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Published: September 19th 2008
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Hello! Sorry for the massive gap between blogs, we have (and are still) been on the Thai islands and t'internet is very expensive here.
Back to the story: our merry band journeyed south towards Teman Negara National Park, the oldest rainforest in the world, apparently. We picked a accommodation which consisted of huts spread through a clearing on the outskirts of Kuala Tahan, the park headquarters. It really was a shack, made of a type of wicker and a corrugated iron roof. But the shack had an en-suite, consisting of a cold shower, a squat toilet and a few geckos. What more could you want? (And at a record low of RM25 a night (4 pounds) we thought it was pretty good. At nights you could hear all the sounds of the jungle and it was very dark!
We walked into town to get dinner. Town consisted of a collection of restaurants/tourist info spots floating on the river, tethered to shore with ropes. Pretty cool. But I won't lie, the food was pretty crap. And we ate at all of them over the course of the few days we stopped.
The next day we headed into the jungle
for our first jungle trek! We headed first to the 'Jungle Canopy', a, you guessed it, canopy over the jungle. It was pretty good but not as cool as I'd imagined for the world's longest as it was segregated out into several sections and was not one big walkway. The walk through the jungle was probably the coolest, it was really, proper tropical rainforest, with all the features you learn about at GCSE Geography (you know, buttress roots, liannes, cool stuff like that). Hard going though! I thought my Lake District training might have helped but it was knackering! But we did see wilid boars along the way.
Next we decided to walk up a hill to a view point. Again, bloody hard going and I got leeched twice! The viewpoint across the canopy was good though, and gave you a bit of an idea of how big it is (something like 70% is closed to humans too and the tigers live in the rest). On the other hand, I don't think I've ever sweated so much in my life. And I was wearing long sleeves and trousers to avoid leeching.
The following day we proceeded downriver in a
longtail boat, alighted at a tribal village and walked to a 'hide' in the forest! The intention was to stay overnight in the hide to see all the nocturnal jungle animals. I say 'hide' as there was nothing hidden about it. It was a big square structure with giant open shutters in a big clearing. It was kinda like a really basic dorm. We were the only people in it and we were very quiet, but still, we saw nothing but a firefly. Not at dusk, not at dawn the next day, not overnight, although we did sleep a little, so maybe they all came out to play then. It was kinda freaky being in the jungle overnight though. The darkness was intense. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face. We waited for our eves to adjust, until we realised there was no light to adjust to and we would have to wait until dawn to see our hands again (or turn the torch on, whichever). The only sleeping equipment provided was a wooden bunk bed. We carried wafer thin sleeping mats in with us. It was very painful. Worth doing if you're ever there though. Besides,
it only costs RM5. New bargain accommodation, if it counts?
After another night to recover, we went our separate ways. Cat & Paul went to KL, Mike & I began our mammoth journey to Ko Phangan in Thailand. But not before a night of intense rain which washed the floating restaurants into the middle of the river! We ate breakfast while watching the owners towing them back to shore!
That's about all from Malaysia. It was very good. Lots to see. I would recommend it! Photos to come, will let you know.
Also, check out Cat's blog for a more literary take on the whole thing and a nice picture of me in my pants.
http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-324186.html
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Jack & Narla
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We are having a fab holiday too!