34 hours of incessant rain fell from the night of 5 Dec right up to morning of 8 Dec. That's the ferocity of the monsoon. On the night of 7 Dec, it was at its height with a rain storm which nearly wrecked through the campsites at Ulu Sg Loh and Sg Loh respectively. At that time, the main convoy was already broken into three groups. Dark clouds still loomed over the horizon.

A few weeks prior to D-Day on 5 Dec (from middle of Nov onwards), the monsoon was already creating havoc with floods in many areas in Kelantan and Terengganu. With continuous rain lasting more than 24 hours, and rainfall exceeding the normal levels, both states were put on “red alert” for flood evacuation, and all leave for rescue and armed forces put on hold. State Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) were already predicting the repeat of last year’s floods, and bracing for the worse to come. The rains were predicted to last till January 2009. For those veterans of the RFC, they knew that all these would have repercussions in the days to come.

But, what a relief that D-Day was without rain! The sky was cloudy, overcast with cool monsoon winds blowing from the South China Sea, but the weather was fair. The opening ceremony (Chukai town) of the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) went off with the full razzmatazz of culture and tradition from the state of Terengganu, without a glitch and was officiated by the Right Honourable State Minister for Tourism, YB Datuk Za’abar bin Dato’ Mohd Adib.

First to be flagged off were the four upgraded Toyota Hilux followed by the foreign teams coming from, among others, Poland (the largest foreign entry with 6 teams and 3 support cars and 2 ATV quads), Russia, New Zealand, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, USA, Austria and host country, Malaysia. The super modified 4x4 machines from 38 teams rumbled across the town, and together with the other media, touring, support and official 4x4s, this year’s RFC comprised of 110 four-wheel drives coming from all makes and models.

By the afternoon, the first action of the RFC was started off simultaneously in 6 Special Stages (SS) situated along the main road from Awana Kijal to Kemasik beach. What a sight to behold. Hundreds of fans, supporters, 4x4 enthusiasts and the general public enthusiastically cheered the teams; but the loudest ones were reserved for the young and petite Indonesian ladies team representing Scoreboard-Olympus TV3 team. At the same time, the whole stretch of trunk road from Chukai to Paka was jammed with slow moving traffic for two days in a row.

The day ended well for everyone even though some tried harder than others. But all knew that this is the warming up session for them to test their vehicles and themselves. This is show time in front of the multitude crowds. The crowd was thickest at the RFC HQ and Toyota booths.

That night of 5 Dec, about 10pm, the rain-laden dark clouds could not hold much longer, the heavens opened and rain poured down non-stop right up to the second day of the Prologue. However, that did not dampen the spirits of the competitors at all. It was fun time “playing in the rain.” Two more SS were opened that day, making a total of 8 SS for the Prologue.

After all the SS were completed by late afternoon of 6 Dec, the convoy began moving in various groups to the pre-planned campsite of Sg Ulu Loh. But what a night it turned out to be! First, the main trunk road to Paka was flooded with the heavy rains, so a detour had to be arranged. The late afternoon turned into nighttime before most of the groups reached the off-road tracks leading to the campsite.

More surprises. The supposedly easy track to campsite of 15 km has been transformed by the rain. Some sections of the rutted tracks have turned into the “Mother of All Ruts.” And, all uphill ascends have turned into a major struggle getting to the top. Added to their woes, a fresh landslide has occurred midway to the campsite. It was driving and recovery all night long.

The convoy was separated into 5 groups that night. Some kept on the struggle from 10pm right up to dawn, while others gave up half way and camped by the side. Others turned back and made camp at the beginning of the off-road tracks. Some took 9 hours to reach the rendezvous campsite, some 13 hours and others didn’t make it at all. This is a taste of things to come – transport stages turning into major struggles, backtracking and regrouping becoming the order of the day.

Sg Ulu Loh is the entry to the Giant of Pasir Raja, the giant Cengal (hardwood) tree of this part of Hulu Dungun. But, the river was swollen with raging torrents, and rising by the hour. For safety and regrouping sake, all activities were halted for the day.

Raining was non-stop, but, that night a furious rainstorm swept across all the campsites scattered along the entire route. Unknown to everyone, this was a major monsoon tempest which also swept right across the peninsula from east to west coast. Such was the fury of the storm. In the jungle, this means causing awesome obstacles like swollen rivers, big gullies, fallen bamboos, slippery ascends, descends and worst of all, major landslides, which the participants would find out later.

By 8 Dec morning, the order was given to rendezvous in the town of Kuala Berang. Getting out of the campsite to tarmac is another story of great struggle; some took longer than others, but by late evening, most of the competitor teams and half of the media support trucks made it to the town. After refueling and re-supply, they moved to Sg Kertiah campsite. The two entries, one for the competitors and one for the media support trucks have by now, turned into a nightmare to drive. No easy tracks into campsite for anyone. Some made it while others could not. The tracks into campsite have become yet another struggle to get in.

By the afternoon of 9 Dec, most of the convoy reached the campsite, at last. Heavy downpours are not falling by now, only intermittent rain for company, but the sky is still cloudy. After the regrouping, at last, the SS could be resumed where they left off at the Prologue. Most of the time since then has been a struggle of backtracking and regrouping.

SS 11 & 12 was river driving, climbing steep slope which required winching exercises. The last SS, number 13 was more of getting everyone to warm up to laughter again after all the stressful days of getting everyone together in the transport stages.

The night of 10 Dec was briefing time at Event HQ, where the competitor teams and the two ATVs were grouped into 4 teams. A total of 22 4x4s and 2 ATVs were registered for entry to the Twilight Zone the next morning. They must move in their respective groupings from entry to exit and must not leave anyone of their teammates behind. They would earn the 200 bonus points for completing this adventure route.

11 Dec morning was D-Day for the Twilight Zone (TZ). The respective groups departed at an interval of 15 mins. The 2 ATVs followed the first group in. Excitement was in the air. For most of them, by merely attempting this route is bonus enough, let alone completing it. Going anywhere (in or out) in the TZ is a challenge.

The first stage of the Twilight Zone is also known as the Hill of No Return, a continuous uphill climb which requires winching in many places. Some teams took 3 hours to winch themselves through. Moderate began to fall again, making the going much harder than usual. But some parts of the ground are already soggy and soaked with water after the past few weeks of heavy rain. But the worst is to come.

Fallen bamboos are a common occurrence in the jungle but in the monsoon season, this can be double the effort to clear them. A major landslide causing more than 150 feet gap with glutinous mud further up the tracks proved to be too much to handle. This report from Chief Scout Group C was the turning point. Crossing it would take at least two days for everyone, but they have more obstacles to come in this 60-km route. They have so far only completed 10 km. Fuel, time and the awesome terrain are the factors to consider if everyone could make it to Terminator Hill, and then rendezvous with scout/marshal group B at Sg Puah at the exit.

The planned pincer movement to take Terminator Hill could not be activated, as found out by Scout Group B at the entry to Sg Puah campsite. The plan was for Group C scouts leading the competitor teams from the Hill of No Return (south), while Group A & B scouts moving in from the north (through Sg Puah). Thus Terminator Hill could be taken, but the weeks of heavy rain have made this a much harder territory to conquer than originally planned.

The two rivers (Sg Terengganu Mati and Sg Pelaggong) proved more than a match for both scouts Group A & B. The steep banks have nearly 1 meter of mud/silt which could sink a 2-ton 4x4 easily, taking hours to cross. Added to their woes were the scouts own broken down vehicles. The tracks proved too punishing for man and machine to handle. This group is supposed to help Group C and the competitors coming in from the south.

Thus on the night of 11 Dec, the order from HQ was to retreat from the Twilight Zone. It’s better to save and fight for another day than to continue to keep on going. To continue means having more vehicle casualties (breakdowns). Furthermore, the foreign 4x4s have a shipping schedule to meet; otherwise it would be a repeat of last year with stranded vehicles in the jungle. For the HQ, that is not an option.

Thus a full withdrawal was on the way that night. The retreat from the Twilight Zone to Sg Kertiah proved to be as challenging as going in. As the competitor teams moved back, they faced the same obstacles, but this time by descending. So, some took more than 8 hours backtracking, while others took more than that. Some of them camped at Sg Kertiah again to wait for the daylight to rendezvous at Sg Puah.

12 Dec was yet another of the regrouping time of this year’s RFC. But everyone made it to campsite by night fall.

By 13 Dec, the final SS were staged at within the vicinity of the campsite Sg Puah. After all the retreating from one place to another, it was action time again in the SS. This was followed by a night SS which all the remaining teams gave their full throttle and gusto. For some, it was a relief, after all sweat, thrills, spills of having to cope with the difficult transport stages.

The grand finale to 2008 RFC was a group photography session at Batu Burok, Kuala Terengganu.

The designated destinations in the event were not the objective anymore in 2008 RFC, but the journey of getting in and out of these difficult and tricky tracks safely became the essence of this year’s episode. It was a different RFC from last year, but still facing the undeniable truth that Mother Nature rules supreme, and that the rain is the key to everything in the event turning the transport stages into special stages.