Kuala Tahan Hotels
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Taman Negara
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The oldest rainforest in the world. Fittingly we entered by boat, traveling up the muddy waters of Tembling River.
The 2 1/2 hour ride takes you past vast palm tree plantations slowly changing to tall trees of every variety. We arrived at the floating restaurants of Kuala Tahan, a town that has grown to accommodate the large numbers of tourists that have come to see the jungle. Most that visit do not do more than the short jungle canopy walk but we came for adventure.
After settling in to our small room, we took the water taxi to the other side of the fast flowing river, where the entrance to the park is surrounded by a fancy resort. Somehow not exactly what I pictured when I set out to the wild jungle but there it was.
Our new friends, Tero and Cherry, Tom and I ventured past the manicured lawns of the resort and started walking along the river, listening to boats zooming past but enjoying the dense forest surroundings.
We started off on a small hike to the Canopy walk.
Due to the disappointment of false advertising; the longest Canopy walk in the world at 500 meters, was cut short by 350 without warning because of necessary repairs, we chose to continue our trek further into the trees.
We climbed a small hill to see a stupendous view of the river snaking past the colorful canopy, seeming to stretch on forever.
From there we watched a rainstorm roll in and did not think much of it as we followed a loop back to the Park Headquarters until Tero looked down at his sandals and found three leaches on him. We preceded to look down at our feet and see that he was not the only one. We had come ill prepared for our first venture out into the jungle. I was wearing a skirt and carrying a flowered umbrella and had leaches sucking my blood! We practically ran the rest of the way back.
After our small little trip we figured the obligatory guide was not such a bad idea if you wanted to go further in for a few days and decided to book as a group for a 2day/ 1night journey with the man of the Jungle, Man.
We woke, packed and began our journey further up the river, further into the wilderness. This time we all had shoes and socks and salt. No more messing around.
The boat ride had us pushing through raging rapids and gigantic eddies. Stepping off the boat 27km from the tourist center, we started our trek at an abandoned resort. Not long after we walked into the forest we heard a tiger nearby. Man looked at our wide eyes and reminded us that he had been working as a guide for over 12years and only once saw a tiger on the path. We continued. As we walked Man pointed out trees, medicinal plants and animal footprints. We saw many elephant markings, some tiger tracks and even ran into a herd of wild pigs. Their alarm call had us all backing up thinking we were going to be there for Man's second tiger siting, it was especially unnerving because there were so many and sounds were coming from all around us.
After a grueling 8.5 km we arrived at our camp. We were to sleep in an enormous cave whose ceiling reached over 50 meters.
After a set up, a small wash by the river and a yummy dinner we sat by the fire watching the shadows flicker all around us.
Man took us for a night walk and we saw all the unwelcome creepy crawlies that would be sharing the cave with us, including a very poisonous long legged centipede. When we got back to our mats we found another army of uninvited guests after a screech from Tero "Something bit my ass". A line of fire ants had invaded our sleeping area. Man, fully relaxed, said "They will go away" and started spraying insecticide all over the place. Whatever it was it worked and we were able to lay down again and fall asleep by the fire, which was surprisingly easy probably since we were completely exhausted from our sweaty, leach filled hike.
We had no unwanted visitors throughout the night but did get to see a Malay jungle cat and giant porcupine munching on the remains of dinner. They both looked like they stepped out of fairy tales especially with the earry light of the LED lights blocking the black night.
The following day we hiked another 8.5 km. Just before lunch I began to loose my nerve. I had stepped into a stream and soaked my shoes and socks after only 1km and the leaches were all over me. I couldn't look up because I had to navigate through the mud and I was completely wet with sweat. Luckily our stop for lunch included a swim in the stream and I was able to cool off and remove the leaches with our hand dandy salt. I found myself doubting my sanity if I stayed too many more days in this wild jungle.
After lunch the walking became dryer and much less leach filled and we got back to the boat with little worries. On our way back to Kuala Tahan we stopped at an Orang Asli village. The Orang Asli are the people who live in the jungle to this day. This village had opened its doors to tourism, so had lost a bit of its old ways but it was still interesting to meet them. Man told us they were related to the Aborigines of Australia and the Paupa New Guineans. I cant imagine living in the jungle and hunting with a blow pipe.
They seem satisfied with their simple lives, I wonder how long this will last with so many outside influences.
We returned from our venture wet, dirty, bitten, tired and very happy. We had been guided by a man that knew and loved the jungle, we walked under the ancient trees of one of the last primary forests, we heard wild animals passing and saw their footprints and survived to tell about it. Negara is a magical place and although it was tough I do not think I would pass up another wander further into the depths of it.
Where I stayed:
Tahan Guesthouse
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