Secret River

This happened some time ago.

For some days, I have been monitoring the weather reports and waiting for rain to fall. It was in March, just at the tail end of the NE Monsoon. I had been waiting because when rain falls, a secret river is born.



So finally when rain fell the day before, I phoned a friend to start our operation. Using 2 packrafts, we decided to explore this secret river. From the map, I knew this river (longkang!) will passed into 2 caves (waterway tunnels!).

I was apprehensive about the caves. Will there be obstacles? Will it be big enough? What if we are stuck? Flash flood risk? All real possibilities, so some contingencies had to be factor into the plan. The cave paddle will be decided depending on the assessment of the risk while we were there.

As it happened, it was fun through the cave. Some parts were complete darkness and all we heard was the flow of water, and our boats being scrapped along the sides. The flow was fast.

I think this is the fastest flowing river in Singapore. Even without rain, there is a constant low-volume flow. With the rain, it was a nice flowing river that sometimes clocked 5km/hr. So there was no need to paddle.

Mid-way through this river, there is a small waterfall (water outlet!) which leads to a tributary which we also explored. Completely hidden by lush jungle, this short stream is beautiful as it was mysterious. At the beginning of this stream is a railway track. The construction of this track has dam a small reservoir which now is the source of this stream.

The end of the paddle is a beautiful gorge (bigger longkang!) with giant trees, and where water rippled over small multi-colored pebbles. Just like in a forest.

The whole trip took us about 2 hours, taking in all the sights and scenery of river, waterfall, caves, streams, gorge, etc... It was just a simple, flowing, and fun adventure to do on a Saturday morning.

Simply crazily dreaming...