But trees and animals, arhhhh, they are pure. They help one another, symbiosis, cling onto each other for sun light and fresh air. Yea yea, that what I realised in Taman Negara. It's a place so serene that any human feels rebooted after coming out from the jungle.
Day 1 of Taman Negara we were greeted by mud. Yes yes. Literally mud. Once we step out of the car *squish squash* --- Mud.
Reached the jetty *squish squash* --- Mud.
Reached hotel *squish squash* --- Mud
Anyways. Let me first introduce Taman Negara itself. This virgin forest encompassed three states, namely Pahang, Terenganu, and Kelantan. There are 3 entrances to the national park, but the one we entered was through Kuala Tahan. Peninsular Malaysia's highest peak, Gunung Tahan is one Taman Negara's pride along with thousands of animal, plants and insect species.
We reached a small town named Jerantut to meet our travel agency for hotel bookings and activities. We booked everything through NKS, and I find that their rates are cheaper compared to the hotel itself.
You need to leave your car at Jerantut itself for the entire 3-4 days stay and take their bus who will either bring you straight to Kuala Tahan, or bring you to a jetty to take a boat (the kampong kind) to Kuala Tahan.
Dad got paranoid someone will steal his S-class benz so he borrowed a NAZA just for this trip.
And thats me getting bored at NKS while waiting for dad to settle the payment.
Taman Negara at the Kuala Tahan entrance is seperated from the local town by Sungai Tembeling. Many small inns are situated at the small town for budget travellers, and one just need to take a boat acroos the river to reach Taman Negara.
However, we choose to stay at Mutiara, which is a resort in Taman Negara itself. Thats mean we stay on the other side of the river, hence for meals we need to take a boat ride out. That something unique on its own as compared to other holidays where travelling in on land instead of water.
This is Sungai Tembeling.
The water is yellow-brown but that doesn't mean that its a dirty river. In fact, it is because the soil is yellow-brown which makes the river yellow-brown. The river is clean like Singapore roads. No signs on floating plastic bags or cans.
This is the boat we use to cross Sg Tembeling to out hotel. Traditional wooden Kampong boats. It's really an experience.
Taman Negara is filled with mostly caucasians. And they all have very pro looking bags suitable for a travellor/jungle-adventure-seeker. While we were carrying tons of smaller mini bags. So paiseh. Haha.
We checked into our chalet across the river. Mutiara is in the jungle. So it's like living in a chalet in the wild. And trust me, it's not very pleasant when you see a wild boar crossing your paths or monkeys ooh-ooh-aah-ing on your roof.
1st activity afterwhich is cave exploration. To be honest I didn't enjoy this much because of the mud. The entire track there was muddy, thank god I decided to wear my cheap white cheerleading shoes (which is now brown in colour) instead of my Adidas. Mud Mud Mud. Urghh.
Dad with the huge tree in the jungle.
However, the cave part was super fun. The cave we explored is called Gua Telinga "Ear Cave". It's named so because the cave is very narrow, just like human's external auditory meatus. So cute right the name!!!
Squeezing through tight slits and crawling around in the cav is only 50% of the fun. The most scary yet memorable part is seeing these little creatures.
Yes yes, BATS!! Bats are blind, so they don't move an inch even if you shine your 1000 mega volt torch at them, but I got a little scared a let out a little scream, and big mistake that was, they started flying around. (When I told ZhiVen that all he could think of was getting Rabies).
It was really scary. To think the whole entire colony of them live in this tiny cave. And they wriggle when they sleep. After getting use to them, I find the kinda cute. They wriggle man. Cute!!!
When we exit the cave and trek out of the jungle, we came to an aboriginal village.
One clan of Orang Asli's stay here, in their simple way of life. They use rattan and dried wood to make fire (apparently in less then 30 secs fire will form), use long blowing pipes thingi for hunting, and they bath by the river, cook using river water, wash clothes by the river.
Such lifestyle is one I can never survive in. Lol. Besides, our tourguide called us "city girls" because we kept whining about the mud.
After that, we headed back to the small town across the river for dinner. There are many "floating" restaurants by the river. Concept is cute, foods a little expensive and salty. But thats how our day 1 was spent. More updates soon. =)
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