Tarzan Mania

15th to 18th July - As if the jungle trekking I did in Tioman was not enough to kill me, I decided to give Malaysian rainforest another try. This time I decided to challenge the almighty Taman Negara in Pahang. Touted as the oldest rainforest and jungle in the world at 130million years old, Taman Negara's main entry point is Kuala Tahan.

To get there I stayed overnight in a small town called Jerantut in which I got the earliest boat ride up the Tembeling river from the jetty in Kuala Tembeling. The 55km upriver journey took me 2 1/2 hours and cost RM35. View of the river was breathtaking especially in the morning where it's covered in thick fog where it creates a heavenly feel. I enjoyed the ride very much however I felt 2 1/2 hours is a bit too long especially sitting in a boat which doesn't have loads of moving space.

Upon reaching Kuala Tahan, I checked into a dormitory called Ekoton Resort which cost me RM13 per night. After the long boat ride, I decided not to do anything but just to hang out in Kuala Tahan town for the rest of the day. Technically I am still not in Taman Negara yet as the main entrance is a stone's throw away across the river from Kuala Tahan. You can get across by the river taxi which cost RM1 one way. Kuala Tahan is a small village exist mainly because of Taman Negara. One thing I liked abt it is that it has a stretch of floating restaurants along the Tembeling River.

On the next day, along with 2 German guys and 1 English guy whom I shared the dorm with I went into Taman Negara to visit the longest canopy walkway in the world. It was about 40 minutes walk from the entrance and the jungle trail was well marked. The 45 metres high and 510 metres long canopy walkway suspended midair in the jungle was very scary.Being suspended so high up in the jungle means tht you get to see amazing view of the jungle and the wildlife tht lives in it (if you're lucky) After that we took another 30 minutes walk to a nearby hill called Bukit Teresek. The jungle trekking wasn't as bad as I have imagined even though I felt quite tired after it. I guess my "training" in Pulau Tioman came in handy for this trip huh.

After that we went back to Kuala Tahan for lunch after which the 3 guys left for Pulau Perhentian. In the evening, I joined the night jungle walk tour to go see animals as most animals are nocturnal I was hoping to see a lot. With the help of the guide I managed to see snake, deer, wild boar, sleeping birds, various types of insect, creepy crawlies and some glow in the dark mushrooms.

On the next day, I decided to go trekking to a nearby cave called Gua Telinga. As all of the people I met went into Taman Negara by pre-booked tour I hv no choice but to do the trekking alone this time. The trek to Gua Telinga is about 3km but I went further to visit 2 animal hides (bumbum) which were erected for visitors to stay overnight for viewing of animals. As I am not those adventurous type, I decide to give this a miss. Gua Telinga was okay though. 1/2 hour inside the cave was all I could stand because there must be like thousand of bats in it with bat poo all over the place.

Along the way back to Kuala Tahan, I stopped by an Orang Asli village. What surprised me was that the orang asli here look so much like the ones I see on National Geographic Channel. I highly suspect that they are "imported" from Afican nation because they are really different from the ones I usually see. HAHA.

On the next day I took the earliest bus back from Kuala Tahan to Jerantut because I felt that one boat ride is more than enough for me. Besides saving time, travelling by bus to Jerantut only cost me RM6 compared to RM40 by boat. On the bus back I met Vincent whom I travelled in Tioman. It turns out that we were at Taman Negara at the same time but didn't see each other only until our journey back. I left for Kuala Lumpur after lunch while he stayed overnight in Jerantut.