Monday, August 01, 2005
Taman Negara… It’s a jungle out there
Trekking, canopy walking, camping, shooting the rapids, or hanging out with bats and bugs… A getaway to Malaysia’s Taman Negara – the world’s oldest primary forest … is certainly far from dull.
“Ooo my … G*d! That thing is huge…don’t move dear … let it crawl off your head naturally… Mavis ... come and look at this! It’s HUGE.”
Mavis trotted excitedly over, joined by an equally eager group of jungle trekkers, each trying to peek at the multi-legged, multi-coloured monster arachnid perched elegantly on the rim of my fake Gucci sunglasses.
It’s as certain as death and taxes.
If you are going to step out into the WILDS, and especially into something as intense and magnificent as a primary forest jungle like the one in Malaysia’s Taman Negara, you have to face the fact that you are going to get bitten/stung/scratched/bruised and possibly mauled, by a WILD creature.
Ok it’s highly unlikely you will be mauled since most of the Indo Chinese tigers have been wiped out … (there are only less than 200 left and they are protected and rarely seen so getting taken out by one of them would be a bit of an honour). During the late 90s, a research team went on an expedition to find out just how many tigers there are in Taman Negara. Until they took up the challenge, the population status of the Panthera tigris had never been scientifically documented.
But, rest assured, there are plenty of other creatures keen to target you, although nothing particularly life threatening (as I was assured by the experienced Taman Negara resident tour guide, Sharif). The experience of being in a place still so peaceful and natural and relatively untouched by “progress” makes it all worth the discomfort… really.
I recently went on a three day getaway to Malaysia’s “premier and largest national park”, with a mind to do some jungle trekking, rafting and animal watching.
The park has a few tour operators to choose from. All of them are pretty good, though don’t expect five star luxury. It’s not that kind of place.
I ended up choosing NKS Travel, run by a very friendly tour organiser named Kenny who is based in Kuala Lumpar. His operation is reliable and efficient despite the convoluted journey (plane or train, then several busses, a short stay in a Jerantut hotel and then a three hour ride on a raft to the HQ village of Kuala Tahan) involved with actually getting to Taman Negara. My advice: relax and enjoy the journey.
Said to be the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, at 130 million years old, the forests were declared for conservation in 1938 and covers more than 4,343 square kilometres of primary, virgin forest, (so, amazingly, there are no mosquitoes believe it or not, but the red fire ants make up for them). It spans across three states Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang – and is situated in the centre of the Peninsula Malaysia. Taman Negara (which literally means National Park) is the most extensive protected area of pristine, lowland, evergreen rainforest in the country. The park originated from a Pahang State Legislation in 1925 and in the district of Jerantut.
In 1938, the Sultan of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan set aside the present area, and named it the King George V National Park. After Independence, the name was changed to Taman Negara. The purpose of Taman Negara is “to utilise the land within the park in perpetuity, for the propagation, protection and preservation of indigenous flora and fauna”.
It is a haven for hundreds of species of wildlife, birds, plants and … bugs.
Which brings me back to the rather tense situation which was taking place around a burnt out log in a Orang Asli tribal settlement – deep in the heart of the jungle.
The Orang Asli, who generously allow tourists to visit them and, surprisingly, don’t ask people for money in return, are the original nomadic inhabitants of Taman Negara. They happily allow visitors to have a go on their poisonous blow pipes and also demonstrate how they can successfully start a fire without using matches. I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s great.
It was during a fire-making demonstration that Mavis, a school teacher from Canada, and her friends were inspecting the enormous, hairy spider that was sitting on my head.
I was about to have a panic attack when Sharif came to rescue. Striding over, he swiped the sunglasses off my face and tossed them into the jungle.
All heads turned to follow the path of the airborne arachnid – and my Guccis – into the undergrowth.
Taman Negara conservationists are proud of their impressive bug collection, and visitors to the park are treated to regular night treks which focus specifically on bug watching. Crawly creatures vary from fat, fierce red ants which march determinedly along the forest floor, occasionally attaching themselves to passing tourists’ shoelaces, climbing up their legs to take small, vicious bites from the presumably sought-after flesh of the inner thigh, black and yellow creatures of all shapes and sizes which, according to the knowledgeable trek and tour guides who live and work in the forest, are built to look more fierce than they actually are, to leeches which suck the blood from your ankles before you are even aware of it.
It was on one of these night crawler treks that I came across a particularly interesting looking cockroach-like bug. Thankfully, it was not yellow and black – more like beige stripes with black beady eyes – impressive.
The canopy walk is one of the anchor activities for short stay visitors. Trek through the forest to the top of hill, Bukit Teresek. On the way, is the canopy walkway, the longest in the world. Best to take a guide with you if you are a small group as the trail gets confusing.
Rapid running is one of the favourite activities for visitors, though it is fairly tame. Travel upstream from Kuala Tahan and experience 45 minutes through seven sets of swirling rapids down 9.1 kilometres.
A visit to the “bat cave” – called Gua Telinga (Ear Cave) – is a must. It takes about three hours and involves a ride on a raft, an easy forest walk followed by some energetic cave clambering. You should be reasonably fit and not too overweight or large as some of the clambering spaces are quite narrow inside the caves. The guides are very good, however, and will happily help you out if you find yourself in a tight spot. The cave ceilings are filled with hundreds of resting bats. Some of them flit about past your face, (yes just like in the Batman Begins movie) but they are not dangerous and certainly nothing to be afraid of. It’s an amazing sight, though the smell is a tad harsh. The cave is carved through a limestone outcrop by a stream which runs through it. Ancient drawings on the walls speak of a mysterious past. Apparently, there are also giant toads and bat-eating snakes which have lived in there since prehistoric times, but I didn’t actually see any of those.
Sadly for visitors, there aren’t too many larger animals in the area where tourists visit – even the odd monkey.
The animals have sensibly made their homes deep in areas where tourists fear to go.
After any one of these high-energy sojourns, it was good to get back to home base at Kuala Tahan. I stayed in a comfortable, air-conditioned chalet, in the rustic resort of Ekoton.
Staff are extremely helpful and friendly, putting up with all the requests from guests, though I suppose there are limits:
“So I suppose retrieving my sunglasses is out of the question then?” I asked long-suffering Sharif later in the safety of the village’s floating restaurant, once I had gotten over the horror of it all.
I don’t think he heard me…
Getting there:
Malaysia Airlines flies to Kuala Lumpar from Hong Kong daily.
The best way to get to Taman Negara from KL is by train. The nearest town on the railway map is Jerantut. Train services to Jerantut are available from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
This is followed by a three hour raft journey to the HQ village of Kuala Tuhan. It is also possible to catch a bus from KL. It is faster but it as not as interesting.
“Ooo my … G*d! That thing is huge…don’t move dear … let it crawl off your head naturally… Mavis ... come and look at this! It’s HUGE.”
Mavis trotted excitedly over, joined by an equally eager group of jungle trekkers, each trying to peek at the multi-legged, multi-coloured monster arachnid perched elegantly on the rim of my fake Gucci sunglasses.
It’s as certain as death and taxes.
If you are going to step out into the WILDS, and especially into something as intense and magnificent as a primary forest jungle like the one in Malaysia’s Taman Negara, you have to face the fact that you are going to get bitten/stung/scratched/bruised and possibly mauled, by a WILD creature.
Ok it’s highly unlikely you will be mauled since most of the Indo Chinese tigers have been wiped out … (there are only less than 200 left and they are protected and rarely seen so getting taken out by one of them would be a bit of an honour). During the late 90s, a research team went on an expedition to find out just how many tigers there are in Taman Negara. Until they took up the challenge, the population status of the Panthera tigris had never been scientifically documented.
But, rest assured, there are plenty of other creatures keen to target you, although nothing particularly life threatening (as I was assured by the experienced Taman Negara resident tour guide, Sharif). The experience of being in a place still so peaceful and natural and relatively untouched by “progress” makes it all worth the discomfort… really.
I recently went on a three day getaway to Malaysia’s “premier and largest national park”, with a mind to do some jungle trekking, rafting and animal watching.
The park has a few tour operators to choose from. All of them are pretty good, though don’t expect five star luxury. It’s not that kind of place.
I ended up choosing NKS Travel, run by a very friendly tour organiser named Kenny who is based in Kuala Lumpar. His operation is reliable and efficient despite the convoluted journey (plane or train, then several busses, a short stay in a Jerantut hotel and then a three hour ride on a raft to the HQ village of Kuala Tahan) involved with actually getting to Taman Negara. My advice: relax and enjoy the journey.
Said to be the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, at 130 million years old, the forests were declared for conservation in 1938 and covers more than 4,343 square kilometres of primary, virgin forest, (so, amazingly, there are no mosquitoes believe it or not, but the red fire ants make up for them). It spans across three states Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang – and is situated in the centre of the Peninsula Malaysia. Taman Negara (which literally means National Park) is the most extensive protected area of pristine, lowland, evergreen rainforest in the country. The park originated from a Pahang State Legislation in 1925 and in the district of Jerantut.
In 1938, the Sultan of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan set aside the present area, and named it the King George V National Park. After Independence, the name was changed to Taman Negara. The purpose of Taman Negara is “to utilise the land within the park in perpetuity, for the propagation, protection and preservation of indigenous flora and fauna”.
It is a haven for hundreds of species of wildlife, birds, plants and … bugs.
Which brings me back to the rather tense situation which was taking place around a burnt out log in a Orang Asli tribal settlement – deep in the heart of the jungle.
The Orang Asli, who generously allow tourists to visit them and, surprisingly, don’t ask people for money in return, are the original nomadic inhabitants of Taman Negara. They happily allow visitors to have a go on their poisonous blow pipes and also demonstrate how they can successfully start a fire without using matches. I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s great.
It was during a fire-making demonstration that Mavis, a school teacher from Canada, and her friends were inspecting the enormous, hairy spider that was sitting on my head.
I was about to have a panic attack when Sharif came to rescue. Striding over, he swiped the sunglasses off my face and tossed them into the jungle.
All heads turned to follow the path of the airborne arachnid – and my Guccis – into the undergrowth.
Taman Negara conservationists are proud of their impressive bug collection, and visitors to the park are treated to regular night treks which focus specifically on bug watching. Crawly creatures vary from fat, fierce red ants which march determinedly along the forest floor, occasionally attaching themselves to passing tourists’ shoelaces, climbing up their legs to take small, vicious bites from the presumably sought-after flesh of the inner thigh, black and yellow creatures of all shapes and sizes which, according to the knowledgeable trek and tour guides who live and work in the forest, are built to look more fierce than they actually are, to leeches which suck the blood from your ankles before you are even aware of it.
It was on one of these night crawler treks that I came across a particularly interesting looking cockroach-like bug. Thankfully, it was not yellow and black – more like beige stripes with black beady eyes – impressive.
The canopy walk is one of the anchor activities for short stay visitors. Trek through the forest to the top of hill, Bukit Teresek. On the way, is the canopy walkway, the longest in the world. Best to take a guide with you if you are a small group as the trail gets confusing.
Rapid running is one of the favourite activities for visitors, though it is fairly tame. Travel upstream from Kuala Tahan and experience 45 minutes through seven sets of swirling rapids down 9.1 kilometres.
A visit to the “bat cave” – called Gua Telinga (Ear Cave) – is a must. It takes about three hours and involves a ride on a raft, an easy forest walk followed by some energetic cave clambering. You should be reasonably fit and not too overweight or large as some of the clambering spaces are quite narrow inside the caves. The guides are very good, however, and will happily help you out if you find yourself in a tight spot. The cave ceilings are filled with hundreds of resting bats. Some of them flit about past your face, (yes just like in the Batman Begins movie) but they are not dangerous and certainly nothing to be afraid of. It’s an amazing sight, though the smell is a tad harsh. The cave is carved through a limestone outcrop by a stream which runs through it. Ancient drawings on the walls speak of a mysterious past. Apparently, there are also giant toads and bat-eating snakes which have lived in there since prehistoric times, but I didn’t actually see any of those.
Sadly for visitors, there aren’t too many larger animals in the area where tourists visit – even the odd monkey.
The animals have sensibly made their homes deep in areas where tourists fear to go.
After any one of these high-energy sojourns, it was good to get back to home base at Kuala Tahan. I stayed in a comfortable, air-conditioned chalet, in the rustic resort of Ekoton.
Staff are extremely helpful and friendly, putting up with all the requests from guests, though I suppose there are limits:
“So I suppose retrieving my sunglasses is out of the question then?” I asked long-suffering Sharif later in the safety of the village’s floating restaurant, once I had gotten over the horror of it all.
I don’t think he heard me…
Getting there:
Malaysia Airlines flies to Kuala Lumpar from Hong Kong daily.
The best way to get to Taman Negara from KL is by train. The nearest town on the railway map is Jerantut. Train services to Jerantut are available from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
This is followed by a three hour raft journey to the HQ village of Kuala Tuhan. It is also possible to catch a bus from KL. It is faster but it as not as interesting.
# posted by Karen @ 8:12 PM 
