WORST EVENT (MUHAMMAD AFNAN HAZIQ BIN MOHD RASHID ALAM018896 )

 I’m a huge fan of camping and I camp, in a tent, often. I’ve had countless, amazing camping trips, far and near, in the past. I’ve also had my fair share of not-so-great nights in a tent. One night stands out above the rest, without a doubt, when it comes to particularly bad camping experiences. No, it was not a night while camping miles out in the wilderness. No, a bear did not come and rip apart our tent. Rather, we were in a crowded campground, comparable to a KOA, outside of the Grand Canyon – complete with public restrooms, hot water showers and a convenience store. I mean, what could go wrong?

My friends and I were on a road-trip throughout the North Malaysia with in late October. it was our second semester break. My one friend, Islander, brought an Toyota, 7 passenger van. That was our ride throughout this road-trip and though she did disappoint many times, this night was not entirely her fault. It was her fault that we ended up at the – she forced us to rearrange our travel plans due to many mechanical failures along our journey. We were suppose to travel further and spend more time in areas such as Hulu Selangor, Cameron Highland and Penang . Thanks to that old Toyota, we spent unforeseen time in Bagan Dato only. With a deadline to be in Penang at the end of this trip, to eat glamorous nasi kandar in Penang, we had to to spend most of the time at Bagan Dato as our journey started from Kuala Lumpur and pass through Sabathe Bernam. Since the Bagan Dato was along our route from Hulu Selangor to Penang, she was our next best option and became our spontaneous destination

Our first night at the BD was Munir and I’s shift for tent duty. When the time came to set up the tent, I discovered that it was still wet from its previous use. Oh, did I mention it was only 25 degrees outside?! Yes, 22 degrees and our tent was wet. To make matters worse, since the Bagan Dato was not in our original plans, Munir and I only brought along thin blanket. Again, it was 22 degrees out and we had thin blanket as it was the one who can fit into our bag packs. Yup.

Extremely displeased at this point in the night, I accepted I would be cold and very uncomfortable. Yet, remaining optimistic as true to my nature, I chose to be proactive. I chose to drink some hot chocolate in order to pass out quickly and get this night over with. I thought I’d have a grand old time telling funny stories, then crawl into my tent and fall into oblivion. I was partially correct. I did fall asleep rather fast with all my layers on – literally ALL my layers – including my hoodie and socks. What I had not accounted for was being woken up mid-sleep

Not long into the night, I woke up to dogs howling and running through our camp. I shook Munir awake, exclaiming “Doug, our camp is being raided by dogs”. Munir and I sat there listening to the dogs barking outside our tent for a couple minutes, with torch in hand, too cold to move. But also too cold to be scared. In no time, they ran off into the night. However, at this point, I was wide awake and realizing just how cold I was. I couldn’t feel my body, a sensation I had never felt before. Words can’t even explain it cause it was very cold and windy, as for a normal Malaysian 22 degrees is kinda cold. You know how you get a brain freeze from eating ice cream too fast? Well, it felt relevant to that but I had not eaten anything cold. That definitely freaked me out

After shivering HARD for a couple more sleepless hour, it was finally morning. I heard someone azan then I realised it was already subuh. I think that was the worst camping experience I have ever faced. Lesson learned; Never camp unprepared. If it’s going to be considerably colder than your sleeping bag limit, don’t do it. Never, ever rely on a 40 degree sleeping bag in 22 degree weather, even with all your layers on