Taman Negara means "National Park" in Malay, and sprawls over 430,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of lush rainforest across three states, with the bulk being in the state of Pahang.
There are three aboriginal tribes living in the area, the Senoi and Semak Abri tribes who live just outside the park and which you can visit on one of the many tours that are on offer, and the Batek community which prefers a more nomadic lifestyle deep in the jungle. We discovered the temporary huts of the latter on one of our treks through the National Park. A group of kids was playing on the grass just nex to the trail when we passed. We got a loud 'hello hello' accompanied by lots of giggling and hand waving...but that's how far the interaction went:-( the kiddies were quick to run back to the huts and hide behind their parents...
I booked a shuttle bus in Kuala Lumpur which took us directly to the Kuala Tembeling jetty (busride approx. 2.5 hours, which is the main entance to the park. We had lunch here and then caught the riverboat (a wooden longboat seating approximately 14 people) to Kuala Tahan (3 hours) which is just outside the NP and has the biggest and cheapest range of accommodation. There's also buses that go to Kuala Tahan which are quicker but I would recommend you take the boat if you want to go there. The scenery is stunning and the experience definitely one to remember.
We arrived at Kuala Tahan at aroudn 5pm and booked ourselves into the hostels, then went to have dinner at one of the floating restaurants on the river bank and later on had drinks and played cards.
I wanted to go on a 3 day / 2 night jungle tour where you can sleep in a cave or anmial hide one night and at an Orang Asli (Orang Asli means something like 'native people' I think...) settlement the other. The hides are huts on stilts which have been established near salt-licks where animal come to drink. So it's the best place to spot wildlife. You have to be there from around 5pm onwards, as most of the animals are nocturnal. Also, don't expect to see panthers or tigers, youd have to be really really lucky to spot one. You may be able to identify their footprints if you go trekking with a guide, but that's probably as lucky as one can realisticly get.
Unfortunately, I could not find anyone else who wanted to stay for that long so had to give the 3day/2night tour a miss. Alone I would have had to pay the price for 3 people which I did not want to do. Most people that come here are backpackers that do a packaged tour for 1 day and sleep in the park for two nights, or then there's the real hikers with lots of time on hand who will go and trek to the highest peak on the peninsula, Gunung Tahan, which takes 7 days. But the latter would have been too long given that there's so many places that I would like to see, and poor Nadine only has 3 months for travelling this time round:-) Oh well, it'll give me the opportunity to come back at a later point in time (life?:-))..
I met two lovely guys from Danemark and California during lunch at the Tembeling Jetty on the day of arrival, so hooked up with them and we did a few things in the NP for which you don't need a guide:
We started with the 30 minute canopy walk over a rope-and-ladder bridge that spans among the tops of the trees some 27 meters from the ground. It's a 400m long walkway and I definitely got the adrenlin pumpig...one wonders how safe the whole things is...as the bridge swings quite a bit when you walk across:-)
We then walked on to Butik Teresik (Butik stands for hill) for a view of Gunung Tahan in the far distance. On the map it looked very close from where the canopy walk was but jeeez the trail is steep...I looked like a stoplight by the time I reached the top...and my eyes were burning from the sweat that was constantly running into them. Poor Rachel (from England) had soaking trekking trousers and wished she had gone for a good and hence a little more expensive pair:-( Seriously, it is soooo hot, it made me wonder whether I'd survive 7 days in the jungle walking several hours every day. Temparatures in the National Park are sweltering since humidity is extremely high. After only 5 minutes of walking the sweat starts coming out from all of your pores and after 30 minutes or so you are soaking wet down to the last piece of clothing including socks and underware...
We finished the day in the NP off with a refreshing swim in a water hole down at the river, then took the 1 minute ferry (1 Ringit) back to Kuala Tahan where I spent another night before heading further to the Cameron Highlands the next day.
At midnight, after another dinner and drinks (non-alcoholic - if you want some, you have to bring your own!) at a floating restaurant with my travel buddies, I sat outside my dorm-bed chalet (there was no one else but me on both nights) with a cup of tea in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and marvelled at the star constellations in the sky (no light pollution)...and listen to the music of the jungle. It was nothing short of awesome!
