Welcome to the Jungle

Taman Negara (National Park in Malay) is the worlds oldest rainforest because it never had an ice age. Its something like 135 million years old. There is just a small town inside the jungle, without much to do....except hike.

I came here by riverboat. It was a fun ride. 3 hours in a canoe. Luckily the boat had a roof over it, unfortunately the sun wasn't directly overhead, thus, my right leg and arm were burnt. After the 2nd hour the novelty wore off and I was seated on the lap of the girl next to me trying to hide from the sun (and I hadn't even talked to her yet).

When I arrived, the afternoon monsoon had just started and the town was dead. I was a little bummed out because I was alone in this small town with nothing to do. However, after the monsoon stopped and I went back to my dorm, there were 3 people that had just arrived in my room. 2 German girls and a dude from Holland. They had all just met on the bus on the way to the park. Finally I had friends. In the city, i had been doing all of the stuff alone, so it was good to talk to others.

The next day we went for a hike in the jungle. 1st we came to a canopy bridge. Its the worlds longest.... After that we decided to hike up to the furthest point allowed without a guide. Very stupid idea. It was about 2hrs stright uphill, then the climb down was stright downhill. We were using the roots of trees as our ladder. After 3 hrs we were all so tired and hoping to find the end. After 4hrs we finally did. We found a little hut on the river that sold fruit milkshakes and bottles of water. After rehydrating ourselves, it was to bed for a well-deserved nap!

The 2nd day, I went rafting in a wooden boat. The rapids were fun, then we got dropped off in a calm area of the river and swam. When I got off the boat I stood on the sand, then sunk to my waist. It was quicksand, but luckily you don't sink below the waist. We swam around for a lil while, then back on some more rapids. In the afternoon, I did nothing. Craig finally caught up with me at night, and he brought aclohol. The town is dry (alcohol is not common in Malaysia since its a Muslim country) except one place that sells beer ($8 a bottle) so this was a great present. After a few drinks and dinner, we went on a night safari. We didn't see any of the leopards or tigers that were advertised, but we had fun riding around in the jungle in the back of an open jeep.

The 3rd day I took Craig into the jungle and did the canopy walk again. There was no way I was going to do the entire hike, so I hung out and waited for the bus out of town at 7pm, and off to the Perhentians (after an 18 hr evening/morning of travelling)

I enjoyed the jungle, but am ready for the beach. Next up...Perehentian Islands and some scubadiving lessons!