As one of the media invited to participate in the 9th Sarawak International 4×4 Jamboree from September 1–5, I had planned this little adventure months ahead.
I enlisted my familiar travelling mates Joey Jong and Tay G Lim as co-drivers in my 30-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series. The plan was simple: take a leisurely 600km-plus drive from Kuching to Bintulu before joining the Jamboree.
What we hadn’t factored into our calculations was the haze.
The super El Niño had brought exceptionally dry weather, and much of Sarawak was covered by haze. But plans are plans, particularly when you have an old Land Cruiser packed and ready to go, so off we went.
Our drive was interesting because it took us across two impressive new bridges spanning two of Sarawak’s great rivers.
The first was the Sebuyau bridge across the Batang Lupar, followed later by the Tun Taib Mahmud bridge across the Batang Kemena on our way towards Bintulu.
These are not merely bridges. They are pieces of infrastructure that open up the vast hinterland of Sarawak’s coastal plain, shortening journeys and connecting communities and economic activity that previously depended on ferries or long detours.
There is a certain satisfaction in seeing public money spent on infrastructure that actually goes somewhere and does something.
Quite a contrast, I thought, to the grand bridges of Putrajaya, where architecture sometimes appears to have been as important as getting from one side to the other.
But back to four-wheel driving.
The Sarawak 4×4 Adventure Travel Association, better known as SAKTA, attracted an impressive 257 trucks and around 560 participants. Apart from Malaysians, there were participants from Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and even Switzerland.
SAKTA divided us into five groups. The Extreme group was for the serious competitors tackling technical 4×4 stages, while the rest of us were divided into four Adventure groups for those who preferred to enjoy the countryside, camping and some challenging off-road driving without necessarily trying to destroy our vehicles.
El Niño had transformed the landscape.
The earth was parched and dusty, while tributaries that would normally have been rushing with water had been reduced to a trickle. Thankfully, our campsites were still blessed with running rivers, even if the water levels were low.
And spirits remained high.
The off-road driving was thoroughly enjoyable, although the steep slopes around Belaga reminded everybody that even an Adventure group can become a serious mechanical adventure.
We suffered two spectacular casualties.
One vehicle completely burnt out its manual transmission clutch. Another developed an engine oil leak so severe that it was consuming about one litre of oil for every kilometre travelled.
There wasn’t much roadside repair that could be done for either.
Both vehicles had to be towed out.
That, of course, is part of the camaraderie of four-wheel driving. When somebody gets stuck or breaks down in the jungle, everyone pitches in. You may enter as 257 individual trucks, but once you’re out there, you’re one very large travelling family.
The Jamboree eventually concluded at Dato’ Raymond Plen’s longhouse, where the great man himself hosted participants to a farewell dinner followed by an open-air party.
After five days of dust, haze, camping, river crossings, steep climbs, mechanical casualties and plenty of laughter, it was a fitting Sarawakian ending.
My thanks to SAKTA, Dato’ Raymond Plen and, most importantly, all the participants who made the 9th Sarawak International 4×4 Jamboree memorable.
Sometimes the best part of four-wheel driving isn’t conquering the terrain.
It’s the people you travel through it with.