Up the creek
Trip Start
Jul 15, 2007
1
139
195
Trip End
Jul 16, 2008
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Jerantut,
Malaysia
Saturday, March 15, 2008
"Be sure to use the bathroom before you get on the boat. It is a three hour ride. There is no bathroom."
This seemed clear enough. I pictured a meandering three-hour trip upriver, lazily putt-putting along a gently-flowing stream between palms trees on a larger version of the African Queen. Something like our spectacularly uneventful visit to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in India on a huge slow tour boat, an hour each out and back for a 3km journey.
What we got was a high-speed three hour dash up a brown torrent of water up to a half mile wide, in a 14-seat backwoods cigarette boat literally nailed together from what looked like leftover lumber, the whole apparatus topped with a tin roof held on with either coat hangers or baling wire.
Fully loaded, the boat had about six inches of freeboard. It seemed very stable. The operator sat in the back steering with the outboard motor while a spotter stood in front looking out for rocks or submerged trees. As we motored mostly north up the broad, gently twisting river, we passed sunken trees and rocks barely sticking out of the water. Like Sam Clemens on the Mississippi in the mid-1800s, it was clear that our river pilot's job required intimate knowledge of an often-changing stream.
Alec said it was one of the best days of his life. It was undeniably cool. The "seats" were plastic-covered foam pads about two inches thick placed right on the floorboards, and the backrests were angled wooden planks about a foot high. With butt on the seat and back on the plank, my knees were about level with my chin. My footboard was the backrest of the couple in front of me. Jack sat to my left. A constant trickle of water came in his side of the boat from the seam between two planks. From time to time our craft would hit the wake of a downstream boat and a packet of water would splash aboard.
Halfway to our resort, we had to pull over to shore for a few minutes so the pilot and helper could bail out the boat. The boys and I got out to pee. Afterwards, I helped push the boat off the sandbank. Big mistake. My spirited shove on the wooden member supporting the tin roof broke it off at the top. Fortunately, the wire remained in place, and we proceeded with the jagged top of the broken wooden roof member sticking up next to my seat.
About an hour into the trip, the steady drizzle turned into a cloudburst. Both banks became misty as the rain poured down. Sitting slumped in a speeding boat, rain drumming on the tin roof above our heads, with a 135-million-year-old rain forest half-visible through the downpour, is one of the experiences that makes me really appreciate this year off with my family. It was one of those moments where I think, "Am I really here doing this?"
When we arrived at our resort, we tied up at a floating dock. Across the river is a cluster of floating restaurants.
All waterside buildings here are tethered floating rafts. Because the river level can change by dozens of feet between the wet and dry seasons, any fixed building would periodically be underwater. We made a steep climb up concrete stairs to our resort.
Now we are in our two very basic brick rooms at the Mutiara Taman Negara Resort. Tonight we plan dinner and an early bedtime. Tomorrow morning starts with a three-hour jungle trek at 9:30 a.m.
(Amy)
Jim really summed up well what our trip into the rainforest was like today. Leaving Kuala Lumpur at 8:30 this morning for a three-hour bus ride followed by a several hour wait at the dock before boarding the boat made for a somewhat long day.
But, as the rain fell in torrents on the tin roof of our boat, Alex and Katharine were curled in next to me as I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban aloud. It felt like one of those unexpected snow days when you curl up on the couch with your kids, except it was about 99¢ª with 99.99% humidity. I told Jim that everything was great, but that it was a shame they couldn't do anything about the weather. The semi-English speaking gentleman behind us just glared at me -- I think maybe he didn't appreciate the humor..
The ferry to Taman Negara
