Blogs from Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia, Asia - page 10

we took the 'jungle train' from kota baru headed for taman negara at 6am. it's a really beautiful 6hr journey that ploughs right through the mountains and thick jungle (or so i'm told, i slept most of it). we stayed the night in another crappy 'in-between' town, and headed into the jungle the following morning by boat along the river. the jungle itself is over 4,300 km2, and over 135 million years old. it's been a protected national park for 60 years. the first day ruairi and i set out to do the canopy walk. it's 50 metres above ground in some sections and about 500 metres long, though only half was open as they were repairing ropes. which, although dissapointing, was also comforting as we balanced on a 20cm wide plank, gripping onto a ... read more

For wildlife spotting this isn't the place to go. No doubt there are plenty of big names deep in the jungle mix but from Kuala Tahan there is little realistic chance of seeing much beyond leeches and bats. If they are your thing then you're in for a real treat. The dorm here in this ramshackle riverside village is arguably the best accommodation I have had in Malaysia. That says more about the poor standards in this country than anything else. Note to the Malaysian ministry of tourism - get some decent guest houses erected and STOP CUTTING DOWN EVERY TREE IN THE COUNTRY. Driving through central peninsula Malaysia you pass countless lorries bearing massive trees. The once dark green country side is now riddled with massive orange scars. Where they have replanted anything it ... read more

Headed to Jerantut - nice little stop-over with night market for yummy food..with rice of course! - then off the next day for taman negara. relaxing long boat ride over to the jungle. great little spot & staying in a cute chalet. took an easy stroll through some jungle stuff to begin, over a hill for nice views & then karen & shell wanting to give up early, but luckily i made some jungle friends who would persevere. amazing jungle sounds, lots of lizards, millions of termites, birds, etc. loving it! went over the highest canopy walk in the world? asia? somthing - anyway, wasn't actually very scary, but enjoyable all the same, journey back was more interesting - probably took a slightly wrong path & ended up in a village settlement somewhere, but very interesting ... read more

So, I havent updated this for a while and its quite a long one. I hope you are well. So the last night Singapore was pretty uneventful. The people I had met and hung out with left for Kuala Lumpar and all I had to do was wait to leave for there myself. I had ooked myself on the overnight train from Singapore. It cost about 12 quid and was going to last about 9 hours, it left at 10,30pm and arrived at 7ish in Kuala Lumpar. i figured I would save on the nights accomodation and not the waste the whole day travelling. So i just kicked around Singapore for the day, killing time until my train left. Obviously I had to pop into Hooters for a few more beers to pass the time. The ... read more

Wed 18th: Arrived and searched around for a hotel. After trying several that had good write ups in guesthouse books from other travellers and also the ones listed in the LonelyPlanet guide we realised two major things. LonelyPlanet writers are in a whole world of their own, and other travellers lie. It took us ages to find a good place and eventually we settled at Agoh chalets (40 RM for a double). Nice, quiet, clean, flushing toilets and most of all - cheap. As it was quite late, well - too late to do any trail walks, we decided to pay the 1RM for a boat taxi to cross the river, and go see the main village by the park headquaters, and ate at a nice posh-ish place there. The Beef Rendang was excellent Thurs ... read more