A tortuous and gruelling route to Pos Tohoi

GUA MUSANG: The north-west trail to the place where two starving children were rescued alive after 46 days in the jungle and the remains of their friends were found is a harrowing one.

The tortuous route is gruelling from the start, even for those equipped with creature comforts, as we found out after leaving Gua Musang for Kuala Betis, 24km away on the Kelantan’s D30 trunk road.

The ‘D’, by the way, denotes district but at the end of Kuala Betis town, it more accurately signifies the link into a dirt road marking the start into a well-worn logging track.

There are several orang asli resettlement schemes located along the long and winding road and the bumpy ride and mostly uphill climb to our destination of Pos Tohoi was interspersed with muddy stretches, landslides and flooded patches.

In addition to these hazards, the 4WD vehicle had to be manoeuvred carefully to avoid logging trucks coming head-on before Pos Tohoi, 180m above sea level, can be reached.

Among the rivers that flow from around it are two tributaries of the Kelantan River – Sg Perias and the bigger Sg Nenggeri.

Most of the orang asli schoolchildren who attend SK Pos Tohoi are from Kg Penad and Kg Gawin.

Travelling north of Pos Tohoi, via the old logging road, will take another hour to drive to Kg Penad, located 28km away.

From Kg Penad, it is another 40 minutes to Kg Gawin.

The general area where Norieen Yaakob, 10, and Miksudiar Aluj, 11, who were found alive and where the remains of four others were recovered 800m apart along the banks of Sg Perias, is in a hilly terrain where the secondary jungle is dense.

The undergrowth is along the banks of Sg Perias is thick with mostly parasitic plants around the trees, making it very difficult to walk.

It is indeed a miracle that the two girls survived after being lost and hungry for so long in such surroundings.