in hospital and since he has been home, a 5.5 hour operation, repairs to 3 fractures of the skull, 30 plates in his cheek bone and of course lots of stitches, not a good start!
The next 2 days the target was a 6 km walk through the jungle to a tribal village, traditional food, blow piping camping in tents overnight and the a 6km walk back through the jungle and out, dead easy! All this with a man with a machete (leading the way), a guide with 20 years experience in this area of the Jungle, 2 chefs to prepare the food at the tribal village, our 2 tour guides (Deanne & Aggie) and 2 workers form the Strawberry Park Hotel Kuala Lumpur Office (Florence & Sally), oh and only now 21 of us, (Disco Dave in hospital). We started about 9AM, and had enough food & drink to get to the village so no problem. One thing about the jungle is that it rains a lot and one thing about the Cameron Highlands is that they’re steep. One incident of note on the way was that Sally (office worker from KL) sprained her ankle after about 3 hours, so the gentleman as I am I helped her along but it was very slow going, it’s no fun I am sure with a sprained ankle, climbing up and down steep muddy sloops, everybody was falling over and all was covered in mud by now. OK to cut a long story short 8 hours later, still not at the village we are LOST! Now it’s getting dark so we have to stop, no food, no water, no tents, no blankets, but of course we have the trusty mobile phones! OK only one got through but we did manage to relay a message that we are LOST, so a search party was dispatched.
So as in the desert island tradition we started making a shelter out of palm leaves etc. And in the Tony Blackburn tradition (I’m a Celebrity get me out of here) we collected wood to make a fire, NO WAY, NO WAY, it continually rains in the jungle, so there’s no dry wood! We did manage a glow from the wood by not much heat came from it. So it is dark, some are under shelter but most are just sitting/lying on a muddy patch, on a slope all huddled together. Apparently the area has Wild Boar, Big Ants (I was bitten by one and it hurts like hell), spiders, lots of snakes and of course Tigers! One nice thing during the night was firefly’s, or was that delirium?!
When it got to 11PM it was getting cold so most of the girls had the spare clothing and the search party had just reached us, they brought food & water, so that was good. Amazingly the average age of the search party was about 14 years old! They found more wood and kept the fire glowing all night, but still no heat. The night rolled on, very difficult to sleep, but some managed it, at least 4 snoring. Oh yes a large black snake fell into the middle of the camp during the night but the machete man quickly chopped it up, so after that nobody slept and it all went surprisingly quiet for a while anyway. One good thing was that it only rained for 20 minutes during the night. When day break came we started off, I was still helping Sally as her ankle was badly swollen by now and was really causing her a lot of discomfort, after about 6 hours of steep climbing and more rain we reached the edge of the jungle and civilisation, now that’s what I call a challenge! (you got your monies worth out of me on that challenge). Then back to hotel, Thai meal (made by the 2 chefs from the jungle) and then, yes more drinking in the bar.
Next day was a bit of an anticlimax the walk and the bike ride was cancelled, but we had a bus ride to the top of the highest mountain in the Cameron Highlands (yes they were named by a Scotsman). They have lots of Tea plantations and strawberries. We had a Blow Pipe challenge, it’s not as easy as it looks most of our team missed the target, I didn’t even reach the target, Liverpool won this challenge (full of wind).
The football mach was still on, we had 3 ex pro footballers, 6 girls and a lot of old men! They had STUDDED BOOTS, ok so what, yes it rained like you have never seen it rain before, the pitch was a quagmire, trainers against STUDDED BOOTS, we didn’t have a chance, unfortunately (even with 16 of us on the pitch) we were beat 4-2, then back to hotel for meal and yet more drinking until the early hours.
Now what day is it? Anyway it was White Water rafting and the final challenge, 3 teams neck & neck, this is all about power (and not getting stuck on the rocks), those weak girly teams didn’t stand a chance! We obviously won, yes Bolton Wanderers are the 2011 Children Today PFA champions. This night we stayed in an ECO hotel, which was run by a German fellow in a city called Ipoh, hotel was a bit basic, but certainly less basic than the jungle! Only problem was that the bar closed at 2am, must have been Bolton Wanderers team singing “We are the Champions” at 1.30am that did that! The next day was a late start and travel back to Kuala Lumpur with a Gala evening at the night time, with the presentations etc etc…..
Saturday was a free day, most went to the Chinese market to get some bargains, Rolex’s for less than £10! I went my own way.
Finally the event made £18,000 for Children Today, please visit their web site for additional information www.childrentoday.org.ukalso anybody still wishing to donate can do so viawww.justgiving.com/kevin-dobson0
Thanks for all the support Kevin.
