Jungle train from Kota Bahru to Jerantut

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Almost up to date now! Yesterday morning Mr Lee drove us from Kota Bharu to nearby Wakaf Bahru to get the jungle railway train to Jerantut, the first stepping stone on our way to the rainforest. The train was due to leave Wakaf Bahru at 6.33 am so we were first in line to buy a ticket at 6am. They only cost 12RM (about 2 pound 50p) each. We had been warned that, as the train is predominantly for locals, it was less than luxurious and that we should be prepared for an uncomfortable 8-11 hour journey shared with agricultural produce, crying babies, curious schoolkids and perhaps even livestock. Sure enough, as we boarded the train and settled into our filthy seats we saw people loading the train full with bag of fruit, vegetables and various other goodies.

The jungle doesn't really start for the first couple of hours so we decided to get an extra couple of hours sleep but were woken up around 9am when the carriage started to heat up with the morning sun. There were fans attached to the ceiling but they didn't provide much relief from the rapidly rising temperature.

After a while the landscape started to become more wild and small towns were replaced with villages (kampungs) and various tiny shacks lining the route. The odd thing we noticed is that a lot of the tiny little settlements, often consisting of only 2 or 3 wooden shacks with corrugated metal rooves and scrawny looking chickens pecking in the dust outside, quite regularly have nice looking cars parked in the driveways. People who own places that look like they would fall apart in a mild breeze also own Hyundais and Toyotas in half decent condition. Very strange.

As the journey went on we did start to see some impressive landscapes but the view isn't quite as spectacular as we had been led to believe by some of the tourist information. There are a few fascinating rivers and areas of thick jungle but there are also a lot of hedgerows to look at. Unfortunately, because the good landscapes pass so quickly we didn't manage to get any good photos as by the time I had turned the camera on, they had gone.

The train itself did start to take it's toll by the time we had been on it a few hours. The heat became almost unbearable and the only way you can cool down slightly is to stand by the open doors at the end of each carriage as the train rattles along. It is quite a thrill to stand in an open doorway and watch the jungle go past. At each little village kids got on and off and we did become a bit of a curiosity. We even got chatting to one nice boy who wanted to test out his English and ask us about home.

The cleanliness of the train did have it's effect on Amy who picked up some sort of bug after a couple of hours and had to disappear rather regularly to the somewhat frightening toilet. She coped admirably but by the end her patience was rather frayed, especially after we waited 2 hours at Kuala Lipis station near the end of the line for what we assumed was prayer time. It did give me a chance to jump off and buy some supplies at the station shop where I was again a passing curiosity for the locals but we really could have done without the delay. The journey was 10 hours in total and, although we did occasionally pass areas that, in Amy's words "looked like they should still have dinousaurs roaming in them", I have to say that if I were to do the journey again I would take the express train that takes half the time and in an air conditioned carriage. I'm glad we've done it, but I'm also glad that we don't have to do it again!

We were picked up from the station by Steve from Wau's Hotel in Jerantut (another great hostelworld.com find!) and taken to the hostel which was, thankfully, clean and cool. We had a shower and an early night and Amy is feeling much better today. She is still recovering back at the hostel while I am out in the small but nice town writing this and buying supplies for the jungle. I have also bought tickets for a river boat that leaves from nearby here and takes 2-3 hours upstream into the heart of the rainforest. From there we will organise some activities with the guesthouses that are set up in the base camp of the forest. The plan is to spend a few days in the jungle and then head across to the Cameron Highlands nearby which is a collection of vast tea plantations on hillsides. From there we will aim to get a coach or train up to Bangkok in Thailand and may not be able to access internet until then. The boat for the rainforest leaves at 9am Malay time tomorrow morning so if any of you are up tonight at 1am think of us! Tonight I think we are going to have some local food and another early night.

Here are a couple of links for the Cameron Highland and the rainforest and some of the activities that are available. Look out for leeches!

www.taman-negara.com
www.cameronhighlands.com

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Comments

[Niels en Belen]

Lovely couple speakin'
Hi Guys, Enjoy the jungle! We just did a cool dive in Thailand (koh phi phi). We did our deep dive and the photography dive, we saw a leopard shark and we where very lucky because we also saw a WHALESHARK!!!! So if you are heading up... this is a good divespot. Love Belen and Niels p.s. We are heading up to bangkok tomorrow.