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Published: June 26th 2009
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We were late to sleep on Tuesday night having been out sampling street food in KL, and when we returned organising and packing for going away while simultaneously trying to set up and use our new camera. Sadly despite having set our phone as an alarm, we failed to set the phone to Malaysia time. This gave us an ideal opportunity to teach the boys what is meant by the phrase a rude awakening. One minute we were all asleep, and then a phone rang to say our minibus was downstairs waiting for us. Within 3 minutes amid cries of “Boys you must get up we cannot help you today -get dressed” we were downstairs possessions stuffed into bags and rushed out.
During our Sri Lanka final travelling leg we had got careless and lost a few things (3 hats, a deck of playing cards and a wind up torch). We had vowed to be more careful and yet this morning broke that rule. We spent the bus trip worrying about what was where, convinced we had misplaced the leads and memory card for the new camera among other things. We phoned the hotel to discern that nothing was in
Boys get on boat
Life jackets are for padding the seats! the room (more by luck than design) and found the leads. A call to the camera shop revealed that we had committed the cardinal error of buying a camera without a memory card!
As we woke we began to enjoy the journey. First an uncrowded if a little overchilled ac coach, then a break for lunch and a boat down the river to the heart of the rainforest. The boys kept asking why there were so many people about as suddenly we are surrounded by other travellers - a shock after seeing almost none in most of Sri Lanka. The boat was a long shallow wooden barge in which we sat for two and a half hours. It was lovely except when Elliot was desperate for the loo. We had to empty an ice cream cartoon in which we had been keeping many of the sweets sent from Granny Gon, and he used that. We were very aware of the sloshing liquid at our feet for the remainder of the journey, and emptied it over the side as the boat slowed.
Our accommodation was a hostel and we are in a room for 8, with shared bathrooms outside.
Bags safely stowed
Glad all our stuff is in dry bags! We have fairly taken over it in the hope that it is so uncomfortable and inconvenient for them to move anyone else in that they do not bother! The hostel is part of a luxury resort, and we cannot help glancing in envy at some of the chalets which are outside our price range! Even the laundry is expensive, and we have rigged a line outside and washed in the toilets.
Our resort is on the rainforest side of the river, and the noises and bug life in the toilets at night is astonishing. It is unlikely any of us will be bothered by insects at home after this. To get to the other side we summon a boat. Last night we ate in 2 restaurants, ordering first in one, where the boys tried but could not really manage (so I had two and a half meals there) and then on to another where they had the nutritious meal of garlic bread followed by chocolate and banana pancakes! After such an experience we decided the next night to eat off the a la carte menu in the posh resort hotel. Getting a boat across to breakfast was fun though,
Our Room
Well would you want to move in with us? and it is hard to completely murder toast, eggs and tea (although Nicky is sure they did their best)!
The Taman Negara claims to have the largest high canopy walkway in the world, and after sitting out the heat of the day, we set off to explore it. We walked about 2 km along a windy path through the rainforest, stepping over rocks, puddles and tangled roots, ducking under branches and creepers, clambering over bridges and up steps to the walkway. We arrived hot and slightly bothered by a sign saying that it shut at 3:30, which it was rapidly approaching. No drama though, we paid our (very reasonable) 16 RM and began the ascent up the rope and cable walkway. Arriving here had put us in mind of Outward Bound, with blue barrels lashed together to make buoyancy (for restaurants rather than rafts) and rigging mozzie nets had felt like one of the challenges. This high walkway, swaying well over 30m above the forest floor and over 500m long dwarfed the high ropes course. We followed slowly along behind bounding swinging children. Anticipation of the walkway was justified and we were all thrilled and fascinated by it, and
in no way disappointed. The idea that our boys will sit in geography lessons learning about the rainforest, and be able to say - “Been there” is yet another tick in the column for learning more here than they might at home! Mind you I can report that we saw more wildlife in the toilets at night.
After dinner tonight we had planned a night time 4x4 safari, then another early-ish morning to catch the boat to the bus back to KL. If the canopy lived up to expectations, the jungle 4x4 night time safari did not. It was a mistake. 13 of us crammed into a pickup, in the cab, on top and in the back (where we were). The “jungle” turned out to be a slow drive around a palm plantation. We saw a wild boar on a rubbish pile on the way there, and then just 3 owls and a small bird. The car went slower and slower, with the guide desperate to find something to boost his tips, as the rest of us got desperate to get back. We had by now gone well over the advertised 2 hours, and having set off past the
boys’ bedtime this felt like anything but better value. Then it began to rain and we got soaked - when it rains in the rainforest region you know about it. The finale was that when we reached the floating restaurant from which we needed a boat to cross to our hostel, the boatman had gone home. Thankfully we found someone to ring him and within 10 minutes he appeared. As midnight approached we entered our hostel, soaked, tired, and needing to be up early for breakfast and the return to KL. It says a lot about the character that the boys are developing that they were able to see the funny side. We hung the clothes on the fan which we gave a blast before we went off to sleep, and woke an extra hour early to blow the clothes dry. It worked and with bags on backs and capes over both we set off to hail the boat for breakfast. Thankfully by the time we had eaten the rain had stopped. The boat ride back to the coach was a pleasure and we saw more Kingfishers than I had seen in my life before this trip began.
We
All on board
About 40m above the forest floor! loved the rainforest but not the package tour group we had come with - everything they were involved in felt like a maximum profit minimum service exercise. We were relieved we were B&B only as the food was awful, and we at least had the freedom to pick and choose both trips and restaurants. They were no better or worse than other operators, and our advice would be to book only the travel if possible.
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