Taman Negara Rainforest

So, after a few last second changes of plans, the Bus Schedule Gods decided to send me to Taman Negara, a huge national park in the center of Malaysia. The sprawling park is reputed to be the oldest rainforest in the world, since its location near the Equator and a few other factors means that it never experienced the Ice Ages that would have wiped out other forests of the time. It is also home to native wildlife including some elusive elephants and tigers, though it's said to be hard to find any of the larger animals without trekking for days into the virgin jungle. The windy road passed through forested hillls, through small towns and past numerous oil palm plantations consisting of rows and rows of massive palm trees, though I don't actually know the final use of the oil, but it must be profitable, as these groves are everywhere in Southern Malaysia. Passing through the small towns, it's interesting to see the influence of the Muslim culture here, always finding an elaborate dome and mosque in even the smallest villages, hearing the call to prayer a few times a day and seeing most of the women covered up with traditional head scarves, though often still wearing jeans and a t-shirt below. Being my first experience in a Muslim culture, it's very interesting to see this culture in action.

Our first bus connection left us in a small town where we had to wait four hours for the next connection, meaning that we wouldn't make it to the forest that night. In fact, after the second bus, we didn't arrive to our destination until around 1 am, eager to find a hotel and get some rest for the next day. A local guy greeted us as we stepped off the bus, and these usually aren't the guys that you want to deal with, but it was really late, and he offered a place very close to the bus station. Also, the place he mentioned was also recommended by the guide book, so I felt ok with that. As it turns out, this place was pretty much abandoned, which we found out as he pull back the chain door and led us to an empty upstairs area with a few rooms. Kristen, a Canadian girl on the same bus, and I booked a very cheap dorm room and tried to sleep, though the hotel wasn't as nice or clean as we had hoped. Throughout the night, we were awoken by bug bites, random noises and even some weird dreams about the place. At the price, we can't complain too much, but we were quite happy to get to the morning and up to the park.

Our 'friend' also took us up to the starting point of the park, pushing his dilapidated car to the limits on a few hills, but we eventually made it. From there, we took a three hour boat ride up the muddy river, flanked by thick forest on both sides, cruising along in a wooden boat with a sunshade, not far above the water level. Finally the never-ending forest revealed a small break on the river bank, and we had arrived. A few floating restaurants on the shore led up to a small village of a few hotels and travel agents, ready to take us into the forest. Again, we found a cheap dorm room, this time much cleaner, and then Kristen and I took a boat back across the river to the entrance of the park. As with the rest of Malaysia, this area was hot and the air was thick with the humidity of the forest. Within minutes, we were covered in sweat, but we continued up and down the thickly forested trail, passing by ferns, massive trees and making our way over the massive roots systems of the strangler fig trees spreading out through the jungle. Climbing a series of steep stairs, we made it to the canopy walk, one of the man-made attractions: a narrow hanging bridge/walkway linking the tops of a few of the taller trees, putting you at the top of everything, about 100 feet above the forest floor below. The first steps were shaky, but it seemed sturdy enough, so we went through, marvelling at the thick greenery surrounding us. This is also supposed to be the world's longest skywalk, though the last third of the bridge was closed for repairs, so it may have to relinquish that claim for now.

Moving in, we tramped back down the steep hill only to find out that we actually needed to climb back up that exact route to get to the peak of the next hill, for a sweeping view of the park and river below. Again, we pushed forward up the steep track, hoping to find animals and more importantly, the marker for the viewpoint. At this point, I was literally soaking in sweat, my clothes completely drenched, though I was enjoying the scenery. We passed through more and more trees, and we eventually found the top, looking out at the undulating green hills in all directions, and we even saw a few monkey-type creatures along the way, white flashes of fur with long tails hopping from branch to branch, though we couldn't actually identify what kind of animal it was. More common, though, are the massive insects of the forest. Ants the size of large spiders passed underfoot, and we also came across a gigantic centipede, making me think that some of the multi-day treks through the forest, sleeping on the ground, might not be such a good idea. Also, just trekking for our four hour trip was tough work, so I thought the romantic idea of a long trek into the woods might be better done in another park at higher elevation, where I'd at least be able to cool down a bit. Finally passing back into the village at the beginning of the park, we saw a few macaques (monkeys) chewing on the power lines for the tiny hotel, and that was it for our adventure.

(The view from the muddy river. Our boat was disconcertingly very close to the water level. On the plus side, we did have life jackets.)

(A typical view of the hot, sweaty, incredibly green forest.)

(The Sky Canopy, suspended far above the forest floor. As you can see, it's just a narrow wooden beam, supported by a network of ropes. A bit shaky, but sturdy enough to trust it.)

(Further along, in the midst of the canopy.)

(Heading back from the canopy and lookout point, we were ready for civilization again or at least a shower.)

(In a display of supreme intelligence attributable to our close evolutionary relatives, this monkey (a long-tailed macaque) was chewing on the power lines. Good idea.)