Welcome to the Jungle

The canopy walk
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I hopped on an outrageously expensive minibus for the 8 hour journey to the Taman Negara National Park, worth it though as I got there in one day.  I was disappointed not to go on the famous jungle railway, but glad in the end as some friends who left the island the day before me didn't arrive to the day after me due to crowding on the railway due to the end of school holidays.

The town with cheap guesthouses that you stay in, Kuala Tahan, is across the river from the park itself.  Floating restaurants are the focal point of the town, where everyone meets for meals - not for drinks though as the town is completely dry.  After breakfast I set out on a jungle trek to the canopy walk, meeting up with a couple of other solo walkers along the way.   The walk to the canopy was nice - I was too cheap to hire a guide so tried my best to pick up information about the jungle along the way by eavesdropping on other peoples guides!

View of the jungle
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The canopy walk consists of planks strung up 45m above the ground on the tall trees that make up the jungle.  It was scenic but not that exciting, though the apartment raised Singaporean kids infront of us were so scared it took a while to get through - I couldn't help but think that Kiwi kids in the same situation would be hard to stop running!   Then we headed up the hill for the views of the jungle around, 45mins up, with help from ropes to pull ourselves up the hill.  After this Loretta and I thought we deserved a beer at the resort in the park itself - but changed our minds when we saw how expensive it was - for $NZ8 for a can of beer I didn't deserve it that much!

Me in the boat out of Taman Negara
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After lunch I booked into a trip on the "rapids" of the river, in a small wooden boat.  It said to be prepared to get wet - I didn't realise that the boat driver would ensure we were wet by tipping the bailing bucket over us at regular intervals.  It was fun though.

After breakfast with Alex and Sarah from the Perihentian islands who had finally arrived the night before, I head off down the river on my journey to Melaka.  I decided to take the scenic option of a 2 hour boat ride to another town down the river, which was a good choice as the jungle is spectacular - so thick at times it was like traveling through a green corridor.  3 bus connections and 10 hours later I arrived in Melaka after a long day traveling.