Taman Negara

  Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

10/03/09: It is time to get deeper into the country. We took the slow jungle train for 6 hours. It was beautiful to see the landscape change even though I slept a good part of it...After , we arrived, an Indian guy dropped us at the jetty to get the final boat of the day to Taman Negara. The boat was more like a dugout canoe, and we rode for three hours.. The village of Kuala Tahan is really small. You need to go to floating restaurants and markets or take a boat to the other side of the river.
Fun fact: before we left we went to a supermarket. At the cashier, you could see signs and symbol of a man or a woman. It means that you know in advance if your cashier will be a man or a woman and can choose accordingly.

Pagaye pas?

11/03/09: This afternoon we went for a walk in the jungle, on the other side of the river...no leeches in sight, which I was happy about. We went caving with a guide..I can tell you that you cannot be claustrophobic to get into this! And you must not be afraid to get dirty! You need to crawl, climb deep into the cave. Thank for the guide, otherwise I would not have known where to go, or even dared to go to some places.It was quite hard work and I even had to wet my nice walking shoes in the water as I could not get through one of the paths.

It was really rewarding though, as the caves were really impressive. and the ceilings covered with bats hanging upside down. We came back covered in muck. Sean was really helpful all along. After a nice shower and discovered loads of bruises, we had a quick dinner before going into a jeep safari. we had to take a different route than usual, because they had heavy rain a few days before we arrived. We were not lucky with the sighting, though. We only saw a huge deadly spider and a bird! We really need to go to South Africa at some stage!! We had a couple of drinks with another couple who was on the pick up truck with us afterward.

sweaty bitch

12/03/09: We did nothing today. Sean has been coughing since we did our last snorkeling and he did not stop the whole night. We went to the local clinic , a small house with flowery curtains, to see if they had a pharmacy. After giving his driving license and 15 RM, we were given an expectorant cough bottle. It seems to be improving. I went to collect our laundry. This has been some adventure because for a few days some parts of the village did not have any water. Luckily, the wash was done. If Sean feels better in the morning we will go for another trek in the jungle.

Lianas

13/03/09:The lepresean feels better so we decided for a walk in the dense jungle of Taman Negara.. we wanted to do the canopy walk, but on our way we met a guide who told us that it was closed for the afternoon: Friday again!! keep forgetting about that. So we decided on another walk, towards Teresek Hill. The weather is so hot though: 35 degrees and 100% humidity. It makes it really difficult to climb. I decide to give up and come down. Sean finishes the climb. It has a nice view of the rainforest. I don't know how people do it, walking 50km and sleeping in huts..! 

floating restaurant

On my way down, I check the explanations on the fauna and flora and take my time. Sean joins me later on for lunch on the floating restaurant. Food was not great: Sean even found a caterpillar in his soup..That quite put him right off!!. It was good to have a shower... In the evening, we watched a video about the National Park before packing our stuff. We noticed on TV that they are loads of ads to get your skin whiter. You even have a piece of paper with different skin shades to see how you are improving...Just as with whitening toothpaste at home!