Blogs from Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia, Asia

I had a great opportunity to meet an indigenous tribe in Malaysia while volunteering and here are the most interesting facts about them: People of the Batek Tribe of Malaysia are literally people of the jungle. Unfortunately, they were forced by the Malay government to leave the rainforest in 60‘. They used to live there in traditional shelters called “hayak“. Although they were forced to leave the rainforest and move to the edge of the national park, Taman Negara, they still retained their beautiful natural culture. They are small, shy, smiling people and they have their own unwritten language. What they enjoy the most is running through the rainforest, or at least around their village barefoot in the rain. There is no better way how to earn their respect than when you play soccer in a ... read more

Am Morgen des 24.12. biin ich mit dem Bus aus Jerantut zur Anlegestelle gefahren. Hier hatte ich ein kleines Boot nach Kuala Tahan genommen. Nach einer 2-stündigen wackligen Bootsfahrt bin ich auf einem kleinen Steg angekommen und suchte mir ein Hostel. Ich nahm gleich das erste am Ufer, da ich es leid bin meinen schweren Rucksack zu schleppen. Ich muss demnächst unbedingt einiges loswerden! Ich checkte für gerade mal 3€/Nacht ein und bezog ein kleines Zimmer mit 2 Hochbetten, welches ich ganz für mich alleine hatte. In meinem Hostel waren nur ich und ein anderer Herr. Dieser wohnte aber in einem anderen Zimmer. Nach einer kleinen Umgebungstour entschied ich mich eine Nachtsafari zu buchen um an Heiligabend nicht völlig deprimiert im Zimmer zu hocken. Auf der Tour bekam ich jede Menge Spinnen, Schlangen, Skorpione, Vögel, Schmetterlinge ... read more

Wednesday 17th February 2016 We left the hostel at 7:30am and took a taxi to the pick up point of our bus that would take us to the rain-forest of Taman Negara. We shared a small bus with approx 10 other people travelling with a company called Han travel who offered an all in one bus and boat transfer to the rain forest which had we organised this ourselves might have caused us some headaches. The first part of the journey was simple and after 3 hours we had arrived in a town called Kuala Tembelling which is a small town on the banks of a river. Here we had to wait 30 minutes until our boat departed. Being the first 2 people on the jetty we were first in line for the boat. The boat ... read more

Nous sommes repartis à 7 heures du matin, direction Kuala Tembeling, porte d'entrée vers le parc national de Taman Negara. Il nous a fallu 3h30 pour rejoindre l'embarcadère. Oui, en effet, pour aller au village de Kuala Tahan, il faut prendre une pirogue (que nous n'avions pas réservée). Nous garons notre voiture et un gentil monsieur vient nous accueillir, nous indiquant que nous devons acheter un permis pour séjourner dans le parc, ainsi qu'une licence pour pouvoir prendre des photos. Là, mauvaise nouvelle : après avoir passé qq coups de fil, il nous annonce qu'il n'y a plus de place dans les pirogues pour aujoud'hui (sachant que 3 horaires de pirogue sont programmés et qu'il faut etre au moins une dizaine par pirogue). Hyper déçus, il nous propose tt de meme de nous emmner en voiture ... read more

Friday 30th We wake to an amazing birdsong and the sound of monkeys. We check ourselves out and no bites, so the bed bugs kept away. We have made a good choice of guest house. We are staying in the village of Kuala Tahan across the river from the park. After breakfast we catch a river taxi across the river and start walking to the Canopy Walk. Within a few hundred metres our bodies are seriously leaking ! there's 90% humidity. The whole area is dense forest and the walks are on boards. On the way we see a small bird, and I mean small, and then a group of monkeys swing pass just above us. We reach the canopy walk, the highest and longest in the world. There are five of them 40ft up in ... read more