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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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We're on the move again - we are feeling like true wanderers now! Left Tanah Rata at 10am for the 'epic' journey to Taman Negara. First part of the journey was by minibus to Gua Musang which took around 2 1/2 hours (we left Tanah Rata 40 mins late so we knew the day would be an adventure). After an hour lunch stop here, we transferred to a bigger bus. It was absolutely packed and our bags were piled on the back seat, in the aisle and in the hold. The heat was sweltering hot too! Next stop was 4 hours later in Jerantut, the main gateway city for Taman Negara. Here we transferred onto a bigger bus again. After waiting 15mins, we were off again. By now it was getting dark and we just knew that we would be arriving into Taman Negara in the pitch black which we wanted to avoid. Ever tried looking for ants and wildlife in hotel rooms in the dark! We finally arrived into Kuala Tehan where we would be staying at around 7.45pm - 2 hours later than planned. The place was pitch black with zero signs of life. We got pointed in the general direction of some hotels and off we went.
Found the Teresek View Hotel which was half decent and dumped our bags - phew! We were starving so headed straight out in the general direction of the river Tembling. We were in such a hurry to get some food that we forgot our torches - big mistake. We couldn't see a hand in front of us so must have made a comical sight stumbling our way across the wooden planks that connect the waterside restaurants to the rocky 'beach'. I have to admit that the food in Kuala Tehan left us very uninspired! Also a point to note is that Kuala Tehan is DRY i.e. no alcohol allowed. If you want a drink you must cross the Tembling river to the resort hotel on the opposite side - however they charge 3 pounds for a half pint of lager - we can wait!
The next morning we made a 1 ringgit crossing to the opposite side of the river where the actual Taman Negara park is situated bound for the creaking Canopy Walk. You have to pay RM1 per person for entry to the park and RM5 for a camera permit which we thought was very good. We had to walk around 1.8km to the canopy walkway but it was worth it. The forest doesn't appear to have been changed or commercialised in any way which was really reasuring. We saw some squirrals, a leech (urrgghh) and a wild boar - amazing.
The canopy walkway was around 1/2km in length and 40m above the ground. The walkway was held up with a complex system of ropes and 'step ladders' layed out for you to walk on covered with planks of wood. It was amazing to walk literally through the tops of the trees. The sounds were something else. Lots of shreaking from what we hoped were monkeys and not some poor soul hanging from the canopy!
On the way back to Kuala Tehan we walked through the resort hotel grounds and actually saw more wildlife here than we had seen in the forest. We saw lots of monkeys and a baby monitor lizard.
Next day we visited the Orang Asli people who are the traditional original Malay people. They are nomad people and still live in various places throughout Malaysia although they are diminishing in numbers. This particular tribe lived in the rainforest and were reached by longboat. It was rather disconcerting when the 'driver' had to use a bucket to empty water from the boat at regular intervals during the 10min ride downstream. The people were very friendly and they had very unique features like wild frizzy black hair and much darker skin than other Malays. We were told that the reason for this is that the tribe marry and have children with close family members ie cousins.
We all had a go at making fire - Lee did this very successfully - might have something to do with the practice he got in Mongolia! Then we were taught how to use a traditional blow pipe, again Lee hit the target bang on - Janet completely missed each time and hit the trees! It was really interesting to learn about their lifestyles and routines. We learnt that the children are named after the places where they are born ie river, tree etc - no long names. They have a very simple diet and they can basically cut down as many trees as they like as they have lived in the forest for generations and this is a tradional existance for them.
previous travel blog entry
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