My first jungle trek was in Tioman. It was raining in the morning and I had trouble getting up. The plan was to walk more than 7km from Air Batang to Juara, a quiet beach at the east coast of Tioman. After a late breakfast, we began walking to Tekek. It was a straightforward route to the masjid before we hit a seemingly dead end. A hand-drawn sign reads Juara and we followed a narrow trail into the jungle. We turned in, brushing past tall grasses and found ourselves in the jungle, surrounded by towering trees. It was quiet, dim and humid. The narrow trail we had followed was gone. Not to worry, follow the power lines which connect the kampongs. After tramping across muddy ground, wild vegetation, rocks and fallen trees for hours, it occurred to me that the ground is never flat. There're uphills and downhills. There may be more ups than downs, some last for a long while but eventually we reach a flat surface. Momentary relief for our sore legs. The occasional fungi and a tiny purple crab break the monotony of the journey. Sometimes, my foot lands in the mud. I slipped and luckily managed to support myself using my hand. After 2 hours, we finally saw daylight as we exited the jungle. I thought this was it but there was still a looooong way to go downhill, so steep my knees went wobbly. I was so tempted to hitch a ride from the many 4WDs that drove past us. We pressed on to Juara Beach (that's the name of a resort), starving but there was no food until 7pm! We gobbled down our ice-cream drumsticks and decided to pay RM60 for the trip back to Tekek by car.

In his words, the trek was boring and not worth the effort. I agree it's not as rewarding as scaling a mountain where a panoramic view awaits at the summit but the process was surprisingly enlightening. Isn't moving through the jungle like going through life? It begins with a clear path. 16 years of education paved for us. After graduation, there is no longer any path to follow. As we venture into the unknown jungle, we have to learn to find our own footing in the dark. We climb, we crawl and we fall. It wasn't easy at first but we got the hang of it after some time. We find ourselves in shitty situations, often not created by us but we end up being blamed and clearing the mess. "Why me?" We complain, we protest and we despair. Even the occasional fungi and tiny purple crab in the form of compliments don't delight or motivate us anymore. Every morning, we think of getting out of the jungle but at the same time we are afraid to deviate from the trail we have been walking on so comfortably. How many times have we missed the waterfall because we had followed the power lines?