Breakfast...the most important meal of the day
It was our second day paddling down this stretch of Perak river. At dawn, Keong had his famous bannock (fried mixed flour with raisins and cinnamon) for breakfast, while I had pancakes. We had stuffed ourselves so much during this trip that whatever paddling regime we had going, made no difference to the existing one muscle belly that we had. But the best part of the morning for me was when I had that first sip of Aik Cheong’s Kopi O.
It is a hot day indeed!
With a satisfied stomach, we commenced the expedition at about 9.15am. But this time, the weather was not on our side. Its was a hot hot day. Our goal for the day – to get out of the hot weather. We were zig-zagging across the river, finding the current that would give us the extra speed, but would most often hit sand banks, which would allow us to practice the expansion of our lungs, using multiple swear words as we were stuck.
Some river friendlies we met along the way
Amazing wildlife along the river
With only 1 stop, we completed the expedition when we arrived at Pasir Salak Resort about 2pm. Not only was it a successful expedition, but my car was still intact. We loaded the gear and headed back to Parit, to the exact same shop where Keong had bought the char siew yesterday. But this time, we went all out. Keong had mixed rice, 2 pieces of toast, char kueh tiaw and 2 cham peng, while I had a wa tan hor, fried mee hoon, 2 pieces of toast and a kopi peng.
Good food after a good trip
Come to think of it, this expedition seems more of an eating frenzy rather than a kayak expedition! I bet Chapman missed out on this! During the meal, we discussed how the trip was for us, those exciting moments, unforgettable laughs, and the drive that had inspired us to locate more Spencer Chapman routes for the future, but alas, the food got the better of us, and soon forgot about the whole discussion at hand.
Our kayaking route (screen print) on Google Earth
Maybe we will re-visit this kayaking trip down Perak river again in the future. Anyone up for it?