After the eventful eco challenge back in July, I ventured into the jungle again. This time it was Taman Negara the weekend before Malaysia’s 50th merdeka anniversary.
It was a group of a good and close friend, a college mate whom I have not met for about 8 years and a colleague from work. All 4 of us were determined to enjoy the beauty that is our Mother Nature for 3D2N. Indeed, the trip was almost canceled coz Vincent and I couldn’t find another person to go (we had not less than 5 persons pulling out almost as the group is confirmed and reservation was made). In the end, it was Andrew who made the trip possible for the 3 pioneer team members. Thanks a million, friend!
A little background here: Taman Negara encompasses 3 states in peninsular Malaysia; Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu with total gazetted area of 4,343km2. It was established in 1938/1939. The national park is reputed to be oldest rainforest in the world and estimated to be 135 million years old (even older than the rainforests in Amazon)!!!! Kuala Tahan entry point in Pahang is the most popular and accessible to the national park. Run a search on google for more info.
So it was in the morning of 25 Aug that we made our way to Taman Negara via coach from KL. A special mention of our luggage need to be made here. Among many interesting things we brought along:
1) Numerous bottles of mozzie repellants (chiefly for leaches!!)
2) Bygon spray (this dude from UK looked at us one kind when we sprayed it on our shoes; he and his gang learned later on the benefit …. Leeches repellant!!)
3) Mountains of snacks and junk food …. Andrew brought a backpack just to bring all the food!!
And …. the most effective and genius invention in modern world against nasty bugs and mozzies … the ubiquitous mosquito killer racket!!!
Once we reached Kuala Tembeling jetty (the starting point to Kuala Tahan), we registered ourselves with Han Travel (our tour agent) and had lunch. We opted for land transfer to Kuala Tahan instead of boat which would have taken 2 ½ hrs as opposed to about 1 hr via van. Wanted to reach early in time for the caving trip at Gua Telinga.
We stayed at Persona Village resort located near the bank of the mighty Sungai Tembeling. It is located quite a distance away from Kuala Tahan jetty, the main gateway to Taman Negara and had to rely on transportation provided by the resort. All meals were taken at Han Travel’s floating restaurant at the bank of Sungai Tembeling (really interesting).
Our first activity was a caving trip at the Gua Telinga (Ear Cave) so named as the cavity resembles human ear canal. Which means narrow spaces and tight spots. Which means lots of crawling, sliding, being careful not to bump head on the ceiling, climbing in the dark (with torchlight of course). Oh! Did I mention there were hundreds of sleeping bats that will wake up and attack humans if provoked with bright light or their sleep disturbed by loud noises? There was also a fat froggy and apparently, snakes too!! (thank God I didn’t see any). And bats means lots and lots and lots and lots of smelly bats guano!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH! EEEEWWWW! HELP!!!! For an idea of how dirty and smelly I was, I had to “donate” my eco challenge t-shirt and socks and gloves to the resort which were all left at the balcony of our chalet. So, if you happen to come across someone wearing a red t-shirt with number 54 emblazoned in front in Taman Negara, you know whose shirt it once belongs to.
Another highlight was the canopy walk and trek up to Bukit Teresek. Canopy walk was fine …. Since there were a number of people behind me and I can’t really stop too long to take in the sights. The peak of Bukit Teresek offered a really beautiful view of Mount Tahan. I just felt so calm being up there with the breeze and scenery. Made me wish I can do yoga up there :-P Unfortunately, I slipped and fell coming down from the hill and had bruises and cuts on my right elbow as it rained the night before and some parts of the trail were still wet.
The rapid shooting was fun though I wish it could have been more exciting. The trip to the orang asli (aborigines) village was insightful. There was this boy who couldn’t be more than 2 – 3 years old walking around naked (absolutely naked) holding a knife … yes a sharp knife!! Our tour guide jokingly told us that the orang asli kids play with sharp knifes like how city kids play with dollies and toys. There were fire making and poisonous darts making demo. Even though some may argue that the tourists are treating the shy orang asli like exhibits, nevertheless, I really enjoyed my time there.
I felt that the night jungle walk was a little too short and was rather disappointed we didn’t spot any animals at Tahan salt lick :-(
At the end of the trip, all of us congratulated each other for not getting any leech bites when suddenly Vincent noticed a blob of black stuff in the middle of the chalet. And it moves!! Our poor friend got bitten at his waist!! And the leech just dropped off without completing his meal. Well, the joke still goes around that the leech was too appalled either by the smell of durian on him, in his blood or ahem ahem … layers of fat on tummy (don’t kill me Vincent!!)
It was really fun opportunity for me to catch up with Vincent and Andrew and nice to introduce Soo to them. Oh! I found out that all 3 were such ardent durian fans (esp Andrew) that we went for a durian feast at 11pm at night!! The owner was about to close his shop and we all ran and shouted for him to hold on!!! Authentic “durian kampung” at RM4 per fruit which is quite a steal!! And the 3 fans are still talking about it!!
And all of us are actually planning for more get together with other friends and more outdoor trips! The next one will be end of the month to Bukit Tabur near Zoo Negara. And the next major trip will be to Mount Kinabalu (2nd time for me and Vincent) next year. Anyone reading this and would like to join us for trips, let me know ok.
I totally enjoyed Taman Negara … I will visit you again one day!!!
Check out some pics of our trip here (all pics courtesy of Vincent, Andrew & Soo).
** Updated pics!!!
P/S : It could have been a much better trip if not because of some “interesting” group of Malaysians on the trip. This group of adults who would prefer to stay as adolescents was so obnoxiously loud and irritating and rude and God knows whatever else during the trip. They talked and talked and talked so bloody loudly … the truth is I don’t think they ever shut their mouths except during bedtime. They held up our trip to the cave by a good 15 mins coz they talked so much they lost sight of the rest of the group and had to asked the guide to turn back and save them. Fancy some of the girls who complained that the guide walked too fast and they can’t catch up!! Bloody hell … if the rest of us can catch up, what can’t they? They should have just shut their big mouths and conserve their energy. The unofficial spokeperson of the pack (who has really big hair) can’t even live with a little bit of quietness and peace in the jungle that he had to turn on his damn MP3 player loud!!! ARRRGGGHHH I had to keep myself from shouting at them to just shut up and be considerate. I don’t even wanna venture to other stuffs they do and things they talked about. I hope one of them will stumble upon this entry so that they will know no one, absolutely no one, no one can tolerate that kind of obnoxious behaviour. So much for peace and quiet in the jungle!
