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Published: December 22nd 2005
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OK so we are 32 days in (yes it really has been that long since the tearful goodbye at Heathrow) and this is what these trips are made for (or at least that is what Andrew thinks). After another early start we set about for Taman Negara. Older than the Amazon (135 million years old - almost as old as your parents) its awesome - the stuff of legends. Despite wet season it was a packed bus.
To get to the Jungle we took a long tail boat which was incredible. Literally sitting on the river, a very nice shade of brown, we headed upstream for 3 hours to Kuala Tahan. Despite wet feet (the boat leaked) and extremely sore arses the views were incredible and it really felt like we were off on a proper adventure. As we meandered through the jungle we saw a monitor lizard swimming beside us (a big thing which looks a little bit like a croc and had lara clinging to andrew for a second - well thats what husbands are for!) a herd of water buffalo grazing and some cool kingfishers. I am not going to lie to you - this was a
trip for Andrew and I was extremely nervous. There was the potential for so many things to go wrong - all of whioch would end in certain death but this trip is all about experiencing new things so here we go.....
Our accommodation was stomach churning - the smell, dirty, basic, the smell, dirty and oh, have we mentioned how dirty it was. We probably had a hoast of wildlife living in our room, but hey..if it does not kill you it makes you stronger (the jury is still out on that one Mr Neature). On top of a hill our "home" (and we use this in the LOOSEST possible way) was based in this tiny village which has the monopoly on trips into the wild it seems. It was interesting to see that the locals shacks were on stilts, presumably to escape the snakes. Needless to say - ours wasnt. (yet another thing to convince lara we needed to beat a hast retreat to the nearest spa resort) Also, there was a surprising lack of lights, yet an abundance of televisions in these shacks. UK football is pretty big out here and it was interesting to see what
the hell is happening to Man U! We digress.....
So, after a sleepless night we awoke to the sounds of the Jungle chorus. It was really noisy and even lara had to admit kind of cool. Our first little adventure was the canopy walkway elevated 45 metres up in the trees - a must do out here. Its a series of ladders and wooden planks suspended by rope bridging between the branches for 450 metres. Lara has literally never been so frightened, (well there was the 20 mins late thing of going down the aisle but we try to forget that), there were tears, a lot of sweat and profanities. BUT SHE DID IT! Even Andrew admitted that it was pretty scary and could not let go. The worst bit had to be the ladder suspended at an angle of 70 degrees with nothing under it but a bit of rope and some net. If Lara was going to die at any time on this trip (or me for that matter for MAKING her do it - or so she shouted at me from the trees) it was going to be then. The first 24 year old to drop
dead of a heart attack. But she managed it. Although a highlight of the trip for me, Lara, although happy to have completed it, pretty much hated every second.
Our next Jungle adventure was to trek for about 4km into the Jungle without a guide and very little idea of where we were going. If Indiana Jones can do it.... Lara was sensible, socks into trousers into top and sleeves held tight by hair bobbles. This was all in vain of the potentially life threatening leeches (or so she claims). It was a hard slog, hot, wet, slippy and a lot of climbing and sliding to be done. We saw some cool wildlife, were briefly surrounded by wild pigs, and finally made it back to the river again. Lara escaped without a leech (there is method in her madness), Andrew got done like a good 'un. One had crawled up his trousers and atached to his back - yuk! It fell off itself which was handy (except it added to the other animals in our room) but it bled really badly. He will in future be listening to his wifes fashion tips for jungle trekking. (although she will not
be publishing that photo here!)
In the afternoon we visited an Orang Asli local tribe, leaned to make a fire and how to hunt with a blow pipe. All of these will come in very handy at home. Sainsbury is seriously overated, as are cookers, when you can struggle for 2 hours to light a fire and then hunt your dinner with a pipe. Unfortunately we were then beseiged by the worst rain we have ever seen. We were at one stage trapped in our floating restaurant (which is NOT as glamourous as it sounds) as the river rose and the gang planks washed downstream.
The Jungle was definitely an adventure. Lara's hair was incredible to watch - it took on a life of its own and looked like it had several animals nesting in it at times. Another box ticked, we headed for the Cameron Highlands.
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