Blogs from Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia, Asia - page 5

The journey to Jerantut (transport hub for Tama Negara national park (TM)) was uneventful. The bus was not overcrowded, no one had tried to rip us off nor did we have any near collisions with other traffic or cows. Still, the landscape was great as we traversed through many forest, jungles and plantations. In Jerantut we were picked up by a travel agency which arranged our trip to and from TM. Normally we opt for doing everything ourselves, certainly if the agencies seem a bit dodgy. This meant we just could not commit our safety and well being in the hand of any tourist agency in India, except for the official Incredible India one. and it must been said, the people working there are really helpful and friendly. But we had good faith in the one ... read more

We had planned to reach Taman Negara by the Jungle Railway that runs funnily enough though the jungle from Tumpat to Gemas. We'd read that it would involve an early start to catch it but didn't realise that we'd need to be up for 04.18 to get it! We were quite used to these stupidly early starts though so booked ourselves 2 tickets from Wakaf Bharu to Jerantut which is the jumping off point for further transport to Taman Negara. Best of all the tickets were a mere RM15 each (£2.55). Because of the early start we needed to find a room in Wakaf Bharu for the night and struck gold here when we found the Wakaf Bharu Garden Guesthouse which faces the train station and is owned by the uber friendly Yan Eng. As part ... read more

Once Sarah and I had left the island and made our way to Kota Bahru, we settled in at a hostel and set out to get ourselves organized for our trip into the jungle!! We ventured out to the local night market, which was a little disappointing as it was mostly stalls filled with cheap knock-off and tacky nick-nacks. Close to the night market we stubbled on a couple of huge costco/wal-mart type stores, which was perfect for the things we needed to pick up. At 10pm on Thursday night the place was absolutely packed. We entered the store close to the cosmetic section of the store, plucking things off the shelf as we went. As you turned the corner you ended up surrounded by shelves cluttered with car tires, oils etc. From there we found ... read more

In Behasa Melayu, the national language of Malaysia, Taman Negara means National Park and this rainforest is over 130 million years old. Picking your way over the exposed roots of the enormous ancient trees whilst craning your neck to try to glimpse the top makes you feel just a teeny bit insignificant. The main draw here is the chance to walk along the creaky canopy walk. This walkway consists of 10 rope bridges suspended from the roof of the rainforest, stretching a length of over 500 metres. Walking across these rope bridges was a hairy enough experience, suspended at a height of over 25 metres, the old mantra of 'don't look down' was running through our heads. After you got accustomed to the bounce and swaying motion it was fabulous just to slow down and take ... read more

Friday, May 8th Today was another day filled with preparation. This is why we avoid planning ahead. You end up spending tons of time preparing. It easier to just pitch up and arrange things as you go. In this case, however, we had no choice. Space on Mt Kinabalu is very limited and you can't get a climbing permit without accommodation so we had to book early. This meant emailing back and forth to find a date and price that we could live with. It's the most expensive bunk-beds in the world but we have no choice. You wanna play, you gotta pay... We also needed to lighten our bags. They have mysteriously grown heavier and heavier as we've been traveling (and after walking all over KL at night with those heavy packs we were very ... read more