My First Water Rafting Experience

I had the oppurtunity to conduct a 4 days training at Kota Kinabalu from 17th - 21st Dec. Luckily, 20th Dec was a public Holiday (Hari Raya Qorban) and I took the oppurtunity to try out white water rafting at Sg Padas.

I went to Borneo Ultimate Sports Adventure Tour (BUSAT) somewhere near Gaya Centre to book my reservation on water rafting. Apparently there are 2 popular place where one can water raft; one in Kiulu River which is approximately 1.5 hour drive up North East while the other one at Padas River which is about 2 hours drive to Beaufort and 1 hour train ride to Tenom. According to the staff, Padas River offers much more excitement and thrill than Kiulu. I took up the offer. It costs me RM160 (later I found out that you can get for RM120 at other agency) and the package includes the following:

1. Pick up at the hotel to Beaufort train station
2. Train transportation from Beaufort to Rayoh Station at Tenom
3. BBQ lunch (yummy!!!)
4. Water rafting of course

We headed South West of Kota Kinabalu to a small town called Beaufort.



In order to go to Sg Padas, the only transportation is via train and it took about 1 hour 15 minutes. The place is kind of remote and there is only 1 train per day going and coming back from Sg Padas.



Above: Beaufort Post Office



Above: Beaufort Train Station







Train ride on an open platform is certainly a thrill experience for a city boy like me. Apparently, it is norm for the locals here. The view was certainly breath-taking.

The train stops at Rayoh station where we got off.







Before we start rafting, we were given a safety briefing on how to paddle and of course what to do just in case you fell into the water (which I did!!)



The rafting experience took us about 2 hours and for first 30 minutes of paddling, I started to feel bored since the water ain't that challenging as the one in the movie 'The River Wild' starred Merryl Streep.

There were 4 groups that joined this rafting and my group consists of a family of 3 (Chinese from Kepong) and their family's friend, Dr. Puspa whom from KL but worked in KK and it was Dr. Puspa's second time while the rest are first timers in water rafting.

Close to halfway of the journey, the water started to get rough and this is where the excitement and adrenaline rushes in like nobody's business.

Throughout the journey, the current was very strong and there were couple of times that our raft spun around and go over rocks.